Archbishop Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, Archbishop of Huancayo in Peru, has been nominated by the Pope to the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace at the Vatican. Archbishop Barreto is the President of the Department of Justice and Solidarity of the Latin American Bishops’ Conference (CELAM) and Vice-President of the Bishops' Social Action Commission (CEAS), an organization supported by Development and Peace.
The road from Lima to Huancayo, in the central Highlands of Peru, is a dusty and graffiti-streaked highway that climbs, at first slowly, out of a grey, mist-shrouded Lima. It is flanked by settlements of poor neighbourhoods, where pastel-coloured ramshackle houses are precariously perched on the mountainside, looking down on to a four-lane highway.
Yesterday, I flew to South America to attend a workshop that is being organized by CIDSE, and the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), along with a number of Latin American civil society organizations, on how transnational corporations can be more vigilant with respect to human rights – i.e. take steps to ensure that their operations do not lead to human rights violations and damage to local communities.
Israel Garcia Perez, a member of an Aguan peasant group, was found dead, with bullet wounds marking his body, early morning Saturday July 28th, at the Los Laureles property on the outskirts of Tocoa. His death brought to 52 the number of peasants violently killed in this region in less than 3 years. Israel Garcia Perez had been participating in a land occupation on lands claimed by African palm oil magnate Miguel Facusse, whose security guards are implicated in several executions in the region.
Mary Durran, International Programs Officer for Latin America
"The government is mistaken if it thinks that with bullets, torture and punches it will control the just demands of Cajamarca. The president shouldn't just defend investment. He should defend the fundamental rights of Peruvians." - Marco Arana, environmental campaigner
Five citizens have been killed and a former catholic priest injured by police and temporarily detained – all in a context of social unrest around a proposed operation of the US mining giant, Newmont in Cajamarca, northern Peru.
I first visited Blama in November, 1989. It was my first trip as a program officer for Development and Peace. After visiting the Pastoral and Social Center, where Development and Peace was funding an impressive leadership training programme called D.E.P.
Geneviève Talbot, Program Officer for Emergency Relief
Several groups in Cambodia have mobilized to condemn the use of armed force against citizens who are speaking out in defense of their rights. In the last few weeks, a series of troubling events have led to this mass mobilization, including the arrest and mistreatment of 13 women who participated in a peaceful protest against land evictions.
Mary Durran, International Programs Officer for Latin America
A public hearing on the human rights situation in the Lower Aguan region of Honduras took place on May 28, 2012, in the city of Tocoa, Colon. Severe land conflicts in this region continue to pit peasants against large land holders who have disputed previous governments' attempt at land reform, and have resulted in serious and ongoing human rights violations. The situation worsened dramatically after the Honduran coup d'etat in June 2009.
Suzanne Slobodian, Fundraising Officer, Major Gifts
It is with this cry of the heart that a major donor (who prefers to remain anonymous) closed the meeting that we had with her last Friday (May 4th), to thank her for an important gift she made for a project involving youth in the Palestinian Territories.
I was there with one of my colleagues from International Programs, Sonia Lebesgue, Program Officer for the Middle East, and Monica Lambton, a very active member of Development and Peace, who lived in Jerusalem for a few years.
The Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI) is hosting a Forum on Haiti on May 9th and 10th to discuss the work of the various organizations from Quebec and Canada that are working on post-earthquake reconstruction and development projects in Haiti. The AQOCI is bringing these actors together to dialogue on lessons learned from the field, and to ensure that Haitians are the ones guiding the process.
