A/HRC/45/34
awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2016. On 3 May 2017, the Supreme Court of
Peru dismissed the charges against her.15
18.
Sustained follow-up to the cases, cooperation among special procedures and
coordination with OHCHR have been important factors in achieving justice for human
rights defenders.
19.
Within the context of criminalization, the use of antiterrorist legislation in Chile
against the Mapuche people has been a continuing concern for the mandate. 16 In October
2017, the Special Rapporteur, together with other special procedure mandate holders and in
coordination with the OHCHR Regional Office in Santiago, sent a joint communication and
issued a public press release on the use of antiterrorist legislation against the Mapuche,
including in the high-profile Luchsinger-Mackay case in which Francisca Linconao, a 61year-old machi (traditional religious authority), was charged together with another 10
Mapuche persons.17 The intervention had a prompt impact. It was mentioned by the defence
during the trial. On 25 October 2017, the Criminal Court of Temuco acquitted the
defendants in the case due to the reliance by the prosecution on a witness statement
obtained under torture as main evidence. 18 In another case, the accused, who had spent
nearly one and a half years in pretrial detention, were released on bail.
20.
Many cases of attacks and violence against indigenous peoples and individuals,
including violations of the right to life, have been addressed in the course of the Special
Rapporteur’s mandate. The situation in Río Blanco, and threats against members of the
Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras and against Berta Cáceres,
were analysed in the Special Rapporteur’s report on her visit to Honduras.19 After the
killing of Ms. Cáceres, the Special Rapporteur released a public communiqué condemning
the murder and linking it to her work as a human rights defender in relation to the Agua
Zarca dam, run by the hydroelectric company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. 20 Conclusions
and recommendations in the Special Rapporteur’s report and press release were widely
quoted by civil society organizations, including by an international expert group in its factfinding mission report on the murder.21 The Special Rapporteur sent several
communications to the Government of Honduras and held various meetings with justice
authorities in the country to receive information on the case. 22 The Special Rapporteur also,
together with other special procedure mandate holders, sent communications on the case to
financial investors supporting the dam project,23 and the Special Rapporteur highlighted the
case in her reports and speeches to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.
Several financial investors, including the Netherlands Development Finance Institution
(FMO), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and Finnfund, subsequently
suspended funding for the dam project. In 2018, the Special Rapporteur expressed her
concern in a joint press release about the results of the murder trial, stating that those who
ordered the killing had not been brought to justice. 24 In December 2019, seven men were
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
6
PER 1/2016; and see www.business-humanrights.org/es/per%C3%BA-sentencia-de-la-cortesuprema-protege-los-derechos-a-la-tierra-de-la-familia-de-m%C3%A1xima-acu%C3%B1a-en-casocontra-minera-yanacocha.
See, for instance, E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3; A/HRC/15/37/Add.1, para. 165; A/HRC/12/34/Add.6,
paras. 57–62; and CHL 1/2011.
CHL 3/2017; and see
www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22209&LangID=E.
See www.latercera.com/noticia/caso-luchsinger-dictan-absolucion-11-imputados-decretan-libertad/
and www.eldesconcierto.cl/2018/10/08/caso-luchsinger-mackay-las-recomendaciones-de-la-onu-queno-considerara-el-fallo-de-la-suprema.
A/HRC/33/42/Add.2.
See www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17153&LangID=E.
See https://gaipe.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/GAIPE-Report-English.pdf.
HND 4/2017, HND 4/2016 and HND 2/2016.
OTH 8/2017 and OTH 9/2017.
See www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23994&LangID=E. See also
https://news.un.org/es/story/2018/12/1447371. For complaints by Desarrollos Energéticos S.A.
against the Special Rapporteur’s statement, see
www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20181208/453435876879/onu-debe-evaluar-juicio-de-berta-caceresantes-de-respaldarlo-segun-empresa.html.