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More than 800 human rights defenders killed in Palestine over the past six months

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Nour Naser Abu al-Nour of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was killed by an Israeli airstrike on her family home in Rafah on February 20. The airstrike also killed seven members of her family including her two-year-old daughter Kenzi Jumaa.

The recently-released Amnesty International report The State of the World’s Human Rights notes: “Canada continued to export weapons to countries where there was a substantial risk of them being used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.”

Along with the examples of Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia and Peru, Amnesty International highlights: “Canada issued 315 export permits to Israel for weapons and military technology in 2022 and approved over USD 21 million worth of military exports to Israel between October and December 2023.”

Unprecedented violations

Speaking about this report on Democracy Now!, Agnès Callamard, the organization’s secretary general, commented: “The scale of the violations committed over the last six months [by the Israeli military] is unprecedented. And I want to insist on that. It is unprecedented. The harm to civilians is unprecedented.”

As of April 24, Euro-Med Monitor documented that the “Israeli army has killed 42,510 Palestinians over the course of its 200-day attack, 38,621 of whom were civilians, including 10,091 women and 15,780 children.”

They further note that 79,240 Palestinians have been injured, “the vast majority of whom were civilians, with 70% being children and women.”

With a daily death toll of  212 Palestinians, including 79 children killed every day, these numbers only continue to increase.

What has the impact been on human rights defenders?

Front Line Defenders has noted: “People considered to be human rights defenders in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] include journalists, lawyers, medical workers, fieldworkers, international volunteers who act as independent observers and carry out human rights work and defenders working for economic, social and cultural rights.”

Using this definition, it can be estimated that at least 800 human rights defenders and international volunteers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Journalists: The Committee to Protect Journalists says that at least 97 journalists and media workers have been killed during this period.

Lawyers: The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights notes that two lawyers – Dana Yaghi and Nour Naser Abu Al-Nour – from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights were killed in Israeli airstrikes in February.

Medical workers: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says 499 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza, including 5 MSF colleagues.

International volunteers: The New Republic has reported: “On April 1, the Israeli military repeatedly struck a humanitarian relief convoy from World Central Kitchen … killing seven foreign aid workers [including Canadian Jacob Flickinger].”

Field workers: TNR adds: “But the fact that the Israel Defense Forces had targeted and killed humanitarian workers was not, in fact, unusual. By April 1, the conflict had already killed more than 200 aid workers—a staggering number compared to other conflicts, and one that continues to rise.”

Arms embargo

Last month, Mary Lawlor wrote in The Guardian: “There exist no moral arguments that can justify the continued sale of weapons to Israel by states that respect the principle of the universality of human rights.”

She added: “During my work as the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights defenders, Palestinian human rights defenders have emphasized to me the importance of a ban being placed on such sales, given that Israel has demonstrated time and again that it will use such weapons indiscriminately against Palestinians.”

Lawlor also commented that while the US, the UK, Germany, France and Canada have “highlighted their steadfast support for human rights defenders … these same states continue to arm Israel.”

Peace Brigades International supports the demand for an immediate ceasefire and continues to call “on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.”

Photo: An Israeli F-35 with a 2,000 pound bomb in the foreground. There are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 warplane.

Educa Oaxaca video explains opposition from Indigenous communities to Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still.

Educa Oaxaca has posted:

“Mining represents a serious threat to indigenous communities in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. In the Central Valleys, 12 communities have organized to confront this problem and to defend their territories and dignity.

However, despite presenting evidence, testimonies, and records, and in violation of the communities’ right to self-determination, the federal government, through the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), authorized 12 years of commercial silver and gold mining in this region to Cuzcatlán Mining, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Fortuna Silver Mines. The permit was withdrawn by the same federal environmental authority and has been in litigation since 2021.

These Zapotec communities in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca do not authorize or approve the mining project by Fortuna Silver Mines.”

Their 7-minute video can be seen here.

PBI-Mexico accompanied Educa Oaxaca from 2013 to 2020. They now support the work of Educa Oaxaca through a strategic alliance that includes periodic accompaniments and advocacy support.

Further reading: Eleven Zapotec communities in Mexico win injunction against Canadian mining company, say court order should be respected and the mine closed (April 5, 2024).

PBI-Mexico at forum on ‘Strengthening the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists’ in Sonora

By
Brent Patterson
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Diario del Yaqui reports:

“The Forum ‘Strengthening the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists’ seeks to socialize a law that protects them from threats, murders and forced disappearances of these actors in Sonora. This past Saturday [April 20], the event was held in Ciudad Obregon with members of the guilds at the facilities of the Itson campus Centro.

