Defamatory Article Against CALAS
On 1 July and 30 June 2013, a four-page full-colour article was issued by the Fundación Contra el Terrorismo-FCT (Foundation Against Terrorism) in four national newspapers, in which human rights organisation Centro de Acción Legal, Ambiental y Social de Guatemala – CALAS (Legal, Environmental and Social Action Centre of Guatemala) and two of its leaders, Dr Yuri Giovanni Melini Salguero and Mr Pedro Rafael Maldonado Flores were defamed and denigrated.
Yuri Melini has worked for over 20 years to protect the environment and to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. He is the founder of Centro de Acción Legal-Ambiental y Social de Guatemala (CALAS). He has been targeted for assassination, surviving a shooting attempt on his life in 2008. He continues to face threats and intimidation and requires full-time security.
On 1 July and 30 June 2013, a four-page full-colour article was issued by the Fundación Contra el Terrorismo-FCT (Foundation Against Terrorism) in four national newspapers, in which human rights organisation Centro de Acción Legal, Ambiental y Social de Guatemala – CALAS (Legal, Environmental and Social Action Centre of Guatemala) and two of its leaders, Dr Yuri Giovanni Melini Salguero and Mr Pedro Rafael Maldonado Flores were defamed and denigrated.
The Foundation Against Terrorism was set up by former military officials and military supporters and has previously published an article entitled La Farsa del Genocidio en Guatemala – Conspiración Marxista desde la Iglesia Católica (The Farce of Genocide in Guatemala – a Marxist Conspiracy by the Catholic Church). In the article published on 1 July and 30 June 2013, it is alleged that CALAS uses funds it receives from 'poderosas entidades internacionales' (powerful international entities) such as OXFAM and the Norwegian government to foment conflict in areas where mining and the cultivation of mono-cultures takes place. Yuri Giovanni Melini Salguero and Pedro Rafael Maldonado Flores, in particular, are accused of orchestrating campaigns of disinformation against mining companies in order to contribute to conflict between indigenous people and the companies in these areas. The human rights defenders are accused of endangering the economic progress of Guatemala and depriving the country of any opportunity for development. The article goes on to claim that CALAS fabricated stories of health scares in relation to the mine Mina Marlin in San Miguel Ixtahuacan. The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights - IACHR later ordered the closure of this mine.
Yuri Giovanni Melini Salguero was the subject of an assassination attempt on 11 September 2008. He was the 2009 recipient of the Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. Front Line Defenders has issued urgent appeals on threats and intimidatory acts against him and Pedro Rafael Maldonado Flores on 4 April 2013, 30 August 2011 as well as on other occasions.
