Americas Policy Group Concerned About OAS Meddling in Human Rights Commission Appointment

Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretary Luis Almagro has increasingly sought to control what are traditionally arms-length institutions of the organization. Most recently, Almagro has meddled in the appointment of the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an independent body of the OAS charged with investigating complaints of human rights violations committed by member states. The OAS Secretary General recently refused to ratify the Commission's recommendation to appoint Executive Secretary Dr. Paulo Abrão to a new term.

The Americas Policy Group (APG), a Canadian coalition of 27 organizations promoting human rights and equitable development in the Americas, is concerned that Almargo's interference in the appointment of the Commission's director undermines the ability of the IACHR to independently investigate human rights violations in the Americas. CoDevelopment Canada worked with other APG members to draft a letter of concern sent by the coalition to Canadian Foreign Minister François-Phillippe Champagne.

Please follow these links to read the APG's letter to Minister Champagne: IHRC Letter English

CoDevelopment Canada and Communities Resisting Racism

CoDevelopment Canada stands with and supports the black community and all racialized communities; every day, everywhere to end racism in all forms.

Recent deaths of members of the black community in the US and indigenous communities in Canada at the hands of law enforcement leave us heartbroken. Their lives, and the lives of black, indigenous and all peoples taken by violence, matter.

CoDevelopment Canada is founded on principles of social justice and global solidarity. We know that expressions of racism in the Americas are a result of colonization, and structural violence is prevalent throughout the Americas. Our partners in Latin America also fight these forces of oppression in their governments, institutions and societies.

We stand with black, indigenous, and all communities facing injustice. We pledge to continue to work to enforce international human rights and basic human dignity everywhere, especially in our own backyard.

Show your solidarity by supporting Canadian organizations working for Black and Indigenous communities.

https://blacklivesmattervancouver.comhttps://blacklivesmatter.ca/

https://www.hogansalleysociety.org/https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/en/http://www.idlenomore.ca/

https://www.nwac.ca/https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/https://stopracism.ca/

CUPE Delegation to Cuba - Reflections

During the week of November 10-16, 2019, CoDev Executive Director, Steve Stewart traveled to Cuba with delegates from CUPE National and CUPE BC. What follows are a series of "reflections" written by the delegates shedding light on their experiences and thoughts as they met with their brothers and sisters in Cuba.

Since 1998, CoDev has coordinated the partnership between the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Havana province section of the National Union of Public Administration Workers (SNTAP-Havana). With the most recent 5-year CUPE-supported project wrapping up this year – a shop steward training program that included the renovation and equipping of training classrooms at the union’s offices in different Havana municipalities – CoDev organized a delegation of CUPE representatives to meet their Havana partners. The project with SNTAP is supported by both CUPE National and CUPE BC, and representatives of both made-up the five-person delegation.

Delegates sought to evaluate the work of the 2014-19 training centres project, learn about the Cuban labour movement and the new challenges it faces with the recent tightening of the US trade embargo of the island, and to begin discussions with SNTAP representatives regarding future cooperation between the two unions.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Debra Merrier, Diversity Vice-President for Indigneous Workers, CUPE National

My first day as a member of the CUPE delegation in Havana, Cuba has been both amazing and overwhelming.

We had a meeting with SNTAP representatives of the province of Havana. They told us that this week the city of Havana would be celebrating its 500th anniversary, and talked a little about the history of the Havana province division’s partnership with CUPE, as well as the structure of the Cuban union movement.

There are 19 national unions in Cuba, all of whom belong to the Cuban Labour Federation, the CTC. With 249,000 members, SNTAP is among the four largest unions in Cuba. The education and health unions are the largest. The union representatives shared with us two great sayings for understanding life in Cuba: “It’s not easy,” but, “it can be done.”

Later, we visited the CTC building in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolution, one of several in Havana province. The unions belonging to the CTC have 15,616 members in this municipality, with most coming from the health-care, education, culture and public administration unions. We visited a training classroom that had been renovated and equipped with the support of CUPE and then met with the municipal SNTAP executive committee at their office there – Local 26. There were six executive officers who spoke with us – all women. They told us that union executive officers were elected at congresses for a five-year term. A representative cannot serve more than two terms - for a total of 10 years on the executive. They told us that in recent years, new policies have been developed by the Cuban unions to encourage more participation by youth. So now, if you are over 50, you can no longer run for an executive committee position. They also told us about a partnership the unions had developed with the University to enable union members to specialize in labour studies by attending courses on Saturdays from 9 AM - 4 PM.

Something that surprised me is that there is no automatic check-off of union dues in Cuban unions. Instead, every member comes to the municipal CTC building each month to pay their dues to the union they belong to. We asked the SNTAP representatives what happens if a member doesn’t pay. They said it is the responsibility of the stewards to remind members if they are overdue with paying their dues, but if a member doesn’t come in and make their payments for three months in a row, they could lose their affiliation to the union.

This first day of our delegation in Havana has been an emotional and very educational experience. As an indigenous person, I feel it is important for me to be a witness to all I see here and have learned.

