Source: El Espectador

Un indígena reclamante de tierras, un líder de víctimas y una lideresa de sustitución de cultivos ilícitos fueron las tres víctimas que dejó la semana de pascua en Cauca y Meta. Según el programa Somos Defensores, en los últimos tres meses 45 líderes fueron asesinados.

La semana de pascua terminó con un saldo en rojo para la implementación del acuerdo de paz: tres líderes sociales fueron asesinados, dos en Cauca y uno en el Meta, quienes fueron ultimados a tiros y en presencia de sus familiares. Así lo reportaron las organizaciones sociales del país, cuya alerta estuvo acompañada de una cifra escalofriante: 45 líderes sociales fueron asesinados en los primeros tres meses de 2018. Es decir, 26 más que en el mismo periodo de 2017 y 31 más que en 2016.

El primer homicidio se registró el viernes 30 de marzo a las 6:40 p.m., en la vía que comunica de Corinto hacia la vereda El Guanábano (norte del Cauca). Según lo informó el Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (Cric), Héctor Janer Latín fue encontrado abaleado y sin signos vitales en un paraje de la vereda Gualanday, en donde también encontraron sus documentos y su celular, pero no su motocicleta.

También lea: Estos tres líderes fueron asesinados sin recibir protección del Estado

Las autoridades tradicionales aún no se atreven a mencionar responsables, sin embargo, dejaron constancia de que el hecho sucedió en el mismo lugar en donde minutos antes había estado el Ejército haciendo un retén. “El asesinato de Héctor Janer se da en el contexto de un descomunal escalamiento de la guerra en el norte del Cauca. Por un lado, grupos que se hacen llamar guerrilleros desafían la autonomía comunitaria sembrando terror y, por otro, grupos neoparamilitares operan, muchas veces, ante la vista gorda del Ejército y la Policía. Los mismos que han disparado contra civiles indefensos en acciones similares a las que en otros tiempos realizaban los grupos paramilitares”, sentenció el Cric a través de un comunicado que circuló en todos los resguardos indígenas del norte del Cauca.

El otro homicidio se registró en la noche del viernes santo, durante la procesión tradicional en la que participaban los pobladores de Rosas (sur del Cauca). Según lo reportó la Red por la Vida y los Derechos Humanos del Cauca, el líder de víctimas Belisario Benavidez fue abaleado en dos oportunidades por un joven que caminaba por el centro del pueblo, quien aprovechó el momento en que la víctima estaba subiendo a un sobrino a su motocicleta, para disparar. Tras caer el cuerpo del líder, el joven minutos después regresó para rematarlo.

De acuerdo con la organización de derechos humanos, Benavidez había llegado hace apenas dos años al municipio de Rosas. Era integrante de la mesa de víctimas de esa localidad y se desconoce si tenía amenazas por el ejercicio de su liderazgo comunitario. Los testigos de los hechos señalaron que la Policía capturó a un presunto responsable, pero que luego lo dejó en libertad al no hallarle elementos probatorios para incriminarlo en el hecho. El arma con la que fue asesinado Benevidez fue encontrada en un pastizal en el centro de Rosas.

Y del último crimen se informó el pasado primero de abril. Lo reportó la Fundación por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos del Oriente y Centro de Colombia (DHOC), a través de una detallada descripción de la labor que desempeñaba la dirigente campesina María Magdalena Cruz Rojas. Fue asesinada a las 9:00 p.m. del 30 de marzo frente a su esposo y su hijo en la vereda Unibrisas en zona rural de Mapiripán (Meta).

También lea: Siguen matando líderes sociales, un año después del acuerdo de paz

Teniendo en cuenta el informe de la organización social, Cruz Rojas era una de las líderes más importantes de Mapiripán en el Programa Nacional de Sustitución de Cultivos Ilícitos (PNIS), el cual surgió tras el acuerdo de paz con las Farc con el fin de que los campesinos erradicaran voluntariamente los cultivos de coca y marihuana a cambio de recibir inversión en el campo.

Sobre este último tema, los delegados de la Coordinadora de Cultivadores de Coca, Amapola y Marihuana (Coccam) se pronunciaron esta semana. Pusieron sobre la mesa la posibilidad de retirarse del programa por incumplimientos del Estado y el asesinato de los líderes que promueven la sustitución voluntaria en los territorios.

De acuerdo con el comunicado que emitió la Coccam, a la fecha han sido asesinados 31 integrantes de esta organización, que surgió tras el acuerdo de paz con las Farc para organizar a los campesinos del país que por años han trabajado con los cultivos de uso ilícito ante la ausencia del Estado.

