In late March, a group of 50 - 70 migrants gathered in the courtyard of the Siglo XXI Migratory Station in Tapachula, Chiapas to protest the indefinite extension of detention times, demanding the detainees be released or returned to their countries of origin. The protesters expressed their fear of contracting Covid-19 and announced their intention to start a hunger strike if they were not released. The protest was dissipated by the internal security brigade and the National Guard, who used water jets and pepper spray against the protestors.

The world is facing a health crisis on a scale unlike anything seen in our lifetimes, bringing suffering, disruption, and dislocation to people across the globe. From Kenya to Indonesia, many of the countries where PBI work is already facing socio-economic dislocation and political disruption.

Article by PBI-Mexico

Article by PBI-Mexico

In the state of the health emergency caused by Covid-19, human rights defenders, journalists and CSOs urge the Mexican Government and its institutions to generate measures in order to guarantee the right to defend human rights, in accordance with national and international recommendations.

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project published a 64-page report titled We Defend Life! The Social Struggles in Alta Verapaz.

In the introduction to the report, PBI-Guatemala notes:

Article by PBI-Canada

La Sangre de la Tierra (The Blood of the Earth), a documentary film made by Peace Brigades International and Asociación Entrepueblos, is scheduled to be screened at the Planet in Focus film festival (October 15-20) in Toronto and at the International Symposium on Indigenous Languages (February 11, 2021) in Quebec City.

The Peace Brigades International-Indonesia Project is looking for volunteers with English language skills to assist human rights defenders.

Many of the human rights defenders they work with speak little to no English, but it is an important skill for them to have to help them engage and advocate at the international level, including within Asia.

Toward this end, PBI-Indonesia is developing a Basic English Course for human rights defenders.

In March 2020, Peace Brigades International – USA had the pleasure of joining Casa del Migrante de Saltillo on our Speaking Tour accompanied by PBI-Mexico Project Advocacy Coordinator, Lena Weber, and PBI’s Advocacy Director in DC, Pat Davis.

Article by PBI-Honduras

The situation for Honduras’s LGBTQI+ community was already critical before the current health emergency, but the arrival of COVID-19 to this Central American country has led to a double violation of their rights. This is how the Arcoiris LGBT Association describes their situation, explaining that the coronavirus pandemic has had a greater impact on the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

PBI Honduras has recently prepared a report ‘Defending the Land has a Woman’s Name’ in advance of Honduras’ Human Rights Council’s third Universal Periodic Review in May 2020.  

The report finds that recommendations made as part of Honduras’ Human Rights Council’s second Universal Periodic Review in 2015 are not being implemented with due attention for the situation of Women Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESC) defenders.