Home Blog Page 108

Crown seeks 60-90 day jail sentence for Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl for defending Wet’suwet’en territory

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Dsta’hyl on Likhts’amisyu territory. Photo by Mark West/Briarpatch Magazine.

The Terrace Standard reports: “The crown is seeking a 60-90 day jail sentence for Dsta’hyl’s interference in the [TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas] pipeline’s construction. Dsta’hyl’s defence said they will ask for a non-custodial sentence.”

Amanda Follett Hosgood of The Tyee has also tweeted: “Defence is suggesting a fine or community service. When defence lawyer suggested she may request a discharge, she was reprimanded by the judge.”

Follett Hosgood adds: “The date for Chief Dsta’hyl’s sentencing will be set Friday [March 7] and is likely to take at least a day given crown and defence so far apart.”

She adds that Justice Michael Tammen said that “discharges are not granted in these cases, particularly around these kinds of facts”.

Defence lawyer Rebecca McConchie then stated: “Because the crown is seeking up to 3 months in jail, I have to provide information that’s relevant to the over-incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada, and the oppressive nature of the justice system, which is relevant, particularly where they’re seeking to incarcerate an elderly Indigenous person.”

As such, the McConchie asked for a Gladue report, that looks at circumstances such as these, that could take months to complete.

Follett Hosgood notes: “Possible sentencing dates could be in May or July.”

Crown seeking maximum sentence

The Criminal Code of Canada says: “A court, judge, justice or provincial court judge may deal summarily with a person who is guilty of contempt of court under this section and that person is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ninety days or to both, and may be ordered to pay the costs that are incident to the service of any process under this Part and to his detention, if any.”

Enforcing Wet’suwet’en law

Grist has explained: “As a supporting chief from the Likhts’amisyu clan, Dsta’hyl had been tasked with enforcing Wet’suwet’en law in the area. Construction crews preparing to build a pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory, without their consent — represented a blatant violation of those laws.”

A news release in 2022 from the Likhts’amisyu, one of five clans within the Wet’suwet’en nation, stated: “On October 27, Likhts’amisyu Hereditary Chief Dsta’hyl was arrested and forcibly removed from unceded Likhts’amisyu territory, along with Kolin Sutherland-Wilson of the Gitxsan Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit wilp. In observance of Wet’suwet’en trespass laws, Dini ze’ Dsta’hyl decommissioned 10 pieces of heavy construction equipment.”

Video: Chief Dsta’hyl and Sutherland-Wilson detained by the RCMP.

Resisting colonial mega-projects

On the PBI-Canada convened webinar this week, Sutherland-Wilson commented: “The most recent case of Dsta’hyl, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan, where he was the first of the Dini’ze to be charged with the violation of the Coastal GasLink injunction. And in that decision, the Justice [Michael Tammen] made it explicitly clear that they could not reconcile what they called imprecisely defined Wet’suwet’en trespass law with the Canadian courts which in this case was the injunctive relief order that was issued by the Supreme Court of Canada to essentially stop Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal GasLink project.”

Tara Marsden, the Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, added: “Our learning [from the Wet’suwet’en experience of peacefully resisting the Coastal GasLink pipeline] is that consent only works when we say yes, if we say no, even if we say no with science behind us, and our knowledge and our laws behind us, then we will be met with force from the C-IRG [the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Community-Industry Response Group], from militarized invasion and occupation and intimidation and harassment.”

Further reading

Canadian court finds Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl guilty of criminal contempt for upholding Wet’suwet’en law (February 20, 2024)

PBI-Canada hosts webinar on Gitxsan and Gitanyow resistance to colonial mega-projects (March 7, 2024)

PBI-Canada hosts webinar on Gitxsan and Gitanyow resistance to colonial mega-projects

By
Brent Patterson
-

On Tuesday March 5, Peace Brigades International-Canada convened a webinar hosted by Board member Seb Bonet, who is based on Lekwungen and WSÁNEĆ territories, that featured Kai Nagata, Tara Marsden, Kolin Sutherland-Wilson and Maryam Adrangi speaking about Gitxsan and Gitanyow resistance to colonial mega-projects.