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Source APHR – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights

JAKARTA, 12 March 2018 — Regional MPs today condemned the killing of indigenous, environmental activist Ricardo Pugong Mayumi in the Philippines earlier this month and called for a prompt and thorough investigation into his murder.

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said the killing highlights the increasingly hostile climate faced by activists in the Philippines, and reflects broader regional and global trends that have seen a rising tide of threats and violence against land and environmental rights defenders.

APHR also urged the Philippine government, along with all ASEAN member governments, to do more to promote and protect the rights of indigenous communities. “This case is emblematic of the grave dangers faced by Filipinos, particularly those from indigenous communities, who choose to exercise their fundamental rights as they seek to protect their land, natural resources, and livelihoods. We urge the relevant authorities in the Philippines to undertake a full investigation and bring perpetrators to account. Justice must be served,” said APHR Board Member Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

Mayumi, an indigenous person and environmental rights defender, was shot dead on 2 March at his home in Ifugao province in the Philippines. As a leader of the Ifugao Peasant Movement (IPM), he had been involved in organizing opposition to a major hydropower project planned for the area. He and other IPM members reportedly had been receiving death threats since at least 2012. Parliamentarians noted that Mayumi’s case is only one of a large number of similar killings. The Philippines has been the deadliest country in Asia for land and environmental rights defenders in the past three years, according to statistics from the NGO Global Witness, and 2017 alone saw 41 of them killed in the country, out of a total of nearly 200 murdered globally.

Hundreds more have faced judicial harassment, intimidation, and threats, including from top government officials. “It’s dangerous to be an environmental rights defender anywhere in the world these days, but especially in the Philippines, where large corporations are increasingly trampling on community lands and livelihoods, and impunity too often reigns. It is also deeply distressing that the government appears actively hostile to the idea of protecting human rights defenders,” Sundari said.

In a related development, MPs also expressed concern about the inclusion of UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, along with other indigenous activists from the Philippines, on a list of alleged members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), following the recent submission by the Justice Department of a petition to list these entities as “terrorist organizations.” “This is a deeply dangerous move by the government. In a context where indigenous people put their lives on the line each and every day to defend their rights, labeling them as ‘terrorists’ adds insult to injury and further undermines their security and basic rights,” said APHR Board Member Walden Bello, a former Philippine Congressman.

APHR noted that the problem of impunity for similar attacks also extends beyond the Philippines, with indigenous and environmental activists killed, imprisoned, and threatened across the ASEAN region. In Cambodia, for instance, three people, including conservation workers, were shot dead after confronting illegal loggers in January. Last year also saw the extra-judicial killing of an indigenous activist in Thailand, an incident which has yet to be properly investigated, despite calls from APHR and other groups.

In addition, pursuing justice in cases where powerful individuals are caught undermining environmental protection efforts is often an uphill battle, APHR said, highlighting the recent case of a construction company mogul in Thailand caught poaching in a wildlife sanctuary. “These corporate elites see the environment as a poaching ground. As ASEAN integration proceeds apace, we must work as a region to make sure that the benefits do not accrue only to the elite and corporations, but also to people at the grassroots.

Safeguards are needed to ensure that local communities do not continue to be victimized and attacked for demanding their rights,” Bello said. “Lawmakers have a duty to help put such safeguards in place. Multinational corporations, which all too often are connected to these incidents, need to take responsibility as well,” he added.

Contact: Phone: +66 99 278 7334 Email: oren@aseanmp.org

“Piedra en el Zapato” – “Stone in the Shoe”.

Bogotá D.C. March 1, 2018 – Communications Programma Somos Defensores

Programma Somos Defensores Annual Report for 2017: Carlos Guevara looks at the critical situation for HRDs in Colombia.

“Yes, peace brought less general violence in Colombia but instead the violence focused on social leaders and human rights defenders (HRDs). 2017 was a sad year considering the 32.5% increase in killings which resulted in the deaths of 106 HRDs while 2018 seems likely to continue the same trend with 18 killings of HRDs in January alone. The government continues to issue decrees that are never implemented and we still don’t know if the new government will shelve them. Social leaders in rural areas of the country are facing another year of targeted violence that shows no sign of abating.

This report is an analysis of a year that we do not want to repeat.

Download the report HERE

Watch our launch video HERE

2017 was a year in which the armed confrontation and its endless list of victims ceased to be daily news. The signing and beginning of the implementation of the Peace Agreements, brought about a substantial decrease in deaths; However, in the midst of this positive trend, another phenomenon became increasingly evident and showed an unacceptable increase: the murder of social leaders and HRDs in Colombia.

