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Cerezo Committee participates in the ‘Ricardo Flores Magón’ Labour Human Rights Schools in Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
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Francisco Cerezo of the Cerezo Committee in Mexico has posted on social media:

“We share with you the photos of the Labor Human Rights Schools ‘Ricardo Flores Magón’, which are held in CDMX [Mexico City] and Toluca. Where we continue with the objective of the people to know more about their labor human rights, know how to exercise and defend them in an organized manner.

This joint effort by the OLEP [Organization for the Struggle for Popular Emancipation] and the Cerezo Mexico Committee is carried out completely free of charge and with the solidarity of the people.

Decent work, fair pay and social security!”

Ricardo Flores Magón

Britannica explains: “Ricardo Flores Magón (born September 16, 1873, San Antonio Eloxochitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico—died November 21, 1922, Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.) was a Mexican reformer and anarchist who was an intellectual precursor of the Mexican Revolution. Flores Magón was born to an indigenous father and a mestiza mother. …In 1918 he was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and mailing indecent material—namely, various articles from Regeneración. Flores Magón was imprisoned for almost 8 of his 18 years in exile. In 1922 he was found dead in his cell at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. Officially, he had died of a heart attack, though it was speculated that he had been murdered by prison guards or died of medical neglect. After supporters transported his body to Los Angeles, Mexican railway workers paid to send Flores Magón’s body to Mexico City, where thousands of people carrying anarchist red-and-black flags attended his funeral.”

Photo: Ricardo Flores Magón.

PBI-Canada meets Cerezo Committee

On February 26, 2026, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Francisco Cerezo Contreras of the Cerezo Committee along with PBI-Mexico advocacy coordinator Manuel Jabonero Prieto.

As noted on the Comite Cerezo website: “We are a solidarity collective of volunteer work, dedicated to the defense of the Human Rights of victims of repression for political reasons in Mexico.” Their Facebook page also notes: “We are an independent organization that defends and promotes human rights in Mexico since August 13, 2001.”

The Comité Cerezo was founded after the arrest of three Cerezo brothers, Alejandro, Héctor and Antonio. They were sent to a maximum-security federal prison, suffering physical and psychological torture. Francisco, family members and allies formed the Comité Cerezo to fight for their liberation.

This PBI project information bulletin that interviewed Francisco in March 2005 notes: “PBI has been accompanying Emiliana and Francisco Cerezo Contreras, members of the Cerezo Committee, since February 2002.”

You can find out more about the work of the Cerezo Committee from their website and on Facebook and X.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH and French, German and Colombian embassy visit to Choluteca River

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“ARCAH receives the embassies of France, Germany and Colombia, on a walk to contemplate the degradation situation of the Choluteca River: the river that resists death.

On the tour, accompanied by PBI Honduras, the ambassadors and representatives of the embassies were able to observe first-hand the pollution, smells and water density, which the communities attribute to the toxic waste of the El Cortijo poultry farm.

Maria️ ‘Skin infections, allergies and respiratory problems’ are just some of the symptoms activist Maria Banegas mentioned during the visit. ‘We want our children to know what it’s like to play in a clean river again.’”

On March 3, PBI-Honduras and PBI-Canada visited with the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) in the village Loarque, a community has been affected by the pollution caused by the poultry company El Cortijo, including the contamination of the Choluteca River.

Choluteca River

In January 2023, PBI-Honduras posted on social media: “Last week we visited again with ARCAH the community of Loarque. The Choluteca River and the people living around it in Tegucigalpa are heavily affected by the pollution, including the children who study in a school located nearby, as well as livestock. Since 2017, the year in which the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’ installed a chicken processor, people residing in the area are struggling to safeguard their health due to toxic waste and bad smells.”

In April 2024, the HCH TV channel reported: “Residents of the Loarque sector came out to defend the Choluteca River because they claim that a company in the sector is destroying it. …The residents denounce that this company is causing them discomfort in their nose and skin as a result of the contamination. They hope that authorities will regulate this company that operates in this sector.”

At that time El Heraldo also noted: “The demonstrators claim that the Choluteca River, which passes through the sector, is being affected by waste, so they demand the intervention of environmental authorities.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) since September 2022.

What is the situation for human rights defenders in the countries that come to buy weapons and technology at CANSEC in Ottawa?

By
Brent Patterson
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The organizer of CANSEC, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), notes that their event attracts “60+ International delegations” and “300 Exhibiting Companies”.

Amnesty International has cautioned: “[In 2024-2025] Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

Unlike the British government, the Canadian government does not make public the list of countries that come to CANSEC to shop for weapons and technology.

It is known however from past reports (from CADSI in 2015 and the Canadian Commercial Corporation in 2014) and various social media posts that delegations from Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, United States, and the United Arab Emirates have all attended CANSEC in previous years.

Some of the countries at CANSEC 2026

This year, CADSI has posted in their “CANSEC 2026 Media Partner Prospectus” the flags of 32 of the 60+ countries that will be present.

They include (first row) Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary (second row) Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand (third row) Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain (fourth row) Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.

Human rights

To cross-reference these countries – particularly Argentina, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States – with state violence against human right defenders and communities, go to The State of the World’s Human Rights report (Amnesty International, April 2025).

Just three examples from that Amnesty International report:

The USA- “The USA has continued to be by far the largest exporter of arms to Israel, and some European states, including the Czech Republic, France and Germany, have continued to transfer arms to states where there was a lack of accountability for past abuses and a substantial risk they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”

Peru- “Criminal investigations were ongoing into 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries during protests between December 2022 and February 2023. In July, the Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against high-ranking military and police officers and the Attorney General presented a second constitutional complaint against President Dina Boluarte and five of her former ministers. Investigations into killings during protests in November 2020 had not made significant progress.”

Philippines- “’Red-tagging’ the public vilification of human rights defenders and other targeted groups and individuals as alleged members and clandestine recruiters of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) continued. …Activists increasingly became victims of enforced disappearances. In April, labour organizer William Lariosa was reportedly abducted in Bukidnon province; the military denied holding him in custody. He remained missing at year’s end.”

Furthermore, in their World Report 2025, Human Rights Watch noted: “Soldiers [in Mexico] have been implicated in a wide range of serious abuses against civilians, including torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. These accusations are rarely effectively investigated by civilian authorities. …The military has obstructed the investigation and prosecution of past human rights abuses, including the 2014 Ayotzinapa mass kidnapping case and widespread military abuses committed during the Cold War. Investigators said the military has hidden, destroyed, or denied the existence of records of human rights violations and pressured authorities to drop criminal charges against soldiers implicated in abuses.”

Shut Down CANSEC

A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the dangers faced by human rights defenders from the arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show as part of our commitment to holistic protection accompaniment.

Additional reading

–PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026)

–PBI-Canada joins Canadian Friends Service Committee webinar that links Quaker responses to the DSEI arms fair with CANSEC in Ottawa (April 17, 2026).

PBI-Canada joins Canadian Friends Service Committee webinar that links Quaker responses to the DSEI arms fair with CANSEC in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 16, Peace Brigades International-Canada joined with Quakers Roots and the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) for an educational webinar on the DSEI arms show in London and the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa.

The webinar highlighted that many residents in both London, United Kingdom and Ottawa, Canada are unaware that massive arms and technology trade shows take place in their cities featuring the world’s biggest and most profitable weapons companies implicated in widespread human rights violations.

The video of this webinar will be available soon.

The CFSC promotion for the webinar highlighted that Pete Doubtfire from Quaker Roots in Britain would “discuss successes and lessons learned during their activism against DSEI – Britain’s biggest arms fair” and that “Mel Burns from CFSC will discuss our plans for Friendly actions during CANSEC”.

Photo of DSEI protest shared by Doubtfire at the webinar.

Quaker Roots in Britain

Quaker Roots is “a community of Friends building a creative, vibrant and radical Quaker response to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair” that takes place biannually in London, UK.

Quakers in Britain have called for an immediate end to the arms trade and for the UK to stop enabling war profiteers.

In their article about the most recent DSEI that ran from Tuesday September 9 to Friday September 12, 2025 at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands, Quakers in Britain noted: “On the eve of the arms fair, Quakers joined the Merchants of Death Walk of Witness past the headquarters of two major arms manufacturers, both linked to weapons used in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman. And on Wednesday Quakers visited the headquarters of Clarion Events who organise the arms fair, delivering a demand that they drop the DSEI event.”

Silent Vigil/Meeting for Worship at CANSEC, May 27

The webinar was hosted by Sandra Wiens, the CFSC’s Government Relations Representative.

She recently wrote in Quaker Concern (Spring 2026 issue): “CFSC is planning to be present at CANSEC this year, May 27-28 in Ottawa. CANSEC is the largest weapons fair in North America. We believe this is a moment where being present matters. We’re planning a silent vigil/Meeting for Worship on the afternoon of the first day of CANSEC to be a physical presence of unity and nonviolence—showing that strength comes through peace. We invite you to join us that day and show your opposition to the burgeoning war industry—directly and in a Friendly way.”

Wiens adds: “If you are unable to travel to Ottawa, we are also looking at holding an online Meeting in tandem with the actions on the ground.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International-Canada is amplifying the clear pattern of human rights violations against human rights defenders that can be linked to the weapons exports promoted at these trade shows. Our analysis can be read at PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026).

More information about plans for May 27 will be posted soon. Updates about the mass protest planned for May 28 can be found here.

—

PBI-Canada has a long history of accompanying opposition to arms shows in Ottawa.

Minutes from a January 24, 1993 PBI-Canada Board of Directors meeting state: “Alan Dixon reported that a weapons trade show under the title ‘Peacekeeping ‘93’ is being planned for March 16-17th in Ottawa. Dis-ARMX will be held March 16, 5-9 pm. Alan proposed PBI have a booth. He’ll do the groundwork. Toronto Office will supply materials for display, pamphlets, T-shirts to sell, etc.”

Additionally, Quaker activist Murray Thomson, who helped to found Peace Brigades International as a global human rights organization in 1981, was a regular presence at protests against CANSEC over the years, including the one below in May 2018. He passed away in May 2019 at 96 years of age, just a few weeks after participating in a ‘Say No to NATO’ protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa.

Photo: PBI-Canada was also present at the Stop CANSEC protest in May 2019 led by then-Ottawa Monthly Meeting member Colin Stuart.

Photo: Shut Down CANSEC protest, May 2025.

—

PBI-Mexico to accompany “Proteger la Dignidad” campaign fórum in Morelia, Michoacán to strengthen Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
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The Civil Society Space of Organizations (Espacio OSC) has posted on social media: “We invite you to the presentation of #ProtegerLaDignidad [Protect Dignity] in Morelia, Michoacán. A campaign highlighting the work and challenges in protecting #humanrights defenders and journalists.”

The social media post notes that Claudia Ignacio Álvarez, an Indigenous Purépecha human rights defender with the Human Rights Solidarity Network (Red Solidaria DH), will participate in this forum. It also notes that Chad Galinier from the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project will be the moderator.

Watch for updates on this forum that starts at 16:45 hrs in Michoacan (6:45 pm EDT).

Environmental defender Roberto Chávez

This week, Climate Rights International posted: “Authorities in Mexico should ensure a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the killing of, Roberto Chávez an environmental defender in Michoacán state, and bring those responsible to justice. Chávez, a member of the Environmental Defense Committee of the El Zangarro community, was shot and killed on the night of April 12, 2026, in Etúcuaro, in the municipality of Madero. Chávez had previously received death threats, along with other local defenders, and was in the process of formally filing a complaint with the Michoacán State Prosecutor’s Office, according to public reports.”

And in their report on the death of Chávez, Infobae highlighted: “The states of Michoacán, Guerrero and Oaxaca they are among the most dangerous for environmental defenders, according to CEMDA [the Mexican Centre for Environmental Law]. In these territories, Violence is linked to disputes over natural resources and presence of Criminal groups that seek to control illegal economic activities.”

In their report on attacks against defenders that took place in 2024, CEMDA further notes: “As for the aggressions by state, Oaxaca (15), Chiapas (9), Michoacán (9), Puebla (9) and Veracruz (8) top the list.”

Noting the murder of Chávez, Change.org demands: “Effective implementation of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. Mexico is one of the three deadliest countries in the world for environmental defenders according to Global Witness. As long as this mechanism remains paperwork and bureaucracy with no real capacity on the ground, nothing will change.”

Proteger la Dignidad

For more about the “Potager la Dignidad” campaign, click here.

That webpage includes 19 recommendations to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists at both the federal and state level.

One recommendation at the federal level is to “build a comprehensive public policy that takes into account the territorial needs and the diversity of the existing regulatory frameworks in the states.” And a recommendation at the state level is to “guarantee the active participation of the Advisory Councils and/or representatives of human rights defenders and journalists in the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies and protection plans at the state level.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: The protest sign outside CANSEC says: “Canada, don’t sell weapons to Peru.” Since 2012, Global Witness has documented 62 killings and disappearances of land and environmental defenders in Peru.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the increased risks faced by human rights defenders from Canadian arms exports to countries where the State has been implicated in violence, repression and human rights violations.

