Photo above: The Phonebook homepage ​

What do these resources mean for rights defenders?

FECONAU in Peru 

A leader and human rights defender of the indigenous organization FECONAU, who preferred not to be named for security reasons, described the complex situation rights defenders are facing in the Peruvian Amazon.  

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“We are facing constant threats and harassment,” he said, citing the example of illegal deforestation of thousands of hectares of forest in the Peruvian Amazon due to oil palm plantations and drug traffickers. However, it is difficult for defenders to face up to the perpetrators.  

“We feel isolated, we feel alone in this struggle, as even though we present extensive evidence [of illegal activity], there is no state presence,” he said. “Our only allies are you [ZTI, URG, ALLIED], who have created the invaluable space for us to highlight the issues we’re facing.”  

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"We see natural resources as a belonging to us collectively, and this is why we protect them. We want our future generations to enjoy the same resources and opportunities that we enjoy [as] a community. Without natural resources and land, we will cease to exist.” 

 

"We will defend our land, our forests, even though it is costing us our lives, because it’s all we have.”  

 

He added that even though communities often lack an internet connection, the microsite provides strategies and tips on how to effectively share knowledge with people in more remote areas.  

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“We are fighting above all as indigenous defenders so we don’t just become just another victim, just another statistic of people murdered for defending their land. These spaces allow us to carry on strengthening our work, strengthening our strategic alliances, that allows us to carry on existing as a community.” 

 

The president of FECONAU also added that they were launching a fundraising campaign to build a maloca [traditional Amazonian collective house/shelter] for indigenous leaders in Pucallpa.  

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“It is important to have a physical, safe space for our brothers and sisters who are being threatened,” he said. 

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Marcela Epiayyu

Legal representative of the Association of Traditional Authorities Shipia Wayuu in Colombia 

Marcela Epiayyu asked the URG and ALLIED to create The Phonebook, and she shared her thoughts on how she came up with the idea and how important it is for her community. She started off giving an overview of the issues facing communities in Alta Guajira, a remote desert in the north of Colombia. 

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“We have fought alone. We have been persecuted, threatened, we have been putting our hearts and souls into this, we’ve been close to death and living with the reality of death. In our eyes, that’s the situation we are in.” 

 

“Our children are dying of hunger and of thirst. When our children started to die…[we realised that] all the members of our community are facing an abhorrent, disgusting extermination, a genocide that is happening with the complicity of the state.  

 

“Sometimes we get demotivated and start to lose faith to carry on fighting. But, when one finds this type of backing and you see that you’re not alone on the journey, it helps you to get that motivation again. Because of people like you, it makes us feel like it is worth fighting, and worth fighting for the dignity in defending the land and our lives.” 

 

“[Our problem] is that we don’t have the economic resources to get to the places where we can access the support we need. When we talk about this, and when we find ourselves in situations where we are threatened, we saw that we are alone, that we had nobody to defend the defenders. That’s where the idea of the Phonebook [came from].  

 

“With all the happiness, with all the admiration, gratitude and hope, I celebrate this initiative and this tool that we see here today. To be able to have these tools and to share them with every single member of our community, even if they don’t have internet access, will ease our burden. We will be able to get to places we couldn’t even have imagined, we will be able to succeed and be able to make our fight visible and combat our situation.” 

   

“It was done with us, by us, and for us,” she said. “It has renewed my energy and my faith. It’s the first step in a journey that we must continue on replicate; it’s a tool that will save many lives.” 

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Tom Bicko Ooko 

Representative of the Center for Justice Governance and Environmental Action in Kenya  

 

Tom Bicko Ooko was heavily involved in developing the Kenyan chapter of the Phonebook, and spoke of how the phonebook will help defenders, and how he hopes to see the tool evolve.  

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“The directory of support organisations, and the fact that you can search them by priority areas, will go a long way to help defenders identify the support groups that can help them according to their specific needs. This is also the first time all this information has been consolidated into one place, so defenders will spend less time searching for information” 

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However, he highlighted that it will require a lot of legwork on the ground to ensure popular usage of the Phonebook. “Currently, there is a lack of proper channels to share support information locally,” he said. “[We’ll need] intense information-sharing on the ground with the environment and human rights defenders, as well as the organisations, to ensure that they are aware of the resource that is being launched today.” 

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He echoed the other rights defenders in celebrating the fact that the resource is available offline for those who work in remote areas, and proposed another idea to make the Phonebook more accessible. 

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“The Kenyan chapter is in English, but I’d like to translate it into other languages so that other people can benefit from it.”