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.
The Guardian reports that Mexican journalist María Elena Ferral Hernández was shot to death on March 30 in Papantla, Veracruz “as violent crime in the country – and attacks on the press – continue amid the coronavirus pandemic.”
“PBI´s accompaniment has been fundamental to the work of human rights defenders in Colombia, particularly to myself, David Ravelo Crespo, as a human rights defender in Barrancabermeja and in the Magdalena Medio region, the accompaniment has allowed our work to be protected in the whole region and has enabled us to attend many different spaces and has guaranteed our lives.
“PBI’s accompaniment is extremely important in the country because the Colombian State has not provided guarantees for human rights defenders to carry out our work. PBI’s accompaniment enables many defenders to stay in the country and not have to abandon our work.”
- Jorge Molano, lawyer and human rights defender
Located in the south of Mexico, the Isthmus of Tehuántepec crosses both Oaxaca and Veracruz. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are divided by only around 200km, making this Mexico’s narrowest point. Development projects have been operating in the area since the early 20th century, and PBI has accompanied human rights defenders protecting land and territory – and facing threats for their opposition to such projects – since 2011.
“The isthmus, commercial route for the world”
Article by PBI-Mexico
Now more than ever, we must all defend human rights.
In this extraordinary time of uncertainty, fear and instability, Peace Brigades International - USA extends our solidarity to all of you who are struggling to remain optimistic in the face of such unique and global challenges.
“I arrived at PBI a long time ago and I pass by the house a lot to visit. These visits give me the strength to continue fighting for justice – the hugs and conversations with the PBI volunteers are like a vitamin for me that gives me strength”
- Doña Blanca, member of the Victims of State Crimes Movement, MOVICE and victim from La Guajira where paramilitaries killed her husband and daughter.
The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project is drawing attention to the situation of continued violence and threats against human rights defenders during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting quarantine measures.
Marco Rivadeneira, Ángel Ovidio Quintero, and Ivo Humberto Bracamonte killed
Peace Brigades International has been chosen as a recipient of the Gernika Awards for Peace and Reconciliation for “facilitating the transformation of conflicts and for laying the foundations for future reconciliation processes.”
In February 2020, the Olopa Resistance celebrated its first anniversary of the installation of a sit-in on the road to the mine. This short video produced by James Rodriguez, former PBI Gaute Project volunteer, about the struggle of the Peaceful Resistance of Olopa in Guatemala, accompanied by Nuevo Dia, against the mining project that started its activities in their territory without a prior, free and informed consultation.