Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
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January 12, 2007
483 Families Evicted by CGN
On January 8, 430 police officers and roughly 200 military personnel arrived in the communities of La Unión and La Pista, located in the municipality of El Estor in the eastern department of Izabal, to carry out an eviction order of 308 Maya Q’eq’chí families. The following day, on January 9, at 10:00am, 175 more Maya Q’eq’chí families were violently expelled from the nearby communities of La Revolución and La Paz.
The Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN), a subsidiary of the Canadian Skye Resources Nickel Mining Company, pressed for the evictions. CGN claims that the families have trespassed and overtaken the company’s land. Technically, CGN does own the land. Nevertheless, the dispute over the territory dates back to the 1960s when another Canadian mining giant, named INCO, began to coax and violently force out campesinos from their plots. Until recently, the vacated lands had been unused and unproductive for decades. In September of 2006, hundreds of families previously living in the overcrowded town of Chichipate, located just west of El Estor, decided to reclaim their ancestral lands and make use of the deserted soil. All they desired was enough land to support their families through subsistence agriculture.
The first eviction of La Unión families was carried out in a mostly confined manner. Public Prosecutor Rafael Andrade Escobar read the eviction notice aloud while workers - contracted by CGN-Skye Resources - carefully disassembled the housing structures. Nevertheless, at the second eviction of the day in La Pisa, where community members had decided to flee before the police arrived, officers began to carelessly destroy and burn some of the dwellings.
However, the major calamity came the following day, during the eviction of the 175 families of La Revolución. Helicopters hovered at low altitudes so as to intimidate the community members. Police trucks lined the roads dawning four or more fully armed, black-clad police officers. CGN security guards traveled in a white pickup, wearing company t-shirts. Other security guards were positioned on the cliffs along roadsides.
Instead of sending the Public Prosecutor to read the eviction order, squads of riot police entered La Revolución, moved up the river that runs through the center of the community, and encircled the area. Surrounded by police, roughly fifty individuals waited for the Public Prosecutor to arrive and decree the eviction. Among them were about a dozen women and a handful of infants and children. Finally, when the Prosecutor did arrive, CGN contracted employees began to set houses on fire across the river. As the thick brown smoke rose into the air, the Public Prosecutor tried to call the employees to make them stop, but claimed that his cell phone had no signal. The community members watched as eighteen of their homes were reduced to smoldering ashes and charred wood. Finally, the two-dozen people hired by CGN to destroy the homes were stopped.
As the flames trickled to a glow, the Public Prosecutor ordered that the remaining homes in La Revolución and the nearby community of La Paz be dismantled. While some community members fought back tears, others stood quietly. Speaking as tears ran down his face, one man said, “They just burned my home. Where will my children sleep tonight?” His tears joined with sprinkles from heaven, as an intense afternoon shower drenched the families still taking down their homes. There was nowhere to go for shelter. The families stood alongside the highway with what was left of their belongings.
This violent eviction is not the first of its kind. On November 12, 2006, members from the National Civil Police (PNC) arrived in Chupon and La Revolución - without an eviction order signed by a judge, required by Guatemalan law, or the presence of the Public Prosecutor - and began to violently expel families, causing injury to several people.
The manner in which these evictions have been carried out is cause for grave concern and action. It is an injustice that peoples’ homes were illegally burned and intimidated by the show of force from CGN contracted employees, police officers, and military personnel. Even more disheartening is the fact that 483 families were made homeless in less than forty-eight hours.
The fear is that more evictions are planned by CGN in the upcoming days and more people will be left with no place to go and no source of livelihood, only accompanied by the weight of despair and uncertainty.
TAKE ACTION HERE!
