Olga Marina Ché
Olga Marina Ché is an indigenous Maya-Q'eqchi' environmental and human rights defender and member of the Gremial de Pescadores Artesanales (GPA), which, together with other local organisations, seeks to protect the Maya-Q'eqchi' communities of El Estor, Izabal, from contamination that could affect their lands and endanger their livelihoods as a result of nickel mining activities in the region.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in Guatemala are subjected to death threats, physical attacks, acts of harassment, surveillance, stigmatisation, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance and killings. Many of the violations are carried out by clandestine security structures and illegal groups. The exceptionally high level of impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators increases the risk exponentially for HRDs.