Despite the peace process there are a number of trends which continue to put the lives of HRDs at risk: HRDs continue to be the target of systematic violence due to, newly emerging conflicts, : the absence of a state presence in some areas, the unbridled focus on the extraction of natural resources; drug trafficking; the fight for the land; hate crimes; corruption; the struggles of other guerrilla groups of paramilitary descent, the growing presence of Mexican drug cartels and organised crime in ex-FARC areas, among others.

Undoubtedly, 2017 was the most critical year in the eight year term of President Juan Manuel Santos. This level of violence against HRDs is very serious and besides worrying the human rights community, researchers, the international community and sectors sensitive to the phenomenon, it has become a STONE IN THE SHOE (Piedra em el Zapato) of the Santos Government in the context of its policy to create the conditions for peace. And at the same time HRDs in Colombia are also the “STONE IN THE SHOE” for those who want to seize control of the national territory, using any available means. As a result they get attacked from both sides.

During 2017, 560 HRDs were attacked, which figure included 106 killings (32.5% increase), 370 threats, 50 attacks, 23 arbitrary detentions, 9 judicial proceedings and 2 thefts of sensitive information. Looking at the figures for the killings we can see that there was progress in 30% of the cases. In relation to killings of HRDs this report includes a comparative analysis of the various reports produced by social and human rights organisations in 2017. In this analysis we have found considerable convergence in the findings across all these reports in relation to, the number of killings of HRDs, the pattern of the killings, the profile of the leaders targeted, the areas with the highest number of killings and the identity of the alleged perpetrators.

The report also examines a number of issues that are central to the protection of HRDs, including:

• the role of the new legal provisions derived from the Havana Agreement on issues for the protection of defenders that have not yet been implemented and remain on paper;

• the failure of the Colombian Government to take preventive action;

• the lack of progress in the Prosecutor’s office that is still not in a position to meet the demand for justice;

• the slow response of state bodies in taking pre-emptive action before the massacre of defenders

• the ongoing and constant stigmatisation of these activists that with the upcoming elections will raise the level of danger they face in every corner of the country.

But despite such bad news, the report also notes concrete proposals to get the country out of this mess and start looking for joint solutions to a problem that far from diminishing, is increasing daily and seems to want to stay for a long time. There is an urgent need to alert candidates to the Presidency so that, if they are elected, they don’t simply file this vital issue for the future of the country away in a drawer.

For the publication of this report we have counted on the invaluable collaboration of several prominent national cartoonists, who in solidarity have used their images to portray the reality faced by the country’s social leaders. So a special thanks to Julio César González – MATADOR, Pablo Pérez – ALTAIS, Carlos Arturo Romero, Marco Pinto, Harold Trujillo – CHÓCOLO and Cecilia Ramos – LA CHÉ. Your work may be appreciated in the report”.

The complete figures on attacks against human rights defenders in Colombia for 2017 and other periods can be consulted at www.somosdefensores.org

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Aunque la tasa general de homicidios disminuyó con el acuerdo de paz, la violencia se ha enseñado contra quienes defienden los derechos de los más vulnerables- es decir contra los mismos que sufrieron la guerra-. ¿Qué está pasando y qué se puede hacer?

Author Carlos Guevara

Source Razón Pública

Los salmones

Siempre he sentido fascinación por los salmones. Me asombra su capacidad de afrontar obstáculos y vencerlos. Los salmones enfrentan un sin fin de depredadores durante meses y en el momento culmen de su vida, nadan contra la corriente para poder reproducirse.

La vida de los líderes sociales en Colombia se asemeja a la de este pez extraordinario.

Durante décadas, los líderes sociales fueron la población más invisibilizada del conflicto armado. Tanto así que ni siquiera el Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica los mencionó en su principal documento, el informe Basta Ya. Han sido olvidados por el Estado colombiano en su conjunto. Los gobiernos de turno de los últimos 20 años han hecho todo lo posible por ocultar la violencia sistemática que sufren los líderes sociales de Colombia.

Desde la sociedad civil, el registro más antiguo de violencia contra líderes sociales es el  del Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (CINEP). Pero la documentación más precisa la tiene el Programa Somos Defensores, que cuenta con la base de datos más completa y donde se registran aproximadamente cinco mil defensores y defensoras de los derechos humanos que han sido agredidos.

Los diversos gobiernos de los últimos 20 años han hecho todo lo posible por ocultar la violencia estructural que sufren los líderes sociales.

Esta invisibilidad, que parecería ser lapidaria para los líderes sociales, no ha sido excusa para que estos “salmones” sigan adelante. En medio de la guerra, estos activistas en los ámbitos local, regional, nacional e internacional izaron la bandera de la salida negociada del conflicto como única forma de acabar con las hostilidades y así buscar un país distinto.