Tuesday, November 12

Monique Menard-Kilrane, Senior Officer, CUPE National

The heat has not risen yet, and we are back on the road, this morning with Pepe and Mercedes. We drive to Barrio Nuevo Vedado, where we enter what is called a policlínico, a polyclinic. There are numerous of these community-based clinics throughout the province of Havana, 82 to be more precise.

The policlinic offers services that range from x-rays to pediatric, physiotherapy to traditional medicine.

After a fascinating presentation from the chief of the polyclinic, we are taken around the establishment to visit different consultation rooms, doctors, nurses, technical assistants and many more. Conchita and Jorge, both experienced doctors, are our guides through the hallways of this impressive system. A young physiotherapist reminds us of the ingenuity of the Cuban people: “Despite the embargo, we will make it work”, she says, as she shows us how they fill empty water bottles with sand to make weights for rehabilitation exercises.

The whole health care system is built around 4 principles: promotion, prevention, curing and rehabilitation. Health is seen as a holistic practice. Each policlinic is affiliated to local health clinics, 16 per neighbourhood. Conchita and Jorge guide us to the closest clinic where Marta and Leticia work respectively as doctor and nurse. Three medical students are also in residence at the clinic, including an international student from South Africa. In order to best promote, prevent, cure and rehabilitate, Maria tells us that the clinic studies the demographic and needs of the people in their neighbourhood. Home visits are carried out in a formal fashion and everything is noted, including injuries or sicknesses, social conditions and living conditions. This helps the practitioners find the best health program for each individual patient.

As this clinic’s demographic is mostly composed of seniors, Maria also invites us to a circle of grandparents, organised by the clinic every Wednesday morning. This circle is a chance for the seniors from the neighbourhood to come together and to share with Maria and Leticia. For the staff of the clinic, this is a great opportunity to better understand the needs and adjust the care.

The visits and discussions were an inspiring experience.

Wednesday, November 13

Rebecca Reynard, General Vice-President, CUPE Local 5430

We visited the Palco Convention Centre, which opened in 1979. It was developed for the Summit of the Non-Aligned Countries Movement, serves as the flag ship for State Business Groups, but also holds many international conferences. The Centre employs 4000 workers, all union members of a special branch of SNTAP, the public administration trade union. It consists of a main hall accommodating 2000 seats with a number of smaller halls accommodating up to 200 seats. During our visit the Centre was very active with a Health and Sports Convention; AFIDE 2019. There were a number of concession stands, gift shops and beautiful courtyards. Connected to the Centre by a skywalk is a large hotel. Their workers also union members. The 4000 members are organized by 10 locals with 94 units among them.

We attended the Import Office on the grounds of the Palco Convention Centre, with the intention to discover alternatives for sending a shipping container of supplies to Cuba. We were quickly made aware that this would not be possible through their service and were advised to do what we are currently doing.

Following this, we had a working meeting with SNTAP to go over where the project is now and our goals for the future. SNTAP is required to have the program proposal by January 2020 to submit for government permissions. SNTAP expressed concern that once a program is approved, the funds received can only be used for what is in the program proposal. The previous program was approved for union training. They created classrooms with equipment and trained trainers to give workshops. They are focused on health and safety, primarily the need to use protective equipment and measures and also making management aware of the importance of health and safety. They have spent what they can on union training, however are limited by accessibility issues resulting from the blockade. The remaining funds could be reassigned as a donation and that approval would need to come from CUPE and Co-Development. SNTAP suggested that the future program focus more heavily on equipment rather than funds. We also discussed a skills exchange, where one year, reps from CUPE would visit Cuba and another year where SNTAP would visit Canada.

Thursday, November 14th, 2019 – A visit to the Viñales

Carmen Michelle Sullivan, Alternate Regional Vice-President, CUPE BC

We were joined by Mercedes – Deputy General Secretary (SNTAP-Havana) and Marcel, the son of a SNTAP member, who acted as our guides. During the two and a half-hour drive to Viñales, we learned that 94% of all Cuban workers are unionized. In the country, many of the workers are self-employed, and the union has worked to organize by reaching out through door to door visits. These independent workers join the union for the benefits of advocacy for their rights, participation, and solidarity.

The drive was beautiful. It took only twenty minutes for us to move out of the city and into the country passing tobacco, sugar cane, rice, plantain, and banana plantations. There were intermittent farmhouses, and seemingly out of nowhere, workers would step out of the fields to the side of the highway with cheese and produce for sale.

Once we arrived in Viñales, a small town and municipality in the north-central Pinar del Río province of Cuba, we stopped at the Los Jazmines Hotel. We met with René, the General Secretary of the hotels and tourism union local. As a union leader, René is the advocate for 65 employees at the hotel. His primary role is advocating for the members to make sure management is providing adequate conditions, meals, and wages. He has a seat and voice at the table for all management meetings. Once a month, all the workers meet with management, which helps to mitigate any issues. As part of the Tourism union, the 65 members pay approximately 1% in union dues. The hotel has a lifeguard, a doctor and a nurse who belong to the public health union. The cultural workers’ union provides the musicians and performers, and cleanup of the grounds and waste removal is provided by the Municipal union, affiliated with SNTAP. All the union sectors work well together and show strong solidarity. Each province has a union school where anyone interested in becoming a union leader can receive training. The unions receive the training together, another strong indication of solidarity. Under Cuban law every 5.5 months, all workers receive 15 days vacation. They have one-year paid maternity with the option of a 2nd year at a reduced wage. Sick and disability benefits continue until the doctor clears them to be back at work. In the tourism sector, all union employees pool and share their tips.

