Mid Year Update

As this year in which we launched our new strategy reaches its mid-way point, we’re writing to update you on PBI UK’s activities and impact. For an in-depth look at PBI’s global work empowering human rights defenders, download PBI’s global annual report here.

Guatemala: Providing legal, political and protective support at a critical time

Responding to requests from Indigenous leaders concerned at threats to the rule of law and the rights of rural communities, PBI organised a high-level legal delegation to Guatemala in March. Human rights lawyers from countries including the UK, Brazil, Peru and the US met with tens of NGOs, visited Indigenous communities and jailed human rights defenders, as well as meeting Guatemalan authorities, the diplomatic community and private sector.

In an initial press conference the delegation called for urgent action to protect Indigenous peoples and expressed grave concern at the impact of violent forced displacements in Guatemala.The lawyers have subsequently successfully urged the Guatemalan authorities to stall planned evictions of Indigenous communities, and media outlets including El País have reported on their activities.

With controversial elections underway, PBI’s team in Guatemala is on high alert, travelling the country to provide protection to communities and NGOs denouncing threats to democracy. In the UK, we’re helping the legal delegation to launch its report alongside Indigenous leaders in London in autumn.

With criminalisation of human rights defenders accelerating globally, we are also preparing legal initiatives to support activists in Honduras and Nepal, and continue to connect the capacity of lawyers in the UK with needs around the world. Read more about how the legal community can support human rights defenders here.

Mexico: Mobilising support in the face of criminalisation

In June, the criminalisation of Mexican environmental defender Alejandro Torres Xocolatl intensified when he was detained, presumably as a reprisal for his sustained campaigning for Indigenous rights in the face of large-scale business and infrastructure projects. PBI carried out a global activation of political and civil society contacts, whilst simultaneously providing on-the-ground international observation at his judicial hearings. Last week Alejandro’s arrest warrant was withdrawn.

With our Front Line Team working to provide a protective presence in areas of Mexico where rural defenders face grave threats, our offices globally continue to mobilise international support for defenders and their causes. In April, we facilitated a meeting between former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and defenders from Chihuahua and Mexico City ahead of his meetings with Mexican legislators and the country’s President.

Honduras: High alert as environmentalists face grave reprisals

Violent reprisals in rural Honduras continue unabated. This year environmental defenders ​​Jairo Bonilla and Aly Domínguez - plus Aly’s brother Oquelí - were murdered, in the latest violence against opponents of the Los Pinares mine which has now been belatedly suspended by the Honduran government. The Guapinol water defenders demand a permanent cancellation due to alleged violations of the community’s rights and contamination of their water supply.

The situation in Honduras is of extreme concern. PBI has bolstered numbers in our team there through emergency recruitment. Our global offices, including in the UK, are working constantly to get support to local communities and pressure on the country’s authorities. We’re also working to get human and financial resources to our team in Honduras, while planning advocacy activities in London with visiting defenders in September.

It is not only rural environmentalists who face a backlash in Honduras. Last month, PBI joined Front Line Defenders to publicly express concern for the lack of protection for defenders of LGTBI+ rights. Local activists have become disillusioned with the lack of response from the country’s government.

Colombia: Working towards total peace and police reform with civil society at their centre

We welcomed human rights defender Óscar Ramírez, from the CSPP, to London as part of a global tour to advocate for the international community to scale up support for ‘total peace’ in Colombia, as well as effective police reform and protection for defenders.

His timing was good, with UK Foreign Minister James Cleverley having recently pledged fresh millions in aid to Colombia. Following a positive response from parliamentarians, we are now working with UK and Colombian civil society to build momentum through a range of actions to engage MPs, Peers, the FCDO and the Colombian government in autumn.

Defenders: their campaigns and contexts in their own words

This year, PBI UK has interviewed Riska - an LGBTQ+ rights defender from Indonesia; environmental rights defenders Alejandro and Lupita from Southern and Northern Mexico; Junia and Mandira - defenders working on women's rights and the rule of law in Kenya and Nepal; as well as PBI UK's own Walter Nyabadza, a human rights lawyer from Zimbabwe. We also celebrated the life of PBI’s inspirational co-founder Hans Sinn, who recently passed away. Read their stories, and catch up on all our latest news here.

UK Policy Advocacy Updates

Good news! After months of campaigning by tens of NGOs including PBI, the Government finally dropped its plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with what UK civil society had dubbed a ‘Rights Removal Bill’.

The Government has responded to calls from PBI and others to update its 2019 guidelines on human rights defenders and situate it within a holistic policy. Earlier this year the Foreign Office announced it was exploring options to build on the existing guidance, and consulted a number of NGOs including PBI on how to do so. PBI is engaging with all political parties to ensure that effective support for defenders and engagement with civil society are core pillars of the foreign policy of whoever wins the next general election.

PBI continues to contribute to the work of the Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC), and participated in a well-attended event in Parliament calling for a law mandating UK corporations to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence. As a result of CJC and PBI advocacy, the number of MPs backing this call is growing. Later in the year, we hope to produce a report on why this initiative is vital to the defenders we work with globally who face threats after standing up to irresponsible business.

Your support not only allows us to carry out these and other activities, but has also allowed PBI UK to grow our staff capacity to support more front line activists - thank you! We are currently in the process of bringing three new colleagues on board to PBI UK, as well as supporting two British volunteers who will join one of PBI’s Front Line Teams later this year and provide protective accompaniment and training to threatened defenders.

We couldn’t do it without you!