Hace veinte años comenzamos a oír de los “defensores de derechos humanos” gracias a la declaración de Naciones Unidas donde se definía quiénes eran estos activistas y se establecían las obligaciones de cada Estado miembro con estos hombres y mujeres.

Pero en Colombia ya los conocíamos, aunque con otros nombres: los llamábamos líderes campesinos, indígenas, afros, sindicalistas, líderes estudiantiles, feministas o ambientalistas. Claro está, una pequeña pero poderosa fracción de la población colombiana los llamaba de otras formas peyorativas: chusmeros, mamertos, revoltosos, guerrilleros, terroristas.

El pasado 27 de enero, el líder social y defensor de derechos humanos Temístocles Machado fue asesinado en Buenaventura por sujetos todavía desconocidos.

Hoy, a pesar de los años y del avance de la democracia, la ampliación del paquete de derechos humanos y la firma de un acuerdo de paz con la guerrilla más antigua del continente, los “salmones” se siguen muriendo, pero no de viejos.

2017: más violencia focalizada

Ministro de Defensa, Luis Carlos Villegas Foto: U.S Department of Defense

La implementación de los acuerdos de paz con las FARC tiene un sabor agridulce. Si bien es de suma importancia reconocer que el silencio de los fusiles implicó que tuviéramos la tasa de homicidios más baja en los últimos 30 años —24 por cada 100 mil habitantes—, esa tasa de homicidios se disparó focalizadamente en los defensores y defensoras de los derechos humanos.

Según cifras del Programa Somos Defensores los homicidios contra estos activistas vienen en aumento sostenido desde que empezó el proceso de paz:

• En 2013 hubo 78 casos
• En 2014, 55 casos
• En 2015, 63 casos
• En 2016 80 casos

En 2017 la cifra rompió la barrera de los 100 casos y en 2018 la situación no mejora y se torna aún peor con un registro de 18 líderes asesinados en los primeros 31 días del año.

De estos homicidios recientes de 2017 y lo que llevamos de 2018, los activistas con mayor número de muertes son los líderes campesinos, comunitarios, de juntas de acción comunal e indígenas en zonas rurales. Esto muestra que la violencia se concentró en personas defensoras pobres de lugares apartados del país donde la guerra ha estado siempre: departamentos como Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Valle de Cauca, Cauca, Nariño, Meta, Córdoba y Chocó.

Son personas con pocas posibilidades de acceder a la ayuda estatal: la misma población que ha puesto los muertos de esta guerra que no termina.

La violencia se focalizó en personas pobres de lugares apartados: la misma población que ha puesto los muertos de esta guerra que no termina.

Es aquí donde surge la pregunta del millón: ¿quién los está matando? Hay un mar de dudas.

Según la medición histórica de Somos Defensores, los mayores asesinos siguen siendo desconocidos (en parte por la inmensa impunidad, que llega al 87 por ciento según el informe especial STOP WARS – Paren la Guerra contra los defensores), seguidos de grupos de ascendencia paramilitar y con participaciones en menor proporción de fuerzas de seguridad del Estado y guerrillas.

Para las autoridades, los responsables de estos crímenes son de distintos tipos y por diversas motivaciones, como lo señaló el Fiscal General Néstor Humberto Martínez o incluso por “líos de faldas”, como lo dijo el Ministro de Defensa Luis Carlos Villegas. Infortunadamente, ambos funcionarios desconocen de tajo las motivaciones políticas que desde siempre han estado detrás de estas muertes y que aún no son investigadas a profundidad.

Más de 70 personas han sido capturadas por los crímenes de 2016 a 2018, pero ninguna de ellas corresponde a autores intelectuales sino tan solo a los que halaron el gatillo.

Un río de desafíos

Líderes sociales. Foto: Gobernación del Atlántico

En ese contexto, los “salmones” enfrentan el desafío de ser la pieza clave en la puesta en marcha de los acuerdos de paz, pues son ellos quienes tienen los contactos, el conocimiento de terreno y de las comunidades así como la experiencia organizativa y de vida para hablar de paz en medio de la guerra soterrada que aún los golpea.

Ellos fueron ellos quienes entre 2014 y 2017 lograron la movilización política de las víctimas, el avance en políticas estatales de derechos humanos y de protección, el no estancamiento de espacios tripartitos (Gobierno – Comunidad Internacional – Sociedad Civil) para garantizar la vigencia de los derechos humanos en Colombia e hicieron grandes contribuciones a las mesas de La Habana y de Quito.

