Photo Credit: No a La Mina Esquel
On April 22, a court in the south-central province of Chubut, Argentina handed down sentences to six environmental defenders who participated in the 2021 Chubutazo – a powerful province-wide protest that successfully derailed government attempts to impose a zoning bill to allow industrial mining in the central plateau of the province. Eight defenders in total were on trial (of the 24 initially criminalized), facing charges over a period of four years on various counts. The proceedings were marked by a lack of evidence, during which time the defenders were stigmatized, harassed, and were painted as violent individuals and even terrorists. Judge Eva Ponce acquitted two of the defendants and found six people criminally responsible for arson, theft, and aggravated damage, sentencing them to between one and six years in prison.
One of the eight died by suicide the day before the verdict announcing his acquittal.
For decades, the Union of Assemblies of Communities of Chubut, Argentina (UACCh) and the Mapuche Tehuelche Indigenous communities have been organizing to oppose mining in the province of Chubut, specifically against the Navidad mining project owned by the Canadian company Pan American Silver. Resistance to industrial mining began in the town of Esquel located in the Chubut mountain range, when more than 81% of local residents voted in a 2003 referendum against a gold mining project. Awareness and resistance spread throughout the province, and along with it, strong opposition to the Navidad project. However, in spite of this opposition and existing environmental legislation banning the use of cyanide in open-pit mining operations – effectively making the Navidad project unviable for years – Pan American Silver acquired the project in 2010.
On December 15, 2021, the provincial legislature of Chubut passed a law to allow open-pit mining in certain areas of the province, essentially giving the green light to Pan American Silver's La Navidad project. Thousands of people across Chubut – including those organized through the UACCh, trade unions, neighbourhood organizations, and Indigenous peoples – immediately took to the streets. Among other demands, they denounced the efforts by the Canadian company to change local legislation, undermining people’s self-determination in the face of large scale mining. On December 21, six days after its approval and following massive protests and displays of collective power, the law was overturned unanimously. The very same legislature that passed this zoning bill for mining was forced to repeal it following the popular revolution known as the “Chubutazo.”
The defense lawyers emphasize that the case against the eight citizens lacks evidence and the sentences sought by the prosecution are wildly disproportionate to the crimes. The trial was marred by a lack of transparency and public access to the proceedings. Environmental and human rights organizations in Chubut warn that the charges are politically-motivated as the province looks to expand mining activities, including uranium mining, and is cracking down on protest to dissuade the communities that are not yet organized from joining in protests. The judicial system chose eight scapegoats to target, when in fact the “Chubutazo” was a genuine popular revolution – one that, for six days, successfully shut down the province and forced the political powers to back down in the face of a strong mining lobby (accused of many things, including bribery).
In this particular “Chubutazo” case, five people have been convicted of theft and one person of arson. The evidence consists of photos taken by undercover police officers that place them at the protests, but without committing any crime. At the same time, the actions of security forces accused of using excessive violence against protesters during the Chubutazo have not been investigated, despite the more than 50 complaints filed. Worse still, according to the Environmental Lawyers Association and the Collective for Ecosocial Justice (Asociación de Abogados y Abogadas Ambientalistas y el Colectivo de Acción por la Justicia Ecosocial - CAJE), some police officers were decorated. Amnesty International Argentina reported at the time, "excessive force was used by the security forces against the protesters [and] seven people were arrested and more than 30 were injured."
This raises even more questions about the judicial process and whether the real motivation of the provincial government of Chubut – colluding between the legislative and judicial branches – is to silence, stigmatize, persecute, and disempower people who seek to protect water and speak out against large-scale mining.
At the same time, these legal proceedings against the six citizens are part of a broader context of criminalization targeting environmental defenders throughout the province, illustrated by two other court cases. In one, five environmental defenders and grassroots journalists are being prosecuted for their peaceful participation in a May 2021 roadblock after the provincial legislature rejected the “Second Popular Initiative,” which, with more than 20,000 signatures, sought to stop the Mining Zoning Law. In another case, six people are facing charges related to threats and violence for questioning members of Chubut’s provincial parliament about the province’s adherence to the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI in Spanish) – a regime that promotes massive investment in large-scale extractive projects like mining with few if any environmental protections. Under this regime, projects will continue to receive the benefits of RIGI “even if they pollute rivers, soil, and aquifers, destroy glaciers or cause the extinction of a species.”
The undersigned organizations stand in solidarity with all the citizens and environmental defenders criminalized for protesting large-scale mining and urge Argentinian authorities to end the criminalization of social protest in Chubut, respect the due process, and drop the politically-motivated charges against the six citizens who were sentenced on April 22. We call on Chubut authorities to respect the demands of the people of Chubut, who are exercising their constitutional right to organize and demonstrate peacefully. We also urge the provincial government to comply with the Escazú Agreement and uphold the separation of powers in the province of Chubut, which is the foundation of democracy and the rule of law.
Canada has an obligation under international law to protect human rights. We therefore call on the Canadian government, through its embassy in Buenos Aires, to implement the “Voices at Risk: Canada's Guidelines on Support for Human Rights Defenders” and to publicly express its support for the rights of the criminalized environmental defenders.