GHRC and our counterparts in Guatemala are urging you to take action. We ask that you profess your solidarity with the 483 Maya Q’eq’chí families evicted from their ancestral lands by sending an email, hand written letter, or fax to the President and CEO of Skye Resources Nickel Mining Company – ultimately responsible for CGN, the Interior Minister of Guatemala, and the President of Guatemala:
- Denouncing the Guatemala Nickel Company’s and the Guatemala government’s manner in which several families were violently expelled from their homes, and left with minimal possessions and nowhere to go;
- Demanding the immediate formation of an investigative team to identify the contracted CGN employees responsible for burning 18 homes, and requiring that they be brought to justice;
- Urging the CGN and the government to compensate the affected communities for or repair the damage caused to their homes and possessions,
- Demanding that CGN and the government terminate all evictions and begin to negotiate with expelled families over the disputed land and reach a compromised and just solution;
- and, Stipulating that if evictions are to proceed, that authorities ensure that international standards are adhered to – in particular that no excessive force is used and that law enforcement officials protect evictees from acts of violence from third parties.
Unless we take action today, CGN and the Guatemalan government will not radically change their current strategy and tactics, and the ramifications of this conflict will continue to intensify. You can send your own message or send GHRC’s drafted message, pasted below. Moreover, we ask that you carbon copy your email, or send a copy to the Guatemalan Ambassador to the US and GHRC’s office at ghrc@ghrc-usa.org - so that we may be able to thank you for taking action. Thank you for your time and solidarity with Guatemalan victims of human rights abuses.
[Parts of this Urgent Action come from the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Committee (CONIC), and Dawn Paley from Rights Action. We appreciate their contributions to this Urgent Action!]
DRAFTED MESSAGES READY TO SEND!
Ian Austin, President and CEO
Skye Resources Nickel Mining Company
Suite 1203-700 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6C 1G8
info@skyeresources.com
Dear Mr. Ian Austin,
I condemn the recent evictions of 483 Maya Q’eq’chí families in El Estor, Guatemala, carried out by the Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN), a subsidiary of Skye Resources Nickel Mining Company. I recently learned of the evictions of La Unión, La Pisa, La Revolución, and La Paz that took place on January 8 and 9, 2007 due to a dispute over land. I am deeply troubled that CGN – Skye Resources contracted employees used a show of force and aggression against the communities and burned 18 houses to the ground. CGN-Skye Resources has violated the human rights of the families and has not adhered to international standards in executing evictions. This is unacceptable.
I understand that CGN technically owns the land that the communities are occupying. Nevertheless, the lands have been unused and unproductive for decades and are the ancestral lands of the families. Moreover, the families were coaxed and forced off those lands during the 1960s and are only searching for land to use for subsistence agriculture, in order to survive. Now they have nothing.
I denounce the manner in which CGN contracted employees and the Guatemalan government carried out the evictions, violently expelling several families from their homes - leaving them with minimal possessions and no where to go. Furthermore, I demand that Skye Resources implement an investigative team to identify the contracted CGN employees responsible for burning 18 homes, and require that you aid Guatemalan authorities in bringing them to justice. Moreover, due to the force used by CGN employees, I urge you to compensate the affected communities for or repair the damage caused to their homes and possessions. In the same token, I demand that CGN and the Guatemalan government terminate all evictions and begin to negotiate with expelled families over the disputed land and reach a compromised and just solution for all involved parties. Finally, if future evictions are to be carried out, I require that you ensure that international standards are adhered to – in particular that no excessive force or intimidation is used.
I remind you that the rest of the international community concerned about human rights and I are watching. We are in solidarity with victims of human rights abuses and will not stand by in silence or inaction. I urge you to comply with the aforementioned requests so that CGN and Skye Resources remains in good standing with consumers, investors, and the international community.
With grave concern,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE
Presidente de la República de Guatemala
Licenciado Óscar Berger Perdomo
Casa Presidencial, 6 a. Avenida, 4-18 zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala
GUATEMALA
presidente@scspr.gob.gtExcelentísimo Sr. Presidente/Dear President
I condemn the recent evictions of 483 Maya Q’eq’chí families in El Estor, Guatemala, carried out by the Guatemalan government and the Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN). I recently learned of the evictions of La Unión, La Pisa, La Revolución, and La Paz that took place on January 8 and 9, 2007 due to a dispute over land. I am deeply troubled that the Guatemalan government used a show of force and aggression against the communities and did not stop the burning of 18 houses. The Guatemalan government has violated the human rights of the families and has not adhered to international standards in executing evictions. This is unacceptable.
