PBI-Mexico accompanies reconnaissance activities in Oaxaca in the continuing search for EPR members Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez
Photo by Noticias Oaxaca NVI.
Land and Environmental Defenders
Many indigenous and traditional farming (or campesino) communities are struggling to protect the land on which their livelihoods depend. Often living in conditions of extreme poverty, they rely on their land for food, shelter, and cultural identity. In some cases, pollution from mining threatens to seep into the land and water. In others, communities have been forced from their land for development projects or monoculture plantations, condemning them to internal displacement and landlessness. Others campaign for sustainable land use, seeking to halt patterns of destruction for the benefit of future generations.
Defenders of land rights, culture, and natural resources can find themselves facing powerful interests and brutal opposition. Some have approached PBI for protection after they have been attacked or their colleagues assassinated. Many others have been subjected to criminal prosecutions based on spurious charges.
PBI-Colombia accompanies Peace Community on the 24th anniversary of July 8 massacre as paramilitary threats against community continue
PBI-Colombia has posted:
“We accompany the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, @sanjoapartadó in the commemoration of the massacre of July 8, 2000, in which 6 of its members were murdered in the village of La Unión by paramilitaries in collusion with the security forces. To remember is an act of resistance.”
PBI-Honduras attends National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) assembly amid threats against the organization
PBI-Honduras has posted:
“Yesterday [June 24], we attended the Assembly of the @CNTC [National Union of Rural Workers] El Progreso. The organization has been defending the rights of the campesinos for more than 30 years, claiming their access to land and supporting the development of agricultural production and small livestock projects.
PBI-Mexico concerned by 226 attacks against community defenders opposed to Interoceanic Corridor megaproject
Photo: PBI-Mexico was part of the Civilian Observation Mission (MCO) in July 2023 documenting concerns about this megaproject.
PBI-Mexico accompanied Espacio OSC denounces Civil Force violence and water takings by Carroll Farms pig farms
Photo: The Civil Force in Veracruz.
PBI-Colombia accompanies the Peace Community touring villages of Mulatos, Resbalosa and Calzón Rojo
PBI-Colombia has posted:
“We accompanied the Peace Community @sanjoapartado, touring the villages of Mulatos, Resbalosa and Calzón Rojo in #Urabá.
Their community work strengthens the defense of the territory from food sovereignty. We recognize this political project, which persists in search of peace and respect for life. #WeArePBI”
Civil society orgs worldwide release new supplement to UN Declaration protecting human rights defenders
Following a year-long project involving consultations with human rights defenders, Peace Brigades International joined a coalition of human rights organizations to release the Declaration +25, a landmark document systematizing relevant developments in regional and international human rights law and standards of the last 25 years.
PBI-Mexico calls for respect for the Communal Guard of the Indigenous Nahua community of Santa María Ostula following CJNG attack
Photo by Comunicación Ostula.
PBI-Mexico has posted: