A coalition of international organizations have denounced Cameroonian authorities’ repression of community leader and environmental defender Nasako Besingi.
A coalition of international organizations have denounced Cameroonian authorities’ repression of community leader and environmental defender Nasako Besingi.
November 3rd, 2015- Cultural Survival congratulates Lorenzo Mateo Francisco as he received an award on behalf of the independent media site Prensa Comunitaria, a small independent news collective covering grassroots social movements and Indigenous Peoples rights in Guatemala.
The Washington DC-based non-profit Guatemala Human Rights Commission presented the award, reporting:
Saul Mendez with his family at a peaceful demonstration in Barillas in 2013.
Two Q’anjobal Maya community leaders who were imprisoned in Guatemala for the past two years, have finally been declared innocent and released. A regional criminal court in Guatemala found the two men to be absolved of all charges on October 28, 2015.
The Indigenous Kuy people of the Prey Lang forest of Cambodia are increasing their efforts in the campaign to promote conservation of their lands and against deforestation by the government and corporations with a new smartphone application to help them better report on what is going on.
On October 13, 2015 leading Indigenous organizations organized a meeting with the two aspiring vice-president candidates of Guatemala. The meeting had as a goal the discussion of the Indigenous Political Agenda and the work still to be done to improve the situation of over 40% of the population. The candidates are Mario Leal Castillo, vice-president candidate for the left-wing political party UNE and Jafeth Cabrera vice-president candidate for the right-wing political party FCN.
By Alexis White-Mobley
From October 4th to the 11th 2015, Teresita Mendoza, Cultural Survival’s Indigenous Community Radio Regional Promotor, began her visits through Central America to meet with Indigenous Radios across all seven countries. Her mission is to contact, invite and coordinate Indigenous Community Radios in Central America to unite and create an International Indigenous Community Radio Network. The initiative is in collaboration with various Indigenous rights and communications organizations in Latin America.
By The Guatemalan Human Rights Commission
The 2015 Alice Zachmann Human Rights Award will be presented to the community media group Prensa Comunitaria (Community Press) by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (GHRC).
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.