Law enforcement officers use excessive force on Indigenous communities that protest for their rights.

On Friday, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) informed that the Maya, Xinka, Garifuna, and Afro-descendant peoples of Guatemala continue to suffer discrimination and violence and lack sufficient guarantees to protect their rights.

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The Committee noted that initiatives against discrimination have not made significant progress in Guatemala, and that measures from the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples have not been implemented.

The CERD called for measures to prevent and condemn racial hate speech, which persists online and is expressed by public figures. The Committee denounced the historical and structural discrimination, which especially reflects in the poverty of rural communities.

They also expressed concern about the limited political representation of Maya, Xinka, Garifuna, and Afro-descendant peoples, and denounced the excessive use of force by law enforcement and private security companies on Indigenous people who protest in defense of their rights.

The text reads, “We share the statements of the Maya Ch’orti Indigenous Authorities and their legal team, following the ruling by Judge Silvia Lorena Solares, who acquitted the 10 community authorities that were criminalized for defending their territory.”

On Thursday, a Guatemalan court acquitted ten indigenous Mayan Ch’orti’ authorities who had been accused of illegally detaining personnel from the Los Manantiales mine in 2021. However, the prosecution failed to prove the accusations brought by the company owners.

In 2019, the communities protested against the mine due to the contamination of land and rivers. The mining operation was never consulted with the residents, which violates the law and Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Other residents opposing the mine had faced legal proceedings in 2016 for alleged crimes, including assault, trespassing, threats. These proceedings were also unsuccessful, and the case was dismissed.

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE – Boston Herald

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