Security & Strategic Review - December 2021 |
GUATEMALA: Stage of siege declared over mining unrest |
Human rights groups have recently condemned the excessive use of force against indigenous protesters and journalists in Guatemala’s El Estor municipality, Izabal department. The concerns follow President Alejandro Giammattei’s declaration on 23 October of a 30-day state of siege in El Estor, which allows for a military deployment and restricts constitutional guarantees. This followed protests staged by indigenous groups against the Fénix nickel mine, which, despite a constitutional court (CC) ruling suspending its operations last year, has continued to operate, according to these groups. The government’s response has subjected it to familiar complaints of criminalising public protest and protecting powerful mining interests. The Giammattei government declared the state of siege following clashes between security forces and protesters who, led by local indigenous organisation Consejo Ancestral Maya Q’eqchi’, had been staging peaceful demonstrations since 4 October against the mine which is run by the Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN), a subsidiary of Swiss-based Solway Investment Group. In June 2020, the CC upheld an earlier ruling ordering the suspension of the mine on the grounds that it violates the right to consultation with local communities. (In 1996 Guatemala ratified Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization [ILO], which entitles indigenous communities to free, prior and informed consent before the commencement of development projects that will directly impact them). In a 23 October statement, human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas complained the mine was functioning “illegally”. As regards the clashes, he also accused the security forces of repressing the public and journalists amid reports that the national police (PNC) fired tear gas at protesters. The mining & energy ministry (MEM), which claimed that 17 PNC officials had been injured in the same clashes, insisted that the mine’s suspension was still in effect but “activities such as the processing plant…in the area” were ongoing as they are “not related” to the CC ruling. As well as the continued operations of the mine, the exclusion of Consejo Ancestral Maya Q’eqchi’ from a “pre-consultation” meeting in relation to the Fénix project on 28 September, was also reportedly a contributing factor in the demonstrations which began on 4 October. The government’s decision to declare a state of siege and the aftermath drew condemnation from civil-society groups such as the local human rights platform Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos (CDH) which in a 31 October statement outlined various complaints. These included the “disproportionate use of force” in response to the state of siege – concerns echoed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in a 4 November statement which condemned the excessive use of force by PNC officials and “indiscriminate use of tear gas”, and urged the Guatemalan government to carry out an investigation. CDH also said in its statement that 14 raids had been carried out on the homes of human rights defenders and cited press freedom violations amid reports of physical attacks and the destruction of journalists’ equipment – complaints that were echoed by US-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which said that police raided at least one news outlet and the homes of at least two journalists in connection to those protests.
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