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PBI-Guatemala accompanies Maya Kaqchikel community journalist Noma Sancir at hearing on illegal detention by police

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“#PBI accompanies community journalist Maya Kaqchikel Norma Sancir in the closing hearing of findings of the oral and public debate and resolution reading.

The judge of the Chiquimula Criminal Sentence Court sentenced a commissioner and two policemen to 3 years and 9 months in prison switchable to a commissar and two policemen for the illegal detention of journalist Norma Sancir in 2014.

This resolution leaves a precedent to pay more attention to the policies for protecting journalists.”

Prensa Comunitaria also explains:

“Norma Sancir is a Mayan Kaqchikel journalist, who was illegally detained by agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) on September 18, 2014, while covering an eviction of demonstrators in the Mayan Ch’orti’ region, in the municipality of Camotán, in the department of Chiquimula, on the Jupilingo bridge, on the border with Honduras.”

Plaza Publica photo.

And EFE reports:

“A criminal judge in Guatemala on Wednesday [January 31] found three members of the National Civil Police (PNC) guilty of the illegal detention of journalist Norma Sancir in 2014.

Sentencing judge Jorge Ochoa, from the department of Chiquimula, 250 kilometers from Guatemala City, convicted the three police officers of abuse of authority and sentenced them to three years and nine months in prison, which could be commuted.

Sancir, a 43-year-old journalist with a decade-long career, was detained for four days on September 18, 2014, while documenting the eviction of an indigenous community in the border area between Guatemala and Honduras.

The police officers found guilty in connection with the arrest are former police commissioner Ceferino Salquín and officers Marcelina López and Olga Segura.”

After the ruling, Sancir stated: “[The sentence] is evidence that we all have the right to freedom of expression and that no public official can violate it. …I am satisfied with the sentence. It has been nine years of seeking justice and today those of us who do journalism have won. …Freedom of expression won, justice was done, and the work of community journalists has been recognized.”

CALDH photo: Norma Sancir says: “Telling the truth is a right that must be protected and respected.”

According to the Association of Journalists of Guatemala, there were more than 300 attacks and crimes against journalists from 2020 to 2023. Prensa Comunitaria adds that there have been 270 actions (intimidation, persecution, criminalization, restriction of coverage) against the exercise of journalism from January to November 2023.

PBI-Honduras notes arrest of Guapinol River defender Leonel George, community opposition to ASP mining concession

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras has reposted a tweet that says:

“Defender Leonel George in interview with Pasos de Animal Grande after his arrest by the national police. ‘It is an alarm signal that gives rise to believing that the persecution is reactivated in moments of great tension in Tocoa, Colón.’”

To listen to that interview, click here.

George was detained by Honduran national police on Friday January 26.

Pasos de Animal Grande reports: “George has been a key advocate in the fight for the protection of the Guapinol River, [is a member of] the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP).”

“He has suffered constant criminalization and has been sent to prison [in 2019] along with several of his comrades, but national and international pressure managed to get him letters of freedom, which he always carries.”

“The arbitrary detention of Leonel George comes at a key moment, when there is an attempt to ignore the decision of the population of Tocoa, to reject mining and their demand to Mayor Adán Fúnez, to respect their self-determination as a people.”

The article continues: “For the defenders of Guapinol, the National Police reactivated a campaign of harassment of human rights defenders, following the complaint against the illegal megaproject of Inversiones Los Pinares, a contract that expires on January 28, 2024.”

Earth Rights International notes:

“Since 2015 citizens of Tocoa, Honduras have organized as the Comité Municipal de Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos de Tocoa (CMDBCP) to oppose the illegal granting of a concession to an iron ore mining project in the Mountain Botaderos Carlos Escaleras National Park. Their grassroots activism has particularly focused on concerns that the mining project will contaminate the Guapinol, San Pedro, and Ceibita rivers and watersheds, which supply water to tens of thousands of people.”

Amnesty International adds: “The people of Guapinol and other communities of Tocoa have faced continued attacks because they have been peacefully questioning the legality of a mining project in the Carlos Escaleras National Park.”

They add: “On August 1, 2018, residents set up the ‘Guapinol camp’ to peacefully protest against the [mining] license… Members of the CMDBCP have faced at least two criminal proceedings since 2018 for defending the Guapinol and San Pedro Rivers of the impacts mining project. Leonel George spent some time in prison in 2019 along with other Guapinol River defenders for these proceedings.”

As noted above, one of the mining concessions – named ASP – was to expire on January 28, 2024. The community, however, learned this past October that Inversiones Los Pinares intended to renew the concession contract for up to 30 more years.

Photo: PBI-Honduras was present at the self-convened popular assembly that rejected the Ecotek/Los Pinares megaproject; December 9, 2023.