I understand that CGN technically owns the land that the communities are occupying. Nevertheless, the lands have been unused and unproductive for decades and are the ancestral lands of the families. Moreover, the families were coaxed and forced off those lands during the 1960s and are only searching for land to use for subsistence agriculture, in order to survive. Now they have nothing.
I denounce the manner in which the Guatemalan government carried out the evictions, violently expelling several families from their homes - leaving them with minimal possessions and no where to go. Furthermore, I demand that the Public Prosecutor implement an investigative team to identify the contracted CGN employees responsible for burning 18 homes, and require that the Guatemalan authorities bring them to justice. Moreover, due to the force used by the Guatemalan government and CGN employees, I urge you to compensate the affected communities for or repair the damage caused to their homes and possessions. In the same token, I demand that CGN and the Guatemalan government terminate all evictions and begin to negotiate with expelled families over the disputed land and reach a compromised and just solution for all involved parties. Finally, if future evictions are to be carried out, I require that you ensure that international standards are adhered to – in particular that no excessive force or intimidation is used.
I remind you that the rest of the international community concerned about human rights and I are watching. We are in solidarity with victims of human rights abuses and will not stand by in silence or inaction. I urge you to comply with the aforementioned requests so that the Guatemalan government remains in good standing with the international community.
With grave concern,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE
Minister of the Interior / Ministro de Gobernacion
Carlos Vielman
6a.Avenida 4-64, zona 4, nivel 3
Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2362 0237ministro@mingob.gob.gt
Estimado Sr. Ministro / Dear Minister
I condemn the recent evictions of 483 Maya Q’eq’chí families in El Estor, Guatemala, carried out by the Guatemalan government and the Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN). I recently learned of the evictions of La Unión, La Pisa, La Revolución, and La Paz that took place on January 8 and 9, 2007 due to a dispute over land. I am deeply troubled that the Guatemalan government used a show of force and aggression against the communities and did not stop the burning of 18 houses. The Guatemalan government has violated the human rights of the families and has not adhered to international standards in executing evictions. This is unacceptable.
I understand that CGN technically owns the land that the communities are occupying. Nevertheless, the lands have been unused and unproductive for decades and are the ancestral lands of the families. Moreover, the families were coaxed and forced off those lands during the 1960s and are only searching for land to use for subsistence agriculture, in order to survive. Now they have nothing.
I denounce the manner in which the Guatemalan government carried out the evictions, violently expelling several families from their homes - leaving them with minimal possessions and no where to go. Furthermore, I demand that the Public Prosecutor implement an investigative team to identify the contracted CGN employees responsible for burning 18 homes, and require that the Guatemalan authorities bring them to justice. Moreover, due to the force used by the Guatemalan government and CGN employees, I urge you to compensate the affected communities for or repair the damage caused to their homes and possessions. In the same token, I demand that CGN and the Guatemalan government terminate all evictions and begin to negotiate with expelled families over the disputed land and reach a compromised and just solution for all involved parties. Finally, if future evictions are to be carried out, I require that you ensure that international standards are adhered to – in particular that no excessive force or intimidation is used.
I remind you that the rest of the international community concerned about human rights and I are watching. We are in solidarity with victims of human rights abuses and will not stand by in silence or inaction. I urge you to comply with the aforementioned requests so that the Guatemalan government remains in good standing with the international community.
With grave concern,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE
PLEASE SEND CARBON COPIES TO:
Ambassador Jose Guillermo Castillo
Embassy of Guatemala
2220 R St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 745 1908
email: ambassador@guatemala-embassy.orgGuatemala Human Rights Commission- USA
GHRC-USA
3321 12th St, NE
Washington, DC 20017
202-529-6599
202-526-4611 fax
ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org
www.ghrc-usa.org
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