Guatemalan villagers make long journey to Canada in search of justice

[naaman fletcher]

A small group of Guatemalans from remote villages has made a long trek to Toronto in search of justice.

Five of them are suing a Canadian mining company.

They all claim Hudbay Minerals is liable for violence that left one man dead, another in a wheelchair and a group of women victims of gang rapes. The company denies it is to blame.

After traveling for two days from their tiny villages, four women and one man arrived last week in Toronto. Their sandals suggested they were not prepared to face Toronto’s subzero temperatures.

....

http://www.pri.org/stories/politics-society/social-justice/guatemalan-villagers-make-long-journey-to-canada-in-search-of-justice-12256.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Earlier information on Mrs. Choc's husband's murder:

ANNOUNCEMENT OF LAWSUIT IN CANADA
AGAINST MINING COMPANY
RELATING TO KILLING OF MAYAN LEADER

For immediate release: December 1, 2010
Toronto, Canada and Guatemala City, Guatemala.

~snip~
Adolfo's murder was brutal. Mining security forces recognized Adolfo as a community leader, surrounded him, beat him and hacked at him with machetes before shooting him in the head at close range.

"I believe my husband was killed because he spoke out about the rights violations caused by Canadian mining in Guatemala" said Adolfo Ich's widow, Angelica Choc. "I believe he was killed because he was encouraging communities to stay united against the harmful practices of the mining company."

Angelica Choc has brought the lawsuit in Canada because of the strong connections between the mining project and Canada.

"The bullet that killed Adolfo was shot in Guatemala" said Murray Klippenstein, lawyer for Angelica Choc. "But the decisions that ultimately led to Adolfo's death were made in Canada. HudBay Minerals' head office is a mere five blocks away from the Canadian court where the case will be heard."

Because Guatemala suffers from very high rates of impunity, there is little chance that Angelica Choc could get justice in Guatemala. In 2005, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Execution stated that "Guatemala is a good place to commit a murder, because you will almost certainly get away with it." In 2009, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala reported that "the impunity rate in Guatemala amounted to some 98 per cent, with only 2 out of every 100 cases actually going to court".

More:
http://www.rightsaction.org/articles/Guate_Choc_vs_HudBay_120310.html