Kai Nagata

Kai Nagata, the communications director for Dogwood, a British Columbia non-profit dedicated to climate justice, Indigenous rights and democratic reform, highlighted several megaprojects threatening Gitxsan and Gitanyow territory.

Nagata began by noting the TC Energy Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project (PRGT), a fracked gas pipeline that is already permitted to proceed.

This pipeline would impact both Gitxsan and Gitanyow territory as it extends to the proposed Ksi Lisims Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export terminal on Pearse Island north of Prince Rupert on Nisga’a territory.

He also mentioned the Enbridge Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission pipeline that would go through Gitxsan and Gitanyow territory.

He highlighted that both projects have permits that expire in November.

Nagata also mentioned the proposed Vopak bulk liquids export terminal in Prince Rupert on Gitxsan territory, and the proposed JX LNG Canada Summit Lake PG LNG project in Prince George that would ship to Prince Rupert.

And he mentioned the proposed KSM Mining project, a proposed gold, copper, silver and molybdenum mine near Stewart, that would require a massive tailings dam above the Nass River watershed.

Tara Marsden

Tara Marsden, the Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, then stated: “What we learned from the Wet’suwet’en [resisting the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their territory] is that these projects were not about economic reconciliation, they are actually about domination over our people and our lands.”

She added: “Our learning is that consent only works when we say yes, if we say no, even if we say no with science behind us, and our knowledge and our laws behind us, then we will be met with force from the C-IRG [the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Community-Industry Response Group], from militarized invasion and occupation and intimidation and harassment.”

Marsden highlighted the climate change/greenhouse gas emissions concerns related to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project, Ksi Lisims and the Site C hydroelectric dam (and additional dams) needed to power mega-projects like this.

Specifically, she noted the proposed BC Hydro North Coast transmission line, that would run from Prince George to Terrace to power LNG, that could be exempt from environmental assessment if BC Hydro gets its way.

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson

Next, Gitxsan land defender and protection specialist Kolin Sutherland-Wilson noted: “Coastal GasLink is all the evidence we need of how the province operates, how these industries operate, and what their overall strategy is to effectively contain the Delgamuukw decision because what we’ve seen is efforts at all levels to essentially not give any weight to this idea that Gitxsan or Gitanyow or Wet’suwet’en, that any of our territories can effectively act independently of the Canadian state.”

He then highlighted: “The most recent case of Dsta’hyl, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan, where he was the first of the Dini’ze [chief] to be charged with the violation of the Coastal GasLink injunction. And in that decision, the Justice [Michael Tammen] made it explicitly clear that they could not reconcile what they called imprecisely defined Wet’suwet’en trespass law with the Canadian courts which in this case was the injunctive relief order that was issued by the Supreme Court of Canada to essentially stop Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal GasLink project.”

Sutherland-Wilson added: “In my experience with them [the C-IRG], I’ve noticed even as part of their training they receive anti- Delgamuukw, anti-Aboriginal rights and title argumentative training. I can’t tell you how many times where I’ve simply gotten into a shouting match with an officer and his whole position is adamantly well the courts never recognized your title, that it doesn’t exist.”

And he further cautioned that the resources, the critical minerals necessary for the green energy transition, lithium, antimony and copper, are all on Gitxsan territory with the risk of it becoming a sacrifice zone for this transition.

Maryam Adrangi

Then Maryam Adrangi, the Canadian Activism Manager for Ben & Jerry’s, spoke about what resistance looks like as electoral politics shifts to the right.

Adrangi said: “What that means for our organizing and our movements is that we really have to organize outside those electoral politics. We can’t just say disband the C-IRG, disband the Critical Response Unit [the new name for the C-IRG], we have to set the stage where they are not even allowed in our communities.”

She added: “It came out recently that the C-IRG were seen as the ‘national best practice’ of policing, but this unit is currently under review by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, supposedly the watchdog for police.”

Adrangi highlighted: “The C-IRG are so present and so active in northern BC along Highway 16 where people are so actively saying that they don’t want these projects. And what’s happening, are politicians saying okay we won’t put in these projects, no, they are sending in this policing unit with an inflated budget to squash the resistance.”

She concluded: “When there is growth in resistance, we see the growth in repression. We need to be there [when there is repression against the Gitxsan and Gitanyow when they resist colonial mega-projects].”

For more information, see the Gitanyow Chiefs website, particularly the news section, and this petition against Enbridge’s Zombie Pipeline, the Westcoast Connector pipeline.

Peace Brigades International physically accompanies Indigenous land defenders and environmental struggles in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras, and seeks to make the links to similar land defence struggles on the lands known as Canada. For a 6-minute video about our work in Colombia, click here.

PBI-Mexico visits with Comite Cerezo as they highlight “the issue of the genocide against the Palestinian people”

By
Brent Patterson
-

The PBI-Mexico Project has tweeted: “Thank you very much @comitecerezo for always opening the doors to us to discuss the context of #human rights in Mexico and sharing these moments of exchange.”

This followed the Comite Cerezo tweeting: “Grateful for the visit of the volunteers of the Peace Brigades International @PBI_Mexico have a good stay in our country.”

On the day of the PBI-Mexico visit, the Comite Cerezo posted: “Once again it is time to return to the issue of the Genocide against the Palestinian people, the number of victims is already more than double that of November, the last time we talked about the subject, it went from 12,000 to almost 30,000 people, human beings, women and children mostly who have been killed by the Zionist policy of the Government of Israel.”

Video: Comite Cerezo commentary.

They then highlight the positions taken by several countries at the International Court of Justice public hearing on a case based on the UN General Assembly’s request for an advisory opinion on legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in Occupied Palestinian Territory:

“The first to speak was the Palestinian representative, who said at the beginning of his participation that he was there while 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, are besieged and bombed, killed and massacred, starved and displaced.

It was followed by South Africa, whose state filed a complaint with the same International Court of Justice in December accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, South Africa highlighted a parallel between the apartheid suffered by South Africa and that suffered by the Palestinian people.

Chile, Algeria, Bolivia, Colombia and Brazil criticized Israel and its Zionist policy, Cuba went further and stressed the responsibility of the United States in supporting Zionism and providing it with weapons to continue murdering Palestinians.”

They further highlight: “Unfortunately Mexico did not participate; Mexican humanism is not enough to establish a just position in the face of this ongoing genocide”

Their full commentary can be read at Who really defends Palestine?

Several other PBI accompanied organizations, defenders and communities have expressed their concern about the situation in Palestine, including:

PBI-Honduras accompanied COPINH.

PBI-Colombia accompanied dhColombia.

PBI-Colombia accompanied Berenice Celeita, president NOMADESC.

PBI-Guatemala accompanied Bernardo Caal Xol of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabon.

PBI-Guatemala supported Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc.

To read the PBI statement on the, please click here.

PBI-Mexico began accompanying the Comite Cerezo in 2002.

PBI-Colombia accompanies dhColombia at trial of police officer accused of murdering Angie Baquero at protest

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 4, dhColombia tweeted:

“Today in the judicial complex of Paloquemao, a public hearing is being held for the murder of Angie Paola Baquero Rojas on September 9, 2020, against Mr. Jorge Andrés Lasso Valencia, who served as a patrolman of the National Police….

And he would have fired his firearm against the population that was demonstrating.

We accompany the families and remember that more than 3 years have passed since the occurrence of the events, the horrible night of September 9, 2020, day in which at least 14 people were killed by the police.

#ForbiddenToForget”

   

El Espectador also reports:

“In the courts of Paloquemao, in Bogotá, the first criminal trial began against a uniformed member of the National Police for the 14 deaths attributed to the Public Force and registered during the protests of September 9, 2020, fueled by the brutal murder of student Javier Ordóñez in Bogotá.

Photo: Javier Ordóñez was killed by police in September 2020.

This is the case against active patrolman Jorge Andrés Lasso Valencia, accused of the alleged homicide of Angie Baquero, in the vicinity of the CAI [police station] Aures, in Suba.

Photo: Angie Baquero.

The prosecutor in the case presented the consolidated theory: Lasso Valencia would be responsible since the bullet found in Baquero’s body coincides with the weapon assigned to the same uniformed officer.

[Present in the courtroom was] the family of Angie Baquero, her ex-girlfriend Cindy Tatiana Contreras and the victim defense team made up of Dh Colombia and Temblores NGO. Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the UN Verification Mission also attended.”

The full article can be read at Inicia el primer juicio penal contra un policía por los homicidios del 9S (El Espectador).

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Associated Network of Human Rights Defenders (dhColombia) since 2016.

Gitxsan Huwilp to rally in Smithers against the C-IRG and sentencing of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Wing Chief Dsta’hyl, March 6

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government will be rallying against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) and the sentencing of Hereditary Wing Chief in Smithers on Wednesday March 6.

They have posted on Facebook:

“RCMP C-IRG – as you are aware – is under investigation for corruption by their federal oversight agency – as they beef up their ranks as a funded military solution to perpetrate industry greed. For the RCMP C-IRG to extinguish Indigenous peoples’ fulsome rights on their lands, threaten our lives with military tactical weapons, terrorize our women and children, weaponize our land defense is indefensible.

On March 6th at 9am the BCSC [British Columbia Supreme Court] will make an example of this, sentencing a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Wing Chief for criminal contempt for protecting his traditional territory against industry raiding. Hereditary Chiefs have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the lands for current and future generations.”

Two of the demands of this rally are to “stop industry-led injunctions that allow industry looting of Indigenous lands” and “dismantle the RCMP C-IRG (only militarized unit in Canada).”

On February 20, Amanda Follett Hosgood of The Tyee tweeted: “BC Supreme Court has found Wet’suwet’en Chief Dsta’hyl guilty of criminal contempt, rejecting a novel defence that rather than bringing the law into disrepute he was upholding Wet’suwet’en law on his traditional territory when interfered with pipeline construction.’”

She had previously reported: “Chief Dsta’hyl … was arrested Oct. 27, 2021, following an interaction with Coastal GasLink security on his clan’s traditional territory. Although he was originally taken into custody for mischief and theft over $5,000, Dsta’hyl now faces a charge of criminal contempt.”

WEBINAR TODAY AT 5:30 PM PT

This news release from the Likhts’amisyu, one of five clans within the Wet’suwet’en nation, stated: “On October 27, 2022, Likhts’amisyu Hereditary Chief Dsta’hyl was arrested and forcibly removed from unceded Likhts’amisyu territory, along with Kolin Sutherland-Wilson of the Gitxsan Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit wilp. In observance of Wet’suwet’en trespass laws, Dini ze’ Dsta’hyl decommissioned 10 pieces of heavy construction equipment.”

Kolin will be one of the speakers on a webinar today (Tuesday March 5) titled Gitxsan and Gitanyow Resistance to Colonial Mega Projects.

To register for that webinar, click here.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras with COPINH on the 8th anniversary of the murder of Indigenous Lenca water protector Berta Cáceres

By
Brent Patterson
-

Near midnight on March 2, 2016, assassins hired by DESA, a company seeking to build a hydroelectric dam opposed by the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), broke into the home of COPINH’s general coordinator, Indigenous Lenca water protector Berta Caceres, shot her, and escaped. She died minutes later in the arms of friend Gustavo Castro, who was also shot in the attack.

In Honduras, there is a saying: “blood of martyrs, seed of freedom.” 18th century martyred Aymara leader Tupac Katari is also attributed to saying: “I will come back, and I will be millions.” Following Berta’s murder, a popular saying emerged: “They wanted to bury her, but they didn’t know that she was a seed” and thus “Berta multiplied”.

PBI-Honduras has posted:

“We agree with @COPINHHONDURAS during the 8th sowing of #indigenous #defender #lenca Berta Cáceres. It is important to advance the #justice process for Berta, COPINH and the community of Rio Blanco. Berta will return and will be millions. #JusticeForBerta.”

On March 2, PBI-Honduras also tweeted:

“Yesterday, we observed the premiere of the documentary ‘The Illusion of Abundance’ in Utopia (La Esperanza) as well as the subsequent dialogue between the communities of the @COPINHHONDURAS. ‘This film was made to generate debate and raise awareness’ (Bertha Zúniga Cáceres).”

“The screening of ‘The illusion of abundance’ took place in the framework of our project ‘Walking together: comprehensive protection for women and people of sexual and gender dissidence, defenders of #HumanRights in #Honduras’, funded by @AECID_Honduras [the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation].”

