Felipe Díaz Ramos
"Don Felipe" is an indigenous Maya Ch'orti' authority and defender of the collective rights of the indigenous peoples of the community of Carrizal in the municipality of Olopa, department of Chiquimula. Don Felipe is a member of the Maya Ch'orti' Indigenous Council of Olopa, which is an ancestral and indigenous organisation that defends the land and territory from extractive economic activities, claims and promotes under its own autonomy the individual and collective rights of the Maya Ch'orti' people.
Human rights defenders (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.