El Estado colombiano tiene un río de desafíos para garantizar que los defensores sigan vivos y haciendo su trabajo:

1. Protección: Los mecanismos de protección existentes (decreto 1066 de 2015 y su programa de protección a personas en riesgo) y los derivados de los acuerdos de paz (Comisión de Garantías de Seguridad y No Repetición) aún no acaban de armonizarse.

El gobierno sigue protegiendo con escoltas, chalecos antibalas, vehículos blindados y teléfonos celulares, pero la protección colectiva, que es la que realmente se necesita, aún no despega muy a pesar de tener un decreto reglamentario (decreto 2078 de 2017).

Todo en el papel se ve bonito, pero a la fecha no hay dinero suficiente para cubrir semejante desafío. Actualmente, el Estado protege a 9 mil personas y en ello invierte más de 150 millones de dólares al año. El desafío es proteger nada menos que a 15 mil personas. Tampoco existe la capacidad institucional para atender el volumen de solicitudes de protección por venir.

No hay dinero suficiente para los líderes sociales, ni existe una institucionalidad preparada para dar abasto a las solicitudes de protección.

2. Prevención: Si bien el decreto 1066 de 2015 y su programa de protección a personas en riesgo dicen que el componente de prevención de esas violencias es fundamental, en la realidad nunca se han podido adoptar mecanismos eficaces para hacerlo.

Los mecanismos existentes, como el Sistema de Alertas Tempranas (SAT), no son tomados con la seriedad necesaria por el gobierno. Ejemplo de ello es el Informe de Riesgo 010 – 17 emitido el año anterior donde se advertía sobre el peligro que corrían más de 200 organizaciones de derechos humanos y sus activistas en 24 departamentos del país, sin que a la fecha se sepa qué hizo el gobierno para atender esta advertencia.

En el nuevo escenario de post acuerdo, el componente de prevención deberá ser una prioridad si no queremos seguir contando defensores muertos. Para lograrlo, ya hay un  nuevo decreto (decreto 2124 de 2017) que podría fortalecer la autonomía y eficacia del SAT. Amanecerá y veremos si se logra.

3. Investigación: Si bien hay que reconocer que en 2017 la Fiscalía avanzó como nunca antes en las investigaciones por crímenes contra defensores, falta avanzar en análisis sobre esta violencia y sobre los posibles patrones comunes entre estos crímenes.

Es muy positivo que el Fiscal General haya reconocido que hay indicios de “sistematicidad” en los asesinados de defensores, pero esta posición debe redundar en investigaciones profundas que develen los planes y organizaciones criminales detrás de estas muertes.

Solo cuando el salmón logra desovar en aguas más tranquilas, río arriba, descansa de su largo trayecto y recuerda que el camino que enfrentó recorrió y venció es la garantía de que sus descendientes tengan una oportunidad de vivir.

Así también los defensores de derechos humanos y líderes sociales han recorrido un largo camino hasta llegar a esta paz negociada con la esperanza de que sus descendientes y en general, sus propias comunidades, tengan esa oportunidad de conocer un país con menos dificultades para vivir en paz.

Colombia tiene la responsabilidad de estar a la altura de esa misión.

* Carlos Guevara es Coordinador de Comunicaciones, Incidencia y Sistema de Información de Derechos Humanos (SIADDHH) del Programa Somos Defensores, máster en Comunicación Política y Empresarial, especialista en Dirección de Cine, Video y TV, comunicador social y periodista.

Source The Guardian and Global Witness

Author Jonathan Watts

Exclusive: 197 people killed last year for defending land, wildlife or natural resources, new Global Witness data reveals. In recording every defender’s death, the Guardian hopes to raise awareness of the deadly struggle on the environmental frontline

The slaughter of people defending their land or environment continued unabated in 2017, with new research showing almost four people a week were killed worldwide in struggles against mines, plantations, poachers and infrastructure projects.

The toll of 197 in 2017 – which has risen fourfold since it was first compiled in 2002 – underscores the violence on the frontiers of a global economy driven by expansion and consumption.

“The situation remains critical. Until communities are genuinely included in decisions around the use of their land and natural resources, those who speak out will continue to face harassment, imprisonment and the threat of murder,” said Ben Leather, senior campaigner for Global Witness.

But there was a glimmer of hope that after four consecutive increases, the number of deaths has flattened off, amid growing global awareness of the crisis and a renewed push for multinational companies to take more responsibility and for governments to tackle impunity.

Most of the killings occurred in remote forest areas of developing countries, particularly in Latin America where the abundance of resources is often in inverse proportion to the authority of the law or environmental regulation.