Our friend Amnesty International Canada Latin America Campaigns Coordinator Kathy Price also tweeted: “The legacy of #BertaCáceres is alive in Canada. In the words that surround Berta’s tree! In the commitment of all who make their call their own: ‘Let’s wake up, there is no time’! Solidarity with @COPINHHONDURAS #JusticeForBerta #TheStruggleContinues #BertaMultiplied #BertaSeed”

Solidarity with Palestine

And we take note that COPINH expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people at this 8th anniversary gathering. They tweeted:

“At the #8yearAniversary of the Sowing #BertaCáceres, we stand in solidarity with the people #palestine, who face a painful humanitarian and environmental crisis on the part of the State of Israel.”

“We firmly believe in the importance of people’s solidarity and support in such adverse times, therefore, from these Lenca lands we join the global action for Gaza and Palestine.”

Further reading: Peace Brigades International urges Israel to implement ICJ decision to prevent genocide in Gaza; calls on international community to increase efforts to guarantee peace.

Berta Cáceres in her own words

Photo: Berta Caceres.

In the preface to this interview with Berta Caceres from 2015, Asís Castellanos and Adrienne Pine comment in Toward Freedom:

“Berta’s close relationships with Zapatista organizers and anti-hierarchical Indigenous movements throughout the Americas, as well as her collaborations with non-Indigenous-identified anarchist-leaning organizers were mutually beneficial and constitutive. Though her leadership, revolutionary clarity and vision were undeniable (as her words demonstrate), her praxis centered on building broad-based, radically democratic, horizontalist movements and coalitions capable of confronting the murderous power of capital and creating in its stead a profoundly different model of social organization.”

To read that interview in full, click here.

Video: “Let us wake up! We’re out of time. We must shake our conscience free of the rapacious capitalism, racism and patriarchy that will only assure our own self-destruction. Our Mother Earth – militarized, fenced-in, poisoned, a place where basic rights are systematically violated – demands that we take action.” – Berta Caceres

Video: On March 8, 2016, people gathered in front of the Embassy of Honduras in Ottawa, Canada to demand justice just days after the murder of Cáceres.

COPINH’s coordinators have been accompanied by PBI Honduras since May 2016.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH at Crawfish Rock meeting as Honduras exits World Bank investment dispute body

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Honduras has posted:

“We accompany ARCAH [the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication] in the second meeting of the National Movement Against ZEDE [Zone for Employment and Economic Development] and in Defense of Sovereignty in the community of Crawfish Rock (Roatan, Bay Islands).

We stand in solidarity with the Crawfish Rock community, OFRANEH [the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras] and ARCAH in their advocacy work against ZEDE and show concern for the risks they face.”

The National Movement also posted:

“On February 24, we held the Second Meeting of Resistance Against ZEDE, in the community of Crawfish Rock, This day of agreement, solidarity and denunciation, brought together organizations from 13 departments of the country.

We continue denouncing the advances of ZEDE Prospera, as a neocolonial invasion project that today bets to experiment genetically with our corporealities.”

What is a ZEDE and Prospera?

In July 2022, The Guardian reported:

“The controversy dates back roughly a decade, when the Honduran government reformed the constitution and passed a law that paved the way for the creation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDE). The idea was ripped from economist Paul Romer’s proposal of charter cities, which the Nobel-prize winner theorized could promote development in areas plagued by poor governance.

Romer proposed that a foreign nation act as a guarantor for the governance of charter cities. But the Honduran law instead allowed corporations to build a private city.

The issue fell into the background until 2020, when word spread that the first charter city had been established in Crawfish Rock – to the surprise of the village’s residents.

Roatán, located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of the mainland, is one of the Caribbean’s top tourist destinations and an expat haven, renowned for its white-sand beaches and world-class diving. Up and down the beach, there are vacation homes and resorts owned by foreigners.

Representatives of Próspera have said that they informed the community of their intentions in June 2019, citing a document that was signed by 49 residents. The ‘community resolution’ document refers to the Próspera ZEDE as a ‘real estate and community development project’, but does not go into further detail.

As the controversy spread across the nation, a movement was born that demanded the protection of land rights and decried the concession of sovereign territory to foreigners and corporations.