PBI-Canada is doing so in the lead-up to the CANSEC “defence, security & emerging technology event” that will take place on May 27-28 in Ottawa.

The countries at CANSEC

The organizer of CANSEC, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), notes that their event attracts “60+ International delegations” and “300 Exhibiting Companies”.

Amnesty International has cautioned: “[In 2024-2025] Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

Unlike the British government, the Canadian government does not make public the list of countries that come to CANSEC to shop for weapons and technology.

The UK Department for Business & Trade has posted that 75 countries, plus NATO and the European Union, were invited to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade exhibition in September 2025. The countries that attended included Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, UAE and USA.

Photo: Canada at DSEI in London, UK.

It is known however from past reports (from CADSI in 2015 and the Canadian Commercial Corporation in 2014) and various social media posts that delegations from Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, United States, and the United Arab Emirates have all attended CANSEC in previous years.

Peru

In April 2025, Amnesty International noted that in Peru: “Investigations continued into deaths during protests in 2022 and 2023 [where security forces responded to protests with excessive use of force, especially in regions with largely Indigenous populations]. …Human rights defenders remained at risk, particularly Indigenous leaders, and protection mechanisms were lacking.”

Still from CADSI video promoting CANSEC 2023.

Indonesia

Global Witness has documented that 25 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Indonesia between 2012 and 2024. At least 11 of those defenders were killed by State actors (Armed Forces, Police, Government officials).

According to Government of Canada figures from annual reports on exports, during the period of 2012 to 2024, Canada exported almost $45 billion of so-called “military goods and technology” to Indonesia.

Philippines

Global Witness has also documented that 17 land and environmental defenders were killed in the Philippines in 2023 and that 298 were killed between 2012 to 2023.

During the 2016-2022 presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, who is now detained under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, Canada exported about $7 million in military goods to the Philippines.

Photo: Philippines delegation at CANSEC, June 2017.

The companies at CANSEC

The Ottawa-based CADSI also no longer makes public on its website the list of exhibitors at CANSEC, but its member groups include the world’s largest and most profitable weapons companies, notably Lockheed Martin (with USD $64 billion in arms revenue in 2024), RTX Corporation ($43 billion), Northrop Grumman ($37 billion), BAE Systems ($33 billion), and General Dynamics ($33 billion).

Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, BAE and General Dynamics have all been implicated in research done by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as “companies profiting from the Gaza genocide”.

General Dynamics

On May 28, 2025, the Quebec-based company General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems-Canada posted on LinkedIn: “It’s a start to CANSEC 2025! Join us at booth #1203 to discover our products! #CANSEC2025”

In their photos, their “Large Caliber Ammunition Propelling Charges For 155mm Artillery Projectiles” display can be seen.

The American Friends Service Committee has documented: “General Dynamics is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to attack Gaza. One source reported that, by Nov. 25, one Israeli brigade fired some 10,000 such shells using BAE’s M109 howitzer.”

The impacts on human rights defenders

Palestinian human rights defenders

The Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders (the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders) has documented the killing of at least 31 Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024.

Photo from Front Line Defenders photo of three HRDs/health care workers killed when the Al-Awda hospital was shelled by the Israeli military artillery.

Fatma Hassouna

On April 16, 2025, 24-year-old Palestinian photographer Fatma Hassouna was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike on her home in Gaza.

In the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk”, Fatima tells Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi that she could hear an Apache helicopter near her home in Gaza. Later Fatma told Farsi that F-16s had bombed Gaza all night.

Boeing, the maker of Apache helicopters, and Lockheed Martin, the maker of F-16 fighter jets, are exhibitors at CANSEC.

Video still: Fatma Hassouna.

In defence of human rights defenders

Mary Lawlor, the United Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders has written: “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.”

Lawlor adds: “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.”

Elbit Systems Ltd., the largest Israeli weapons company, has been an exhibitor at CANSEC. It is believed that the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (SIBAT) is also an exhibitor.

Photo by UN of Mary Lawlor.

HRDs in the United States

In early January 2026 after an ICE agent killed Renee Good, UN Special Rapporteur Lawlor also posted: “Shocking news out of Minnesota. On my recent trip there I met with numerous human rights defenders who told me of the violence they faced from law enforcement officers, and the legacy of law enforcement killings in the city. In light of the reports that the victim was in the area to document potential human rights violations by ICE agents, I’ll be closely examining this incident, in line with my Mandate.”