Extractive industries were one of the deadliest drivers of violence, according to the figures, which were shared exclusively with the Guardian in an ongoing collaboration with Global Witness to name every victim.

Mining conflicts accounted for 36 killings, several of them linked to booming global demand for construction materials.

In India, three members of the Yadav family: Niranjan, Uday and Vimlesh, were murdered last May as they tried to prevent the extraction of sand from a riverbank by their village of Jatpura.

In Turkey, a retired couple, Ali and Aysin Büyüknohutçu, were gunned down in their home after they won a legal battle to close a marble quarry that supplied blocks for upscale hotels and municipal monuments.

The hunger for minerals was also blamed for turning the Andes into a “war zone” with high-profile conflicts between indigenous groups and the owners of Las Bambas copper mine in Peru and El Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia.

Agribusiness was the biggest driver of violence as supermarket demand for soy, palm oil, sugarcane and beef provided a financial incentive for plantations and ranches to push deeper into indigenous territory and other communal land.

With many of the tensions focussed in the Amazon, Brazil – with 46 killings – was once again the deadliest country for defenders. Relative to size, however, smaller Amazonian neighbours were more dangerous.

Colombia suffered 32 deaths, largely due to an uptick of land conflicts and assassinations in the wake of the 2015 peace deal, which left a power vacuum in regions previously operated by Farc guerrillas. Among the most prominent victims was Efigenia Vásquez, a radio and video journalist from the Kokonuko community who was shot during a protest “to liberate Mother Earth”.

Peru witnessed one the worst massacres of the year in September when six farmers were killed by a criminal gang who wanted to acquire their land cheaply and sell it at a hefty profit to palm oil businesses.

Gangs and governments were largely responsible for the bloodshed in the second and fourth countries on the list: Mexico with 15 killings (a more than fivefold rise over the previous year), and the Philippines, which – with 41 deaths – was once again the most murderous country for defenders in Asia.

A broader crackdown by the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, was a key factor. When his soldiers massacred eight Lumad in Lake Sebu on 3 December, the government claimed they died in a firefight with rebels, but fellow activists insisted they were killed for opposing a coal mine and coffee plantation on their ancestral land.

In Africa, the greatest threat came from poachers and the illegal wildlife trade, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo where four rangers and a porter were ambushed and killed in July. But the highest profile victim last year of the poaching conflict was Wayne Lotter, an influential conservationist who was murdered in Tanzania after receiving death threats.

Global Witness believe many more murders go unreported. Defenders are also being beaten, criminalised, threatened or harassed. In a recent example, Ecuadorean forest activist Patricia Gualinga reported last month that attackers had thrown rocks through her windows and yelled death threats at her.

This is common. The EU-funded Environmental Justice Atlas has identified more than 2,335 cases of tension over water, territory, pollution or extractive industries, and researchers say the number and intensity are growing.

Justice is rare. The assassins are often hired by businessmen or politicians and usually go unpunished. Defenders, who tend to be from poor or indigenous communities, are criminalised and targeted by police or corporate security guards. When they are killed, their families have little recourse to justice or media exposure.

But there are patches of progress. Some countries saw falls, notably Honduras and Nicaragua, though activists remain in a vulnerable situation.

Civil society groups and international institutions are also increasingly mobilising behind environmental rights. Last month, 116 organisations in the Philippines launched a petition declaring: “It is not a crime to defend the environment.”

Campaigners for indigenous communities have taken their struggle to global climate talks and the United Nations.

Some international institutions are willing to listen. Following criticism for having backed the Honduran hydro project linked to the murder of activist Berta Cáceres, the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) has broken ground by declaring the safety of human rights defenders to be a key factor in future investment decisions. “The time has come for more investors to step up and take measures which guarantee that their money isn’t fuelling attacks against activists,” said Leather.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, John Knox, urged governments to address the culture of impunity and said the media had an important role in boosting transparency.

“Environmentalists have been at risk for many years, but the full extent of the global crisis has only become clear as a result of the work of Global Witness and the Guardian to identify every environmental defender killed because of their work,” Knox said.

“As a result, it’s possible to see more clearly the underlying causes and risk factors, including the failures of governments to protect these defenders from threats and violence. I think that there are some signs that governments are starting to respond to the increasing international attention to these cases, but much more needs to be done.”

Source UCA News

Bong Sarmiento, Koronadal
Philippines

Gunfire during which eight people were slain only came from troops, investigation by church, rights groups claims

Eight tribal people, who reportedly died in an armed clash with Philippine troops in Mindanao last month, were killed in a massacre, according to an independent investigation conducted by the Philippine church and human rights groups.

