PBI-Canada calls on Minister Ng to support environmental defenders criminalized for protesting Canadian mining company

Published by Brent Patterson on October 23, 2024October 23, 2024

Photo from November 2023 by EFE from Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America (OCMAL) website.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is one of 122 organizations to have signed a letter to Mary Ng, the Canadian Minister of International Commerce and Economic Development, to withdraw her support for First Quantum Minerals.

Photo: Mary Ng.

Thirty-nine days of protests began on October 20, 2023, following the passing of a 20-to-40-year mining contract between the government of Panama and Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals, the operator of Cobre Panamá, the largest open-pit copper mine in Central America, located a short distance from the western coast and within a protected area of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

Photos: The Cobre Panamá mine (top, middle, bottom).

The letter highlights: “ A new report reveals disturbing details about the violence protesters faced during this time: a disproportionate use of force, police brutality, tear gas, killings, and the arbitrary arrest of more than 1500 people – with some 23 continuing to face legal charges as part of an ongoing effort to criminalize social movement leaders as they denounce widespread environmental damage and water contamination from mining operations.”

The letter further notes: “Following the cancellation of First Quantum’s contract, the Canadian government was vocal in its support for the company.”

Instead of continuing this, PBI-Canada and the signatories to the letter are calling on Minister Ng to “implement the guidelines outlined in ‘Voices at Risk’ through the Embassy in Panama, and offer support to environmental defenders criminalized for protesting Canadian company abuses and defending their rights.”

Signatories to the letter include 32 Panamanian groups, as well as MiningWatch Canada, the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN), the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA), Community Peacemakers Teams, Rights Action, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), Salva la Selva- España and the PBI-Colombia accompanied Colectivo de Abogados y Abogadas José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR).

The letter to Minister Ng can be read here, the full list of signatories is here.

The 47-page report Human Rights Violations, Abuses and Incidents Recorded in the Context of the Protests Against the Mining Contract in Panama can also be read in Spanish here.

Video still (El Pais, October 26, 2023): “A contract law allows the subsidiary of a Canadian mining company to exploit it…”