Earlier this month, the Latin American Water Tribunal (LAWT) gathered in Guadalajara, Mexico to hold a public hearing against the Government of Honduras and Minerales Entre Mares de Honduras, S.A, a subsidiary of Canada’s Goldcorp Inc.

The Siria Valley Regional Environmental Committee submitted a petition to the tribunal charging the government acted illegally to favour of Goldcorp’s open-pit cyanide-leeching mine in the Siria Valley, and that the company itself is responsible for water usurpation and the irrational exploitation and contamination of water which adversely effected the ecosystem as well …

The Peoples’ Permanent Tribunal (PPT), an independent non-governmental body that examines and judges complaints regarding violations of human rights as submitted by the victims themselves (or their representatives)—recently held a hearing against the Oil Industry in Colombia.

On August 3rd and 4th, the Panel of 130 Judges gathered in Bogota, receiving testimony from nearly 400 People with regard to the actions of Repsol-YPF, Occidental and British Petroleum, and the Colombian state-owned oil company.

The Judges concluded: “The Tribunal –which is non-binding- believes that there are reasonable grounds to qualify a …

August 3 and 4 there will be a “Grassroots Trial in the Zocalo of Mexico City against CRIMINALS ULISES RUIZ ORTIZ, VICENTE FOX QUEZADA, CARLOS ABASCAL, illegitimate president FELIPE CALDERÓN and all those who are responsible for committing crimes against the humanity of the people of Mexico.”

You may recall, back in June 2006 Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO) was symbolically tried, sentenced, hung and burned in effigy by Section 22 (the Oaxaca teachers’ union), social organizations and the people in general. A week after this mock trial, URO sent …

From the WW4Report, April 21 — The Popular People’s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) has joined with members of the Union of Mexican Jurists in a “Popular Court” to judge the repression and rights violations in southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state over the last year of social conflict. The Popular Court is to collect evidence on “crimes against humanity perpetrated against the people,” and submit the findings to national and international legal bodies. APPO Spokesman Florentino Lopez said that over the course of the conflict, police violence has claimed 27 lives, while 43 activists remain in prison-including APPO leader Flavio Sosa, …

First Indigenous Tribunal of the Ucayali
from www.villageearth.org
March 18, 2007

As a follow-up and outcome to the Village Earth Regional Organizational workshop in January 2007, a group of Shipibo leaders have decided to hold the first ever ‘Indigenous Tribunal’ as they call it. This Tribunal will be a gathering of leaders from all 120 Shipibo communities throughout the region. They are also inviting local NGOs and leaders from other regional indigenous groups such as the Ashaninka. This is an event of historic importance because the Shipibo have not had a regional meeting of this magnitude for over 30 years, and even …

Colombians Gather for the 2nd Permanent Tribunal of the People
Vanessa Burgos, http://upsidedownworld.org
March 14, 2007

As Bush made his way around Latin America promoting neoliberal policies and free-trade in the region, Colombia’s poor closed the 2nd convocation of the Permanent Tribunal of the People, showing they have a different vision of democracy.

On February 26th and 27th, community members from Colombia’s Choco region, along with other national and international organizations and NGOs, gathered in Cacarica, Colombia, for the second in a series of trials that are part of the Permanent Tribunal of the People, a process due to culminate next year in …