Juan de Leon Tuyuc Velasquez (Kaqchikel Maya), a former guerrilla commander during Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war, was killed on January 15, 2014 in Solola by unknown gunmen. Velasquez is the brother of Rosalinda Tuyuc, founder of National Association of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA), a leading human rights organization representing Indigenous women whose husbands died in the civil war.

Indigenous peoples in Guatemala rely on community radio to keep their culture, language, and traditions alive as well as to inform their communities about issues and events relevant to their lives. Because of its relatively low cost, community radio is an accessible tool. In some of the most remote areas of the country, many communities do not have access to electricity, but many have small battery-powered radios making it important means of communications within indigenous communities and among them.

James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, dedicated his official visit to Peru this December to learning about the situation of the country’s Indigenous Peoples, especially with respect to the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent regarding development projects and the effects of extractive industries on Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact. He met with government officials, Indigenous leaders, and corporate representatives in Lima, as well as in diverse towns and villages affected by resource extraction.

December 13, 2013 marks ten years since the brutal massacre on 424 Indigenous Anuak in Gambella, Ethiopia by Ethiopian national forces and armed militia. The Anuak people have long been persecuted in Southern Ethiopia, and recently have been forcibly evicted from their homelands to make way for translational agriculture companies. 

On December 2, 2013, the UN Global Compact released “