Dayamani Barla is named recipient of the Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award by an influential panel of Indigenous rights leaders. The Award, given by Cultural Survival in honor of the memory of the late Ellen L. Lutz, a renowned human rights lawyer dedicated to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, recognizes outstanding human rights activism, dedicated leadership for Indigenous Peoples rights, and a deep commitment to protecting, sustaining, and revitalizing Indigenous cultures, lands, and languages.

On  April 19, Judge Jassmin Barrios declared that the hearing in the trial charging Efraín Ríos Montt with genocide will be temporarily suspended while the Constitutional Court addresses the annulment of the trial by Judge Patricia Flores.

Madeline Hall

By Richard Arghiris, published at Intercontinental Cry

An indigenous Ngäbe protester, Onesimo Rodriguez, was killed  Friday 22 March 2013 in the hamlet of Las Nubes, Chiriquí province, after attending a rally against the controversial Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam. It was World Water day.

Another community leader from Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango has been captured by the Police and incarcerated in Guatemala City as a result of his outspoken opposition to the Spanish company Hidro Santa Cruz’s construction of a hydroelectric dam in the Q’anjob’al Mayan community. Rubén Herrera was captured on March 15^th in the city of Huehuetenango, and charged with kidnapping, terrorism, coercion, arson, among many other crimes.

El siguinte comunidado fue elaborado por el Consejo de Pueblos del Occidente, el CPO como resulto de la captura del compañero Rubén Herrera, que ha luchado por los derechos del pueblo en contra del proyecto hidroelectrco por la empresa Hidro Santa Cruz. 

Para firmar su peticion, por favor envia tu nombre, (y ubicación y institution) al contrareglamento@gmail.com antes del 25 de abril.

By Jessie Cherofsky

Ryann Dear

By Rapaine Ole Koissaba Ben

Cultural Survival is happy and relieved to announce that the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples, RAIPON, has been reinstated.

National elections were held in Kenya on March 4^th putting into place a new biometric voter registration technology, aiming to prevent falsification of ballots. The country's last election saw falsification of voter registration that led to 1.2 million votes cast by people actually deceased.  The technology, which uses photographs and fingerprinting to identify voters, was created and sold to Kenya by the Canadian government for a total cost of US $7.2 million.