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PBI-Honduras visits OFRANEH in Vallecito where the Garifuna have reclaimed their ancestral lands

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras has posted on Facebook:

“Last week we visited OFRANEH-Garifuna/Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras and the community of Vallecito. The Garifuna people have waged a peaceful struggle to reclaim these ancestral lands that had fallen into the hands of drug trafficking.

Currently, Vallecito is a recovered territory, under the control and sovereignty of the Garifuna people, which offers an alternative to life and food sovereignty, but which is still in dispute for its geostrategic position for the passage of illicit substances.

From PBI we observe with concern the threats, harassment and use of violence against the community.”

The Garífuna are people of Indigenous Arawak and Black African ancestry; they speak Garífuna and Vincentian Creole.

In November 2023, the Human Rights and Business Award Foundation explained:

“Early morning on September 19, 2023, at least four unknown and heavily armed men reportedly entered the community of Vallecito, Colón, and surrounded the house of Miriam Miranda.

Members of Miriam’s security team demanded that the strangers identify themselves, but they fled the scene. The strangers were heard to say that next time they would come to ‘finish the deal’.

On 21 September the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Honduras issued a statement expressing its concern about the risk faced by Miriam, and the lack of review of the Honduran government’s protection measures for her, particularly after the past threats she had received.

Photo: Miriam Miranda, General Coordinator of OFRANEH.

The OHCHR noted that the Honduran government’s Technical Committee of the Protection Mechanism had failed to hold its session scheduled for 20 September to review Miranda’s protection plan because three of the four Honduran governmental authorities/agencies that make up that committee did not attend.

The OHCHR called on the Government of Honduras to strengthen its commitment and its measures to protect human rights defenders at risk. In a statement issued on 20 September condemning the attack on Miriam, the Honduras Solidarity Network of North America said: ‘For many years, the list of attacks on Miriam has grown to be quite extensive, while the list of those punished for such attacks is non-existent.’

The statement called for: an end to impunity – bringing to justice all perpetrators of attacks on Garifuna human rights defenders; Miriam to be provided with additional forms of protection; the Honduran state to implement Inter-American Court of Human Rights rulings calling for an end to violations of Garifuna land rights and cultural rights, and restoration of stolen lands.

OFRANEH reports that all the above violations and threats are due to the process of illegal occupation of Garífuna territories by third parties that operate with the support of the Honduran state.”

That article also notes: “In Vallecito, Colón, OFRANEH has organized the largest food sovereignty program in Honduras. More than 100 hectares of coconut have been planted to provide food for Garífuna communities. The program includes a facility for producing coconut oil and derivatives.”

Canadian financing

We also take particular note of Miriam’s comment: “We’re under threat from gated retirement communities with U.S. and Canadian financing, as well as mining and hydroelectric projects, including projects with development bank financing.”

In this regard, the article highlights: “Much Garífuna communal land has been acquired by real estate companies, particularly Canadian firms. In 2007 Randy Jorgensen’s development company Life Vision Properties began acquiring land outside Trujillo to develop a cruise ship terminal and gated retirement home properties for North Americans.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Colombia accompanied CAJAR lawyers’ collective welcomes Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling on systemic persecution

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Yessika Hoyos and Danilo Rueda in Bogota yesterday.

PBI-Colombia has posted on Twitter: “After years of systematic persecution and complaints, the @CorteIDH condemns the Colombian State in a historic sentence. We applaud the courage and commitment of all the members of @Ccajar and we deeply regret all the violence against them.”

El Pais further explains: “The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) on Monday condemned Colombia for the persecution since the 1990s of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR), an organization that denounced human rights violations committed by state agents.”

“The tribunal of the Organization of American States (OAS) has established that several state entities carried out intelligence activities against the members of CAJAR and delivered that information to paramilitary groups that then threatened the human rights defenders. ‘The State created a situation of risk to the life and personal integrity of the victims,’ the court said.”

“Reinaldo Villalba points out that the collective has evidenced the abuses of the State in several cases. ‘We showed that paramilitarism was a strategy of the state to impose political and economic models and to hide its direct responsibility for massacres, forced displacements, murders and other serious human rights violations,’ he stresses.”

