Guatemala: Indigenous defenders attacked and at risk
Aura Lolita Chávez, a renowned Guatemalan human rights defender and Indigenous leader, and members of her organization the K’iche People’s Council (CPK) were threatened and attacked by unidentified armed men. The defenders are currently in hiding and fear for their lives. Guatemalan authorities must take action to protect them.
UA: 135/17 Index: AMR 34/6466/2017 Guatemala Date: 9 June 2017
URGENT ACTION
INDIGENOUS DEFENDERS ATTACKED AND AT RISK
Aura Lolita Chávez, a renowned Guatemalan human rights defender and Indigenous
leader, and members of her organization the K’iche People’s Council (CPK) were
threatened and attacked by unidentified armed men. The defenders are currently in
hiding and fear for their lives. Guatemalan authorities must take action to protect them.
On the afternoon of 7 June, the K’iche People’s Council (Consejo de Pueblos K’iche, CPK) and its leader and
ancestral authority Aura Lolita Chávez, stopped a truck loaded with wood between Chichicastenango and Los
Encantos in the K’iche department, northern Guatemala, in order to verify the origin and legality of the wood. The
CPK asserts the right to carry out these verifications as part of their right to ownership and control of natural
resources on their ancestral lands (a right which is protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples). According to the CPK, the truck had no logging permits. The CPK therefore escorted the truck to Santa
Cruz del Quiché (the capital of the department) in order to hand it over to the government authorities. The
Ombudsperson’s office attended with some officials of the National Police but then left. The CPK told Amnesty
International that as soon as this happened, at least 10 unidentified armed men arrived in a pick-up truck with long
guns. They threatened Aura Lolita Chávez and a few women human rights defenders of the CPK and told them
they were going to sexually assault them. The women ran away but the armed men chased them while firing
gunshots into the air. They eventually managed to escape.
Since the incident, rumours have circulated in Santa Cruz indicating that the group of armed men are looking for
Aura Lolita Chávez. Aura Lolita Chávez is currently in hiding as she fears for her safety. She is the beneficiary of
precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2005, and is
permanently accompanied by one police officer. The NGO Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in
Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) alerted the authorities of these attacks on the night of 7 June, but the authorities have
yet to implement any further protection measures to guarantee the integrity of Aura Lolita Chávez and the other
members of the CPK.
Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:
Calling on the Attorney General’s Office to promptly investigate the 7 June incidents reported by Aura Lolita
Chávez and the CPK as well as their allegations of unidentified armed men in the K’iche people’s territory;
Calling on the Ministry of the Interior to promptly implement protection measures to guarantee the integrity of
Aura Lolita Chávez and others CPK members in consultation and agreement with them.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 21 JULY 2017 TO:
Minister of Interior
Sr. Francisco Rivas Lara
Ministerio de Gobernación
6 avenida 13-71 zona 1, C.P. 01001
Guatemala, Guatemala
Email: frivas@mingob.gob.gt
Twitter: @mingobguate
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Sr. Ministro
Attorney General’s Office
Sra. Thelma Aldana Hernández
Fiscal General de la República
15 Av. 15-16 Zona 1, Edificio Gerona,
C.P. 01001 Guatemala, Guatemala
Email: ocgonzalez@mp.gob.gt
Twitter: @MPguatemala
Salutation: Dear General Attorney/
Sra. Fiscal General
Presidencial Commission on Human
Rights in Guatemala (COPREDEH)
Sr. Victor Hugo Godoy
2da Avenida 10-50, Zona 9
C.P. 01009 Guatemala, Guatemala
Email: vhgodoy@copredeh.gob.gt
Twitter: @copredeh
Salutation: Dear President/ Sr.
Presidente
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
INDIGENOUS DEFENDERS ATTACKED AND AT RISK
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Aura Lolita Chávez is the representative of the K’iche Peoples Council (Consejo de Pueblos K’iche, CPK). She is also an
ancestral authority of the K’iche Mayan people. The CPK was founded in 2008 to defend the land, territory and common goods
of the K’iche Indigenous peoples in northern Guatemala. They defend and promote the rights of over 87 communities of the
K’iche department. The organization has conducted popular and good faith consultation processes in the region in order for the
communities to express their views over the implementation of economic projects such as hydroelectric, mining, logging and
agribusiness projects. The CPK members and especially Aura Lolita Chávez have faced several death threats and security
incidents over the past years.
According to the civil society organization UDEFEGUA, environmental and land human rights defenders are the main group of
activists attacked in Guatemala. According to Amnesty International research, they have been constantly subjected to smear
campaigns aimed at stigmatizing and discrediting them in order to force them to stop their legitimate work. This includes being
falsely accused and prosecuted as a way of keeping them silent. Although the State of Guatemala has developed guidelines
and protection mechanisms for human rights defenders, these have proven to be ineffective. For more information, see the
Amnesty International report “We are defending the land with our blood”: Defenders of the land, territory and environment in
Honduras and Guatemala (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr01/4562/2016/en/) and Americas: State Protection
Mechanisms for Human Rights Defenders (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr01/6211/2017/en/).
Name: Aura Lolita Chávez (f) and members of the CPK
Gender m/f: all
UA: 135/17 Index: AMR 34/6466/2017 Issue Date: 9 June 2017