Defenders of Territories and Collective Rights of the People


“It´s necessary to investigate the criminal structures behind Berta´s murder”

“The fact that Berta Cáceres´ relatives and COPINH don´t have a legal representantive in this first trial is something extremely serious. This has been an arbitrary decision made by the Court, as a response of Cáceres´ family insisting on including the masterminds of the crime in this trial as well”, said Colombian lawyer Reinaldo Villalba, president of the “José Alvear…

Roger Waters: “Helping others brings us joy”

“We are here to talk about Palestine, we are here to talk about BDS and we are here to talk about human rights and I´m very happy to see all of you here tonight”, said Waters at the beginning of the meeting with Uruguayan journalists Alejandra Casablanca and Virginia Martínez and political expert Gabriel Delacoste. The meeting was organized by…

Widespread consternation

On October 19, a Tegucigalpa court held a hearing to begin the trial over the murder of the Lenca people defender, Berta Cáceres, who was murdered on March 2nd, 2016, at her home in La Esperanza (Intibucá). The court announced the beginning of the oral and public trial, despite the lawyers of Berta Cáceres family´s call for the judges to…

The process continues

The resolutions and conclusions of the Intergovernmental Working Group submitted by Luis Gallegos, permanent representative of Ecuador at the UN and chair of the negotiations, were approved, but the representatives of the European Union were the only ones there who did not agree with the conclusions. Now the chair will present a revised version of the binding instrument before June…

Access to Justice

Mageswari Sangaralingam, member of SAM – Friends of the Earth Malaysia, warned on Friday that in Asia there are communities affected by corporate crimes, and that the victims, especially of transnational corporations, don´t have access to justice. “So where do you go to access justice if there is a problem of environmental issue or human rights violations?”, when the existing…

A question of life or death

Activist Alejandra Porras, of COECOCEIBA – Friends of the Earth Costa Rica, said on Thursday in Geneva, at the UN headquarters in that city, that in Latin America there is “a wave of international treaties that confer many benefits to companies, and this gives way to looting, criminalization and prosecution processes” against local communities. There are also “murders in the…

Free Palestine

The Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power held on Tuesday a workshop in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the mobilizations for a binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights, focused on Israeli security technologies, strategies and companies used against the Palestinian people and also distributed throughout the world. [embed]https://youtu.be/n5rYSsWbjDM[/embed] Real World Radio covered the activity and interviewed activists Abeer…

“A BINDING TREATY IS NECESSARY AND URGENT”

Karin Nansen, Friends of the Earth International´s Chair, said on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, that “communities all over the world are calling for justice and to put an end to impunity”. “We are also calling for an effective mechanism, and also an International Court”, she added. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHVJk5j5aUo&feature=youtu.be[/embed] Nansen was the facilitator at the press conference of the Global Campaign to…

Free Rivers, Living Peoples

The meeting is taking place in Barrancabermeja, a city located in Santander Department. During its first day, 400 people arrived, among them members of the six national delegations of Ríos Vivos and international representatives. The national delegations are: Asprocig (of Bajo Sinú region), Asoquimbo (Huila), Social Movement for the Defense of Sogamoso and Chucurí Rivers (Santander), Ríos Vivos Movement Cauca,…

New peasant victory at UN

With 33 votes in favor by the countries present at the 39th round of sessions, the UNHRC passed a resolution in Geneva, Switzerland, to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants that will now be discussed at the General Assembly of the multilateral body. The General Assemby needs to make a final decision before the end of the year…