That evening we returned to Havana, where we were treated to an evening at the Tropicana with the SNTAP and Tourism union representatives, including the national SNTAP General Secretary Yaisel Osvaldo Pieter Terry. On our way back from the Tropicana, we had the opportunity to speak with Alina, the General Secretary of the Havana section of the tourism workers’ union, about women in leadership. She said, “It is not easy in Cuba (referring to the US sanctions and blockades), it is never easy, but we can do it because we are together.” She is proud to be a union leader. She continued to say, women are mothers, wives, sisters, and because of that, they are strong. Women are nurturing, focus on teamwork, and are strong communicators. It was empowering to hear her passion.

Friday, November 15 - Banks and Tornados

Aman Cheema, Co-Chair for International Solidarity, CUPE BC

On our final day in Havana we visited the Banco Metropolitano, the Bank of the Capital in Havana. We were joined by Avigail Perez Llanes (General Secretary SNTAP Havana), and Aciel (Secretary of Economy SNTAP Havana), Rosa who is the General Secretary for the Union in the bank, Bank Manager, and Marina Vice President of Banco Metroplitano.

There are over 4000 employees in total, and 622 tellers in Havana alone. There are 4 Regional offices for more immediate issues, 94 branches, and 26 savings branches in the remote regions. Currently the bank has 525 banking ATM’s, but unfortunately the ATM Company was purchased by an American and due to the trade embargo they can no longer receive any parts or support. An alternative is currently being looked at in China. The bank is trying to transition to a digital banking model, where the citizens would use an interact card instead of hard cash. This would help the bank in using the cash for investments. To help encourage this model, the bank offers a 10% rebate if citizens use an interact card on the 15th, 16th, or 17th of the month. Repair and construction workers are also part of the same Union, but slowly there is a shift in privatization and contracting out of those jobs. The workers are part of the Public Administration Branch Union. Once per month workers meet to discuss workplace issues such as; health and safety, hours of work, and working conditions. While they don’t have specific health and safety meetings monthly like we do, they do discuss safety concerns at the monthly meetings.

Being involved in the community is an essential part for each and every worker at the bank. As Marina (VP of Bank) said “the level of consciousness is help and support one another”. In early 2019, 4,000 homes were damaged due to a tornado, the bank management and employees worked longer shifts and days, so those in need could have access to loans or the money in their accounts. As of today, 90% of the homes have been restored. Also, workers volunteer with different programs around the region, one being assisting orphaned kids who don’t have the support of any parents or families. The employees “play” the role of mom or dad, with help from the government providing meals. Finally, workers, along with management, are encouraged to donate blood for citizens and signing petitions for issues locally and abroad such as the crisis in Venezuela. The community is an integral part of the union, and coexist together, almost becoming a community union.

UnderMining Indigenous Rights: Pan American Silver in Guatemala

Hosted by CoDev, Mining Justice Alliance Canada, MiningWatch Canada, and Students for Mining Justice

Undermining Indigenous Rights: Pan American Silver in GuatemalaWednesday, November 206-8 pm

SFU Harbour Centre, Room 2270

515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver unceded Coast Salish Territories

On November 20th and 21st, delegates of the Indigenous Xinka Parliament will visit Vancouver to share their stories of resistance to Canadian mining, to communicate their longstanding practices of self-determined development, and to call on Vancouver-based Pan American Silver to Stop UnderMining Indigenous Rights! Drop the Escobal Mine!

This event features Luis Fernando García Monroy. Luis is from the San Rafael las Flores, Santa Rosa region in Guatemala and has been active in the resistance to the Escobal mine for nearly a decade. Luis, his father, and other community members were shot outside the mine while participating in a peaceful protest in 2013. He was a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Tahoe Resources, which was concluded earlier this year. Currently, he works as a paralegal and community organizer with the Xinka Parliament.

We will not shut up and will not give up!

“If they attack one of us, they attack all of us”

On March 8, 2019, CoDev’s Guatemalan partner, Women’s Sector Political Alliance suffered an attack in the lead-up to International Women’s Day celebrations (IWD).While CoDev staff was monitoring rallies in Central America, we became aware (via social media) of the attack during the early morning hours.

CoDev contacted Ada Valenzuela, a Director of a sister women’s organization in Guatemala called Guatemalan Women National Unity-UNAMG. Ada provided an update on the severity of the situation against the women’s movement in Guatemala and the response to the attack on the Women’s Sector.

This year, the Women’s Sector Political Alliance was the lead organization for the Coordinadora 8 de Marzo, the coalition responsible for organizing International Women’s Day, including activities to denounce violence against women. Unfortunately, the materials they had prepared for IWD were also destroyed during the break-in.

Sensitive information was stolen including accounting documents and files that document the activities of women’s organizations in Guatemala since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996.  In addition, all computer equipment and electronics were taken.  Oddly enough, the organization’s cash box remained untouched.

