Home › Accompaniment › International legal experts gravely concerned at lack of protections for Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders in Guatemala

International legal experts gravely concerned at lack of protections for Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders in Guatemala

By on • ( 0 )

Peace Brigades International UK (PBI-UK) accompanied a group of international lawyers to Guatemala concerned at UN and civil society reports regarding human rights violations associated with agrarian conflict in Alta Verapaz.

The International Delegation of Independent Lawyers travelled to Alta Verapaz, where they heard concerning allegations about violence in the context of forced evictions when they visited Indigenous communities and met with local authorities. They will publish a full report in September, but in their initial observations the lawyers highlighted:

  • Apparent ‘systemic failures’ in the protection of Indigenous rights.
  • Indigenous land defenders in the firing line after opposing extractive projects and unsustainable agricultural developments.
  • The need to guarantee access to justice.
  • Widespread criminalisation of human rights defenders proving an obstacle to ensuring accountability and the rule of law.

[…]

The delegation observed first-hand the deteriorating human rights situation in relation to evictions of rural communities in the Alta Verapaz region, and sustained meetings with a range of civil society organisations including the Verapaz Union of Peasant Organisations (UVOC) and Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), who receive protective accompaniment from Peace Brigades International (PBI) due to the threats they face.

In Guatemala, those who defend the right to land, territory and a healthy environment have faced threats, intimidation, attacks and killings. In the Alta Verapaz Region in 2022 there was an alarming increase in cases of criminalization against human rights defenders in the region as well as a wave of violent evictions of indigenous communities.

You can read the full note, with links and pictures, here, International legal experts gravely concerned at lack of protections for Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders in Guatemala.

‹
›

Categories: Accompaniment, Corruption, Criminalisation, Culture, Environment, Evictions, Genocide, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Legal, Lobbying, Military, Mining, Poverty, Racism, Report, Resource Extraction, Solidarity in Action, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala, Violence

Tags: , , , ,

Post comments here