Comité Campesino del Altiplano – CCDA
The Farmer’s Committee of the Highlands (Comité Campesino del Altiplano– CCDA) is a human rights organisation that promotes the development of farmer and indigenous communities in Guatemala to increase their standard of living through programmes aimed at creating equality and at increasing participation in social, economic, cultural, and political processes. CCDA has advocated for the rights of the indigenous communities against the advances of landowners on their ancestral territories and demanded better policies in favour of rural development. In 2017, CCDA reported 12 forced displacements of indigenous and farmers families from their land. CCDA is an organization member of the International Land Coalition (ILC).
CCDA members have suffered attacks, smear campaigns, criminalization and killings. Three of its members have been killed in the first semester of 2018 only. Several members of CCDA, such as Juan Bautista Riveiro, Marcelino Xol Cucul, Jose Manuel Coc Saquil and Jorge Coc, have been detained and are facing criminalization processes, including long criminal procedures plagued with irregularities.
A climate of impunity in regard to human rights violations prevails in the country; few attacks against HRDs are investigated and even fewer result in convictions.
