Paying tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders on International Women’s Day 2019
March 8, 2019
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.
Imminent Risk of Attacks and Forced Displacement Against Land Claimants in the Bajo Atrato Area
February 25, 2019
Despite multiple alerts, illegal armed actors continue to fight for control of the territory in the Jiguamiandó and Curbaradó river basin areas (in the region of Urabá in northwest Colombia), resulting in ongoing violence and killings, placing the Afro-Colombian, mixed-ethnicity and indigenous communities in the region at serious risk and affecting their physical and emotional security and integrity.
VICTORY: Human rights defender Obtilia Eugenio Manuel released safely
February 20, 2019
On February 12th, between 07:00 and 07:40 am, human rights defender Obtilia Eugenio Manuel and her companion Hilario Cornelio Castro disappeared. They were last seen in the town of Tierra Colorada in Guerrero, Mexico. Obtilia works for the Organization of Me Phaa Indigenous People and in years past has received accompaniment from PBI. She is a beneficiary of provisional measures granted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, but the measures were not being adequately implemented.
The need to implement collective protection measures: ACVC
February 8, 2019
Weighing up the new government of Mexico
January 22, 2019
From PBI we observe certain important actions from the new government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) that favor the protection of human rights defenders in Mexico. At the same time, we have noted a few tendencies that concern us. In this article we look at a few achievements and challenges for the new government and the reactions from Mexican and international civil society about the first few weeks of the MORENA government.
The struggle for life in Honduras
December 20, 2018
Honduras is full of natural riches: coral reefs, mountains covered in trees, clear rivers, and abundant flora and fauna. However, defending these natural resources can be a high-risk activity. According to an investigation by Global Witness, since 2010 more than 120 environmental defenders have been killed in Honduras.
Continued closing of spaces in Guatemala
December 14, 2019
#StandWithHer
Every day, more women all over the world are taking action to promote equality, peace and justice. It is these women who, whether they mean to or not, are transforming traditional gender roles and power structures by dedicating their lives to defending fundamental human rights. More and more, these extraordinary women are identifying themselves as human rights defenders. In general, it is said that women are doubly vulnerable, for being women and for defending human rights. However, they are strengthened by their determination to create positive change in our societies.