Please see our member blog for more information on the cuts to development assistance that have been made by the Canadian Government - this is a dreadful situation!

http://devpeacemembers.wordpress.com/

Many Development and Peace members and supporters are familiar with our work with partner CEHPRODEC for responsible mining in Honduras.  Many have hosted speaking events with Pedro Landa, who has spoken on the Goldcorp owned San Martin mine in the country’s Siria Valley and the struggle of the directly affected communities for respect to their right to live in a healthy environment and have access to a clean water supply.

 The following action put out by another partner organization, COFADEH, a human rights committee, highlights the situation faced by Carlos Amador, Secretary of the Siria Valley Environmental Committee, a committee that has been active on mining and forestry issues for several years now.  Carlos and other local activists are increasingly concerned about the ease with which the government is granting permits to slowly deforest the area, which has already been environmentally damaged by open pit mining.  In the face of mounting opposition by the local population to the destruction of the local forests, trees are now being chopped down by armed men, and tensions are escalating.  In this context, a local powerful family has filed charges against 18 local environmental activists, who are opposed to the destruction of the forests.  This lawsuit illustrates the reduction of democratic space in Honduras for any opposition to the government, a space that has been reduced since the June 2009 coup d’etat which ousted democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya from Honduras.  It also illustrates the trend of criminalization of social protest.  Development and Peace upholds the right of the Siria Valley Environmental Committee and local activists to protest against environmental degradation that is ultimately damaging the livelihoods of poor small-scale farmers.  Please support this action suggested by COFADEH:

Urgent Action:

Honduran State Continues to Criminalize Human Rights Defenders

The Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Cofadeh) expresses its repudiation and concern for the Honduran State’s systemic practice of qualifying the most basic actions defending of nature and the rights accorded by the Constitution of the Republic as disturbing the peace, sabatoge and terrorism.

Various legal tools and policies are being used to inhibit the work of human rights defenders. In this particular case, defenders of the environment Carlos Danilo Amador and Marlon Hernández were detained by police, with warrants, between 6:30 and 7:00 AM on their way to work on charges of obstructing the excecution of an environmental management plan. Juan Ángel Reconco was detained in the early afternoon on the same charges. All are members of the Environmental Committee of the Siria Valley. Another 15 environmental defenders, also members of the committee, also have warrants out for their arrest on the same charge, and are at risk of arrest.

The charges are related to incidents that occured on April 7, 2010, when 600 residents of the Municipality of El Porvenir prevented logging of trees that protect the mini-watershed of the Guayabo Stream, known as el Tapalito, in the village of El Terrero. This source supplies water for human consumption to six comunities in the municipality, directly affecting 10,000 residents who have been protecting this forest for years. This protection was formalized on December 27, 2007 in an agreement with then AFE-COHDEFOR (State Forestry Administration – Honduran Corporation for Forestry Development), the Municipality of El Porvenir, and the residents.

The Environmental Committee and the affected communities consider that the management plan granted to Hayde Urrutia Mejía by the Honduran State is illegal because it deos not comply with the prerequisites established in the Forestry, Protected Areas and Wildlife Law, which requires an Environmental Impact Assessment including the participation of the population that could be affected by the project or activity under review. They also consider the management plan illegal due to irregularities regarding land tenancy.

The environmentalists in question are facing charges of Obstructing the Execution of a Management Plan, which carries a penaly of 4-6 years in prison according to article 186 of the above mentioned law. In the hearing that took place on July 5, 2011, Judge Ingrid Quiroz Banegas imposed precautionary measures on the defendants, including the requirements that they present themselves and sign-in at the courthouse every 15 days, do not leave the country, do not approach the mini-watershed of Tapalito, and do not approach the person, family, or dwelling of the beneficiary of the Management Plan, Hayde Urrutia Mejia.

