On Thursday, 2 March, Jimboy Tapdasan Pesadilla was contacted by a neighbour to go to his parent’s house urgently. When he got to the house, he found several neighbours outside the house and a team of police inside, taking pictures. His father and mother had both been shot dead.
Ramon Dagaas Pesadilla and his wife Leonila Tapdasan Pesadilla were both active members of the Compostela Farmers’ Association( CFA). The CFA has been vocal in its opposition to major mining projects in the area, and as a result their members have been regular targets for the security forces and thugs hired by the mining companies. Ramon and Leonila had recently donated land for a Lumad community school. This had made them a particular target for attack as the security forces accuse indigenous community schools of fostering support for the New People’s Army (NPA – the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which has been waging an armed struggle against the government of the Philippines since the 1960’s). Human rights groups have reported an upward trend in human rights violations against indigenous people ever since fighting resumed between communist rebels and government forces following the termination of both parties’ unilateral ceasefires early last month.
These latest killings bring to 18 the number of killings of HRDs and members of peasant communities since the start of 2017.
According to a report published on Friday by the Colombian Defensoría de Pueblo ( National Human Rights Ombudsman), a total of 120 civil leaders have been killed in Colombia in the past 14 months fuelling concerns for the delicate peace process.
The Ombudsman’s office also reported 33 attempted killings and 27 attacks.
On 02 March 2017 Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao was in Medellin visiting her family when she was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen.
Ruth Alicia worked with a group of 12 indigenous and afro descendant communities on a food security project organised by the “Cumbre Agraria”. Both Ruth Alicia and her family are respected community leaders recognised for their sense of social responsibility and their solidarity with the communities in which they have lived. As a result of this social engagement, in health and education projects, Ruth Alicia and her family had been repeatedly threatened and forcibly displaced by paramilitary groups on two occasions.
On 2 March 2017, Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao was visiting family members in the Olaya Herrara neighbourhood in Medellín, Colombia, when she was assassinated by unidentified gunmen. According to witnesses, Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao was shot several times by two men while she was at her brother’s restaurant.
The killing of Ruth Alicia brings to 25 the number of community leaders and HRDs killed in Colombia since the start of this year. In its 2017 Annual Report, which covers the period January December 2016, Front Line Defenders reported 281 killings of HRDs worldwide. Eighty-six of those killings took place in Colombia, which makes Colombia the country with the highest number of killings of HRDs in the world.
The day after the killing Ruth Alicia’s sister received a phone call from someone in the area warning her that there was a rumour going around that the killers were waiting for Ruth Alicia’s sisters and mother to appear at the funeral so that they could be picked off too.
As a result of her social engagement in health and education projects, areas in which paramilitary militias want to retain control, Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao and her family had been repeatedly threatened and forcibly displaced by paramilitary groups on several occasions. The day after the killing, Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao’s sister received a phone call from someone in the area warning her that there was a rumour that the killers were waiting at the funeral of Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao to target her sisters and mother.
The Colombian government signed a peace deal with FARC rebels in November, but this has not made the country safer for indigenous and human rights activists. Instead, 2016 and the early months of 2017 have actually been some of the most dangerous times for activists, which some attribute to the power vacuum in areas historically controlled by FARC as they disarm. Despite all evidence to the contrary the government continues to maintain the position that these killings are neither systematic nor linked to paramilitary activity.
Front Line Defenders condemns the killing of WHRD Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao which is believed to be linked to her work in defence of the rights of her community. Front Line Defenders is also concerned at the increase in the number of killings of HRDs in Colombia. The government has invested too much effort in questioning whether some of the victims were actually HRDs rather than taking effective action to prevent the killings from happening.
Hoy hace un año, asesinaron a Berta, la defensora de la vida, luchadora de siempre, mujer viento libre, palabra certera y cuidadosa. Una mujer a quien la belleza le importaba en el sentido más hondo del término. Esa que evidencia la vulgaridad de los políticos de oficio, seres humanos que una desea lejos de los poderes de la vida colectiva hondureña, que se desprecian tanto como se desprecia al dictador y su séquito obsceno de abundancia en el epicentro de la miseria.
Desde esta fecha, en la que Berta, semilla de rebeldía fue sembrada, en el que cientos de personas repudiamos el hecho, de que en este país se asesine a quien defiende los bienes comunes, hicieron sentir en las calles y en distintos medios la solidaridad tanto nacional como internacional y con esto lograr frenar el financiamiento del Banco holandés FMO y del banco finlandés Finnfund, principales financiadores del proyecto hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca.
Aunque la exigencia de justicia para Berta no ha cesado, el Ministerio Público no ha logrado dar una respuesta favorable a esta petición, pues quienes ordenaron éste tan terrible crimen continúan en libertad, pese a los hallazgos encontrados de la relación cercana entre los detenidos y la empresa Desarrollo Energético S.A. (DESA), empresa responsable de implementar el proyecto hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca en territorio indígena Lenca sin un verdadero proceso de consulta previa e informada, como lo establece el Convenio 169 de la OIT sobre los pueblos indígenas.
Hoy hace un año, asesinaron a Berta, la defensora de la vida, luchadora de siempre, mujer viento libre, palabra certera y cuidadosa. Una mujer a quien la belleza le importaba en el sentido más hondo del término. Esa que evidencia la vulgaridad de los políticos de oficio, seres humanos que una desea lejos de los poderes de la vida colectiva hondureña, que se desprecian tanto como se desprecia al dictador y su séquito obsceno de abundancia en el epicentro de la miseria.
Desde esta fecha, en la que Berta, semilla de rebeldía fue sembrada, en el que cientos de personas repudiamos el hecho, de que en este país se asesine a quien defiende los bienes comunes, hicieron sentir en las calles y en distintos medios la solidaridad tanto nacional como internacional y con esto lograr frenar el financiamiento del Banco holandés FMO y del banco finlandés Finnfund, principales financiadores del proyecto hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca.
Aunque la exigencia de justicia para Berta no ha cesado, el Ministerio Público no ha logrado dar una respuesta favorable a esta petición, pues quienes ordenaron éste tan terrible crimen continúan en libertad, pese a los hallazgos encontrados de la relación cercana entre los detenidos y la empresa Desarrollo Energético S.A. (DESA), empresa responsable de implementar el proyecto hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca en territorio indígena Lenca sin un verdadero proceso de consulta previa e informada, como lo establece el Convenio 169 de la OIT sobre los pueblos indígenas.
Continuamos demandando al Estado de Honduras la participación activa del equipo legal que acompaña el caso como del COPINH, para que la investigación sea efectiva, además de garantizar el respeto a la integridad física de quienes forman parte del Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras COPINH Y los familiares de Berta Cáceres.
A estas demandas nos sumamos muchas voces desde diversas regiones, hace un año que exigimos justicia y lo continuaremos haciendo por Berta y las luchas del pueblo lenca.
Video coproducido por Front Line Defenders y la IM-Defensoras, con la contribución de la Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras en el relato y la narración.
