Canadian lawyers for Angelica Choc & German Chub speak out about repressive raids against their clients in Guatemala

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October 28, 2021
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Canadian lawyers for Angelica Choc & German Chub speak out about repressive raids against their clients in Guatemala
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Klippensteins and Waddell Phillips statement regarding repressive raids against clients Angelica Choc and German Chub Choc in Guatemala
October 27, 2021
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We are alarmed and distressed to receive word that our Mayan Q’eqchi’ clients in Guatemala, Angelica Choc, German Chub Choc, and many other Mayan Q’eqchi’ community leaders, were subjected to unjustified raids of their homes by Guatemalan Police and military earlier today.

The raids appear to be a heavy-handed, targeted and retaliatory response to ongoing protests against the illegal operation of the Fenix mine now owned by Swiss company Solway Investment Group (formerly owned by Hudbay Minerals). Despite the existence of a Guatemalan Constitutional Court order suspending all operations at the Fenix mine, Guatemalan police and military have been deployed to the region to allow Solway to continue mining.

Angelica Choc and German Chub are plaintiffs in lawsuits in Canada against Hudbay Minerals regarding past human rights abuse at the Fenix Mine, including the killing of Adolfo Ich and the shooting of German Chub by mine company security personnel in 2009, and they may have been targeted for that reason.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms these unjustified raids and demand that:
* The Guatemalan police and military immediately stop all raids of private homes and return all property seized during the raids conducted to date;
* Solway Investment Group immediately complies with the Guatemalan Constitutional Court order suspending operations at the Fenix mine until proper consultations are completed.

For more information regarding the situation on the ground, please see: [link removed] or contact Grahame Russell at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

Canadian Lawyers for Angelica Choc and German Chub
* Murray Klippenstein, Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitors, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* Cory Wanless, Waddell Phillips PC, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])


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Urgent Action, October 27, 2021
Mining repression against Angelica Choc, German Chub and 100s of Maya Q’eqchi’ land / human rights defenders, [link removed]

Send urgent letters to
* Solway Investment Group: Baarerstrasse 8, 6300 Zug Switzerland, +41417400400, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , www.solwaygroup.com ([link removed])
* Embassy of Switzerland, Guatemala: +502 2367 5520, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* Embassy of Switzerland, Canada: +1 613 235 1837, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* Embassy of Switzerland, US: +1 202 745 7900, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* European Union Human Rights in Guatemala: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

More information
* Grahame Russell, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) , @RightsAction
* News updates: @PrensaComunitar, [link removed]
* Constitutional Court decision suspending mine operation: Lawyer Rafael Maldonado, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* Rights Action archives (Hudbay Minerals, INCO, Skye Resources, Solway Investment Group): [link removed]

Edited by UNBC’s Professor Catherine Nolin & Rights Action’s Grahame Russell

“In Guatemala, it is not possible to operate a large-scale mine (let alone just about any large-scale economic “development” project in the sectors of hydroelectric dams, garment sweatshops, for-export production of African palm, sugar cane, bananas, and more) without participating in and benefiting from human rights violations and repression, corruption, and impunity.”
* Order books: [link removed]
* Bulk purchases: Karina Palmitesta, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
* Watch book launch, Oct. 25, 2021, hosted by Between The Lines: [link removed]

Emergency Response Fund
Rights Action is sending emergency human rights funds to people we have long worked with in the region, including German Chub, Angelica Choc and the Ich-Choc family, the Gremial de Pescadores y Campesinos; the Ancestral Council of Q’eqchi’ people. Funds are used to:
* Help people flee El Estor, many by land into the mountains
* Replace iphones and communication devices
* Get funds to families whose bank accounts are frozen
* Provide food and shelter for people forced to leave El Estor
* Help mobilize human rights activists to try and reach El Estor to bear witness
* Prepare for legal defense costs related to abusive-trumped up criminal charges

Make checks payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
* U.S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
* Canada: (Box 552) 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8

Credit-Card Donations: [link removed]
Donations of securities in Canada and U.S., write to: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
E-transfers and wires, write to: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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