See the full petition here.
April 15, 2021
Dear Pan American Silver,
When you purchased the Escobal mine in 2019, you knew about the broad opposition to the project and that there had been violent repression against those involved in the fight. Now, your refusal to halt local programs in Xinka communities is fomenting tension and division. These activities violate the court-ordered suspension of the mine, undermine the possibility of a good faith consultation with the Xinka, and put Xinka land defenders at risk.
Enough. Today we deliver a petition signed by Indigenous leaders such as Kukpi7 Judy Wilson and Winona LaDuke, former UN Special Rapporteurs Michel Forst and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and influential authors Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein, along with 3,900+ others to demand that you respect the Xinka people’s right to be freely consulted without violence and threats, and immediately cease interference in Xinka communities.
Thank you,
Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, Secretary/Treasurer, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs
Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2014 – 2020)
Michel Forst, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders (2014-2020)
Winona LaDuke, Executive Director, Honor the Earth
Noam Chomsky, Author
Naomi Klein, Author
Randy Hayes, Executive Director, Foundation Earth
Blaine Grinder, Tsilhqot’in Nation
Paul Manly, Member of Parliament Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Jean Swanson, City Councillor in Vancouver, BC
Ginger Cassady, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network
Abby Maxman, President & CEO Oxfam US
Lauren Ravon, Executive director, Oxfam Canada
Carroll Muffett, President & CEO Center for International Environmental Law
Amanda Kistler, Vice President, Center for International Environmental Law
Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch
Paul Paz y Mino, Associate Director, Amazon Watch
Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Nation
Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Charlotte Kiddell, Co-Executive Director, Inter Pares
Isabella Zizi, Idle No More SF Bay
Luis Marcos Q’anjob’al Maya, Ambassador of the Akateko, Chuj, Popti and Q’anjob’al Maya to the Omaha Nation; Member of the Council of Authorities of the National Council of Indigenous Peoples in Diaspora; Preparatory Body member of the Congress of Nations and States
Lisa Haugaard, Co-Director, Latin America Working Group
John Cavanagh, Director, Institute for Policy Studies
Cindy Wiesner, Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Jennifer Krill, Executive Director, Earthworks
Valerie Raoul, Professor Emerita, Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia
Dana Frank, Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz
Danielle DeLuca, Advocacy Program Manager, Cultural Survival
Marc Choyt, Director, Fair Jewelry Action
Nick Hesterberg, Executive Director, Environmental Defender Law Center
Daniella Burgi-Palomino, Co-Director, Latin America Working Group
Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
Leonor Hurtado, Asociación Q’anil
Ana Simeon, Campaigns Director, RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs)
Shin Imai, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School
Stepan Wood, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Society & Sustainability, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia
Stephen Collis, Professor, Simon Fraser University
Dan Lewis, Executive Director, Clayoquot Action
Laura Hurtado, Country Director, ActionAid Guatemala
Juan José Hurtado Paz y Paz, Director, Asociación Pop No’j
Laura Carlsen, Director, Americas Program
Anabella Sibrián, Director, Protección Internacional Mesoamerica
Margo Matwychuk, Director, Social Justice Studies, University of Victoria
Catherine Nolin, Professor, Guatemala Research Group, University of Northern British Columbia
Isabelle Ménard, Confédération des syndicats nationaux
Terry O’Toole, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development & Peace – Caritas Canada
Johanna Aucoin-Slaunwhite, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada
Elisa Canqui, Former Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Ruth Sullivan, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa (retired)
Gerardo Otero, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University
Barbara Hansen, Diaconal Minister, United Church of Canada
Laura Macdonald, Professor, Political Science, Carleton University
Diane Nelson, Professor Duke University
Simon Granovsky-Larsen, Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies, University of Regina
Catherine Coumans, Co-manager, MiningWatch Canada
Bonny Glambeck, Clayoquot Action Society
Drew Johnson, Bows & Arrows Coffee Roasters
Carsen Oglend, Drumroaster Coffee
Ahmed Nassrat, Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op Ltd.
Claire Gilmore, Managing Editor, Watershed Sentinel magazine (Watershed Sentinel Educational Society)
Audrey-Ann Allen, Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine- CDHAL
Grahame Russell, Director, Rights Action
Sara Ghebremusse, Assistant Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, The University of British Columbia
Francisco-Fernando Granados, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Art, OCAD University
Anil Hira, Professor, Simon Fraser University
Nicholas Copeland, Professor, Virginia Tech
Rosa Peralta, Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL)
Irwin Oostindie, President, Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia
Gabriela Jimenez, Latin America Partnerships Coordinator | KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Sharon Hunter-Smith, Human Rights Coordinator, Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Marlene LeGates, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Vancouver
Beth Dollaga, Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR)
Yves Engler, Author