“Villalba sees the ruling as ‘a tool that will extend its effects to the entire continent.’ ‘The persecution of human rights defenders is a widespread issue in Latin America. The national security doctrines [of the 1960s and 1970s] have established that those who denounce the crimes of power are internal enemies,’ he says.”

The article also highlights: “Currently, threats persist that remain unpunished: the current president of the collective, Yessika Hoyos, received several in recent years for her work with victims of the Mondoñedo massacre (1996).

The full article can be read at: La Corte Interamericana condena a Colombia por la persecución al Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (El Pais).

The full 397-page court ruling has been published by El Espectador here.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995.

#ParaQueNoSeRepita

Photo: On July 5, 2022, PBI-Canada met with CAJAR lawyer Rosa Maria Mateus at the CAJAR office in Bogota.

First Nations Land Defence Alliance opposes proposed nuclear waste dump, Ring of Fire mining in Ontario

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Land Defence Alliance march, September 27, 2023.

The CBC reports: “By the end of this year, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is expected to decide on its preferred site for the country’s first deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel.”

It adds: “The potential locations are: The Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area, about 250 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay; The Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario, about 130 kilometres northwest of London.”

The article then notes:

“We the Nuclear Free North and the First Nations Land Defence Alliance … remain concerned about what’s known as the Revell site in northwestern Ontario. The alliance issued a letter to NWMO president and CEO Laurie Swami on March 5, saying: ‘Our Nations have not been consulted, we have not given our consent, and we stand together in saying ‘no’ to the proposed nuclear waste storage site near Ignace. We call on you to respect our decision.’

Chief Rudy Turtle of Grassy Narrows First Nation, 250 kilometres northwest of Ignace, said no one from the NWMO has met with him in person to discuss the proposed nuclear waste site. Grassy Narrows has a particular interest in which Ontario site is chose, given the First Nation’s experiences dealing with contaminated fish in the 1960s and ’70s. Mercury from a Dryden pulp and paper mill was dumped into the English Wabigoon River, upstream from the First Nation. Research indicates past mercury exposure continues to impact the health of people in the community.

In the case of a nuclear waste repository, Turtle said, ‘Should there be any leak or if the containment fails, there is the possibility that [toxic chemicals] can leak downriver again.’ Turtle would like to see a series of in-person meetings so people can better understand the safety measures being proposed and the potential risks.

[And] Chief Michele Solomon of Fort William First Nation said it is unlikely her community’s position against the site will change. Band council passed a resolution last September calling for the Ontario government to adopt the proximity principle, which means nuclear waste would be stored at the point of generation and not transported elsewhere. ‘Anything that has the potential to get into our waterway that would cause harm to the fish or to the animals or to our people … we take that very seriously,’ Solomon said.”

Another proposed site on Indigenous land

In mid-February, the CBC also reported:

“Algonquin leaders are finding the Canadian government largely unmoved, but they continue to fight construction of a radioactive waste dump on unceded territory near Deep River, Ont., roughly one kilometre from the Ottawa River.

Ten out of 11 federally recognized Algonquin First Nations oppose the project, while the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn, roughly 150 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, is the lone community to consent.

‘The time to act is now, for the sake of our environment, our communities and the principles enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,’ said Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation, at a news conference outside the House of Commons.”

Alliance also opposes Ring of Fire mining

In November 2021, CBC reported: “Premier Doug Ford’s government [wants] to lure the big automakers to produce electric vehicles in southern Ontario. A key part of that strategy involves opening up the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit, located more than 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in an area home to Indigenous people.” The area is rich in the minerals used in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, graphite and copper.

Late last year, The Varsity reported: “Over 6,000 people protested against the Ontario government’s policies allowing companies to mine on some First Nations’ traditional lands as part of the March for the Land, which took place in Toronto on September 27.”

It highlights: “The First Nations Land Defence Alliance, created to fight against government intrusion on their land, organized the protest.”

The Ojibwe nation of Neskantaga, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI-Big Trout Lake), Ojibways of Onigaming, Muskrat Dam, Asubpeeschoseewagong-Grassy Narrows and Wapekeka First Nations, are part of First Nations Land Defence Alliance.

The Alliance was formed in January 2023.

#LandAlliance

Will the House of Commons vote on arms exports to Israel have implications for Elbit Systems at the CANSEC arms show?

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still: Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly rises to vote in favour of the motion to “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel”.

Last night, the House of Commons voted 204-118 in favour of a motion that includes a provision on the export of arms to Israel.

The original wording of the motion from NDP Member of Parliament (MP) Heather McPherson was: “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

MP Heather McPherson

Liberal MP Steven MacKinnon successfully moved to replace that paragraph with these words instead: “cease the further authorization and transfer of arms exports to Israel to ensure compliance with Canada’s arms export regime and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

MP Steven MacKinnon

By clicking here and scrolling down you can see how MPs voted on this motion. For instance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and National Defence Minister Bill Blair voted in favour of it.

Capitulation and disappointment

The CBC reports: “The amended motion calls for ceasing the further transfer of arms to Israel (instead of asking to suspend all sales of military equipment to Israel) and increasing efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas. The amendments were tabled with the support of the NDP after several discussions behind the scenes.”

The Maple news editor Alex Cosh is pointedly critical in his tweet: “The Trudeau gov has repeatedly claimed it hasn’t authorized permits for ‘arms’, which it arbitrarily distinguishes from other military exports. This language changes nothing on military exports.” Cosh adds: “This is a disgraceful capitulation [by the NDP].”

Instagram post by Palsolidaritycad.

And Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) comment: “The watering down of the NDP resolution weakens the significance of Parliament’s vote, even if it was a major concession forced by the Liberal government to ensure its passage.”

Clear policy promised

While disappointed, the CJPME does note: “With the passage of this motion, the government has effectively promised to adopt a clear policy to restrict exports, including for already-issued permits, not just a temporary pause on approvals. While imperfect, this is a tangible victory on the road to a Canadian two-way arms embargo with Israel.”

Implications for CANSEC

If the Canadian government has now, as the CJPME says, “effectively promised to adopt a clear policy to restrict exports”, what implications might this have on its funding of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) and its organizing of the annual CANSEC arms show in Ottawa?

CADSI (whose membership includes Elbit Systems, the largest Israeli weapons manufacturer) organizes CANSEC that includes as exhibitors Israel representatives, Elbit, the Canadian Commercial Corporation (that helps to facilitate weapons exports), many of the biggest transnational corporations (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, L3Harris) that sell weapons to Israel, and will most likely feature Defence Minister Blair as a keynote speaker this coming May 29-30.

Defence Minister Bill Blair

Image: The Government of Canada at CANSEC.

Global Affairs Canada has also given $450,352.00 to CADSI over the past two years and appears willing to fund it again in 2024.

Elbit Systems

Let’s now look at the Haifa, Israel-based arms company Elbit Systems.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability has noted:

“Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems is one of the primary suppliers of weapons and surveillance systems to the Israeli military, including Skylark and Hermes military UAV drones, which form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively in Gaza.

Elbit-made MPR 500 multi-purpose bombs are being used by Israel in its attacks on the Gaza Strip. Designed for use in “densely populated urban warfare,” these bombs contain 26,000 controlled fragments for “high kill probability.” Elbit says that these 500-pound bombs are as powerful as U.S.-made 2,000-pound MK-84 bombs. They can be converted into guided bombs using kits such as the Boeing (see above) Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).

Elbit Systems’ killer Hermes 450 and 900 drones have been used extensively in attacks on and surveillance missions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon.

Elbit’s Head-Mounted Display helmet technology is integrated into the Israeli Air Force’s fighter jets and helicopters as well as the military’s Merkava 5 (Barak) battle tank. The company is also a subcontractor of Lockheed Martin; it integrates its helmet technology into F-35 fighter jets worldwide.

It also supplies the Israeli military with 155mm artillery shells and many other weapons systems and technologies.
Elbit Systems spearheaded the technological aspects of the “smart” border wall surrounding the Gaza Strip, which failed on Oct. 7. It is also a prime contractor for the militarization of the U.S.– Mexico border.

On Oct. 13, the Israeli military fired 120mm tank rounds at journalists in south Lebanon, killing Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injuring six others in what could amount to a war crime. The munitions used were most likely M339 rounds made by Elbit Systems, according to Amnesty International.“

Image: CANSEC floorplan.

Chilean government bars Elbit from arms show

What are possible implications were the Canadian government to take the motion passed last night seriously? For that we look to Chile.

The Chilean government recently barred Israeli weapons companies from the upcoming International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE). This prohibition includes Elbit Systems, the largest Israeli military manufacturer that produces 85% of its land-based equipment and 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Air Force.

The announcement notes: “By decision of the Government of Chile, the 2024 version of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), to be held between 9 and 14 April, will not have the participation of Israeli companies.”

We will continue to follow this.

World Beyond War tweets on the vote.

For more about the organizing to challenge CANSEC this year, please see this World Beyond War Canada webpage.

TODAY: Canadian House of Commons to vote on a ceasefire and an arms embargo on the Israeli military

By
Brent Patterson
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With thousands of emails generated and public opinion solidly on side with a ceasefire, how will Members of Parliament vote today?

This motion will be voted on today (Monday March 18 at around 4 pm ET). It calls on the Government of Canada to demand an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages; suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas; and more.

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has generated 31,132 emails in support of this motion.

Leadnow has generated another 11,754 actions.

And Climate for Palestine has generated 11,844 emails.

We also now see that a Neighbours United for Palestine petition on the Action Network has generated 41,927 letters.

Angus Reid poll

Last month, polling by the Angus Reid Institute found that: “Half (49%) of Canadians now want a full and lasting cessation of the conflict, while one-in-six (17%) believe if a ceasefire is called it should only be temporary. Approaching one-in-five (18%) believe no ceasefire should be called at this time. In November, Canadians leaned towards believing the ceasefire should be temporary (35%) rather than permanent (30%).”

41% of Canadians believe Israel committing genocide

Angus Reid polling also shows that “a plurality of Canadians (41%) believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, while one-in-three (32%) disagree.”

We will be watching the vote today.

Peace Brigades International has called for an immediate ceasefire, for Israel to implement the provisional order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, and for the international community to call for a suspension of the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Justice and Peace as the Naya River Community Council holds 12th Memories Festival

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Colombia has posted on Instagram: “Yesterday, March 16, @justiciapazcolombia [Commission of Justice and Peace] and the Naya Community Council organized the event ‘Transforming Memories and Walking Towards Peace’. PBI has witnessed the work of building peace and collective memory that is done from the territories.”

Justice and Peace has also posted on Twitter: “The 12th Memories Festival ‘Transforming memories and walking towards Peace’ advances in the Naya River basin. With Music and mysticism, traveling through the past to project the path with the proposal of creating the great social and popular movement for Peace.”

Less than 18 months ago, Justice and Peace had also highlighted the serious circumstances in the region: “The humanitarian crisis suffered by the ancestral territory of the Black Community of Río Naya, after the signing of the 2016 peace agreement, has left 4 fishermen missing in the last 2 months, threatened community leaders and the generalized fear is aggravated by the incursion of a group of armed men and women, in which a 14-year-old boy was killed and apparently other people were detained.”

In May 2018, Witness for Peace explained: “Puerto Merizalde [is] the most populated place on the Naya River, near the Pacific coast of Colombia. The immediate crisis was the apparent enforced disappearance of three local leaders in April, followed by displacement due to threats from a community of more than 50 people and the kidnapping of a fourth leader who had tried to find out what had happened to his three colleagues. All at the hands of unidentified armed men, who also threatened the wife of one of the missing men. The Naya River Community Council, the self-governing body of 64 Afro-Colombian communities in the river basin, called the assembly to demand answers and actions.”

Their article continues: “The area has been caught in the crossfire of Colombia’s armed conflicts for decades. In 2001, a paramilitary massacre ushered in an era of forced displacement, as many people fled to the city of Buenaventura, the largest in the region. Consequently, in early 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to the communities of Río Naya.”

In December 2018, Daniela Chinchilla of Semana’s regional team also commented: “The Naya River is the gateway to the Pacific and, therefore, the gateway to any place in the world. Its control has been disputed by armed groups for decades because this is one of the drug corridors on the continent. To seal their stranglehold on him, the AUC committed the 2001 massacre. It’s been 17 years, but the conflict has never left the area. It is true that the threat of the FARC no longer exists, but since the state has not occupied the territories abandoned by them, they were left at the mercy of other armed groups.”

Their article concluded: “This region is shouting to the whole country that it does not want more war, no more illegal crops, no more assassinated leaders. And that it needs the help of the state and the attention of all Colombians in order to be reborn. But Colombia doesn’t listen. It doesn’t see. The government doesn’t show up for appointments. Thus, it is impossible to understand the Pacific, to appreciate the richness hidden in its people, its rivers and its jungle.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace (CIJP) since 1994.

Further reading: Resist in the waters of the Naya (PBI-Colombia, May 21, 2018).

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Suspending the export of Canadian “military goods” to Israel should also include addressing their transfer via the United States

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: The House of Commons.

On Monday March 18th, the House of Commons will be voting on this motion that includes the call for Canada to “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel and increase efforts to stop the illegal trade of arms, including to Hamas.”

The Global Affairs Canada report on exports of military goods (generally published in May of each year) says that in 2022, the most recent year available, Canada exported $21,329,783.93 of these goods to Israel.

Global Affairs Canada must table the complete 2023 figures by May 31 of this year, but we already know some important information via Alex Cosh at The Maple.

Last month, Cosh reported: “The Trudeau government authorized at least $28.5 million of new permits for military exports to Israel during the first two months of the state’s brutal war on Gaza, data supplied to The Maple by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) shows.”

Photo: On February 1, 2024, access to the Port of Vancouver was blocked to demand Canada impose an arms embargo on Israel. Organizer Maryam Adrangi said: “Shipping weapons to Israel makes Canada complicit in genocide.”

Significantly, the Waterloo, Ontario-based peace research institute Project Ploughshares has also estimated that the total value of contracts for Canadian military exports to the United States at well over $1 billion annually.

Public transparency and accountability for those exports is pertinent to the debate in the House of Commons on Monday. It is fair to ask, how much of the $1 billion in exports of Canadian military goods to the United States is re-exported to Israel?

The United States Department of State has noted that as of October 2023, the US has 599 active Foreign Military Sales (FMS) (government-to-government sales) cases valued at $23.8 billion with Israel, that from 2018 to 2022, the US authorized the export of $12.2 billion of “defence articles”  via the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) process (that oversees sales between US companies and foreign governments), and that since 1992 the US has provided Israel with $6.6 billion worth of military-related equipment under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.

The Council on Foreign Relations has also explained that the United States provides Israel with approximately $3.3 billion a year in grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, noting that these are “funds that Israel must use to purchase U.S. military equipment and services.”

Photo: On November 6, 2023, activists temporarily blocked a US military supply ship from picking up weapons in Tacoma, Washington destined for Israel. Photo by Genna Martin/Crosscut.

Regulatory void

Kelsey Gallagher from Project Ploughshares highlights: “The exemptions afforded to Canadian military transfers to the United States, and eventually to Israel, reveal a larger problem. The associated lack of transparency means that the scope of the issue – that is, the extent to which other Canadian components are being filtered through the United States to Israel – is totally unknown.”

Canadian components in Israeli F-35s

What can be pieced together is worrisome.

Gallagher has written: “An April 2018 study commissioned by Lockheed Martin outlining the economic impact of F-35 production on the Canadian economy stated that ‘there is $2.3 million USD [approximately C$3.1-million] worth of Canadian components on every F-35 jet manufactured.’”

