2011: The Most Violent Year for Human Rights DefendersThe Human Rights Defenders Protection Unit – Guatemala (Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos – Guatemala; UDEFEGUA) reports that, according to our records, 2011 was the most violent year so far for human rights defenders. We counted a [...]
Emilia - we still remember you. The search for justice continues.On the 8th of December 2011, the first anniversary of the tragic death of Emilia Quan Staackmann takes place. Emilia was a Guatemalan woman, 33 years old, that always will be remembered as a sociologist committed to her work and [...]
Español abajo FREDEMI: Public denunciation of the persecution against defenders of land and collective rights: the persecution of Gregoria Crisanta Pérez On Wednesday August 31st at approximately 3:30 pm in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Ms. Gregoria Crisanta Pérez was leaving the village of Máquivil on her way to her home in [...]
Graham HuntIn a press conference on September 1, 2011, members of the Community Development Committee--COCODE--of the municipality of Santa Cruz Chinautla, accompanied by women, men, youth and elders, denounced before the national and international community the degradation of the Chinautla river basin, a situation which they characterize as an eco-ethnocide [...]
A resident of Nueva Santa Rosa holds up her index finger after exercising her right to vote. Delmi Arriaza In July, almost 13,000 residents from two municipalities in the department of Santa Rosa voted against all mining projects on their land. The municipalities are two of five in the [...]
Steve Laudeman. According to the text of the study, Laudeman is "A geological and civil engineer with 21 years of experience in dangerous materials, management of residues, construction of highways, mines and quarries, as well as infrastructure for nature reserves."Graham HuntOn July 27, 2011, in Guatemala City, the study "Issues [...]
Graham HuntIn a press conference carried out in Guatemala City on July 12, 2011, community leaders presented the following:PUBLIC DECLARATION OF THE MAM AND KICHE' PEOPLES OFTHE DEPARTMENT OF QUETZALTENANGO, GUATEMALAThe municipalities of the Mam territory of Quetzaltenango: Huitán, Cajolá, San Miguel Siguilá San Juan Ostuncalco, San Martín Sacatepéquez and [...]
Members of the Coordinadora de Comunidades de Sacapulas en Resistencia y en Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y el Medio Ambiente (Coordinating Committee of the Communities of Sacpulas in Resistance and in Defense of Natural Resources and the Environment), the body which organized the referendum, unfold banners in the central [...]
On March 23, 2011, representatives of municipalities that have carried out referenda, articulated in the Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (CPO), filed an injunction demanding that the government desist in its efforts to regulate community referenda. Graham HuntOn April 25, 2011, Guatemala's Constitutional Court resolved to grant a provisional injunction [...]
Graham HuntOn May 18, 2011, in a massively attended ceremony carried out among the temples of Zaculeu, the Maya Mam People of Huehuetenango declared their territory mining-free. In the presence of community, municipal and ancestral authorities from Mam territory, as well as delegations from other departments, community leaders presented the [...]
We are excited to present multi-media available from our recent speaking tour.Concluding the Latin American Solidarity Conference in Washington, D.C., activists participated in the SOA Watch's march on the White House, demanding the closing of the School of the Americas-Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA-WHINSEC). See interview with tour [...]
Two men (background, right) fish at the confluence of the Copón (foreground) and Chixoy (back) rivers, in the municipality of Ixcán, El Quiché. Community members denounce that the Copón river has become contaminated as a result of the Palo Viejo I hydroelectric dam, upriver on the Finca San Francisco plantation [...]
Graham HuntOn April 29, 2011, more than 3,000 people, primarily representatives of indigenous organizations from rural areas of Guatemala, marched through the streets of the capital city to manifest once more their disapproval of current government's attempt to regulate community referenda via a proposed law presented earlier the same year. [...]
Graham HuntOn March 23, hundreds of representatives from more than 50 municipalities that have carried out community referenda in Guatemala, articulated in the Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (CPO) and other regional groups, took to the streets in Guatemala City to repudiate the central government's initiative to regulate community consultations, [...]
A man prepares to vote in Caserío Tui Bul. Graham HuntUn hombre se prepara para emitir su voto en el Caserío Tui Bul.On March 16, 2011, 17,849 residents of the predominantly Maya Mam municipality of San Martín "Chile Verde" Sacatepéquez, Quetzaltenango, added their voices to those of the roughly 600,000 [...]
Representatives from numerous organizations held a press conference on March 18 to denounce human rights violations committed during the eviction of hundreds of rural Maya Q'eqchi' families in the Polochic Valley, in the department of Alta Verapaz and to demand that the authorities halt the evictions. The organizations addressed a [...]
In the following letter to Guatemalan authorities and Goldcorp Inc., the Coalition Against Unjust Mining in Guatemala (CAMIGUA) expresses its profound concern following reports of violence in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán. CAMIGUA believes that the recent incident underscores an urgent need for the Guatemalan government to fully implement [...]
A man waves a banner with the logo of the Comité de Unidad Campesina. Graham HuntIn an interview with the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Carlos Daniel de León of the Commerce and Investment Agency of Guatemala made known on February 19 that representatives of Guatemala's [...]
TAKE ACTION through Amnesty International Guatemala 28 February 2011The Network in Solidarity with the People of GuatemalaCollectif GuatemalaBreaking the SilenceRights ActionUrgent concern for safety of human rights defenders of San Miguel Ixtahuacán following peaceful protests We denounce the human rights violations and abuses committed today against peaceful protesters in San [...]
A view of the Xequijel river, in Olintepeque, Quetzaltenango. Graham HuntUna Vista del Río Xequijel, en Olintepeque, Quetzaltenango.On February 20, 1524, Tecún Umán, last king of the K'iché nation, was killed in battle against the Spanish conquerors. 487 years later to the day, citizens of the municipality of Olintepeque, the [...]
