Parliamentary Launch of Report on Threats to Democracy in Guatemala

Parliamentary Launch of International Delegation of Independent Lawyers' Report  on Failure to Protect Indigenous Rights and Threats to Democracy in GUATEMALA 

The PHRG, in conjunction with PBI UK, hosted the following Indigenous representatives from Guatemala and members of the international delegation of independent lawyers who authored the report “We are not trespassers: this is our land”: Agrarian conflict and Indigenous peoples’ rights in Alta Verapaz”:  

• Lesbia Artola Teyul - Indigenous leader from Campesino Committee of the Highlands;  

• Sandra Calel Cahuec - Indigenous leader from Verapaz Union of Campesino Organisations;  

• Camila Zapata Besso - Barrister at Doughty Street International;  

• Haydee Dijkstal - Barrister at 33 Bedford Row Chambers, Executive Member of the Bar Human Rights Committee; 

• Ben Leather – Director, Peace Brigades International UK (PBI UK) 

Main points: 

• Indigenous people, who make up some 60% of the Guatemalan population, continue to be woefully underrepresented in politics, discriminated against, marginalised and repressed.   

• Those representing local Indigenous communities in Guatemala and their representatives face harassment, attacks, and unwarranted criminalisation for their legitimate opposition to land grabs in violation of their collective land rights, serious environmental harms resulting from contested commercial activity, and non-compliance with Court judgments upholding their rights. 

• The report being launched concluded that structural reform is needed to address the systemic discrimination and widespread violations against Indigenous peoples in Guatemala, and that extractive industries and agribusiness are causing environmental and other harms undermining indigenous rights. 

• The Indigenous representatives called for greater protection and for inclusion in international fora, such as COP 28 in the UAE. 

• The international community, including the US, OAS, the EU and the UK, should also continue to monitor the political crisis in Guatemala closely, be vocal in their support for a peaceful transfer of power in January, and consider what they will do if such a transfer is thwarted.