As Ada explained, this was not just a random attack on one organization but rather an attack on the women’s movement in general. As a gesture of solidarity, the route of the rally was changed. The original plan was to have it end at the Central Plaza but instead, it finished in front of the Women’s Sector Political Alliance office with a very enthusiastic speech by Martha Godinez, the Women’s Sector General Coordinator.

As soon as the situation in Guatemala City was confirmed, CoDev sent an appeal to all Canadian partners regarding the emergency within the Women’s Sector Political Alliance, founded by the well-known Guatemalan activist Sandra Moran in 1994.CoDev’s Canadian partners, members and friends responded immediately with Solidarity and offers of assistance:

BCTF IS Committee  -- $5,000

Health Sciences Association -- $2,000

Pacific Spirit United Church  -- $500

Victoria Central America Support Committee - VCASC -- $210

Five days after the attack, CoDev staff informed the board of directors about the situation and the action taken by CoDev: an Urgent Action to Canadian ambassador in Guatemala, Rudaitis Renaud with copy to Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, The board also agreed to donate CoDev’s old computers as plans were in place to upgrade CoDev office computers.

In a generous move, CoDev board member Caitlin Johnson (chair of CoDev’s Canadian partner Capacidad, a BC-registered nonprofit society made up primarily of active and retired healthcare professionals working in El Petén, Guatemala), kindly offered to hand deliver the computers on an upcoming medical delegation.

Canadians across the country call for an end to killings of Colombian rights workers

In Colombia almost 700 rights defenders and over 135 former FARC members have been assassinated since January 2016. Those killed include community leaders, teachers, trade unionists, representatives of victims and survivors groups, and water and forest defenders.On July 26, 2019 CoDev and our Canadian partners joined thousands around the world to draw attention to the wave of violence against Colombian social leaders, and to call for an end to it.CoDev shares this video of some of the actions that took place across Canada to honour the invaluable work that social leaders and human rights defenders do for life and peace in Colombia.

CoDev Exec Director Testifies to Citizenship and Immigration Committee

Last December, CoDev Executive Director Steve Stewart, in his capacity of Co-Chair of the Americas Policy Group (a national coalition of organizations working for human rights and development in the Americas) testified to  the Canadian Parliament's immigration committee on the causes of forced migration from Central America. We recently discovered  an online transcript of his presentation and, since the conditions leading to forced migration from the region have only worsened since last December, we share it here.

Mr. Steve Stewart (Co-Chair, Americas Policy Group, Canadian Council for International Co-operation) at the Citizenship and Immigration Committee

December 4th, 2018 / 3:45 p.m.

Thank you. I'll first tell you very briefly about our organization. I'm here as the co-chair of the Americas policy group. It's a national coalition of 32 Canadian organizations that work on human rights and development in the Americas.

While some of our member organizations, such as Amnesty International, work directly on migration, most of our work is done directly in the countries of Latin America. The majority of our members focus on three regions: Mexico, Central America and Colombia.

Given that we have a fairly limited time for the presentation, I'm only going to touch very briefly on Colombia and Mexico and focus primarily on the Central American countries, particularly Guatemala and Honduras, because I believe that's the area where Canadian policy can play a role.

The focus in this presentation is primarily on the conditions that lead to migration. I think the speaker who preceded me did an excellent job of covering that, so I may jump over some of my points.

Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced people in the world after Syria, with 6.5 million people who are displaced. Despite the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia last year and an end to that part of the war, violence and displacement continue. In 2017, violence in the country generated another 139,000 displacements, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Although sometimes we have the impression that there is peace in Colombia, violence is still generating large numbers of internally displaced people.

There are a number of factors behind these displacements. They're common through all of the countries I'm referring to here. They are the impacts of free trade, extractivism, the drug trade, corruption and organized crime. It's exacerbated, as the previous speaker mentioned, by climate change. In Mexico—and I think you've probably heard these statistics before—large numbers of displacement and violence coincided with the launching of the drug war in 2006, with a total of some 250,000 people believed to have been killed between the launching of the war and last year, while another 37,000 people have been forcibly disappeared.

In Colombia and Mexico, it's not uncommon for local government and security forces to act in collusion with organized crime, but it's in the Central American countries, in particular Guatemala and Honduras, where these networks have also deeply penetrated the national state. Organized crime operates on a number of levels in Honduras and Guatemala, ranging up from the street gangs that you've heard about in earlier testimonies, such as the Mara 18 and the Salvatruchas, who control both urban neighbourhoods and also a number of rural areas in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, often serving as the foot soldiers for more sophisticated criminal networks involved with drug trafficking, but also involved with graft in a large scale at the state level, and sometimes providing security to transnational corporations operating in these countries.

I'm not going to go in depth on statistics, but some rather stark examples have come up recently with the arrest last week of the brother of the Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on cocaine smuggling charges, and then just last year Fabio Lobo, the son of the former president, Porfirio Lobo, was sentenced to 24 years after being convicted in U.S. courts on similar charges. In both of these cases, testimony indicates that the Honduran presidents were aware of these activities and, at the very least, did nothing.

However, the Honduran government's involvement in organized crime goes beyond links to drug smuggling. De facto President Juan Orlando Hernández, in his previous term, was forced to admit that his party looted the national public health and social security system to fund his 2013 electoral campaign.