Roshel

Brampton-based Roshel is also an exhibitor and sponsor of CANSEC.

In February 2026, Greenpeace Canada highlighted in a press release that they had “unveiled a banner saying ‘No Canadian Arms for ICE’ at the Brampton headquarters of the Canadian company that is building armoured vehicles for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”

Photo: Greenpeace Canada at Roshel in Brampton.

At that time, Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist with Greenpeace Canada, commented: “Canada cannot claim to defend human rights while exporting armoured vehicles that will be used to terrorize communities. These exports directly contradict Canada’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits approving export permits where there is a substantial risk of human rights violations.”

Speakers at CANSEC, May 27-28

Image from CADSI.

David McGuinty, Melanie Joly

This week it was announced that Defence Minister David McGuinty and Industry Minister Melanie Joly will be keynote speakers at CANSEC this year.

In November 2025, CBC News reported: “Budget 2025 earmarks $81.8 billion for defence over five years, roughly $72 billion of which is new money.” In June 2025, the Carney government announced its intention to increase military spending to 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which could mean an increase from the current $33 billion a year to $150 billion a year by 2035.

On February 17 of this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to “increase our defence exports by 50%” and “appoint new trade commissioners in the United Kingdom and key European Union markets to support Canadian business abroad and ramp up Canada’s presence at major global defence and aerospace trade shows.”

The Canadian Commercial Corporation

In May 2018, Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese reported: “The Ottawa-based CCC [Canadian Commercial Corporation], which helps Canadian exporters get contracts with foreign governments acknowledges  it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights.”

The Canadian Commercial Corporation is a Crown corporation (government-owned enterprise) overseen by Minister Joly and McGuinty’s cabinet colleague Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister of International Trade.

Photo: The CCC at CANSEC 2025.

Jake Sullivan, Sir Richard Moore

The other keynote speakers at CANSEC this year will be former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and former head of MI6, the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence agency, Sir Richard Moore.

On October 7, 2025, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. provided $17.9 billion in military assistance to Israel in 2023-24 (when Sullivan was advising the Biden administration). In April 2025, Sullivan denied that genocide is being committed against the Palestinian people.

Mark Curtis, the co-director of Declassified UK and an analyst of UK foreign policy, has commented that MI6, under Moore’s leadership, provided “military and intelligence support for Israel’s Gaza genocide.”

Communities resist CANSEC

A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.

We will continue to follow this.

Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

Photo from World Beyond War.

Instagram page for the Shut Down CANSEC campaign.

Mexico’s security cabinet to review allegations Canadian company may have allowed “armed individuals” to intimidate workers seeking independent union

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still: Sindicato Minero “Los Mineros” union members protest at the Embassy of Canada in Mexico City, April 2026.

The Government of Mexico is reportedly reviewing allegations that Orla Mining, the Vancouver-based company that operates the Camino Rojo gold mine in Mazapil, Zacatecas, Mexico, may have allowed the Operativa Flechas faction of the Sinaloa cartel violate the labour rights of Mexican workers seeking to unionize this Canadian owned mine through the independent National Union of Workers for Mining, Metalworking and Similar Workers (Mineros Union) in early 2024.

CBC News reports: “Mexico’s security cabinet is reviewing allegations a prominent organized crime group was involved in strong-arming workers at a Canadian-owned gold mine so they would vote for its management’s preferred union, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday [April 14].”

The article adds: “[A] three-member CUSMA rapid response labour panel concluded that management at the Camino Rojo mine denied workers their labour rights. …The U.S. alleges in its publicly available filings that an individual, nicknamed ‘el Mocho’ and ‘el Paul’, who was part of the Sinaloa cartel faction Operativa Flechas, was hired on contract by the Camino Rojo mine. …El Paul allegedly ‘attended and interrupted’ Mineros Union meetings with ‘armed individuals’, according to the filings.”

ContraRéplica has previously reported: “The panel documented that the company had hired a drug trafficker to disrupt union meetings with armed individuals, issue death threats, and pressure employees to leave their organization and join a union affiliated with the company.”

In October 2024, members of the Mineros Union held a protest about this situation in front of the Embassy of Canada in Mexico City.

At that time, La Jornada reported: “The protesters pointed out that a remedy is required based on Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labor Organization on freedom of association and the right of association for the defense of their labor rights. They also demand that the resolution, within the framework of the trade agreement, include the protection and guarantee of security for the integrity of union leaders.”

And Reforma reported: “Outside the embassy, the protesters demanded that the company give the miners the freedom to choose the union of their choice. ‘Government of Canada, we ask for your intervention, so that freedom of association is respected,’ stressed the dissidents of section 335 of the mining union.”

The Global Affairs Canada Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders notes: “HRDs sometimes focus on specific categories of rights or the rights of specific persons. They may … focus on specific themes such as labour rights.” The voluntary guidelines suggest “missions can play a significant role to protect” human rights defenders by “supporting investigative processes into alleged acts of intimidation, threats, violence and other abuses…”

CBC News reports that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) said in an emailed statement that the federal government was “deeply concerned about these allegations” and it was reviewing the CUSMA labour panel’s findings. Their statement says: “Canada takes the matter very seriously and expects all Canadian companies operating abroad to abide by all relevant laws.”

The review announced by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum comes in the lead-up to Canada-Mexico Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Affairs that is expected to take place in late-May in Ottawa.

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading

–USMCA panel: Canadian company used organized crime to violate the labour rights of mine workers in Mexico (April 10, 2026)

–PBI-Canada seeks strengthened protection for human rights defenders who advocate for labour rights, the right of association (March 12, 2026).

PBI-Colombia accompanies the CSPP, CAJAR and CJL in Argentina for court hearing against former president on extrajudicial executions

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo by MOVICE.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project is accompanying the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP), the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) and the Corporation for Judicial Freedom (CJL) in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a significant legal intervention seeking justice.

The CAJAR website notes: “Colombian human rights defenders (CSPP, Cajar and CJL) appeared on April 14 before Chamber I of the Federal Criminal and Correctional Chamber of Argentina, in the framework of the lawsuit filed in 2023 against former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez for cases of extrajudicial executions.”

Diario del Norte reports: “The plaintiff organizations maintain that this mechanism seeks to avoid impunity in international crimes, considering that in Colombia there are no effective criminal proceedings against the former president for these events, which according to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) involve thousands of victims.”

El Pais also explains: “Eleven relatives of victims and human rights organizations have filed a lawsuit to ask the Argentine justice system to investigate the criminal responsibility of the former president in the murders of civilians during his term. They did so under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows States to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of serious crimes against human rights regardless of the nationality of the victims or the perpetrator, if the countries where the crimes are committed do not investigate them.”

The article adds: “Lawyer Máximo Castex said that the hearing allowed the judges to see the faces, the families and the damage suffered by the victims.”

And Minuto 60 notes: “Castex, an Argentine lawyer who represents the interests of the families of the victims, [commented about the hearing] ‘We got a good impression in the sense that we were able to deal with all the arguments we raised to request that the resolution of the archives be revoked by the Chamber and above all because the Chamber allowed the participation of the victims.’”

El Heraldo further reports: “The judges will have to determine whether to continue with the legal process… The entities promoting the lawsuit insist that this international mechanism is key to avoiding impunity in crimes considered international crimes, when the judicial systems of origin do not offer effective responses.”

In their update on social media, the Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) posted: “At the hearing, victims requested the Federal Chamber of Argentina to reopen investigation against Alvaro Uribe Vélez for extrajudicial executions. It is expected that in the coming days the court will adopt a decision that, hopefully, will be favorable to the call of the families and their representatives.”

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading: PBI-Canada following CAJAR, CSPP and CJL complaint in Argentina court on extra-judicial killings in Colombia (April 14, 2026).

PBI-Canada observes call from Chief Na’Moks, Gwii Lok’im Gibuu and Katisha Paul against EDC financing of megaprojects

By
Brent Patterson
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Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks, Gitxsan hereditary leader Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler) from the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition and Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Women’s Representative Katisha Paul spoke this afternoon outside Export Development Canada (EDC) in Ottawa to reject public dollars being spent on the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal and LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion.

The megaprojects

The Ksi Lisims LNG terminal would be fed by the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline that would be built on Gitanyow and Gitxsan territories. The project would also be powered by the North Coast Transmission Line. Construction on the transmission line megaproject is expected to begin this year.

LNG Canada Phase 2 would involve the construction of additional compressor stations on Wet’suwet’en territory to increase the flow of the existing TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.

