Photo from the Internationalist Assembly of Madrid.
Earlier this month, La Izquierda Diario reported: “The Internationalist Assembly of Madrid began last week after a large meeting in which more than 200 people participated and which concluded with the call for a demonstration against the war on March 21, under the slogan ‘No to war’.”
That article explains: “The initiative, promoted by various political, trade union and social organisations together with activists and individuals, seeks to promote internationalist solidarity and mobilisation against war, militarism and imperialism from a position independent of the Spanish government and all capitalist regimes.”
The Assembly now notes that more than 9,000 people took part in the march on March 21 to say no to war.
Publico.es reports: “In Madrid, the spokesman for the Internationalist Assembly has ‘demanded that the militarist escalation be stopped’ and has called for ‘the arms embargo on the State of Israel’, which he has described as ‘one of the main actors in this new arms escalation’, as he has expressed in statements to the media at the beginning of the protest. ‘We believe that it is an escalation that has to stop, that only leads us to more wars, to an escalation of destruction and death that makes no sense and that only reflects the interests of a militarist minority that wants to spend the war,’ said the spokesman of the organization.”
In February 2024, Peace Brigades International, a global human rights organization headquartered in Brussels, called on “the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.”
Canada and ReArm Europe
The lead banner in the march included the line “No al Rearme”.
PBI-Canada recalls that in March 2025 our colleagues at PBI-Spanish State, along with nearly 850 organizations and 16,000 individuals, signed this letter that opposes the European Commission plan to “ReArm Europe”.
Photo: The letter was announced on the steps of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid.
The letter asserts: “Militaristic contexts are also often accompanied by setbacks in rights, freedoms and social policies, causing fear and social alarm, an ideal scenario for normalising mechanisms of repression and authoritarianism.”
We also recall that the Government of Canada announced in June 2025 that it had signed a partnership with the European Union as “the intentional first step toward Canada’s participation in Security Action for Europe (SAFE), an instrument of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030.”
On February 14, 2026, Defence Minister David McGuinty announced Canada had officially joined Europe’s (SAFE) program.
Canada at arms shows in Europe
On June 12, 2025, just after Mark Carney became the prime minister of Canada, Toronto Star national columnist Althia Raj highlighted: “Part of [their] vision [is] about a new economic plan, they want to grow the Canadian defence industry, that’s why they are joining ReArm, they want to help Canadian firms negotiate for deals in Europe, they view the economy, the way we are going to get the strongest economy in the G7 as natural resources, as critical minerals, and as the defence industry.”
Video still: Althia Raj comments on Carney’s economic strategy.
On February 16, 2026, when Canadian prime minister Mark Carney launched a $6.6 billion “Defence Industrial Strategy to strengthen security, create prosperity, and reinforce strategic autonomy”, he highlighted that the government’s intention is to “increase our defence exports by 50%.”
The Defence Industry Strategy proposes a new “team for export promotion” and the appointment of “new trade commissioners in the United Kingdom and key European markets” who will be at “major global defence and aerospace trade shows” so that the role of Canada’s embassies, consulates and international missions includes a prioritization of the safety and security of human rights defenders.
The biggest arms shows in Europe include Defence and Security Exhibition International (DSEI) in London, United Kingdom (that PBI-Canada observed in September 2025) and the Eurosatory arms show in Paris, France (this coming June 15-19).
Photo by PBI-Canada of protest against DSEI, September 2025.
CADSI
This is likely to include continued government subsidies for the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). This past February 8-12, CADSI was “on the ground at World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to support Canadian companies in accessing new opportunities in foreign markets.”
In its report on Saudia Arabia, Amnesty International has documented: “Human rights defenders and others exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association were subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials leading to lengthy prison terms, and travel bans.”
CADSI has also highlighted: “This year’s CANSEC will come at a defining moment for Canadian industry.”
While CADSI has previously noted that 12,000 people attend the CANSEC arms show along with 50+ international delegations, this year – May 27-28, 2026 in Ottawa – they anticipate “more than 15,000+ registrants from all over the world, including military leaders and government officials”, 60+ international delegations and 300 exhibiting companies, including Boeing, Leonardo DRS, Rheinmetall and Roshel.
Photo: CANSEC.
Safeguards on Canadian arms exports
In 2024, Canada exported $2.504 billion of “military goods and technology to non-U.S. destinations”. Beyond this, Canada exports another $1 billion of military goods to the United States on an annual basis.
On March 11, 2026, the Carney government along with Members of Parliament from other parties voted down Bill C-233, the proposed No More Loopholes Act, that sought to close the “loopholes in Canada’s arms export laws allow Canadian-made weapons and components to end up in the hands of governments accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.”
Human rights defenders
From PBI-Canada we are looking specifically at the implications of military exports to countries where State actors violate human rights and where these exports directly put at risk the safety and lives of human rights defenders, land and environmental defenders, lawyers, journalists, social leaders and communities.
States implicated in the repression and killing of human rights defenders and journalists include Israel, Mexico, Indonesia, the United States, and the Philippines.
The Philippines
Between 2012 and 2024, the Philippines was the third deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, according to data from Global Witness. They note that 306 defenders were killed in the Philippines during this period, with 413 killed in Brazil and 509 killed in Colombia during these years.
Global Witness has further noted about the situation in the Philippines: “The military has been linked to the highest number of killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the last decade… A Global Witness investigation published in December 2024 found that the government’s push to expand critical minerals mining in the country is putting frontline communities, especially Indigenous Peoples, at risk of militarisation and violence.”
Despite these concerns, The Defense Post reported last month that: “Canada and the Philippines are discussing a military intelligence-sharing framework that would allow broader exchanges of classified information.”
Photo: Filipino human rights groups held a rally outside the Embassy of the Philippines in Canada in Ottawa on March 14, 2025.
Accompaniment
As part of the protective accompaniment we provide to threatened human rights defenders around the world, we will be seeking answers to these concerns and measures to ensure that Canadian-made weapons, components and technologies do not put at further risk the lives of human rights defenders.
We look specifically to the relationship between “Voices at risk: Canada’s guidelines on supporting human rights defenders” and the government’s intention to increase arms exports that could include to countries implicated in human rights violations. We also look to the ArmsEmbargoNow.ca campaign and the communities that will mobilize for the shut.down.cansec protest in Ottawa this coming May 27-28.
We continue to follow this.
Photo: Protest against CANSEC, May 2025.
