Indigenous activist falsely accused of murder is released !!

Mexico: Indigenous activist falsely accused of murder is released

 

Authorities in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero must cancel arrest warrants for five indigenous activists after their colleague was set free because of irregularities in the case against them, Amnesty International said. Prisoner of conscience Maximino García Catarino, one of the leaders of the Organization for the Future of the Mixtec Peoples (OFPM), was freed yesterday after two months in detention. He was arrested on false murder charges on 21 January and subjected to an unfair trial.

Tribe Considers Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages

 

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians’ tribal council is considering a constitutional amendment that would recognize same-sex marriages. The Petoskey News-Review and WPBN-TV report the American Indian tribe would be the first in Michigan and among a few nationwide to legalize gay marriages if the amendment is adopted.

 

Guatemala court convicts paramilitaries over 1982 massacre

 

Amnesty International said today the sentencing of five Guatemalan men to nearly 8,000 years in prison each for a 1982 massacre is a victory for human rights. The men were convicted for an assault on the village of Plan de Sánchez, where 268 Maya- Achí indigenous people were killed, including children.

 

Indian anti-mining activists claim harassment

 

The lands of the Shuar Indians in the Amazon are rich in wildlife such as tapirs, toucans and red howler monkeys. They also hold treasures more coveted by outsiders: rich deposits of copper and other minerals that the government is eager to cash in on. Projects to build open pit mines that would rip into their forest-covered hills have spawned a protest movement that sets leaders of the ethnic group against the country's popular president, Rafael Correa, who says development is essential to the future of this nation's 14 million people. Hundreds of indigenous people have been marching for nearly two weeks to protest planned mining projects, and on Wednesday the demonstrators were nearing Ecuador's capital of Quito.

 

'Beggars sitting on a sack of gold?' Ecuadoreans protest mining

 

Six years after working to elect Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa, the country’s indigenous population is now taking to the streets against the very government they helped bring to office. Hundreds of people from Ecuador's Andean and Amazonian indigenous groups marched into Quito today, after a 14-day trek across the country.  Dressed in colorful traditional clothing, they are protesting against the government's large-scale mining projects, which they say go against Mr. Correa's electoral promise to protect the rights of nature, and could impact their access to clean water.