Rapid Response Network

Murder of environmental rights defenderWalter Méndez Barrios, who was shot and killed outside his home in Las Cruces, in the Department of Petén, on the morning of March 16. He was a founding member of Petenero Front Against Dams (FPCR), an organization formed in 2005 to fight for the land rights and the right to water and other natural resources of those affected and threatened by the construction of hydroelectric dams.

Assassination of William Castillo Chimo, age 43, founder and treasurer of the Association of Agroecological and Mining Brotherhoods of Guamocol (AHERAMIGUA). AHERAMIGUA is a human rights organization in Guamocó in southern Bolívar Department that works to defend land rights, particularly the right of local communities to remain on their land.

unjust detaining of Gustavo Castro Soto, the sole witness to the murder of Berta Cáceres. The violation of his rights to due process and refusal of the government to allow him to return safely to his home country of Mexico.

assassaination of Berta Cáceres, Indigenous Rights leader and human rights defender, in her hometown of La Esperanza. Co-founder of COPINH who spent her life defending indigenous land and environmental rights.

assassination of five indigenous Tolupán residents of San Francisco Locomapa, whose community has been organizing to defend their ancestral lands from the economic interests of outsiders: large private landholders, hydroelectric dam companies, mining companies, and the timber industry.

police and military use force to block a march by mostly Lenca indigenous people protesting the construction of the Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque River

unjust arrest and detention of community leaders Jesús Arley Cartagena, Coordinator of the Human Rights Committee of the village of San José de Apartadó, and Laura Cataño Serna, member of the Peasant Association of San José de Apartadó and of the Human Rights Committee.

unjust imprisonment and maltreatment of Damián Gallardo Martinez, a teacher who has worked to defend the rights of indigenous communities and the right to education in the Mixe and Zapoteca regions of the Oaxaca Hills.

arson attack at the home of indigenous and environmental rights defenders Ana Miriam Romero and Rosalio Vasquez Pineda, members of the Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz (MILPAH) who are resisting construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Chinacla River in La Paz