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Stories of Collective Protection in Latin America
The Zero Tolerance Initiative (ZTI) is a global coalition spearheaded by indigenous peoples, local community representatives, and supporting NGOs. This collective works together to address the underlying causes of killings and violence against human rights defenders linked to global supply chains (ZTI, n.d.).
The ZTI works to help communities improve their capacity to defend themselves and hold companies and investors accountable. The Initiative also helps them to collaborate meaningfully with States, companies, and investors, to jointly seek verifiable and effective zero tolerance commitments against reprisals faced by human rights and environmental defenders, and to find ways to implement policies that make the realization of such commitments possible (ZTI, n.d.).
This material is divided into two main aspects, which are as follows: on one hand, there is the theoretical, conceptual, and legal framework regarding the collective protectionof human rights carried out by indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, peasants, and rural organizations in Latin America, in the face of global companies and supply chains. Additionally, the study includes other actors such as armed groupsoperating outside the law, drug traffickers, and even hired assassins.
Furthermore, it presents various accounts of this invaluable collective protection carried out by different communities and organizations, primarily at the grassroots level. It is important to emphasize that the study thoroughly addresses the obligation of states to protect human rights, particularly those of human rights, particularly those of individuals and populations facing specific vulnerabilities.
The methodological design consists of a descriptive research approach with a qualitativefocus, allowing for a deeper exploration of the perspectives and reflections of human rights defenders from the following countries in Latin America: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru. The study is conducted in the light of international human rights law, which serves as the structural framework guiding the theoretical and legal aspects, and more specifically, the principles, standards, and jurisprudence of both conventional and non-conventional bodies within the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS).
The general objective of this publication is to analyze the collective protection strategies employed by indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, peasants, and rural communities in Latin America in 2022, in response to violations primarily perpetrated by global companies and supply chains.