As Indigenous Peoples,
we stand to lose.
The justice system
is designed in favour of the looting and plundering
of our natural resources and territory.
I'm Bernardo Caal Xol
and I've been imprisoned for over 5,000 hours in Guatemala
because I denounced the companies and business people
who have taken the Cahabón River from us.
Indigenous leader, Bernardo Caal Xol, has been unjustly imprisoned
for alleged acts of violence against contractors
of a hydroelectric plant in Guatemala.
A crime, he did not commit.
Because he dared to speak out,
they want to teach him a lesson.
A defender of rights, Bernardo filed series of effective legal injunctions,
against a construction of a dam, which is having a devastating effect
on the environment, and on Maya Q'eqchi' communities.
The companies want to make clear
that anyone who dares to fight for collective rights
will be persecuted and punished,
just as they're doing to Bernardo Caal Xol.
Indigenous Peoples safeguard 80% of the world's remaining biodiversity
and their safety is at risk from big corporations
looking to exploit natural resources.
Bernardo's incarceration is representative
of the wider problem of human rights abuses
against Indigenous Peoples across the Americas.
Q'eqchi' communities,
we live in a close relationship
with Mother Nature.
She provides us with plants to feed ourselves with.
Mother Earth also provides us with the water we need.
We use it responsibly...
to feed ourselves, to heal ourselves.
Not for profit.
Not to turn into a commodity.
These rivers provide water to many animals and plants.
When these rivers are channeled, they are kidnapped.
Before the hydroelectrical companies came into our territory,
we lived in peace.
The hydroelectrical company Oxec S.A.,
they have privatized the riverbanks.
Those who live along the river can't go fishing anymore.
The communities near this river used to eat from here.
We used to come fish here to feed ourselves.
Now, there's nothing here.
The only thing there is, is pollution.
At an assembly, the communities chose my brother
to be the spokesman for the Q'eqchi' People.
And as our representative,
he investigated the massacre of our sacred rivers.
The Cahabón River used to run up to those rocks.
But up there there's a channel diverting water to the dams.
Bernardo and the communities took legal action.
They demanded the right of Indigenous Peoples to be consulted
On Monday we will be at the capital,
at the office of the Attorney General for Human Rights
denouncing the kidnapping of the Cahabón River.
We won't let them exterminate our rivers.
The Supreme Court sided with Bernardo and the communities.
The Ministry of Energy and Mining,
plus the company itself, appealed that decision.
Finally, the Constitutional Court ruled
in which it recognized the Indigenous Peoples were not consulted.
In most communities,
there's a lot of poverty, a lot of injustice.
The only thing we have
are natural resources.
So when these natural resources
are taken, stolen by these hydroelectrical companies,
communities stand up to defend the river.
It must be us, the people from the villages,
who come to denounce this situation.
We're tired!
This is the trial of Bernardo Caal Xol.
He is on trial for the crimes of
illegal detentions with aggravating circumstances
and aggravated theft.
Bernardo was convicted for aggravated theft
because the contracting company
accused the communities of Santa María de Cahabón
led by Bernardo,
of stealing things they were taking to Oxec.
We know those claims were fabricated
by people hired by the hydroelectrical company.
In the face of fake reports,
any judge would dismiss them.
That should've happened with these reports.
Bernardo is in jail because he dared
to represent his community with dignity.
Rights entitled to him by the Constitution
were violated throughout the process.
This is a legal abomination to us!
The State of Guatemala has made it clear.
They steal, they take away and plunder
water from Indigenous Peoples.
Not just here in the Cahabón, but at a national level.
Bernardo knows that his leadership also needs to focus
in combating the devastating effects of the climate emergency
so he is demanding not only the Guatemalan government,
but the governments all over the world,
to listen to what Indigenous People have to say.
It's been very hard on the girls
not having their father present,
physically and continuously.
He's a responsible father.
It's been a hard time.
They've been dealing with this for over three and a half years now.
I think my favourite picture is... this one
The four of us are together.
Do you remember this picture?
This was in Alta Verapaz. He always used to take you there...
where there was water.
It was important that he was always giving them
quality time.
And here you are again, all of you at the lagoon.
Water was very important to...
to your daddy.
We really enjoyed that day.
We had no idea it was the last trip we'd take as a family.
A few days later, Bernardo was put behind bars.
Will you send greetings to daddy?
Okay?
I visit him regularly in prison.
It's quite a long trip, I have to take several buses.
Sometimes I've had to travel for two whole days
just to see him for five minutes.
Although it's exhausting,
it's important to keep doing it.
Amnesty International organise every year a global campaign, Write for Rights,
where we invite people to send communications to governments,
to demand the freedom of people that are incarcerated unjustly.
This year, the Write for Rights Amnesty campaign,
is inviting people all over the world,
to send letters to the Guatemalan government,
and send letters to Bernardo, to show their solidarity towards the struggle
for his release, and also the struggle for human rights in Guatemala.
With great joy
we look forward to the day Bernardo is released from prison.
That joy he so looks forward to,
of being able to see and hug his daughters.
The causes in the country must be strengthened.
This way, Bernardo will come out stronger,
to keep on working alongside the communities.