PBI-Mexico has posted: “From PBI we express our concern about the arbitrary detention of the environmental defender María de la Cruz, Councillor of the Ocumicho Communal Council and delegate of the CNI [National Indigenous Congress]. We call on the competent authorities to guarantee their comprehensive protection.”
PBI-Honduras has posted: “Yesterday [June 5] we visited the Museum Against Forgetting in Amarateca, located in a property used as a torture center during the National Security Doctrine in the 1980s, redefining it as a space for memory and reflection. From PBI, we highlight the work of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras [COFADEH] to reclaim the memory of the victims of human rights violations, especially the crimes of torture and forced disappearance.”
PBI-Guatemala has posted:
“On Saturday [May 18], #PBI accompanied the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa Chiquimula in activities to socialize the findings of a research work conducted in conjunction with the OIE – Observatory of Extractive Industries (OIE).
A video was projected about the impacts of antimony mining exploitation in the Los Manantiales Quarry, the historical struggle of the Ch’orti’ people against it and the irregularities in the granting of the license.
Photo: PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Mayan Indigenous Council Ch’orti’ of Olopa Chiquimula in activities to socialize the findings of a research work carried out in conjunction with the Observatory of Extractive Industries (OIE).
The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project is seeking new field volunteers.
Key dates in this process include:
June 28 – deadline to apply
Join us for a discussion with LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders from Guatemala, Honduras, and Indonesia on the current challenges they face and ways the international community might support their work & commitment.
PBI-Mexico has posted: “#CALL | Are you interested in the international accompaniment of people defending #Human Rights? Be a part of our field team! We receive applications until June 3, 2024. See the call: here”
Christopher Castillo, General Coordinator of ARCAH, is leading the movement in Honduras against so-called Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs). These zones, which operate as independent territories, not subject to Honduran law, threaten to envelop vast swathes of Honduras; up to 35 percent of the country could be made into such zones.
For several years, a small coalition of groups - including Peace Brigades International - had been planning to host Jani Silva, perhaps the most threatened woman in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest.
Jani has been an outspoken environmental defender for years, challenging the expansion of oil operations and other threats to the Amazon Pearl, a biodiverse rainforest region along the Colombia-Ecuador border. She has received innumerable death threats of different varieties, and seen several of her fellow defenders killed for their activism as recently as late 2023.
PBI-Honduras has posted: “The Corruption Sentencing Court has just convicted 3 of the 6 former public officials accused in the ‘Fraud on Gualcarque’ case. We are observing the @COPINHHONDURAS [Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras] sit-in, which requested a conviction for the 6 accused people.”