Sibely Cañedo Cazares, coordinator of the Sinaloa Initiative, explained that in response to the death of a journalist in her state, a law for his safety was approved, so through this workshop they want to generate proposals aimed at the creation of an initiative in this regard but in the state of Sonora.

It should be noted that members of the national journalists’ organization Article 19, Peace Brigades International, were also present at the event.”

The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) has recorded 88 killings of journalists and media workers in Mexico between 2012 and March 2024. It has verified that 37 of them were murdered in relation to their work. The most dangerous states in that period have been Veracruz (21 killings), Guerrero (10), Oaxaca (9), and Sonora (7).

This week, Mexico News Daily reported: “A report released this week by the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) … found 20 lethal attacks against environmental activists in 2023, which represents the fifth-highest number documented by CEMDA in the past decade. In 2022, the figure was 24. [The state of] Michoacán topped the list with seven victims … Guerrero was second on the list with six murders, followed by México state and Oaxaca with two each. Hidalgo, Sonora and Jalisco each had one.”

The full Diario del Yaqui article can be read at Iniciativa Sinaloa brinda respaldo legal a periodistas de Sonora en elaboración de ley (April 21).

PBI-Mexico accompanies the family of murdered Indigenous Náhuatl land defender Samir Flores Soberanes

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Switzerland has posted on Instagram:

“In March 2024, Swiss television SRF aired a moving reportage by Mitja Rietbrock on the work of PBI Mexico entitled ‘Mexico: Commitment against violence and arbitrariness’. The film highlights PBI’s escort for the family of Samir Flores, a human rights activist murdered for his resistance to the construction of a controversial thermal power plant and gas project in the Morelos region.”

The 4-minute video can be watched here.

UN Special Rapporteur comments on the “repression and persecution” faced by Indigenous water protectors in Canada

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Maria Jose Acosta Lazo and Pedro Arrojo Agudo at their media conference at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, April 19.

Pedro Arrojo Agudo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, has concluded his official visit to Canada.

In a media statement released today, he noted “there are challenges to be addressed” in Canada, including “the criminalization of water defenders”.

While in Canada, Arrojo Agudo visited several Indigenous territories, including the Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc nations.

That media statement further noted: “He also expressed grave concern about the criminalisation, repression and persecution faced by Indigenous Peoples opposing large infrastructure projects.”

Arrojo Agudo says: “These actions violate their rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. Canada must uphold the principle of free prior and informed consent while respecting dynamics of consultation and consent established by Indigenous Peoples themselves.”

    

   

At the media conference in Ottawa this morning, Arrojo Agudo noted he had “mixed feelings” including “frustration and indignation” about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples, and that he is “sadly surprised by the criminalization of Indigenous river defenders that damages Canada’s international reputation.”

He further shared that he “couldn’t help but cry with them” when he heard the stories from frontline communities.

In response to a question from PBI-Canada about the three militarized RCMP C-IRG raids on Wet’suwet’en territory, Agudo Arrojo said that the repression of Indigenous water protectors was a “shocking reaction, so violent”. He further highlighted Canada “needs to avoid this kind of repressive action”.

Arrojo Agudo stressed that the actions of the Indigenous water protectors were non-violent, but that the treatment of them has been violent. He added concern about the “judicial treatment, criminalization” of the water defenders.

The Special Rapporteur will present the report on his visit to Canada to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2024.

Further reading

Indigenous communities present to UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water about the threat of Ring of Fire mining (PBI-Canada, April 9).

PBI-Canada presentation to UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water Pedro Arrojo-Agudo (PBI-Canada, April 9).

Photo: In October 2022, the Special Rapporteur was in Barrancabermeja, Colombia and met with Juan Camilo Delgado (CREDHOS), Yuli Velasquez (FEDEPESAN), Ivan Madero (CREDHOS) and Marie Zeller (PBI-Colombia).

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) session focuses on the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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The Mongabay web-news portal reports:

“[The] rise in criminalization [was] the key focus of a report released this week at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, the largest gathering of Indigenous activists, policymakers, and leaders in the world.

‘It’s a very serious concern because the Indigenous people who have been resisting the taking over of their lands and territories, they are the ones who most commonly face these charges and criminalization,’ Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples told a packed panel on the topic on Tuesday.

