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 Indonesian NGO ELSAM (Institute for Research Policy and Advocacy) has made the book Writing for Rights: Human Rights Documentation from the Land of Papua available for free download on their website at http://elsam.or.id/2017/05/writing-for-rights-human-rights-documentation-from-the-land-of-papua/
On this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, PBI recognizes the challenges that victims of enforced disappearances face and we also celebrate their resilience.
Mexico City, 15 August 2016.– On 19 August, PBI volunteers accompanied the organisations Tierra Nativa, COSYDDHAC and CONTEC to a meeting of the Regional Consultative Council of the Copper Canyon. Various issues were covered in the meeting in relation the tourism project, which led the local communities to write an official letter to President of the Republic Enrique Peña Nieto in 2014.
Chihuahua, Chih., 15 August 2016.– NGOs from Chihuahua convened a press conference to celebrate the adoption of a Preventative Alert for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and demand Civil Society to be consulted regarding its implementation.
PBI marked its presence during the conference and will be monitoring the implementation of the Preventative Alert.
Mexico City, 9 August 2016.– A court judgement in 2014
Mexico City, 26 May 2016.– PBI Mexico and WOLA published today the report "Mexico’s Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists: Progress and continued challenges.”
You may download the report at this link.