EDC financing

Export Development Canada is a Crown corporation that provides loans, secures financing, and more.

In May 2020, the Toronto Star reported: “[Export Development Canada] will lend up to $500 million to build the Coastal GasLink, a natural gas pipeline that sparked a national protest movement and reckoning over the Liberal administration’s commitment to Indigenous reconciliation.”

Then in July 2023, the National Observer reported: “According to Export Development Canada … Coastal Gaslink was [also] given between $100 million and $200 million worth of project financing to help it export gas.”

Carney recommends fast-tracking

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in September 2025 that he had recommended LNG Canada Phase 2 to the Major Projects Office (MPO) for fast-tracking. In November 2025 Carney added Ksi Lisims to his list of major projects of “national interest” to be considered for fast-tracking by the Major Projects Office.

In January 2026, The Globe and Mail reported that “Ksi Lisims is expected to make a final investment decision in 2026” while “industry analysts expect LNG Canada to make a final investment decision by the end of 2026 on whether to proceed with Phase 2.”

Indigenous opposition

Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan leaders have been clear in their opposition to the construction of compressor stations on their territory that would come with the LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion. The Wet’suwet’en experienced militarized raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) in January 2019, February 2020 and November 2021.

The Gitanyow have also been firm in their opposition to the PRGT pipeline being built on their lands to feed the Ksi Lisims LNG terminal.

In November 2025, Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Watahayetsxw (Deborah Good) vowed to establish another blockade after Prime Minister Carney announced his support for the Ksi Lisims LNG export terminal.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International-Canada visited Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan and Gitanyow territories in November 2021, June 2025 and October 2025.

We remain attentive to the final investment decisions on LNG Canada Phase 2 and Ksi Lisims, as well as construction of the PRGT pipeline and the North Coast Transmission Line, and the safety of the Indigenous land and environmental defenders exercising their rights to oppose these megaprojects on their territories.

We also remain ready to return to the territories if the safety of land and environmental defenders is put at risk by the deployment of the RCMP Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC).

PBI-Canada following CAJAR, CSPP and CJL complaint in Argentina court on extra-judicial killings in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
-

Today there will be a “plantón” (sit-in, encampment, protest) in Buenos Aires, Argentina at 11 am local time and a court hearing at 4 pm local time that relates to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) finding in 2021 that at least 6,402 people were murdered by the country’s armed forces and falsely declared combat kills, “false positives”, between 2002 and 2008 during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe Vélez.

This statement on the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) website explains: “In the framework of the filing of the complaint, in application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, against Álvaro Uribe Vélez, for the commission of extrajudicial executions during his government, Chamber II of the Argentine Federal Criminal and Correctional Chamber has summoned a hearing for [Tuesday] April 14.”

It adds: “The complaint, filed in Argentina in November 2023 by 11 victims and three Colombian human rights organizations (CSPP, Cajar and CJL), substantiates the need to urge universal jurisdiction in the face of the persistent impunity in Colombia with respect to investigations and sanctions aimed at former presidents and those most responsible for extrajudicial executions, as they constitute international crimes.”

Those three organizations: CAJAR, the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and the Corporation for Judicial Freedom (CJL) are accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Infobae further reports: “Three years after an international lawsuit was filed in Argentina against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez for extrajudicial executions during his term, the Federal Criminal and Correctional Chamber of that country set a date for a hearing. …The objective is for the Argentine justice system to investigate the possible responsibility of the former president in thousands of extrajudicial executions that occurred between 2002 and 2008 in Colombia, according to figures from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).”

And Colombia.com notes: “Tuesday, April 14, former President Álvaro Uribe will appear before an Argentine court, however, it is not yet known if the president will appear and if not, what are the arguments that his lawyers will put forward for the decision.”

The statement on the CAJAR website concludes: “In light of the above, it is essential to mobilise the efforts of citizens, civil society, solidarity groups, the media and advocacy organisations to urge the Argentine justice system, in accordance with the principle of universal jurisdiction, to ensure the criminal case proceeds, by opening the relevant investigation, in an act of shared responsibility with the families of the 6,402 victims of extrajudicial executions, who, after decades of waiting and resistance, continue to take action and seek recognition and punishment on the premise that crimes against humanity and war crimes must know no borders when it comes to their prosecution. We thank you for reading this, for your interest, and for your willingness to address this international issue, which involves cross-border ties of solidarity and justice.”

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