The report ‘Criminalization of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights’ lays out the mechanisms by which Indigenous peoples around the world are increasingly facing criminalization and violations of their rights with impunity. Indigenous land, subsistence and governance rights are often poorly implemented if at all, leading to violations when they intersect with government and third party interests, especially in extractive industries and conservation. In addition to historical discrimination, a lack of access to justice for Indigenous rights holders—including environmental and human rights defenders, journalists, and communities—leads to higher rates of arrests and incarcerations. The report provides recommendations for UN bodies, states, and other relevant actors to better address this growing threat.

The use of criminal law to punish and dissuade people from protesting or speaking out is typically the way people understand criminalization, said Fergus Mackay, a Senior Legal Counsel and Policy Advisor to Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI), an organization that works to protect Indigenous peoples’ rights. But the bulk of criminalization Indigenous peoples face actually stems from the inadequate recognition or non-recognition of their rights by governments.

Criminalization comes with serious consequences. In 2021, of the 200 land and environmental defenders killed worldwide, more than 40% were Indigenous. According to IPRI, which was founded in part to address the growing concern over criminalization of Indigenous peoples, despite representing only 6% of the global population, Indigenous defenders suffered nearly 20% of attacks between 2015 and 2022 and were much more likely to experience violent attacks.

Indigenous journalists were included in this year’s report as being increasingly at risk of criminalization.”

The full article can be read at UN puts spotlight on attacks against Indigenous land defenders (by Sarah Sax, April 18, 2024).

Examples from Canada noted in the Mongabay article:

– “In Canada, First Nations fishermen are being arrested and harassed by federal fisheries officers for fishing–rights protected by treaty.” Further reading: Treatment of Mi’kmaw fishers by federal DFO officers compared to Starlight Tour violence by Saskatoon police (PBI-Canada article)

– “In Canada, dozens of members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, who have long protested the creation of the Coastal GasLink pipeline that will cross their unceded territory, have been arrested and await trial in Canada. That trial is currently on hold because of allegations of excessive force and harassment by the police.” Further reading: Twelve concerning things we learned about the RCMP C-IRG during the first week of the abuse of process hearing (PBI-Canada article)

– “Brandi Morin, an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta was arrested while covering an Indigenous-led homeless encampment in Edmonton.” Further reading: Charges withdrawn against journalist arrested at Edmonton homeless encampment protest (Edmonton Journal)

This week, APTN also reported: “Representatives of the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick [were at the United Nations in New York for the 23rd session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and] said the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and around the world must be addressed. ‘One of the topics here is the criminalization of Indigenous rights so it’s perfect timing we want to bring attention to it,’ said Nicholas Paul. ‘We shouldn’t have to go to court to have make the government obey its own courts.’” Further reading: Crown asks New Brunswick judge to stay charges against Indigenous lobster fisherman (Canadian Press article)

APTN further noted: “United Nations delegates take aim at Canadian government, mining companies: According to Amazon Watch, 37 Canadian mining companies operating in nine countries have human rights complaints and destroyed the environment”.

And the Williams Lake Tribune reported: “Tŝilhqot’in mark 10th anniversary of title win at UN forum in New York”.

In this new United Nations report ‘Criminalization of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights’ examples from Canada are referenced in points 6, footnote 24; 13, footnote 42; 14, footnote 45; and 28, footnote 85.

CAHUCOPANA meets with IACHR Commissioner Andrea Pochak, greets new PBI-Colombia field volunteers

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Colombia has tweeted: “The IACHR [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] meets with @CAHUCOPANA [the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia] demanding guarantees in response to the prolonged humanitarian crisis suffered by campesino (peasant) communities in Northeast Antioquia.”

This followed a CAHUCOPANA tweet that said: “#IACHRInColombia #MedellinAntioquia. Campesino leader @carlosnordeste [Carlos Morales] expresses the humanitarian crisis that the campesino communities of #RemediosSegoviaAnt are suffering in #HumanRights, to Commissioner Andrea Viviana Pochak, Rapporteur on #HumanMobility of the IACHR.”

Additionally, CAHUCOPANA has posted: “#Barrancabermeja #TerritorialContext #PeaceBrigades. In the facilities of the regional office of Cahucopana in the city of Barrancabermeja, we received the visit of the new brigadistas of Peace Brigades International – Colombia Project where we socialised the territorial context and included the space for the social work interns of the University Institute of Peace to present the characterisation of the sub-regions of Northeast Antioquia and Magdalena Medio, work addressed by the future professionals in their academic practices. We welcome the brigadistas and offer our willingness to walk together for our territory. #NortheastAntioquia #UniPeace”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia (CAHUCOPANA) since 2013.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at meeting with Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Buenaventura

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Colombia has posted: “We accompanied @Nomadesc [the Association for Social Research and Action] in a meeting with @CIDH [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] in Buenaventura, to follow up on the ‘civic strike’ agreements. It is urgent to overcome impunity, and provide guarantees to the territory and those who inhabit it.”

The PBI-Colombia social media post follows a post from Nomadesc that says: “In compliance with the agreements of the civic strike to live with dignity and peace in the territory, the on-site Commission @CIDH arrives in Buenaventura. Among the urgent requests is the overcoming of impunity and the protection of life, territory and culture.”

In a media statement, the IACHR announced it: “will conduct an official visit to Colombia from April 15 to 19, at the invitation of the State. It will be his first on-site visit to the country since 2012. The purpose of the visit is to observe the impacts of different forms of violence on the human rights situation, with special attention to the ethnic-racial and gender dimensions. To this end, it will focus on two main aspects: a) the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement and b) citizen security, from the perspective of the various manifestations of violence and the state’s response to this problem.”

2017 Civic Strike

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has explained: “In 2017, [there was] a massive civic strike—also known as a general strike—in Buenaventura, home to Colombia’s key port on its Pacific coast, to protest the city’s deepening socioeconomic and human rights crisis. For three weeks in May, one hundred and fourteen social organizations took over the streets, holding protest marches, community kitchens and cultural festivals, effectively shutting down Colombia’s most important trading hub.”

In June 2017, WOLA highlighted: “The initial response of the government was to violently repress and attack protestors, who were non-violent and included women, the elderly, and children. The Civic Strike Committee reported multiple instances of excessive use of force by the anti-riot police ESMAD. Numerous videos and photos support these claims. The ombudsman’s office reported 91 complaints of excessive use of force by ESMAD, of which 39 were reported to the Attorney General’s Office due to their severity.”

While many promises remain unfulfilled, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has noted: “The strike forced the Colombian government to negotiate an agreement to provide critical public services that would serve the entire community. Organizers agreed to suspend the strike in exchange for a list of demands that included safe drinking water and basic sanitation infrastructure, health care coverage for medical procedures and traditional medicine, access to quality public education, justice and reparations for victims of the conflict, and a community consultation process for land use planning.”

2021 National Strike

Nomadesc was also active during the National Strike in 2021 that also saw police violence against peaceful protests.

In March 2023, PBI-Colombia highlighted: “Almost two years after the 2021 National Strike, the high-ranking members of state security forces investigated for serious human rights violations committed during the repression of protests remain in total impunity. Of the 3,169 criminal acts reported, the Prosecutor General’s Office only attributed 65 cases to the state security forces, of which 11 were archived and, to date, there have been no convictions. Meanwhile, 230 young people are being prosecuted for leading the protest.”

The recommendations from the IACHR from their June 2021 working visit to Colombia can be read here.

Bahia Malaga

Earlier this year, on January 23, Nomadesc also tweeted: “#SOS We reject all violent actions and REQUEST @CorteIDH [Inter-American Court of Human Rights] to attend to the precautionary measures that are in process and we demand [Colombian president] @petrogustavo [and vice-president] @FranciaMarquezM to speak out and act immediately with REAL AND EFFECTIVE protection measures.”

Now, just prior to the visit to Colombia, the IACHR ordered precautionary measures for this community.

La Silla Vacia reports: “[The IACHR] ordered the Colombian State to take precautionary measures to safeguard the life and integrity of a group of inhabitants of the community council of the town of La Plata, Bahía Málaga, in Valle del Cauca. There is risk for 13 leaders. According to the IACHR, territorial authorities, human rights defenders, and leaders of this community are at risk due to the operations carried out there by armed organizations, and the actions of the State have been insufficient. Last January, they denounced the incursion of an unidentified group, indiscriminate shootings and threats of kidnappings, and since then the violence has intensified.”

The IACHR has ordered the State to: “Guarantee security conditions for these leaders to return to their territory after being displaced; Implement protective measures against future threats, intimidation, harassment, and other acts of violence; Agree on the measures to be taken with the affected communities; Inform the IACHR of the measures taken to protect this population.”