#ProtestIsNotACrime
Signatories,
Argentina
- Union of Community Assemblies of Chubut (UACCh)
- Autoconvocadas Área 12
- Asamblea de Vecinos No a la Mina Esquel
- Asamblea Ambiental de Punta del Indio
- Centro Cultural La Panadería de Morón
- Radio Comunitaria de Punta del Indio
- Educación Popular Comodoro
- Asamblea Rawson Playa
- Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos - APDH
- Asamblea Maipucina por el Agua
- Foro Infancia Robada Comdoro Rivadavia
- Vecinos x el ambiente Punilla
- Comisión Contra La Impunidad y por la Justicia
- Asociación Civil Moreno por la Memoria
- Asamblea por necesidad y urgencia Mendoza
- Asociación Civil por la Memoria y los DDHH
- APCA Neuquen
- Asamblea por el agua Comodoro Rivadavia
- Reserva Natural La Amanda
- Asamblea Rawson playa Chubut
- Unión de asamblea de comunidades Trelew chubut
- Coordinadora Socioambiental Bahia Blanca
- Movimiento Antinuclear del Chubut (MACH)
- Vecinos Unidos por el Puma (La Falda, Córdoba)
- Asamblea popular por el agua
- Comunidad por el Biocorredor Arroyo Las Catonas
- APDH REGIONAL RÍO CUARTO
- SERPAJ
- Feministas Antiextractvistas del Sur
- Asamblea Fiambalá Despierta
- La Otra Casa Itinerante- Rosario
- Asamblea Ambiental Santa María- Punilla-Cordoba
- Centro comunitario Yakacuah
- Coordinadora Plurinacional Basta de Falsas Soluciones
- Después de la Deriva
- Red Ecosocialista
- Asociación Sindical de Empleados, Obreros, Técnicos y Profesionales de Ecología y Saneamiento Ambiental de la República Argentina (ASEOTPESARA)
- Colectiva Plurinacional de Abya Yala SMA
- FESPROSA
- Las Catas, grupa transfeminista
- Propuesta Sur
- Marcha Plurinacional de los Barbijos
- Multisectorial Paren de Fumigarnos-Santa Fe
- Asamblea por la vida Chilecito y colectiva de mujeres defensoras del agua del Famatina
- Junta Interna ATE INCAA
- Multisectorial golfo San Matías
- Asamblea vecinal autovonvocada Yo amo a mis sierras
- Agüita pura para San Juan
- Asamblea Agua Pura Valle Fértil
- iLPS Capitulo Aegentina
- Cuidadores de la Casa Común
- Asamblea Jáchal No Se Toca
- Comision Ejecutiva Suteba Bahìa Blanca
- Hermanos de la Tierra
- Palabras a Cielo Abierto
- Foro Ambiental Traslasierra
- Rebelión o Extinción Argentina
- Grupo Ciencias, Ambientes y Territorios
- Campaña Plurinacional en Defensa del Agua para la Vida
- SanCa Sostenible
- Coordinadora BFS
- Centro Cultural y Biblioteca San Juan
- Comunidad indígena Amaicha del Valle
- Red Puna y Quebreda de jujuy
- Diálogo 2000-Jubileo Sur
- Asociación Ambientalista del Partido de Escobar
Germany
- Rettet den Regenwald
Bolivia
- TerraJusta
Brazil
- Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos
- MST
Canada
- Canadian Network for Corportate Accountability (CNCA)
- Americas Policy Group (APG)
- Common Frontiers
- MiningWatch Canadá
- Codevelopment Canada
- Mining Justice Action Committee
- Victoria Peace Coalition
- Grandmothers Advocacy Network
- Comité pour les droits humains en Amerique Latine
- Mining Injustice Solidarity Network
- Victoria Central America Support Committee
- ICHRP-Canada International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines
- Mining Justice Alliance
- Friends of the Earth Canada
- Maquila Solidarity Network
- Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network
- Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO)/ International Center for Workers Solidarity
Chile
- Corporación Parque Para Penco
- Corporación de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo, CODEPU-Chile
- Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Ambientales OLCA
El Salvador
- Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador
Uruguay
- Comisión Nacional en Defensa del agua y la vida
- Asamblea Pachamama
Ecuador
- Acción Ecológica
- Instituto de Estudios Ecologistas
- Comisión Ecuménica de Derechos Humanos
- Fundación INREDH
- Asociación Flor de Caña
United States
- WITNESS
- Earthworks
- Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program
Spain
- Salva la Selva
Guatemala
- Parlamento del Pueblo Xinka
- Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)
Haiti
- OBSERVA: Observatory of Violence and Resilience in Haiti (HT-Obs)
Honduras
- Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos CIPRODEH
Mexico
- Seguridad de Resguardo Territorial Indígena (SERTI)
- Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Limeddh
Panama
- Colectivo Voces Ecológicas COVEC
- Fundación para el Desarrollo Integral, Comunitario y Conservación de Ecosistemas en Panamá (FUNDICCEP)
- Red Nacional en Defensa del Agua-Panamá
Balkans
- Earth Thrive
Peru
- Centro de Políticas Públicas y Derechos Humanos- Peru EQUIDAD
- Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos APRODEH
- CEDAL-Centro de Derechos y Desarrollo (Perú) )
Venezuela
- Programa Venezolano de Educación Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea)