CALAS
Centro de Acción Legal Ambiental y Social de Guatemala (CALAS) is a human rights organisation based in Guatemala City, which was founded in 2011 by human rights defender Yuri Melini. CALAS has been active in denouncing abuses committed by mining companies in the region, in particular the transnational mining company Tahoe Resources Inc., and its Guatemalan subsidiary Minera San Rafael S.A.
HRDs in Guatemala are subjected to death threats, physical attacks, acts of harassment, surveillance, stigmatisation, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance and killings. Many of the violations are carried out by clandestine security structures and illegal groups. The exceptionally high level of impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators increases the risk exponentially for HRDs.