The IACHR media statement on the precautionary measures can be read here.

On July 3, 2022, a delegation of Canadian public sector labour activists along with the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project and PBI-Canada visited the island of La Plata off the coast of Buenaventura and heard from the Afro-Colombian community of Bahia Malaga on the threat of “conservation” to ancestral and collective rights.

Celeita on extractive mega-projects

Berenice Celeita, the president of NOMADESC, commented in Rebelión a few weeks ago: “The situation of human rights and violence has escalated in the last year and a half and the conflict in the Pacific, from Panama to Ecuador, has the same structural causes that are centred on the fact that we are in the most biodiverse place per square centimetre of the earth, the conflicts are not just a group of madmen who went out to shoot each other, and who change their names every year, there is a historical structure that shares unity of command, unity of action and important interests.”

Photo: Celeita in Ottawa, October 2023.

Celeita also noted: “We have 14 mega-projects that are in operation, curiously in the same places where people have been removed from their territories, at this moment there is an open violation of individual and collective rights.”

Celeita further specifies that there are hundreds of concessions to mining companies, carbon credits, and the expansion of the port of Buenaventura that generates new processes of dispossession.

The PBI-Colombia Project has accompanied NOMADESC since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

Ottawa Police Service receives $50 million in federal budget, intends to create a “permanent Special Events Team”

By
Brent Patterson
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CBC reports: “The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) will receive $50 million in federal funding over the next five years to enhance security near Parliament Hill. The proposed funding, to be dispensed in equal $10-million annual payments beginning in 2024-2025, will help ‘bolster the Ottawa Police Services’ presence around the Parliamentary campus,’ according to the 2024 federal budget unveiled Tuesday.”

“In a report to the Ottawa Police Services Board last month, OPS said it continued to experience ‘significant expenditure pressures due to major events and demonstrations’ [including the] ‘demonstrations related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’.”

The CBC article adds: “While the funding is specifically aimed at bolstering the local police presence near Parliament Hill [in what is known as the Parliamentary Precinct], how the money is spent will be left to the discretion of OPS.”

New provincial funding too

CBC further notes: “The province has also promised the city $48 million over three years to enhance public safety. Of that, $20 million is contingent on receiving that federal funding for ‘national protest event response and public safety’.”

Concerns about the OPS and Ottawa By-law Services

On March 26, the advocacy group Horizon Ottawa issued a media release that states: “Speakers from various local organizations advocated for a mutual goal: to demand the city uphold the right to protest in response to over $23,000 worth in tickets leveraged against activists and protesters in recent months.”

Photo: Sarah Abdul-Karim of the Palestinian Youth Movement. Photo by Ottawa Citizen.

Their statement adds: “In recent months, Ottawa By-law and Ottawa Police Service have ramped up tickets for megaphone use against Queer and Trans defence protesters, picketers and those protesting the federal government’s policies on Palestine, including Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden.”

Hassan Husseini, an organizer with Labour 4 Palestine in Ottawa, has also stated: “I can tell you we’ve got individual police officers pushing and shoving young women demonstrators. And in one instance, when I confronted the police officer, I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he said, ‘She pushed me first.’ Completely childish […] behaviour by the police in trying to intimidate our community.”

February 4 incident

The Fulcrum adds: “Both Husseini and [Sarah] Abdul-Karim [of the Palestinian Youth Movement] point to a recent incident where six police officers and bylaw followed two young women into an underground parking lot to ticket them. Bystanders immediately stood up for the women by calling the police out on the intimidation tactic, and ultimately no charges were issued.”

January 28 incident

The Palestinian Youth Movement has posted: “We’ve all seen the distressing footage from last week’s protest: police officer Craig lunged at protesters to target an individual who was simply chanting. This resulted in Craig hitting one of our community marshals. The Ottawa Police’s attempts to silence and intimidate protestors are shameful and must be addressed before they escalate further.”

OPS to develop a “permanent Special Events Team”

Notably, CTV adds: “New Chief Eric Stubbs and his staff have been working on creating a ‘permanent Special Events Team’ to plan and manage events and demonstrations in Ottawa. A report for the March meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board said the team would ‘ensure community safety prior to, during, and after events and demonstrations.’”

OPS Chief Stubbs and the C-IRG

At the time of the announcement of his appointment as Police Chief, le Droit reported: “In recent years, Eric Stubbs has been involved in the management of protests on traditional Wet’suwet’en territory, in opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.”

