Environmental Human Rights: News & Updates

Reporting on the human rights situation in Guatemala, the US State Department illustrated worsening conditions and highlighted the role that corruption and impunity have played in the last year. The 2021 Human Rights Report–released on April 12–summarizes and provides examples of what the State Department deems “significant human rights issues” in Guatemala, including the following: unlawful and arbitrary killings; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; restrictions on freedom of expression, including threats and violence against journalists; interference with freedom of association and organization; and significant corruption. 

On April 1, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies ASODEBICOQ [the Association for the Defense of Common Goods of Quimistan] during the official presentation of declarations of Forest Protection Zone over 4 micro-watersheds in Quimistán. We celebrate these declarations and highlight the protection work of the communities as well as the defense work of ASODEBICOQ.”

On March 31, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “@Ccajar, on behalf of Afrowilches, and other human rights organizations file tutelage against #fracking pilots in #PuertoWilches for lack of prior consultation with Afro-Colombian communities who, in the midst of threats, protect their #ancestral territory, water and ecosystem.” Their tweet helped to amplify this statement from the PBI-Colombia accompanied José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CCAJAR) that notes: “Human rights organizations together with the Colombia Free of Fracking Alliance, filed before a Circuit Court a charge against the Ministry of the Interior, the ANLA [National Environmental Licensing Authority] and Ecopetrol, for the violation of the right to prior, free and informed consultation of the Afro-Colombian Corporation of Puerto Wilches – Afrowilches.”

The Observatory for Justice for the Guapinol River Defenders urged the State of Honduras to compensate the damages caused, investigate and punish those responsible for the events and offer immediate physical and psychological protection measures to the defenders and their environment. In February 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention made public its resolution that the "preventive" detention of the eight defenders was illegal and called for their immediate release; as well as an exhaustive and independent investigation of the judges and prosecutors who promoted the trial. However, the State of Honduras did not take any measures to put an end to and redress their unjust deprivation of liberty. It was not until February 24 2022 that all eight environmental defenders had been released.

The mining conflict in Azacualpa has shown the implications of mining activity in the territories of Honduras, under a state policy that promotes extractivism in an excessive manner and that, apart from environmental damage, has resulted in the exile of entire communities. This mining company generated the displacement of three villages in the municipality: San Andrés Minas, San Miguel and Azacualpa. In the case of San Andres, the mining company negotiated with the municipal and central government the total relocation of the community. While, in the case of San Miguel and Azacualpa, the displacement was partial. The current conflict in Azacualpa is a socio-political and environmental conflict motivated by the actions of the MINOSA mining company that, in its eagerness to extract and exploit the commons, has destroyed the biodiversity and ecosystems of the area and (if that were not enough) has dispossessed families of the cemeteries where their relatives have been buried for more than two hundred years.

According to the INDEPAZ human rights organisation, the first three months of 2022 saw a rise in killings of social activists and massacres. From 1 January to 31 March, there were 48 murders of social activists and 27 massacres, compared with 42 and 23 respectively in 2021. There was a slight decline in the number of former FARC combatants murdered, from 14 in January-March 2021 to 11 this year. The scale of violence reflects the lack of a non-military state presence in many parts of the country and the expansion of paramilitaries and other armed groups. The government of Iván Duque still has not properly implemented security mechanisms contained in the 2016 peace agreement even though the United Nations has repeatedly said these are urgently required to address the violence. Here is JFC’s monthly summary of human rights violations in Colombia.

This past weekend was one of the most violent in El Salvador. At least 80 people were killed in different parts of the country, allegedly by gang members. We at WOLA condemn this situation, and stand in solidarity with the families of victims, local communities, and with the entire population that suffers because of these crimes. We reaffirm their right to live in peace and without violence.