San Juan Ostuncalco's central plaza on the morning of the referendum. Graham HuntLa plaza central de San Juan Ostuncalco en la mañana de la consulta.On February 18, 2011, in the 49th good faith community referendum celebrated in Guatemala, 33,428 men, women, and children rejected all mining exploration and exploitation in [...]
Angélica Choc. Graham HuntOn December 9, 2010, a group of community members from El Estor, Izabal, among them eye-witnesses of the September 27, 2009 assassination of Adolfo Ich Chamán, gathered before the Crimes Against Activists Unit of the Human Rights Section of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Guatemala City. Inside, [...]
Emilia Quan The ADH delegation currently in Cancún for the climate justice activities taking place here, received sad news from back home in Huehuetenango: the murder of Emilia Quan, an investigator with CEDFOG (Center for Studies and Documentation of the Western Border of Guatemala). Emilia Quan and another CEDFOG employee, [...]
Today Francisco Mateo Morales spoke as a representative of the Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) in a Climate Dialogue panel about the position of indigenous peoples on the issue of climate change. A delegation of members of the ADH has been participating in the alternative social movement activities organized in response [...]
The Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) and Climate Dialogue took to the streets today to bring the message of the forums into downtown Cancún!La Asamblea de Huehuetenango (ADH) y el Diálogo Climático se fueron a las calles para traer el mensaje de los foros al pueblo de Cancún!No Biofuels! No False [...]
On December 1, 2010, Angélica Choc announced the initiation of legal proceedings against the Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals Inc. and its Guatemalan subsidiary, Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel S.A. (CGN), for their indirect responsibility in the September 27, 2009 murder of Angélica's husband, Adolfo Ich Chamán, at the hands of [...]
Representatives of the municipality of Cabricán prepare banners for the march to the Congress. Graham HuntRepresentantes del municipio de Cabricán arman pancartas para la marcha al Congreso. On Monday, November 29, representatives of the municipalities of Cabricán, Santa Cruz del Quiché, and Uspantán submitted to the Congress, the Ministry of [...]
The urban center of Huitán. In the background, to the left of the church, stands Calel mountain, one of the municipality's primary water sources. Calel is likewise home to a mining license of the same name. Graham HuntEl casco urbano de Huitán. En el trasfondo, a mano izquierda de la [...]
La Via Campesina is coordinating one of the alternative Cancún forums, bringing real solutions to climate change from the world's farmworkers. La Via Campesina ha coordinado uno de los foros alternativos en Cancún, trayendo soluciones verdaderas al cambio climático desde los campesinos del mundo."Small Scale Sustainable Farmers are Cooling Down [...]
Change the System, Not the Climate! No to REDD! World Bank out of the Climate! These are the messages echoing in Cancún today, the first day of the International Foro for Climate Justice and the Dialogue of the People.www.dialogoclimatico.orgCambia el Sistema, No el Clima! No a REDD! Banco Mundial Fuera [...]
Global social justice mobilizations have arrived in Cancún to participate in alternative activities running parallel to the current round of UN climate negotiations, also known as COP16. NISGUA is here with the Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH), after traveling from Huehuetenango to San Cristobal de las Casa, where we joined a [...]
"They didn't kill me for being a narco. They killed me for being a woman."Hundreds marched on November 25, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Centenares de personas marcharon el 25 de noviembre en el marco del Dia Internacional de la no Violencia contra [...]
"The K'iche People's Council...Our land is our home.Good Faith Community Referendum in Santa Cruz del Quiche.""Consejo de Pueblos K'iche's... nuestra tierra es nuestra casa!Consulta Comunitaria de Buena Fe para Santa Cruz del Quiché"Delmi ArriazaThree consultas (community referendums) were organized in the Western Highlands of Guatemala in October 2010. Since 2005, approximately 650,000 [...]
On October 22, 2010, more than eighty communities held simultaneous referendums on mining and hydroelectric dams planned for the municipality of Santa Cruz del Quiche. Years of organizing and popular education preceded the day-long event.El 22 de octubre de 2010, más que 80 comunidades llevaron a cabo simultáneamente consultas sobre [...]
Mayan ceremony held the night before the referendum.Se lleva a cabo una ceremonia la noche antes de la consulta. Graham HuntOn October 28, one day before the referendum, helicopters and planes flew over one of the regional centers where organizers were planning to compile results. The mayor also published a [...]
"We, the communities, want a development with dignity and justice, with harmony and respect for Mother Earth.”[i] Representatives from affected communities traveled to Guatemala City on September 30, 2010 to present their concerns and demands regarding the planned construction or inauguration of a number of large-scale hydroelectric projects throughout Guatemala.In [...]
Join us as we enter our 30th year of solidarity work in Guatemala! Human Rights Accompaniers Needed in Guatemala Next training: January 2011 in Bay Area, CAApplication Deadline: October 31st, 2010For more information: http://www.nisgua.org/get_involved/join_gap/
UN Rapporteur James Anaya meets with Guatemalan indigenous groupsRelator James Anaya de la ONU reune con movimiento indígena de GuatemalaOn June 17, 2010, UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Rights James Anaya traveled to Huehuetenango, Guatemala, to meet with Maya organizations and communities struggling to defend their environmental and territorial rights [...]
International Community Demands Respect for Community Referendums in GuatemalaOn November 11, 2009, 700 signed letters were submitted to the President, Congress and various government institutions.Comunidad Internacional Exige Respeto para Consultas Comunitarias en GuatemalaEl 11 de noviembre 2009, 700 cartas firmadas fueron entregados al Presidente, Congreso y otras instituciones del estado.On [...]