Dear All,
I hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy! A short while ago, rather than going to work in the Ixil like I normally would, I replaced another coworker who was on vacation in her region of Huehuetenango (also known as Huehue). Huehue is a region located in the northwest of Guatemala, near the Mexican border
I hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy! A short while ago, rather than going to work in the Ixil like I normally would, I replaced another coworker who was on vacation in her region of Huehuetenango (also known as Huehue). Huehue is a region located in the northwest of Guatemala, near the Mexican border
The region has been a hotbed for mining and hydroelectric projects, which threaten the health and safety of the surrounding communities. Those community leaders who oppose the projects have faced severe violence at the hands of the companies and their backers. Accompaniment began in the region when one leader, Daniel Pedro Mateo (pictured below, with his wife), was kidnapped, tortured and killed in April 2013 for his actions in defense of his community's water and land.
Furthermore, the companies' exploitation and violence have been accompanied by a growing trend: the criminalization of locals working to protect their land, territory, water sources and right to self-determination. In other words, the companies in charge of projects or the region's district attorney for human rights bring bogus accusations of extremely serious crimes against the defenders, resulting in their arrest. Currently, ACOGUATE accompanies nine political prisoners from the Huehue region. Thus far, none of the nine has been allowed to go free on bail, either because the crimes for which they are accused are too serious to allow for bail, or in the case of misdemeanor accusations, because the judge simply refuses to grant them conditional freedom. Meanwhile, trials drag on and are postponed time and again for a variety of spurious reasons, such as judges recusing themselves or the prosecution's lawyers refusing to come in, with sympathetic judges allowing the trial to be postponed. Thus, without being convicted of anything, the prisoners languish in jail for months or years, awaiting their trials.
One of the most affecting examples, and perhaps the most emblematic of the cases of criminalization in Guatemala, is that of Saúl Aurelio Méndez Muñoz and Antonio Rogelio Velásquez López (Saúl and Rogelio). These two men worked tirelessly and peacefully as the heads of local civic groups to stop the construction of Hidro Santa Cruz, S.A. in Barillas. For their efforts, they have battled continuous false charges against them since 2012, the year in which they turned down the hydroelectric company's offer to sell their land and give up their resistance.
One of the most affecting examples, and perhaps the most emblematic of the cases of criminalization in Guatemala, is that of Saúl Aurelio Méndez Muñoz and Antonio Rogelio Velásquez López (Saúl and Rogelio). These two men worked tirelessly and peacefully as the heads of local civic groups to stop the construction of Hidro Santa Cruz, S.A. in Barillas. For their efforts, they have battled continuous false charges against them since 2012, the year in which they turned down the hydroelectric company's offer to sell their land and give up their resistance.
Most recently, they were arrested in August 2013 for charges of femicide and murder, and have been in jail waiting for the conclusion of their case ever since. The charges stem from a lynching that took place in the town of Barillas, which involved somewhere between 500 and 800 people over the course of many hours and resulted in the death of a man and woman. During the course of that day, Saúl was only in Barillas for a short while to grab lunch, while Rogelio was working as a day laborer in another town. Despite the fact that they were not even present in the town when the crime was taking place (or were only passing through) and despite the fact that several hundred people were involved in the crime, they are the only ones who have been charged. Indeed, they have been called the ringleaders, with their long-term role as respected community leaders used against them.
As is the case for many other criminalized leaders, their trial has dragged on and on: they have been in jail, far from their homes and families, for more than two years without knowing what to expect next. Their imprisonment has taken a massive toll on their health, their families, their finances (since they can no longer work to support their families and must pay their legal fees), their reputations and their communities, many of which have struggled, as their strongest and most trusted leaders get taken away from them time and again.
On Wednesday, October 28, more than two years after they first were put into pre-trial detention, Saúl and Rogelio received the judges' decision regarding their fate. On that day, they were found innocent! The judges pointed out the faults in the prosecution's case. These included the many inconsistencies in their witnesses' testimonies, the fact that of the hundreds involved (including three actors who were identified in particular and were part of the prosecution's case files, but were never investigated), only Saúl and Rogelio were prosecuted, and the delay between when the crime occurred in 2010 and when the investigation began in 2012.
As is the case for many other criminalized leaders, their trial has dragged on and on: they have been in jail, far from their homes and families, for more than two years without knowing what to expect next. Their imprisonment has taken a massive toll on their health, their families, their finances (since they can no longer work to support their families and must pay their legal fees), their reputations and their communities, many of which have struggled, as their strongest and most trusted leaders get taken away from them time and again.
On Wednesday, October 28, more than two years after they first were put into pre-trial detention, Saúl and Rogelio received the judges' decision regarding their fate. On that day, they were found innocent! The judges pointed out the faults in the prosecution's case. These included the many inconsistencies in their witnesses' testimonies, the fact that of the hundreds involved (including three actors who were identified in particular and were part of the prosecution's case files, but were never investigated), only Saúl and Rogelio were prosecuted, and the delay between when the crime occurred in 2010 and when the investigation began in 2012.
Despite being found innocent, however, they remain in jail in Huehue, where they await the prosecution's decision whether or not to appeal, in which case they may have to await a completely new trial. Furthermore, given that this is their second round of criminalization, there is no assurance that they will not be charged again for some other incident in the community.
The increased use of criminalization is a threat to the right of self-determination for communities and the right of free expression for individuals, as those who seek to protect the interests of their families, their people and the environment are falsely imprisoned for their work. While a group of embassies has lodged their disapproval of the Guatemalan government's complicity in the improper use of the justice system to punish those defending their rights, the Spanish government has remained unwilling to express its distaste for this phenomenon, given their interests in the well-being of the hydroelectric projects. Likewise, the U.S. has remained largely silent on the matter.
If you want to learn more about the phenomenon of criminalization, please feel free to check out my blog this week, where I will shortly feature the English translation of a recent ACOGUATE blog post on the topic.
If you would like to stand in solidarity with Saúl, Rogelio and the other seven political prisoners, please feel free to go to the NISGUA website and write them a message of support at the following link (messages written in English can be translated by NISGUA staff): http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6497/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=20823
Please also feel free to contact your congressperson to ask them to call for the Guatemalan government to cease its persecution of land and water defenders. Finally, you can help in the larger resistance against exploitative transnational companies by ensuring that you have divested from Tahoe Resources, which has pursued similarly violent strategies against local activists and community leaders in order to achieve its mining projects, without regard to the damage those projects do to communities.
Thank you all for your continued love and support! I'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts and comments and news whenever you have a chance.
All my love,
Martha