In this particular case the justice system has not acted objectively and is instead favoring the executive branches of the state and criminalizing civil protest in the name of national (and international) interests, while the national (and international) interests in question are the precisely the reason for concern and protest on the part of the people and communities of the municipality of El Porvenir and leaders of the Environmental Committee of the Siria Valley.

Cofadeh is requesting the national and international community to demand that: 1) the Honduran State take the necessary measures, including implementation the required mechanisms, to guarantee personal freedom, due process, and the right to defend human rights to Carlos Danilo Amador, Marlon Hernández, Juan Ángel Reconco and all other members of the Siria Valley Environmental Committee; 2) cease all acts of retaliation against them; and 3) guarantee in general the right to defend universally recognized human rights as established in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, approved in 1998, and similar OAS Resolutions emitted in 1999 and 2000.

Please direct letters, calls and faxes to Honduran Justice officials and diplomatic representatives of your country of residence:

Fax and phone numbers are listed with calling codes from the US or Canada

Jorge Alberto Rivera Avilés
President of the Supreme Court
Tel (from the US or Canada): 011-504-2269-3000, 011-504-2269-3069
Email: cedij@poderjudicial.gob.hn

Luis Alberto Rubí
Attorney General
Fax: 011-504-2221-5667
Tel 011-504-2221-5670 or 011-504-2221-3099
E-mail: lrubi@mp.hn
gsuazog@mp.hn

CANADA:

Ambassador Cameron MacKay

Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica (also responsible for Honduras):

Tel: 11-5062242-4400

Email: sjcra@international.gc.ca, Cameron.MacKay@international.gc.ca

Fax: 011-506-2242-4411 – Political Affairs

UNITED STATES:

U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Telephone: 011-504- 2236-9320, 011-504-2238-5114

Fax Number: 011-504-2236-9037

by Fanny Magnificat:

As I walked in the hall of St. Luke’s Catholic Church, the buzzing and the moving of the people was a blessing as I looked around. So many guests were there and sat. On the microphone was one of the most energetic emcee I’ve encountered so far. She introduced Development and Peace with the simplicity of someone who desires to get the message across to a child.

I was in for a surprise as the evening slowly unfolded; I thought I knew what Development and Peace is about, but I got dunked as the educational videos began to play throughout the evening in between the performances.

Then I wondered and pondered: “Seriously Fanny, up to now what did you know?” It took that evening to radically get me back on track and appreciate another wealthy area of the church. Up to this point, I knew about the donations we make to support, the presence of that ministry at some point in parish, the Lenten campaign but I faced the sad but true reality; I did not start going deeper until this semester when I was driven to interview Ms. Jana Drapal, who then informed me about the time for the Gala. Our beloved Lord has ways to show us the ultimate Way to His work among his flock. Education wise that night, I must congratulate the whole team for bringing back on a regular basis on why we were there. Today in my words, I may say that Development and Peace is the Catholic Organization that is truly showing the Love of Christ in actions through the partners the Lord has blessed her to work, and all her members within all the lands it has established itself. That is the Gospel in motion.

 Yet the evening, the gala night, did not resume only itself to the educational videos, it represented talents from all continents where Development and Peace is involved; it ranged from Asia to Africa and from the Oceania to America not forgetting we had a European touch with the presence of the Polish Dance. Performances were outstanding, the DJ was outstanding, all those who volunteered and brought a dish, the organization was second to none. Our good Lord could not have made this evening any better as it ended with free salsa lessons. What about the restaurants that donated dishes. The night even featured a little auction dance time. Our beloved emcee offered to volunteer her dancing skill to a Salsa tune if we could raise altogether $100 in donation. It was instantly offered by a gentleman, the stakes were then raised to $300. Target was reached, and the promise fulfilled; she danced to a wonderful salsa song with the DJ, who happened to be an expert when it comes to latin dance. As a matter of fact, he performed that evening thus promoting his dance school. 