We find similar cases in neighbouring Guatemala. In 2015, the president, vice-president and most of his cabinet were forced to resign and were indicted on corruption charges after investigations by the United Nations' international commission against impunity, CICIG, revealed a vast organized crime network within the Guatemalan state.

The president that succeeded him, current president Jimmy Morales, is now also under investigation. In recent times, though, his administration has taken steps to block the effective work of the UN body by preventing its director from entering the country.

The penetration of organized crime into government and state institutions takes place in the context of economic and ecological shifts in the region that are generating significant internal displacement. There are many different factors linked to that, which I mentioned previously.

In the Colombian case, the influx of low-priced basic grains that followed the signing of free trade agreements with North America and Europe in the past 25 years has reduced local food production and made it much more difficult for rural families to earn a living growing basic foods. This is combined with new unpredictability related to climate change, and pressure on farming communities from the expanding agro-industrial frontier—primarily sugar cane and African palm, which is, ironically, often used for the creation of biofuels.

These serve to drive the farmers from the land, either to marginalized communities in surrounding urban areas, or to take the long and dangerous migrant trek.

I know I'm running out of time already—Click here for the full transcript and questions.

CoDev in Solidarity with Colombian Rights Defenders and Social Leaders

Vancouver, Canada, July 26, 2019.

CoDevelopment Canada (CoDev) stands in solidarity with our Colombian partners and the many human rights and social organizations mobilizing today to demand an end to the systematic killing of social leaders and human right defenders and the undermining of the 2016 peace accords.

The number of social leaders assassinated has increased every year since the Peace Accords between the Colombian government and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). Between January 2016 and May 2019, 681 community leaders and human rights defenders have been assassinated , as well as 135 former guerrillas. Hundreds more are under threat or are politically persecuted.

The majority of these crimes take place in territories where indigenous and afro-Colombian communities resist state-supported displacement for mining and oil projects and the expansion of agro-industries, as well as the illegal drug trade. Those killed played important roles defending their communities’ territorial rights, denouncing government corruption, or opposing illegal armed groups and illegal economies. They include community leaders involved in land restitution processes, teachers, trade unionists, representatives of victims and survivors’ groups, and water and forest defenders.

The Final Peace Accords were signed in November 2016, but President Ivan Duque’s administration has resisted their full implementation, attempting to dismantle the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a transitional system to guarantee justice for the victims of mass atrocities and other human rights violations. Under Duque, Colombia has become even more militarized, with the increased use of soldiers to surveil social leaders and communities, and a suspension of the peace process between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN, Colombia’s other guerrilla movement).

CoDev, joins human rights and social movements in Colombia and around the world to call on Colombian authorities to:

• Protect the life and integrity of social leaders and human rights defenders, and investigate and bring to justice those responsible for their killings.

• Respect and fully implement the 2016 Peace Accords, including the Special Jurisdiction for Peace to guarantee the right to Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-repetition.

From Canada, we send our support and our commitment to continue to accompany our Colombian partners in their struggle to defend the human, social and environmental rights of their communities, and to call our own government to denounce the human rights violations in Colombia and support the full implementation of the 2016 Peace Accords.

Urgent Action: Constitutional Crisis in Guatemala

Since August 2017 when Guatemala President Jimmy Morales attempted to declare Ivan Velasquez, the head of the UN-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) persona non grata, the Guatemalan government and economic elite have made multiple attempts to stop investigations of fraud, money laundering, and illicit campaign financing.In August 2018, the President announced that CICIG's mandate would not be renewed and Commissioner Ivan Velasquez was not permitted to enter the country. The Constitutional Court ordered immigration authorities to allow entry to Velasquez, but Morales, speaking through two ministers, said he would defy the court order. The Guatemalan government has violated legal resolutions issued by the Constitutional Court regarding CICIG’s mandate, and on January 7, 2019 illegally detained and denied entry to one of its investigators, Yilen Osorio Zuluaga and gave CICIG 24 hours to leave the country.According to Guatemalan Human Rights organizations these actions against CICIG could lead to a “Technical Coup” putting at risk the country's constitutional order, weakening specialized government investigation units, reducing the struggle against impunity on combating street gangs and empowering the old Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Organizations.Please send our urgent action to show international solidarity with CICIG’s work in Guatemala.[formidable id="75" title="1"]

Urgent Action: Killings & Death Threats in Colombia

Call on Colombian authorities to stop the killing, stigmatization and death threats against social leaders and human rights defenders in Colombia.