Photo: An Israeli F-35I with four bombs in the foreground.

The Globe and Mail newspaper has also reported: “Israel’s arsenal includes F-35 fighters and Canada has contributed components to every F-35, according to the Canadian government. The Canadian-made components that go into each F-35 don’t show up in Ottawa’s records of military exports because they are shipped to the U.S., where the aircrafts’ manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, is based, and Global Affairs does not publish the full value of annual military exports to the U.S.”

Last month, a Dutch appeals court ordered the government of the Netherlands to stop shipments of components for F-35s to Israel because as cited in their ruling: “There is a clear risk that the F-35 fighter jets are used by Israel to commit serious violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.”

Recommendations

Project Ploughshares has made three recommendations (on pages 10-11 of their report Fanning the Flames ) to address this situation, including: “As required by Article 4 of the ATT [Arms Trade Treaty], close loopholes that allow the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel through the U.S. Department of Defense.”

Canadian fuel in Israeli tanks and warplanes?

Similarly, The Guardian also recently reported: “Israel relies on crude oil and refined products from overseas to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles.”

One of the suppliers of this fuel is the United States.

Significantly, the United States imported 4.36 million barrels of crude oil per day from Canada in November 2023.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has also noted: “Some of the crude oil that the U.S. imports is refined by U.S. refineries into petroleum products—such as gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, and jet fuel—that the U.S. later exports.”

Given Canada is the largest single source of US petroleum and crude oil imports, how much of that is being re-exported to fuel Israel’s military?

CANSEC arms show, May 29-30

Beyond the vote in the House of Commons on Monday, a key moment will be the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this coming May 29-30.

This will be a moment when Israel (Booth M7), Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest military manufacturer (Booth 1421/M10), the Canadian Commercial Corporation, that facilitates the sales of Canadian military goods abroad (Booth 225/M18/M17) and the largest weapons companies profiting from the attack on Gaza (including Lockheed Martin – Booth 1311, Boeing – Booth 1821/TBD, Raytheon – Booth 1221 and General Dynamics – Booth 1203/M3, 1301, 1601/3034) will be present.

Photo: Protest at CANSEC, 2023.

PBI

Peace Brigades International (PBI) calls on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.

We continue to follow this.

We also highlight that Murray Thomson who co-founded Peace Brigades International in 1981 was also a co-founder of Project Ploughshares in 1976 and a regular participant in the protests against the CANSEC arms show.

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

PBI-Mexico present at International Women’s Day march in Cuernavaca, Morelos where femicides continue

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 15, PBI-Mexico posted on Instagram and Facebook:

“A week ago, we were present as international observers at #M8 [International Women’s Day] in #Cuernavaca. From PBI, we accompany women demanding an end to impunity in cases of rape, disappearances and violence against them. We demand guarantees for their #HumanRIghts.”

Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos. It is located about 90 kilometres south of Mexico City.

24 Morelos reported: “This Friday, March 8, hundreds of women marched in Cuernavaca, in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Banners such as ‘Today I march with my daughter so that tomorrow I won’t march for her’ and ‘Abusers also disguise themselves as best friends’ could be read. The march began at the Niño Artillero traffic circle, passing through Morelos Avenue and ending at the Zócalo of Cuernavaca.”

The history of IWD and femicides in Morelos

And La Jornada Morelos noted the history of International Women’s Day, beginning with the first IWD march on March 8, 1999. It then recounts:

“It was in 2003 that an event occurred that would move consciences and lay the foundations for the first women’s groups that would promote the feminist struggle in Morelos for women’s rights and the elimination of violence. A woman was found lifeless and with signs of torture on Humboldt Street in downtown Cuernavaca, very close to the Government Palace, the official seat of the Executive Branch and the Congress of Morelos. At the same time, some feminists, such as Marcela Lagarde, argued that it should be classified as femicide.

In 2008 they constituted the Committee Against Femicides (COCOFEM), which generated an important articulation and allowed artistic manifestations to be held to make visible violence against women and its maximum expression represented in femicides.

In December 2018, María Fernanda Estefanía Toledo Cervantes, 19, a medical student and daughter of the director of the Faculty of Law of the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos (UAEM), was kidnapped and murdered. Her femicide and this new threat brought together the university students and academics who made up the collective Vivas Nos Quiero and for the first time called for a protest on their own.

On February 9, 2020, the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla occurred in Mexico City, shook the entire country. The indignation touched many women and in Morelos.

In Morelos, the murders of women became a constant and have risen steadily, from 2000 to date there have been more than 1,450 femicides, according to data from various feminist collectives.”

This continues

On March 10, La Jornada reported:

“The body of a woman with signs of violence was found this morning on a dirt road in the town of Buena Vista de Cuernavaca, police sources reported. With this woman murdered, according to the organization Divulvadoras, it would be the 21st femicide registered so far this year in this state. This lifeless woman was found two days after March 8, International Women’s Day, and when more than 10,000 women came out to demand that the three branches of government cease femicides in this state.”

Further reading: PBI accompanies International Women’s Day in Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Costa Rica, the UK and Canada (March 10, 2024)

Israel reportedly seeks to import about 30 armoured vehicles made by Brampton, Ontario-based Roshel Inc.

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: An Israeli police armoured vehicle drives by as Palestinian Muslim worshipers who were prevented from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque pray outside Jerusalem’s Old City, November 11, 2023. Photo by AP.

The CBC reports: “The federal government is deliberately slow-walking a request from Israel for permission to import Canadian-made armoured patrol vehicles, two sources tell Radio-Canada.”

Some reactions on social media to this story.

The article notes that shortly after October 7, 2023, the Israeli government sent a request to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for clearance to import about thirty armoured patrol vehicles.

The article continues: “When asked if approving an export visa for the armoured vehicles would violate Canada’s legal obligations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to comment.”

It then highlights: “Roshel Inc., the company that makes the armoured vehicles, said it’s been waiting for the government to make a decision on the permits for months. ‘It is our understanding that these vehicles are not to be used for military purposes, but solely for domestic police operations. This has been communicated to the government of Canada,’ the company said in an emailed statement.”

Israeli police violence

In 2016, Amnesty International stated: “Amnesty International, other human rights organizations and even the U.S. Department of State have cited Israeli police for carrying out extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, using ill treatment and torture (even against children), suppression of freedom of expression/association including through government surveillance, and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters.”

In June 2021, The Guardian reported: “The latest flare-up of violence in the Gaza Strip has been accompanied by a ‘catalogue of violations’ committed by Israeli police against Palestinians in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, according to research from Amnesty International.”

And in January 2024, The Guardian noted numerous cases of Israeli police violence including: “the killing of Sanad Salem al-Harbad, a Bedouin man who was allegedly shot twice in the back by Israeli police in March 2022; the killing of Ahmad Jamil Fahd, who was allegedly shot by police and left to bleed to death by a unit of undercover Israeli agents; the alleged assault in Israeli police custody of journalist Givara Budeiri; the 2020 killing of a 32-year-old unarmed autistic man Eyad al-Hallaq by Israeli police in East Jerusalem; the killing of a 15-year-old boy named Mohammed Hamayel; and the shooting of 16-year-old Palestinian Jana Kiswani.”

Photo of an Israeli police armoured vehicle in the West Bank. Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90.

Business obligations

The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 2011, cautions: “The responsibility to respect human rights is a global standard of expected conduct for all business enterprises wherever they operate. It exists independently of States’ abilities and/or willingness to fulfil their own human rights obligations, and does not diminish those obligations. And it exists over and above compliance with national laws and regulations protecting human rights.”

This responsibility extends to companies that build weapons, the components for weapons systems and other “military goods”, such as armoured vehicles.

CANSEC, May 29-30

Roshel Defence Solutions is listed as an exhibitor (Booth 1321) at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) organized CANSEC arms show scheduled to take place this coming May 29-30 at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

“Israel Representatives” are also listed as an exhibitor (Booth M7).

Perhaps by the time of CANSEC in 2.5 months there will be greater clarity on the status of this sale of armoured vehicles.

