CoDevelopment Canada’s Statement on Legal Proceedings Against Guatemalan Security Officials Accused of Crimes Against Humanity in the Case of the Military Dossier

As an organization that has supported human rights in Guatemala for more than 35 years, CoDevelopment Canada welcomes the opening of the trial of 12 former members of Guatemalan security forces accused in the kidnapping, torture and forced disappearance of 183 people between September 1983 and March 1985.  These cases are recorded in the “Military Dossier,” a document leaked in 2005, in which Guatemalan security officials meticulously documented the fate of people abducted by military and police.

In 2012, the Guatemalan State was condemned by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights for its role in the terrible crimes committed against the 183 people listed in the military dossier.  We see the opening of the trial against the alleged perpetrators of these crimes as an important step toward breaking the wall of impunity that reigns in Guatemala.

At the same time, we view with concern recent backsliding in the area of human rights and transitional justice in the country, including: dissolution of peace institutions, cooptation of judicial bodies, amnesty initiatives for crimes against humanity, and attacks against prosecutors and human rights defenders.

CoDevelopment urges the Guatemalan State to take all measures necessary to protect Judges, prosecutors, and witnesses involved in this important trial.

We support the work of Prosecutor Hilda Pineda and Prosecutor Erick de León, as well as their teams from the Special Cases Unit of the Internal Armed Conflict of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

We support the family members who are plaintiffs in the process, and we call on the Guatemalan State to guarantee their physical integrity.

We urge the Guatemalan State to provide all necessary protective measures to guarantee the hearings conducted by Judge Miguel Angel Galvez.

We condemn the intimidation, threats and media smear campaigns that have occurred against organizations related to the case since the former military and police officers were detained May 27.

We urge the Guatemalan State to comply with international agreements and take steps to reveal the whereabouts of the 183 persons listed in the Military Dossier who were abducted and disappeared by state actors, and the prompt application of justice,

We express our solidarity with the families, organizations and individuals who fight and have fought for Memory, Truth and Justice in Guatemala.

Greetings to CoDev from our Latin American partners

As 2020 grinds towards its end, we have received many greetings from partners in Latin America to CoDevelopment Canada and our members and Canadian partners. In addition to warm wishes, our partners have shared striking photos and video clips that demonstrate the work they have achieved even under the challenging circumstances of the global pandemic. Achievements made possible, in part, due to the solidarity of our partners and members.

To share these with the wider CoDev family, we have assembled here in a collage of 2020 Greetings from Latin American partners.

Colombia: Teaching for Peace, Working for Human Rights

Labour and Human Rights Program director with NOMADESC staff

By Filiberto Celada (Human and Labour Rights Program Director, CoDevelopment Canada) 

During CoDev’s Schools Territories of Peace Canadian teacher delegation to Colombia, I took some members of the delegation to observe a pedagogical encounter in Monteria, Cordoba province in Colombia’s Caribbean Region. Together with teacher delegates Anjum Khan and Susan Trabant, we travelled to the conference with John Avila, former director of the Colombian Teachers Federation’s (FECODE) Centre for Education Research and Development (CEID) and Jose Luis Ortega, executive secretary of the Córdoba Teachers’ Association’s (ADEMACOR) CEID.FECODE and ADEMACOR organized the conference entitled: Pedagogical Movement, School Territories of Peace and III Pedagogical National Congress and 2nd Provincial Encounter of Secretariats of Pedagogical Affairs – ADEMACOR 2019. Between 15-20 teachers attended this provincial encounter at ADEMACOR facilities where members of CEID and FECODE presented an analysis of the Schools as Territories of Peace program and the education policies and agreements with the Colombian Government. The last day of the encounter, 10 teachers presented and shared their alternative pedagogical experiences within 10 different schools.

It is important to highlight the fact that some teachers were presenting their alternative pedagogical experiences as part of their Master’s thesis in education. It was very motivating to witness that even that it was their own thesis, the teachers were open to share their methodology and results and welcomed their colleagues to use what they had developed in other schools without caring about copyrights.

After the Schools Territories of Peace Delegation was over, I traveled to the city of Cali in southwestern Valle del Cauca province to meet with CoDev partner NOMADESC (Association for Research and Social Action). While visiting Cali I was able to:

1) Introduce myself and meet with NOMADESC’s staff, explain CoDev’s model of partnership and international solidarity;

2) Meet with NOMADESC’s beneficiary population: members of the community of el Jarrillon and of Buenaventura;

3) Meet with NOMADESC’s Director Berenice Celeita to evaluate the project Comprehensive Defense of Life, Territory and Culture in Colombia.

4) Participate as International Observer in the National Congress of the Republic of Colombia’s session in the City of Santander de Quilichao in the department of El Cauca, organized by Senator Alexander Lopez due to the acts of genocide against the indigenous guard in Colombia’s Pacific coast.

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 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.

Join CoDev in calling for an independent human rights Ombudsperson for Canada’s international extractive sector

Take action today to call on the Canadian government to ensure communities affected by Canadian oil, mineral and gas corporations have access to justice. Write your MP and the Minister of International Trade to let them know you want Canada to be a leader in protecting human and environmental rights by creating an independent human rights Ombudsperson.For too long Canada’s extractive industry has not been held accountable for its actions overseas. Human rights violations by Canadian mining corporations are widespread and well-documented. Canada needs an independent human rights Ombudsperson with full investigatory powers and the ability to make recommendations for remedies.Almost 10 years ago, industry and civil society leaders recommended creating an independent human rights Ombudsperson to address serious violations of human rights or environmental damage. The Canadian Network for Corporate Responsibility recently proposed draft legislation to create just such an office. During the 2015 election, most parties, including the Liberal party, committed to creating an independent ombudsperson’s office. Such an office is long overdue.As it stands, the offices in Canada responsible for overseeing corporate social responsibility (the Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor and the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines) lack independence, investigatory powers, and are not mandated to make recommendations for remedies. Communities whose human rights have been violated by Canadian corporations operating in their territory deserve more. It’s time the Government of Canada to take action and make Canada Open for Justice.