User:Linnann66/sandbox

Maria Choc is a powerful voice for the Mayan Q’eqchi’ communities. She is well-known for her work defending communities in her region from threats posed by mining, mega-plantations, and state violence. She is deeply involved in supporting claimants suing HudBay Minerals in Canada, including her sister Angelica Choc whose husband Adolfo Ich was murdered by the company’s security forces.

María Choc is a Mayan land defender. She was arrested without a warrant in 2017 in Puerto Barrios while providing translation in a hearing for a community protecting their land. The arbitrary arrest of Maria Choc is yet another reminder of the enormous injustices faced by women land defenders in Guatemala. in October 2017, Nobel Peace laureates Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams and Tawakkol Karman met with Maria during the “Women, Land and Peace” delegation to Guatemala. As we heard directly from Maria and other defenders, women human rights defenders experience not only high levels of violence –including sexual violence– they are criminalized for exercising their basic right to protest and organize in response to threats posed by resource extraction to their communities.

We call on the Canadian government to publicly condemn the arbitrary arrest of Maria Choc and apply its guidelines for human rights defenders, and Guatemalan authorities to release her without delay.