'In 2016, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) launched the Esperanza Protocol. This project hopes to provide a timely and effective solution in addressing threats faced by human rights defenders, journalists, and others tasked with preserving democracies and the full enjoyment of human rights across the world. Historically and globally, threats against human rights...
'Mexico’s president launched a blistering attack on several environmentalist groups Friday, suggesting they were being paid by foreign foundations to oppose his controversial train project in the Yucatan peninsula. One group demanded President Andrés Manuel López Obrador apologize, claiming he was “criminalizing” environmentalists.' (...) Read this news from The Washington Post: click...
'The Inter-American Human Rights System is an important tool for Latin American human rights defenders, but why are the Court and the Commission lagging behind on climate change issues? In Latin America—just as the rest of the world and particularly the global South—the burden of destruction in the context of climate-related impacts is asymmetrically borne on marginalized groups.'...
'The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life as we know it; millions of people have been diagnosed with the virus and over half a million have had their lives tragically cut short. It has exposed the inadequacies of many healthcare systems and has further tested public faith in the government officials tasked with protecting us. It has also exacerbated problems that existed long before...
'Kenyan authorities have burned down 28 homes belonging to the indigenous Sengwer community in the Embobut Forest in Western Kenya. “What is happening now is so dangerous, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Elias Kimaiyo, a Sengwer community leader in Embobut. Many community members had left the area in search of food when the raid took place, meaning they were unable to...
'Costa Rica has seen an increase in violence against indigenous communities. The Bribri peoples of Salitre and Brörán peoples of Térraba have repeatedly denounced these attacks to national and international bodies, and both peoples were granted Precautionary Measures in 2015, which remain unfulfilled. In light of this, Forest Peoples Programme once again condemns the recent acts of...
'Today, 20 July, we'd like to say thank you to those who have given their best in the health service; to those who have lost their acquaintances to the pandemic, we offer our our solidarity. Today we remember a cry. A cry that is still necessary. A cry that continues to be drowned out. That cry is in the leaders who have been killed since the signing of the Peace Accords, there are now...
'14 Indonesian indigenous and human rights organisations, and Forest Peoples Programme, have submitted a report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) requesting its consideration of the situation of indigenous groups in Kalimantan under the Committee’s urgent action and early warning procedures.' (...) Read this news from Forest Peoples...
'Ompu Ronggur, a community of the Toba Batak, a highland people of North Sumatra with an ancient tradition of resin tapping from their agroforests, found in 2004 that all of their traditional territory had been allotted to a pulp and paper company, Toba Pulp Lestari, for establishing Eucalyptus plantations.' (...) Read this news from Forest Peoples Programme: click here
'In April 2019, Association Okani, an indigenous peoples’ organisation based in Cameroon, in conjunction with Forest Peoples Programme submitted a request for consideration under the CERD Early Warning / Urgent Action Procedure in relation to the grant of a long-term lease of Bagyeli lands to Biopalm (an oil palm company) in Cameroon. The Committee's response makes it clear that the...