Photo: The RCMP C-IRG arrest Freda Huson and Pocholo Alen Conception, February 10, 2020. Photo by Amber Bracken/The Narwhal.

Sam Hersh of Horizon Ottawa has commented in the Ottawa Citizen: “In his previous role as assistant commissioner with the British Columbia RCMP, he was heavily involved in the police raids on Wet’suwet’en territory. These raids saw armed violence brought upon the Indigenous community, along with the unwarranted arrests of journalists.”

Hersh has also noted: “We are unsure how a Police Chief who played a big role in raids of Indigenous territory is supposed to make BIPOC and other equity-seeking communities in Ottawa feel safe – quite the opposite”.

The C-IRG as a “national best practice”

In February of this year, The Tyee reported: “The RCMP sent a controversial policing unit, which was originally formed to respond to clashes over resource extraction, to events protesting Israel’s war on Gaza, framing the demonstrations as ‘pro-Hamas’ and supportive of terrorism.”

The RCMP unit was called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).

That article added: “C-IRG’s approach to public disorder has been adopted as a ‘national best practice’, according to senior media relations officer Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, and a rebrand is underway to reflect its expanded role in B.C.”

The unit, now renamed the Critical Response Unit or CRU-BC, is currently under systemic investigation by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC). This investigation follows nearly 500 complaints about the unit including allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Mexico works with the Observatory of Social and Gender Violence of Aguascalientes to strengthen their security strategies

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico has posted: “From @PBI_Mexico we recognize the work of the Social and Gender Violence Observatory of Aguascalientes [OVSG AGS]  @FeministAgs in favor of the #DDHH [human rights] of all people and we appreciate your trust to be able to talk and strengthen your security strategies.”

This followed a tweet from the Observatory that says: “We thank Peace Brigades International Mexico @PBI_Mexico for their support to strengthen our security strategies. We know that human rights and the fight for dignity are worked on, agreed upon and lived collectively. April 2024. #Silence Doesn’t Protect Us”

On April 16, the Observatory also tweeted: “#Security Alert. We issue this security alert following some telephone calls that have been made to the Observatory’s telephone number, which violate the security of the members of our organization. #Silence Doesn’t Protect Us.”

We further note that in January 2023, Milenio reported: “Defender Mariana Ávila Montejano [the president of the Observatory of Social and Gender Violence of Aguascalientes] received a call through which she was threatened with death and rape for which the National Citizen Observatory of Femicide (OCNF) expresses concern.”

That article adds: “Mariana has worked for 17 years in the defense of human rights; In addition, she accompanies relatives of disappeared persons in the central-western area of the country, and is a member of the National Citizen Observatory on Femicide.”

On November 25, 2023, in the context of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Ávila Montejano pointed out that 13 femicides have been registered in Aguascalientes.

That same month, El Sol del Centro reported: “The Observatory of Social and Gender Violence of Aguascalientes expressed its concern about the performance of the Attorney General of the State, recalling the emphasis they have made throughout the administration of Jesús Figueroa Ortega regarding the urgency of dialogue with the families and the correct implementation of the investigation protocols, which in its words, they still don’t happen.”

And on February 15, 2024, the Observatory “demanded, on legal grounds, the removal of the state’s Attorney General, Jesús Figueroa Ortega [because he] has been a protagonist in giving statements in the processes of victims of femicide, homicide and other violence, for example on the violent death of Cynthia Natali on January 24, 2023, the femicide of Nidia on November 6, 2023, and the violent death of Ociel Baena and Dorian Daniel during the same year; these processes have remained inconclusive and unpunished due to the omissions of the Prosecutor’s Office.”

A key objective of the Observatory of Social and Gender Violence of Aguascalientes is to “contribute to the promotion and protection of women’s human rights.” Its website also notes: “The Observatory accompanies the cases of disappeared persons in the State and victims of femicide and their families, in the struggle for access to truth, justice, memory, reparation and non-repetition.”

On femicide, they note: “Femicide is the direct visible part of the violence generated against girls and women, it is the result of systematic violence and disregard for respect for their human rights. Insufficient and inadequate attention from institutions, in addition to being unacceptable, aggravates the problem and fosters it.”

Aguascalientes is a city situated about 500 kilometres north-west of Mexico City. The city is in a state with the same name. The state has a population of about 1.4 million people, most of whom live in the city.

We continue to follow the work of the Gender Violence Observatory.

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