President Xiomara Castro, who was elected in a landslide in November [2021], made the ZEDE a signature issue of her campaign. When Castro sanctioned the repeal in April [2022], she called it the most important day in her presidency thus far.

But the elation was short-lived. Just before the repeal, Próspera announced a new round of investments totaling $60m and the adoption of the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender. In the weeks and months since, the company has continued to operate as if nothing has changed, moving ahead with construction projects.

Government officials said that any ZEDE currently operating has one year to conform to another kind of legal framework. But investors cite a sunset clause in the ZEDE law that gives them a term of at least 10 years, as well as other international trade agreements that they claim grants them decades more.”

Investment protections in trade agreements

The Próspera Group has stated: “Honduras Próspera, Inc., the Promoter & Organizer of Prospera ZEDE, is a U.S. company with rights under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and the U.S.-HN Bilateral Investment Treaty, which extend to investments made in Próspera ZEDE the highest degree of legal protection in Honduras. Many other investors from other countries likewise enjoy powerful treaty rights.”

Ryan C. Berg, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, had also cautioned: “If the Honduran government insists on moving forward with abolishing the ZEDE law, investors have a number of legal mechanisms at their disposal [including] Chapter 10 of the CAFTA-DR to seek interim injunctive relief to preserve the status quo, as well as damages for any lost investment and future profits.”

The latest

Last year, the Bretton Woods Project reported: “Honduras is threatening to withdraw from the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes [ICSID] over an $11 billion claim by Honduras Prospera, a US company.”

Now, BNN reports: “On February 24, 2024, a pivotal development unfolded as the Republic of Honduras formally announced its withdrawal from the [ICSID Convention], signaling a significant shift in the global investment arbitration framework. This move, set to become effective on August 25, 2024, has sparked discussions on the future of international investment disputes and the broader implications for global economic relations.”

Accompaniment

The Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) is a space for community articulation and an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonialist and anti-classist social movement that seeks to defend territories and common goods from any project that threatens the peace and cosmovision of communities.

PBI-Honduras has accompanied ARCAH since September 2022.

PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire

By
Brent Patterson
-

Contact: governance@peacebrigades.org

PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an
immediate cease-fire

Peace Brigades International (PBI), an organization that seeks to create space for peace
and participate in the protection of human rights, shares the words of the UN Secretary
General that “only a negotiated peace that satisfies the legitimate national aspirations of
Palestinians and Israelis alike (…) can bring long-term stability to the people of this land and
the broader Middle East region “.

➢ PBI stands in solidarity with all victims; when human rights are violated in one part of
the world, they are violated everywhere. War is not the solution, armed confrontation will only
increase the death and destruction and will take away the possibility of finding a negotiated
and stable solution.

➢ PBI urges Israel to implement the provisional order of the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) of January 26, 2024, to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. PBI also reiterates
its call for an immediate ceasefire.

In our 40 years of existence, the many human rights organizations and communities that we
have accompanied in different countries have taught us to give importance to historical
memory, so it is important to recognize the roots of the current situation: the Arab-Israeli war
of 1948-1949 following the adoption of the United Nations Plan for the Partition of Palestine of
1947 and the consequent displacement of more than 700,000 inhabitants of Palestine. Since
then, the violent conflict has not ceased. The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 left around
1,200 people killed and at least 240 kidnapped, and the State of Israel responded. Four
months later, Israel’s military operation, according to sources considered by the ICJ, led to
25,700 Palestinians killed, more than 63,000 people injured, more than 360,000 homes
destroyed or damaged and some 1.7 million people forcibly displaced inside Gaza.

Numerous UN statements have repeatedly warned of the grave risk of genocide of the
Palestinian people by the conduct of the Israeli government and public forces in Gaza, and
have also reminded all governments of their duty to prevent it. In January 2024, eight UN
rapporteurs insisted: “Israel is not only killing and causing irreparable harm to Palestinian
civilians with its indiscriminate shelling, but is also knowingly and intentionally imposing a high
rate of disease, prolonged malnutrition, dehydration and starvation by destroying civilian
infrastructure.” Despite this, the situation continues to deteriorate and every day we lament
new civilian casualties, attacks on health centers, educational centers, humanitarian
equipment, as well as new forced displacements. On December 29, 2023, the Republic of
South Africa submitted an application to the ICJ against Israel for alleged non-compliance in
the Gaza Strip with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide.