My blessed friends, what to say, if not to confirm that as people joined from all walks to be together that night, the Holy Trinity acted to show the beauty of the Catholic Church in action through Development & Peace. For me personally, it was a night of fellowship, education, testimony, simplicity, the making of new friends in Christ from other Christian families; I met a wonderful lady from the Coptic Church who had come to support us, and what development & peace does that night. This for me definitely falls under the new evangelization.

At last but not least, from performing on stage I joyfully accepted to no longer be a distant member, but to truly embrace as a Catholic Christian Artist, the call to be an ambassador of Development & Peace. For those who’ve been praying for God to raise more labourers for the harvest, carry on. I entrust myself to your prayers and all the members of Development & Peace that the Holy Trinity may move many of us to never get tired to work in spreading the Good News through our thoughts, words and deeds. As Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes more and more the missionary call of every Catholic, let us rise in supporting Development and Peace by showing every day in our life, in our workplace, in our neighbourhood the grace and uniqueness of being a Catholic in Action. Let us more than ever be a voice for the voiceless, the hands of Christ in the world, His yes. Let us be willing to go wherever He sends us. More and more are needed lay people who are willing to take the Good News to others just like our heavenly mother Mary has taken Christ to Elizabeth. As Catholic Christians, it is our duty more than ever to grow more and more curious about our faith in order to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the other Christian families. We are called to be the Trinitarian missionaries of the 21^st Century.

I kindly thank the Development and Peace team for giving me the opportunity to share what I’ve been blessed with at the Gala night.

by Alex Wright

The first two days of the 2011 Development & Peace Youth Solidarity Trip were spent meeting with members of the Permanent Peace Movement and understanding the organization’s important work within the context of the current social, economic and political realities in Lebanon.

The Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) is an independent Lebanese Non-Governmental Organization founded in 1986 at the height of the Lebanese civil war by a group of young university students unified by their common vision of the future and their aversion to war.  They considered that peaceful means for conflict resolution are the most useful of all, and that when these are exhausted, one should resort to non-violent means and never to violence. 

Such a commitment to peace building within Lebanon is an incredible challenge – this is a country brimming with domestic tension as members of 18 various sects, within a population of less than 4 million people, have repeatedly entered into violent conflict.  Sectarianism within Lebanon means that political office, government positions, and senior military and security appointments are divided based on the principle of religious balance.   Thus, it appears that for many Lebanese, political, economic or cultural survival is dependent upon occupying positions of power in order to protect the rights and values of their own group.  Moreover, divisions within the country are not simply predicated on religion, but on various political ideologies, which further fragment groups. 

It is apparent that there are no easy solutions to ending violence and preventing further conflict.  Indeed coming from a generation of Canadians which have little experience with war, the situation appears absolutely overwhelming.

by Alex Wright

The first two days of the 2011 Development & Peace Youth Solidarity Trip were spent meeting with members of the Permanent Peace Movement and understanding the organization’s important work within the context of the current social, economic and political realities in Lebanon.

The Permanent Peace Movement (PPM) is an independent Lebanese Non-Governmental Organization founded in 1986 at the height of the Lebanese civil war by a group of young university students unified by their common vision of the future and their aversion to war.  They considered that peaceful means for conflict resolution are the most useful of all, and that when these are exhausted, one should resort to non-violent means and never to violence. 

Such a commitment to peace building within Lebanon is an incredible challenge – this is a country brimming with domestic tension as members of 18 various sects, within a population of less than 4 million people, have repeatedly entered into violent conflict.  Sectarianism within Lebanon means that political office, government positions, and senior military and security appointments are divided based on the principle of religious balance.   Thus, it appears that for many Lebanese, political, economic or cultural survival is dependent upon occupying positions of power in order to protect the rights and values of their own group.  Moreover, divisions within the country are not simply predicated on religion, but on various political ideologies, which further fragment groups. 

It is apparent that there are no easy solutions to ending violence and preventing further conflict.  Indeed coming from a generation of Canadians which have little experience with war, the situation appears absolutely overwhelming.