In its report, the fact-finding mission rejected claims made by the military that the victims were communist guerrillas who died after an armed encounter with troops near Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato province on Dec. 3.

Dr. Benito Molino, a forensic expert who was part of the investigation, said at least 300 empty and live shells from M14 and M16 rifles were recovered from various sites where soldiers apparently fired their weapons.

“Based on physical evidence … it appears that there was no clash,” said Molino.

Lita Wali, sister of slain tribal leader Victor Danyan, said all the gunfire came from the soldiers. “We heard gunshots and my brother rushed out to see what’s happening,” she told members of the fact-finding team.

“He was gunned down. There was no exchange of gunfire,” said Wali. She admitted, however, that her brother was carrying a homemade gun.

Sister Susan Bolanio, executive director of the Oblates of Notre Dame’s Hesed Foundation, said Danyan was the target of the attack for being vocal in a tribal people’s claim over a contested piece of land.

“He was deliberately targeted to silence dissent in the area,” said the nun whose foundation has helped organize local tribal communities against mining and logging incursions into tribal lands.

Danyan was chairman Tamasco, a tribal group formed in 2006 to reclaim 1,700-hectares of ancestral land that was planted with coffee by an agri-industrial company.

The organization was also protesting the entry of coal mining operations on their ancestral land.

Aside from Danyan, his sons Artemio and Victor, son-in-law Pato Ceraldo, and his neighbors in Datal Bonlangon Samuel Angkoy, Mating Balabagan-Bantal, Toto Diamante, and Toto Danyan were also killed.

The villagers have since fled to nearby areas.

“We will continue the fight to reclaim our ancestral land even with the death of my father,” said Danyan’s daughter, Tarcela, who was also the wife of Pato Ceraldo. “Right now, we want justice for all the victims,” she added.

The military, however, claimed that the Dec. 3 encounter resulted in the taking over of the “largest [communist] guerrilla base” in the area.

Military spokesman Captain Arvin Encinas, said a firefight erupted around noon of Dec. 3 when communist fighters opened fire on patrolling soldiers near a “terrorist cave hideout” in the village of Datal Bonlangon.

The firefight also resulted in the wounding of five tribesmen, including an eight-year-old child, and the displacement of at least 200 villagers.

Members of the independent fact-finding mission have issued a statement calling on the Philippine government to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and for the military to withdraw troops in the area.

Press Release

• More than 300 Activists Murdered in 2017: Front Line Defenders Launches Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders At Risk
• Más de 300 activistas asesinados en 2017: Front Line Defenders lanza un informe anual sobre los defensores de los derechos humanos en riesgo
• Mais de 300 ativistas assassinados em 2017: Front Line Defenders lança relatório anual sobre defensores de direitos humanos em risco

Dedicated to the more than 300 human rights defenders murdered this year, the Front Line Defenders Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders At Risk opens with two pages listing the names of the deceased. Launched today in Dublin, the report details the physical attacks, threats, judicial harassment, and smear campaigns used by state, non-state, and corporate actors to hinder the work of peaceful human rights defenders (HRDs) around the world.

In 2017, 312 defenders in 27 countries were killed for their peaceful work, according to data collected by Front Line Defenders. More than two-thirds of these, 67% of the total number of activists killed, were defending land, environmental and indigenous peoples’ rights, nearly always in the context of mega projects, extractive industry and big business.

Of the cases tracked, only 12% of all murder cases resulted in the arrest of suspects. Impunity for acts of violence against HRDs continues to enable an environment of frequent killings, said the organisation, as does a chronic lack of protection for HRDs at risk. Of the cases for which data on threats was collected, 84% of murdered defenders received at least one targeted death threat prior to their killing.

“Around the world, defenders continue to tell us that police and government officials refuse to respond to requests for protection following death threats to activists,” said Executive Director Anderson, speaking at the launch of the report in Dublin. “Killings almost always occur following a series or pattern of threats, indicating that if preventive action were taken by police, and threats against defenders were taken seriously by authorities, HRD killings could be drastically reduced.” – Executive Director Andrew Anderson

In addition to the high rate of murders in 2017, criminalisation remained the most common strategy used to hinder the critical work of HRDs. In 2017, thousands of activists were detained on fabricated charges, subjected to lengthy, expensive and unfair legal processes or sentenced to long prison terms.

In a number of countries, authorities accused HRDs of “waging war against the state” and “secession,” charges which carry the death penalty. In the Middle East and North Africa, HRDs faced charges relating to terrorism, state security and espionage. In Vietnam, the government staged a systematic campaign against bloggers, academics and citizen journalists in 2017, with activists arrested, charged, labeled “enemies of the state” and given jail terms of up to ten years and addiiton time under house arrest.

