The trial over the femicide of Berta Cáceres will begin on Monday, September 17, in Tegucigalpa (Honduras). The crime against the defender took place on the night of March 2nd, 2016, at her home in La Esperanza, Intibucá department. Bertha Zúñiga, daughter of Cáceres and current coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), spoke…
At 9.30 am today, August 8, the Argentinian Senate started debating a bill to legalize abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. This moment arrives after years of struggle by the National Campaign for Safe, Free and Legal Abortion that raised the debate in National Women Meetings, in public spheres, educational centers and the media. Before this vote, seven…
The negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), involving 16 Asia-Pacific countries, are failing international standards of transparency and public participation, according to a study titled “RCEP: A secret deal” conducted by several international organizations. “It is quite shocking how representatives of the governments are able to hide behind secrecy, saying that it is necessary for effective negotiations” said…
In an interview with Real World Radio, Mauro Vay, founder and General Coordinator of the Peasant Development Committee (CODECA) said that the kidnapping, torture and murder of Juana Raymundo “is a sign of what we´ve been denouncing for quite some time: we are under a criminal government”. “The Ministry of Government plans extrajudicial killings against all human rights defenders, because…
It´s been a year since Santiago Maldonado disappeared and was subsequently found dead. Maldonado was an Argentinian young man who worked in solidarity with the Mapuche people, struggling to recover their ancestral lands that were acquired by business magnate Luciano Benetton. On August 1st, 2017, Maldonado disappeared after the Argentinian security forces violently repressed demonstrators at the Pu Lof community…
Milieudefensie – Friends of the Earth Netherlands launched a report where they warn that Dutch Banks ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank have to take responsibility for the disastrous environmental and social consequences of providing finance to the palm oil sector at large scale. These banks should pull out of this sector, demands the organization. "What we wanted to show is…
At the end of June, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which gathers actors from several sectors of the palm oil industry, reported that they had suspended Swiss company Nestlé´s membership for failing to follow the RSPO´s Statutes and Code of Conduct. However, Nestlé “doesn´t seem to care”, warned Friends of the Earth International. “Voluntary certification has no means…
Among the stories we find the one of Marichuy, spokesperson of the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG) “Women have always been present. The aim is to tell at first hand the stories of ten women that are representatives of the Council and also make reference to the role of the Council, which is to “visibilize the struggles from the bottom up…
Ecuador´s Constitutional Court has rejected the protection appeal filed by Chevron in 2014. Since 2014, the Union of People Affected by Texaco (UDAPT) expected a resolution by the Constitutional Court of Ecuador about the protection appeal filed by Chevron Corporation to avoid paying 9.5 billion dollars as part of a historical sentence received in 2011 for the damage caused to…
The National Agrarian Confederation denounces mining officials are “taking over the government”. In March 2018, the Peruvian government granted a concession to mining company Minquest Peru, acquired by Camino Minerals Corporation (Canada), to exploit resources in Siete Colores Mountain and the surrounding areas, in Cusco region, without consulting the people in a prior, free and informed manner. As a consequence…