CoDevelopment’s partner NOMADESC (Association for Research and Social Action), together with other human rights organizations of southwestern Colombia, are requesting support in urging the new government of President Ivan Duque Marquez to take immediate action to prevent the systematic killing of social leaders and human rights defenders in the country.According to Colombian human rights organizations, 123 social leaders were killed and 600 others received death threats between January and July 2018. One such threat was circulated August 9 in the city of Cali by the narco-paramilitary group Aguilas Negras (Black-Eagles). The leaflets declared 10 social organizations and 21 rights defenders military targets, stating: “The Aguilas Negras reiterate our position to counteract at the national level the urban structures of the insurgency, camouflaged as supposed social leaders, and direct our units to stop the advance of the so-called “Colombia Humana,” which promotes progressive “sellout” governments inclined to strengthen leftist organizations, contrary to the political project proposed by Doctor IVAN DUQUE.”Among the organizations targeted are the Valle del Cauca Teachers’ Union (SUTEV, a member of our partner, the Colombian Teachers’ Federation), and Margarita López, president of Valle del Cauca water worker’s union SINTRACUAVALLE, another CoDev partner.Please send our urgent action to Colombian President Ivan Duque:

1. To take concrete steps to stop the assassinations and threats against social leaders and human rights defenders.
2. To make public the new government’s human rights policy to designed to prevent killings and attacks against rights defenders.
3. To thoroughly investigate and identify those persons responsible for the killing, death threats and stigmatization of social leaders and human rights defenders.

[formidable id="73" title="1"]Please also send messages and photos of solidarity with Colombian social leaders and human rights defenders through social media:Facebook:Nomadesc: @AsociacionNomadescFecode: @fecodeSintracuavalle: @sintracuavalle.presenteTwitter, using the hashtags #SerLiderNoEsDelito #NoHayPazSinDefensoresNomdesc: @NomadescFecode: @fecodeSintracuavalle: @SINTRACUAVALLE

Urgent Action: Mass Arrests in Colombia

Please call on Colombia’s President to release rights defenders arrested April 20-22.

CoDev partner NOMADESC (works to train members of community organizations in southwestern Colombia as human rights promotors able to document and process rights violations. In a sweep of mass arrests April 20-22, Colombian authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of elected community leaders and rights defenders in the communities where NOMADESC works. Among the charges levelled against those arrested is membership in, or association with, the National Liberation Army (ELN), an armed rebel movement currently in peace talks with the Colombian state. The accusations are reminiscent of the “false positives” human rights crimes of the past decade, where the Colombian military abducted and murdered marginalized youth and community activists in order to dress them in military fatigues and claim them as guerrilla “kills.”Please send our urgent action to Colombian President Manuel Santos, urging him to release the detainees and guarantee their safety and rights to a fair and open trial.Follow NOMADESC to learn more about their incredible work: Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; YouTube[formidable id="72" title="1"]

Disaster Capitalism: Hurricane Maria & Puerto Rico’s Schools

To learn more about the role of the teachers federation and other Puerto Rican unions' role in community–based recovery: http://bit.ly/2Ardg7kI just got off the phone with Sofia Feliciano in Puerto Rico. She told me that her father had been arrested yesterday. Sofia’s father is Rafael Feliciano, former president of the Federation of Puerto Rican Teachers (#FMPR) whom I first met during the Tri-National Coalition to Defend Public Education Conference that the BC Teachers’ Federation hosted in Vancouver in May 2016.2017 Oct 23 Declaración de Prensa FMPR (Spanish)Press Release FMPR Oct 2017 (English)I have been calling Rafael and Sofia more frequently since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in late September, looking for updates on the situation and info on how CoDev and our Canadian partners might assist the teachers’ federation in efforts to rebuild schools and communities. They’ve described the innovative education that is taking place – like classes carried out in neighbours’ kitchens… How many ingredients do we need to feed every person on our block? and on the neighbours’ roofs… How to best build hurricane proof roofs with wood and zinc? But as cleaning up moves forward, they said, communities in Puerto Rico experienced a second blow, the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the US federal government are taking advantage of the environmental crisis. It was not long before Puerto Rico’s Education Secretary, Julia Keleher, announced that over 600 schools across the Island would close down and no longer be needing teachers. The FMPR fears they will replace them with charter schools, unloading responsibility for education onto the communities.Sofia and Rafael explained how communities dealing with traumatic effects of the hurricane are now also faced with having to protect their public schools. Over 50% of them remain closed, in spite of having the adequate conditions to receive students.The FMPR believes that it is unacceptable that well over a month after the hurricane, the government denies the right to public education to tens of thousands of Puerto Rican students. The schools belong to their communities, the union says, and they need them open in order to fully recover!In response to Keleher’s plan to privatize public education, teachers organized a civil disobedience action in the Education Secretary’s offices this week, which resulted in the arrest of 21 teachers, including Rafael.Clearly, Sofia was hurt and shocked to see her father arrested. Unfortunately she had to witness the same brutal actions back in June 2017 when fellow university students were also arrested for defending the University of Puerto Rico after the government attempted to pay its debt to international speculators by selling off the post-secondary institution. The students held a 72 day strike against sweeping austerity measures.Rafael Feliciano and other teachers arrested, were released last night at 11pm and are expected to appear before the courts to face charges.In the face of unprecedented devastation and an ineffective response from US disaster relief agencies in the occupied territory, the teachers’ federation has served as a useful network for community-based recovery from an environmental disaster. It is disturbing that Puerto Rico’s teachers must now also fight to prevent the destruction of their public school system.