To read the CBC article, go to Ottawa slow-walking Israel’s request for permission to import armoured vehicles: sources (March 14, 2024).

PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire in Gaza (Peace Brigades International statement, February 28, 2024). It notes: ” We call on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.”

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Texas-based Western LNG intention to proceed with PRGT pipeline raises concerns about the C-IRG on Gitxsan territory

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: On March 6, Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs called for the government to disband C-IRG. Photo by Amanda Follett Hosgood.

The Narwhal reports: “The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project would connect Montney gas to Ksi Lisims, a proposed liquefaction and export facility on Nisga’a territory. Approved by the B.C. government around the same time as Coastal GasLink, the pipeline would span around 900 kilometres and cross the Kispiox and Skeena rivers and traverse Nilkitkwa Lake at the headwaters of the Babine River.”

The article continues: “TC Energy has until the end of 2024 to put enough work into the project to receive a ‘substantially started’ designation, which would secure its environmental assessment certificate indefinitely.”

It has also been noted: “The certificate expires in November.”

While PRGT has previously been described as “a zombie pipeline that hasn’t moved forward since 2014”, the announcement this week of the planned purchase by Houston, Texas-based Western LNG and the Nisga’a Nation could change that.

Yesterday, Davis Thames, chief executive of Western LNG, stated: “We want to acknowledge TC Energy’s efforts developing the project to this point. PRGT is fully engineered, permitted and ready to construct … We will move this critical project forward with renewed momentum and a fresh perspective.”

The Gitxsan want the C-IRG disbanded

The PRGT pipeline would cross Gitxsan territory.

This week, Kai Nagata of the Dogwood Institute wrote: “Leaders from both nations [Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en] rallied outside the courthouse while Dtsa’hyl’s lawyers spoke inside. They’re calling for the RCMP’s controversial injunction enforcement unit, the Community-Industry Response Group, to be disbanded.”

In his article, Nagata quotes Gordon Sebastian, the executive director of the Gitxsan Treaty Society, who says: “The C-IRG, they’re all trigger-happy people. And that authority they have is the injunction, and it’s a licence to kill. We do not want to see that here on the Gitxsan territories and the Wet’suwet’en.”

On March 9, 2023, the Terrace Standard reported: “Gitxsan hereditary chiefs issued a notice this week prohibiting the RCMP’s ‘militarized squadron’ called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from Gitxsan lands centered on the Hazelton area.”

A week later, CBC reported: “The RCMP says it will not commit to respecting a Gitxsan hereditary chiefs’ decision banning the Mounties’ Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from unceded lands in northwest B.C.”

Then in October 2023, Radio-Canada reported: “In a letter sent to the Supreme Court, the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitxsan Nation [stated] ‘We believe that the continued use of terror by the [C-IRG] will eventually result in an accident or intentional death of an Aboriginal person, potentially a woman or a child. This is not acceptable.’”

In November 2023, the Gitxsan Huwilp Government stated: “Industry-led injunctions ordered by the BC Supreme Court Chief Justice to allow the looting of indigenous lands must stop. Further, the RCMP volunteering to deploy the [C-IRG] – which is under investigation for corruption – as a military solution to perpetrate industry greed must stop. For the RCMP to extinguish indigenous peoples’ fulsome rights on their lands, threaten our lives, terrorize our women and children, weaponize our land defense is indefensible.”

The Gitxsan have rallied in Vancouver (on October 11, 2023), Smithers (on November 21, 2023) and as noted above in Smithers (on March 6, 2024).

The PRGT and the C-IRG

Given the role C-IRG violence (now under “systemic investigation”) played in the completion of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory, Gitxsan opposition to the C-IRG and increasingly to the PRGT pipeline, and now the new momentum to move forward with this pipeline and a November 2024 deadline for a “substantial” start to the project, we remain attentive to the concern of continued C-IRG violence.

For more, please see: PBI-Canada hosts webinar on Gitxsan and Gitanyow resistance to colonial mega-projects (March 7, 2024).

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