In light of the foregoing, the Court considers in its decision on provisional measures, and
before rendering its final judgment, that there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm to
the rights contemplated by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. It therefore calls upon the State of Israel to take all measures within its power to
prevent the commission, against the Palestinians in Gaza, of any act falling within the scope
of Article II of the Convention, in particular it must ensure, with immediate effect, that its army
does not commit any of the acts prohibited by the Convention. The Court also insists that the
State of Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish direct and public
incitement to commit genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.

PBI asks for:

● An immediate ceasefire and that the international community concentrate all its efforts
to open a phase of dialogue that seeks a sustainable and lasting peace.

● The international community to demand respect for International Humanitarian Law by
all armed actors involved in the conflict. In particular the cessation of indiscriminate bombing
of the Gaza Strip, the cessation of bombing of medical, educational and humanitarian
institutions, as well as free access to food and drinking water and allow access to
humanitarian aid to civilian populations.

● To the international community in its mediating role to insist on the release of all
persons kidnapped by the Hamas group and Palestinian persons arbitrarily detained
by Israel.

● To the international community to show its strong support for such important
institutions for global justice as the International Court of Justice.

● The international community to maintain its support for UN agencies and
humanitarian organizations working in the Gaza Strip.

● We call on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and
the armed groups involved in the conflict.

Peace Brigades International seeks to be faithful to its principle of non-partisanship
which “does not mean neutrality or passivity in the face of injustice or the violation of
human rights, and the violation of the right to freedom of expression, on the contrary:

PBI is fully committed to these values and fights against violence – physical or
structural – as a means to establish lasting peace.”

28-2-2024

Peace Brigades International

International Office Village Partenaire

15 Rue Fernand Bernier 1060 Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +32 (0) 25434443

PBI-Canada webinar on Gitxsan and Gitanyow Resistance to Colonial Mega Projects, March 5

By
Brent Patterson
-

We know that settler colonialism aims to eliminate Indigeneity, either through incorporating Indigenous people into colonial structures, or forcing access to territory through injunctions and RCMP CIRG-sponsored terror.

And at the same time, Indigenous people continue to live their laws, practice collective governance structures that entwine communities with each other and the land, and renew spiritual relationships that defend the sacred.

On Tuesday, March 5th at 5.30PM PT, please join this hour-long webinar to hear Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Tara Marsden, Kai Nagata and Maryam Adrangi speak on colonial projects facing Gitxsan and Gitanyow peoples:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lq42mv9-Q0-XfOBOrjJkfA#/registration

We will try and get a sense of the details of new colonial mega-projects as we emerge into a more coercive post-TRC moment, even as we also try to highlight continued anti-colonial resistance and ways to expand and support it.

Lots to do in an hour; come check it out!!

– Seb Bonet, Peace Brigades International-Canada

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Alaska Summit Massacre trial of soldiers who killed six Mayan K’iche’ men

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Guatemala has posted: “An hour after the reading of the sentence on Caso de la Masacre de la Cumbre de Alaska the room was filled with the plaintiffs, relatives and authorities of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán and the Ixil people.”

Reuters reports:

“A Guatemalan court on Wednesday [February 28] convicted seven soldiers for their roles in the killing of six Indigenous protesters in 2012, while a colonel and another soldier were acquitted. Of those convicted, six of the soldiers were found guilty of bodily injury caused in a fight while another was convicted of murder. They were sentenced to nearly eight years in prison while the soldier found guilty of murder was sentenced to more than nine.”

Agence France-Presse reported earlier in the week:

“A Guatemalan court will hand down the verdict Wednesday [February 28] in the trial of nine military officers accused of killing six indigenous people during the eviction of a blocked road on Oct. 4, 2012, in a case known as the ‘Alaska Summit Massacre’.

Colonel Juan Chiroy, Sergeant Edin Agustín and seven soldiers are accused of having shot at demonstrators who were blocking the Inter-American Highway in protest of the increase in the electricity rate and other social demands.

