Bernardo Caal Xol
Born1972 (age 51–52)[1]
Santa María Cahabón, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala[1]
OccupationActivist

Bernardo Caal Xol (born in 1972)[1] is a Guatemalan former teacher and human rights activist.[1][2]

Life and activism

Caal was a school teacher, but became one of the leaders of the movement to defend water resources of his community; he denounced alleged irregularities in the operation of mining companies in his native Alta Verapaz.[2][3]

In 2017, Caal was imprisoned for an alleged crime of theft of construction equipment and the illegal retention of four workers from a construction company. He was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years in prison. In 2020, Amnesty International declared him a "prisoner of conscience", considering that the charges against him were retaliation for his activism.[1][2][3][4][5]

In March 2022, Caal was released on good behavior.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bernardo Caal: tres años encarcelado por defender el medio ambiente". Alianza por la Solidaridad (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  2. 1 2 3 "La defensa de un río sagrado que llevó a un profesor maya a la cárcel en Guatemala". BBC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  3. 1 2 "Bernardo Caal Xol: el maestro preso que enfrentó a la hidroeléctrica Oxec". Plaza Pública (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  4. ↑ Amnesty International. "Bernardo Caal Xol". Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 Amnesty International. "Bernardo Caal Xol". Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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