In Defense of Democracy in Guatemala

PURSUING CORRUPTION,IS FINISHING WITH HISTORICAL PRIVILEGES

We see with great concern that in the face of the fight against corruption in recent years has been the development of a rearrangement of the most conservative powers of the country that are gradually outlining a fascist state in Guatemala. This political crisis is one more moment in this reset and we must not stop seeing it together with the impulse of an extractive economic model that promotes the militarization of the country, the attempt to limit the exercise of rights especially the sexual ones, the lack of recognition of the validity of community consultations in good faith, co-opting justice structures for social criminalization and now the intention to weaken the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which aims to set precedents to weaken international bodies that uphold human rights.

It therefore seems essential to promote a national articulation that, learning from the process of 2015, sees beyond the moment and that in this crisis resumes as a priority for the observation of human rights of the population, which have been threatened by corruption and impunity of public officials. That is why we call for social mobilization to:

• Respect the process of community consultations that were conducted in good faith by communitiesagainst the imposition of extractive projects in their territories. We resolutely reject the guide that the executive has presented for conducting the consultation.• That the Congress of the Republic is cleansed and the rules of the political game are reviewed, making profound reforms to the Law of Electoral Reform and Political Parties to ensure that no more corrupt politicians reach the Congress of the Republic.

Today, more than ever, the entities of the State must fulfill their functions to deepen democracy:

• We demand that the Supreme Court of Justice bring the case against President Jimmy Morales and against other officials and / or politicians so that their responsibilities can be deduced in cases of corruption• We demand the Congress of the Republic appoint an investigator and approve the investigation once the Supreme Court of Justice moves the case against the President.• That the Supreme Electoral Court continue with the work of policing the political parties to cleanse them internally• That the Public Ministry continue with the role of investigating and maintaining its impartiality in the framework of the strengthening of justice in this country.

We warn of possible attempts to push back the institutionality of the State in favor of the interests of the power groups so that we call on the Constitutional Court to maintain the guaranteeing principals of the Constitution and fulfillment of the rights, in solving the protection that have made evident the levels of corruption by public officials.

Women's Political Alliance (Women’s Sector)Because the future does not come, it is builtGuatemala, September 1, 2017

Transforming Communities Through Education

"I am grateful for the opportunity to have received this scholarship for higher education, both to the team at the Salvadoran Association for Integrated Health and Social Services (APSIES) and to the CoDevelopment family, as I gained the capacity to learn new methodologies and techniques.  Many times, I have been limited for not having a higher degree and unable to obtain salary improvements. 

This year, 2017, I began the fourth year of my Bachelor of Social Work. I have not failed any subject, for my selection of this career was due to my knowledge of problems within family groups and I felt that people have always had trust in me. I looked to support others without having any empiric study, having even prevented suicides in women and youth in my community.

Attending university has helped me so much both personally and professionally, with the use of techniques and scientific knowledge. I have always sought to improve my knowledge so as to be able to transform people and groups of women and youth, now more than ever with the situation that the country is going through at the moment, technical knowledge has served me well.

Something very important for me is that I do not have to wait to get my degree to put into practice what I have learned, but I am applying it and it is giving me good results in my work.”

Felipa de Jesús Cruz, Tom Kozar Fund Scholarship RecipientLolotique, San Miguel, El Salvador 

Struggling for Rights in Maquilas

Rosa Dina Rodríguez is 33 years old and has worked for over 9 years in maquilas, producing goods for brands such as Nike, Under Armour, and Gildan and for stores including Walmart. As a result of maquila workplace conditions, Rosa has a disability in her right shoulder, damage to her spine and both her hands. She has already undergone two surgeries in her right hand and is waiting for a third on her left. 

Because of these injuries, Rosa Dina must relocate to a position where she does not perform repetitive movements of the shoulder, avoids movement of the neck and any lifting of items over five pounds.

Though the Honduran Institute of Social Security qualified Dina Rosa’s hands as occupational disease, after her contesting their opinion that it is common, Gildan has yet to meet these demands and has actually demanded an increase in production.

A Win for Labour Rights in Honduras

Liliam Castillo is 36 years old. She was born in La Paz and at the age of 15 moved to San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras, in search of employment. She is a single mother of two, a fifteen-year-old daughter and an eighteen-year-old son. Liliam has been working for Gildan Activewear, a Canadian multinational in Honduras, for 10 years. 

In 2010, Liliam began experiencing pain in her left arm, spine, neck, and shoulders. A doctor at the Honduran Institute of Social Security diagnosed her with tendinitis, caused by repetitive movements. In 2012, a co-worker invited Liliam to join the Honduran Women’s Collective (CODEMUH), where she joined the training program and the theater group, “The Rebel Transgressors.” In February of 2013, Liliam was dismissed from Gildan and so she began the process of demanding for reinstatement. During this three-year process, Liliam did what she could to make ends meet, including selling goods and cleaning houses.

The lawsuit went through the entire judicial process, from the First Instance Court, the Court of Appeals, to the Supreme Court. After three years, the Court ruled that Gildan immediately reintegrate Liliam in equal or better conditions than she had been previously working in and also to pay lost wages. Gildan refused to adhere to the Supreme Court’s ruling and CODEMUH developed an approach to pressure the multinational corporation and implemented various strategies to demand Liliam’s reinstatement, including sit-ins in front of the company, the use of social media, local, national and international media, and the international solidarity of individuals and allied organizations.