Six men of the Mayan K’iche’ ethnic group died in this event that occurred under the government of then-right-wing President Otto Pérez (2012-2015), sentenced in 2022 to 16 years in prison for corruption, in what indigenous leaders describe as the first massacre perpetrated by security forces after the end of the civil war (1960-1996).

‘I ask for justice and reparation because the soldiers killed our husbands’, Celestina Aguilar, 50, the widow of one of the six dead, told AFP.

Video: “Celestina Aguilar Soc, widow of Francisco Puac Ordóñez, points out that the death of her husband changed their lives.”

The incident occurred at the site known as the Alaska Summit because of the altitude and cold climate on that stretch of the route between the departments of Totonicapán and Sololá, about 100 km west of the capital.

Before the hearing, about 50 indigenous people performed a brief Mayan ceremony, with flowers and lit candles, outside the courthouse.

The trial began on June 15 in a high-impact court in the capital, after almost 11 years of waiting due to appeals that delayed the process.

The nine soldiers face charges of ‘extrajudicial execution’ and ‘attempted extrajudicial execution’ (for the wounded) and face sentences of between 20 and 50 years in prison.

[Those killed included] Jose Puac, a 33-year-old-shoemaker, Félix Sapón, Santos Hernández, Rafael Batz and Jesús Caxaj.

Photo: Santos Hernández Menchú.

More than 90 witnesses, mostly locals, testified at the trial, some 300 documents were presented and there were almost 30 forensic expert reports.

The defense of the victims is seeking that the court also order reparation measures and prohibit the military from repressing demonstrations.”

The Spanish news agency EFE also reported:

“’I want justice, my life will never be the same. They left us alone,’ Enrique Faustino Garcia, 54, who lost a leg to a gunshot by the armed forces when he was with a group of peasants protesting on a highway against the increase in the price of electricity in the western department of Totonicapán, told EFE.

Prior to the hearing where the future of the accused will be decided, dozens of family members went to the Plaza de los Derechos Humanos, in the Supreme Court of Justice, to make a Mayan invocation and with prayers asking for justice.

Among the accused soldiers is Colonel Juan Chiroy Sal, who is accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) of being in charge of the military contingent that acted that day.

Sgt. Edin Agustin and seven other lower-ranking soldiers are also among those who could face prison sentences of more than 50 years.”

Canada and Otto Pérez Molina

As noted above by Agence France-Presse, the Alaska Summit Massacre occurred under the government of President Otto Pérez (2012-2015).

In this feature article, The Walrus magazine has reported: “According to geographers Catherine Nolin and Jacqui Stephens, who studied the work of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala from 2004 to 2008, Canada’s ‘pro-business, pro-mining stance, through its embassy’s activities’, have shaped Guatemala’s development model and, in turn, have helped plunder the resources of Indigenous and local communities.”

“Documents received through Access to Information requests show that the embassy was active in creating a favourable environment for the operation of Canadian companies. This included forming ties with Otto Pérez Molina, Guatemala’s president from January 2012 to September 2015.”

That article adds: “According to the National Security Archive, Pérez Molina was allegedly involved in ‘scorched earth campaigns’, which annihilated entire Indigenous villages during the country’s civil war.”

In 2007, Democracy Now reported on allegations that Pérez Molina may have been involved in the assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi in April 1998 just days after the release of a human rights report he helped prepare for the United Nations’ Historical Clarification Commission.

To listen to a Democracy Now interview with Peace Brigades International following the murder of Bishop Gerardi, please click here.

Global Affairs Canada photo and text: “October 11, 2012 – Guatemala City – The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs), and Guatemala’s President Otto Pérez Molina, met in Guatemala City today. They discussed  security and justice reform issues, as well as opportunities for expanding commercial engagements between Canada and Guatemala. Minister Ablonczy reinforced Canada’s support for stability and democracy in the region. Minister Ablonczy attended President Perez’s inauguration in January 2012.”

On December 7, 2022, a Guatemalan court sentenced Perez to 16 years in prison. He was found guilty of leading a massive customs fraud scheme while in office.

We continue to closely follow the situation in Guatemala.

1...107108109...453Page 108 of 453