The report also highlights that international pressure on governments who target HRDs is critical. In 2017, six HRDs in Sudan were detaiend and put on trial for “conspiracy to conduct espionage and intelligence activities in favour of foreign embassies” and “waging war against the state.” Three of them were detained for almost a year; two were tortured. Following an extensive campaign of domestic and international pressure, however, all six received a presidential pardon in August.

In many cases reported by Front Line Defenders, both judicial harassment and physical attacks were preceded by defamation and smear campaigns at the local level. Women human rights defenders around the world are increasingly reporting hyper-sexualized smear campaigns and defamation, which aim to limit their activism by eroding local support networks.

In response, according to Executive Direction Andrew Anderson, Front Line Defenders is working to promote HRD security with a range of protection programming. In addition to risk management and digital protection trainings, advocacy at the national, international, and EU level, emergency relocation, and nearly 500 protection grants provided to activists at risk in 2017, Front Line Defenders also works with HRDs to devise visibility campaigns to counteract the defamation and smear campaigns that put them at risk.

For more information or to speak with Front Line Defenders, please contact:
Erin Kilbride
erin@frontlinedefenders.org
+353 85 863 3655

Source: The Guardian

You can read the original article here

The recent interview with Colombian Minister of Defence Luis Carlos Villegas, in which he said that the vast majority of killings of human rights defenders in Colombia were due to “problems in their personal lives, such as quarrels with their neighbours or romantic partners or their involvement in illegal economic activity is a denial of reality and amounts to nothing less than an calculated smear campaign against human rights defenders.

Sr Villegas has also stated that apart from killings carried out by members of the ELN and the FARC, only 50 community leaders and HRDs were killed in 2017.

The Minister’s statement is a convenient work of fiction which bears no relation to the harsh reality of life for HRDs in Colombia. The state’s own Human Rights Ombudsman has stated that 204 community leaders and HRDs have been killed in the last two years, while the Attorney General, Nestor Humberto Martinez, has identified “systemic criminality” in the assassination of social leaders — something the government has always denied, despite the evidence presented in numerous human-rights reports.

In its Annual Report for 2016 Front Line Defenders reported 86 killings of HRDs, the vast majority of which have never been fully investigated. In its report for the first six months of 2017, Front Line Defenders partner organisation, Programa Somos Defensores, documented 52 cases of killings of HRDs in the first six months alone of 2017. The Front Line Defenders Annual Report for 2017 which will be launched in January 2018 is likely to report a similar level of lethal violence.

While the Minister maintains the official line that there is no pattern of organised paramilitary activity the facts tell a different story. On 31 July 2017, Front Line Defenders reported a fresh wave of threats from members of Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC), a paramilitary group operating in the municipality of Barrancabermeja, among others. The group circulated a pamphlet naming several rights groups and five defenders known for their work in the Colombian peace process.

The paramilitary group accused them of colluding with the government and the Farc rebels “against the interests of the Colombian people.” AGC stated that their communities would soon find them “chopped up in plastic bags.” Lest there be doubt about the possibility of gruesome attacks, the group added, “for your knowledge this is not a threat, it is a declaration of war. We are already in the area. You and your family know that.”

The Minister’s statement is a political smokescreen designed to relieve the pressure on the government from the international community to deal with the issue of the killings of HRDs.

“Front Line Defenders welcomes the fact that the State Prosecutor has initiated an investigation into the Minister’s statement but believes that the government of Colombia must immediately disassociate itself from the Minister’s comments and reiterate it’s full commitment to human rights and the protection of human rights defenders, as an integral part of the peace process”. said Andrew Anderson, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders.

At a time when the Colombian peace process is entering a critical phase, one of the key elements in guaranteeing the successful future implementation of the agreement is the restoration of trust in the institutions of state and in particular the criminal justice system and the security apparatus.

“At best the Minister’s statement shows a lack of understanding of the risks faced by human rights defenders in carrying out their peaceful human rights work. At worst it shows a cynical willingness to misrepresent the reality in which HRDs are attacked and killed on an almost daily basis”, said Anderson.

The prevailing climate of almost absolute impunity for these attacks on human rights defenders continues because of the lack of political will to address the systemic flaws in the state’s response to endemic violence, which the Minister, as the person in charge of the armed forces of the state, has a direct responsibility to address. Minister Villegas no longer has any credibility.

Andrew Anderson is Executive Director of Front Line Defenders www.frontlinedefenders.org