As a result of these actions, Liliam was reinstated in May 2016. She was relocated to “Hygiene and Safety” where she assists the engineer, delivers safety equipment such as masks, ear plugs, and goggles, and ensures that workers are using them. Liliam kept her salary of 1,900.00 lempiras (approximately $100 Canadian dollars) a week, the same amount she earned when she met the production goal at the time she was fired.

Liliam says: “I am greatly grateful to CODEMUH for everything they have done for me. I have been trained, I have learned about my rights, I am a duly informed woman. Thanks to CODEMUH, I have a job, my self-esteem has improved, and I am proud to be part of the Rebel Transgressors group.”

New Video - Non Sexist & Inclusive Pedagogy

View our brand new video describing NSIP on You Tube!

Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy is aproposal which began with unionized teachers in Costa Rica, for developing liberating, democratic and inclusive educative practices. The pedagogical proposal is in constant transformation as teachers, students and communities participate in the analysis of their reality and create ways to transform it. Several teachers' unions in the Central American region have created teaching aids for elementary or secondary levels, and which today have been endorsed by Ministries of Education as official textbooks in the classroom. NSIP workshops have taken place in: Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru and Canada.The regional coordination for Non-Sexist and Inclusive Pedagogy Program is led by Maria Trejos Montero and Esperanza Tasies Castro.For more information visit the NSIP (PNSI) website.

Fighting and Dying For Justice in Honduras

Just two short weeks after the death of Berta Cacerés, another member of her organization was gunned down and brutally murdered. Nelson Garcia, father of five, was on his way home for lunch when two unidentified assailants shot him in the face, four times.Local reports indicate that his murder occurred shortly after the Honduran government sent in bulldozers and heavily armed police to evict 150 Indigenous people from their homes, homes built on ancestral land. Garcia was meeting with these families just before his assassination.Cacerés and Garcia were members of the Indigenous rights group, Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). The group was founded by Berta Cacerés in 1993 to fight for and protect the rights of her people, the Lenca, their ancestral lands and natural resources. Over the years COPINH succeeded in stopping 50 logging projects and 10 hydroelectric dams, securing 100 communal land titles and 2 Indigenous municipalities. And so much more.COPINH’s latest struggle and the one for which Cacerés and Garcia lost their lives, was the fight to prevent the construction of the Agua Zarca megadam. The dam is to be constructed over the Gualcarque River, a vital source of water for the Lenca people. The Lenca began peacefully protesting the construction when plans were revealed in 2011. When their appeals fell on deaf ears they began demonstrating. By 2013, police were arresting the protesters en masse. Cacerés was forced into hiding due to the numerous threats against her life and her family members. These threats are well documented. And still even with the world watching and listening, she died.Despite the international outcry condemning Berta Cacerés’ assassination, Nelson Garcia became the fourteenth member of COPINH to be murdered since its inception and one of more than 100 human rights and environmental activists to be murdered in Honduras between 2010 and 2014.How many more will meet a similar end? We need to scream “Enough!!” until we are hoarse.

Canada’s role in the struggle between human rights and corporate rights

When we think about international development and its goal of improving the standard of living of people in the global south, we really need to start at home and look at how our own country’s policies – particularly trade policies – affect human rights.Canada and the countries with which we have signed International Investment Agreements (IIAs) are also signatories to numerous human rights treaties. Yet in spite of article 103 of the United Nations Charter stating that human rights obligations shall prevail when there is a conflict between human rights treaties and other agreements, it is the trade agreements that enjoy strong enforcement mechanisms.A strong case in point is the International Investment Agreement Canada implemented with Colombia in 2011. The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCOFTA) is just one of 57 IIAs signed by Canada as of January 1 2015. Like other agreements, the CCOFTA promotes market liberalization, privatization and deregulation, but it differs from the others in that it also requires a yearly report on the agreement’s impact on human rights.Colombia’s tarnished human rights record includes the dismal status of leading the world in killings of trade unionists. But the country also contains extensive mineral and oil deposits that Canada’s extractive industry was hungering to get a bigger slice of. Adding the annual Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) was the then-opposition Liberal’s price for endorsing the Conservative government’s treaty with Colombia.A recent report by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation’s Colombia Working Group found that the HRIA reports filed by the Canadian government annually since 2011 do not even examine the human rights impact of Canadian investment in the extractive industry.The CCOFTA provides generous investment protections for the Canadian extractive industry investment with investor-state arbitration provisions to guarantee those rights, but only voluntary and unenforceable provisions for corporate social responsibility.With the recent signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership, the new government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to signal a continued commitment to free trade and the enshrining of corporate rights. In his mandate letter to International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Prime Minister Trudeau states that a priority of her ministry must be to “Refocus Canada’s development assistance on helping the poorest and most vulnerable…” Putting human rights before corporate rights is one way the government could achieve this mandate.Although International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has cautioned that “There is a big difference between signing and ratifying”, the Liberal Party made clear their support for free trade in their campaign platform. The Government of Canada has committed to consulting with Canadians before ratifying the agreement. If you would like to share your views on the TPP with the government, visithttp://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/tppptp/index.aspx?lang=eng, where the government provides an email for feedback.