(Photo credit: NISGUA)
March 26, 2018 – The letter of concern, signed by 46 Guatemalan and international human rights organizations, calls on Guatemala’s Minister of the Interior Enrique Degenhart to restore life-saving security measures for the Reynoso Pacheco family. Nearly four years after the murder of their 16-year old daughter and mining resistance organizer, Topacio Reynoso Pacheco, her family continues to receive threats and acts of intimidation.
Alex Reynoso, Topacio’s father and fellow environmental defender, was shot and gravely injured in the same attack that killed Topacio in 2014. One year later, he survived a second armed attack. The Reynoso Pacheco family has joined thousands of other environmental defenders in the region in their opposition to Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine and has been instrumental in promoting the involvement of youth activists in the fight to protect the environment. Those responsible have yet to be apprehended, putting the family at risk as environmental defenders.
Since early 2016, personal security measures were granted to the family by the Guatemalan Minister of the Interior, during which time threats against the family decreased significantly. In August 2017, they were abruptly taken away and since then a number of suspicious incidents have taken place around their home. The family has been targeted multiple times in the past for their role as community leaders and the latest incidents show that they are still at risk of attack.
Read the letter here:
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