Then on January 19, more than 100+ organizations, including the PBI-Honduras accompanied ARCAH and COPINH, called for the “immediate and unconditional cancellation” of the ASP mining concession along with other components of the megaproject, which include the ASP2 mining concession, a thermoelectric plant, and a pelletizing plant.

But as Contra Corriente reports: “The company and the municipal authorities have not given up and called for a new town hall to be held on January 31.”

On Monday January 29, PBI-Honduras posted:

“@guapinolre warns that on 01/28 the contract for the ASP component of the mining concession expired. It also maintains that by calling a new open council for 01/31, the mayor of Tocoa would ignore the decision of the communities, which already said ‘no’ to mining. In a context of high risk for defenders of [human rights], we remember the importance of the international community supporting @guapinolre, since this solidarity has been fundamental during the most critical moments of criminalization, repression and threats.”

   

A Canadian connection?

Contra Corriente has also reported: “Inversiones Los Pinares maintains Lenir Pérez and Ana Facussé as its sole partners, despite the fact that in April 2023 it was made public that the FBI was investigating the activities of Honduran businessman Lenir Pérez and his relations with the multinational Nucor, the main steel producer in the United States.”

Read: The hidden connection between a US steel company and the controversial Los Pinares mine in Honduras (Univision, November 9, 2020).

Simply Wall St has noted: “The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently [Nucor’s] largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding.”

Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. explains: “The Vanguard Group, Inc., is owned by its U.S.-domiciled funds and ETFs [exchange-traded funds]. Those funds, in turn, are owned by their investors. …As a result, Canadian investors benefit from Vanguard’s low costs, client focus, stability and experience.”

Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. is located in the Bay Adelaide Centre, 22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 2500, in Toronto.

As the Guapinol River defenders and communities await formal confirmation of the expiration of the ASP mining concession, we continue to monitor the situation.

PBI-Mexico signs statement opposed to arrest of nine Indigenous Zapotec land defenders against industrial park in Oaxaca

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Pagina 3.

PBI-Mexico has posted: “PBI joins the call by national and international CSOs [civil society organizations] for the release of 9 Indigenous defenders from Santa Maria Mixtequilla, detained in the context of the construction of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.”

That joint statement says:

“We, the undersigned organizations, strongly appeal for the release of the 9 Indigenous Zapotec people, defenders of the territory of Santa María Mixtequilla, who have been arbitrarily detained on January 27, 2024*, for opposing a ‘Development Pole’ [industrial park] part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT).”

The statement further notes:

“In the early hours of January 27, nine defenders of the territory of the community of Santa María Mixtequilla were arbitrarily detained under the accusation of an alleged theft of a municipal police patrol in the framework of the protests carried out by the community against the imposition of a ‘Development Pole’… The next day, the presence of dozens of state police, elements of the Navy and the National Guard was reported in the community, which residents denounce as acts of intimidation that seek to stop community mobilization.”

PBI-Mexico took part in a Civil Observation Mission in July 2023 that found “worrying and unacceptable” attacks on land defenders opposed to the Interoceanic Corridor.

Video: Margherita Forni of PBI-Mexico (in green vest) speaks (starting at 35:26) at the observation mission media conference, July 27, 2023.

The statement then highlights: “From 2021 to January 29, 2024, organizations have registered at least 46 acts of aggression in total, committed by state institutions [including the police and National Guard], companies or individuals who have interests in the construction of the megaproject. …The victims have been, for the most part, Indigenous Mixe, Zapotec, Zoque and Popoluca peoples.”

Along with calling for the immediate release of the nine Indigenous Zapotec defenders, PBI-Mexico is demanding the withdrawal of the armed forces from the community of Santa Maria Mixtequilla and a stop to all acts of harassment by the police and armed forces.

A news report in Pagina 3 further notes: “The police operation was carried out around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 27, to comply with 10 searches and nine arrest warrants for the alleged robbery of a municipal patrol car in Santa María Mixtequilla.”

El Universal also reports: “For the Mixtequilla Civil Resistance movement, the presence of police and marines had the purpose of preventing protest actions by the people against the violent repression that took place in the early hours of Saturday morning and to express their rejection of the installation of an industrial park on their land.”

And Avispa Midia explains: “The detainees are people who have participated in the protests of the Mixtec community against the imposition of a ‘development pole’, an industrial complex planned to occupy 502 hectares and which is part of a dozen parks planned within the framework of the megaproject of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT).”

On September 21, 2023, PBI-Canada organized a webinar featuring Carlos Beas Torres of the Union of Indigenous Communities from the North of the Isthmus (UCIZONI), Margherita Forni of PBI-Mexico and Hannah Matthews of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) that discussed concerns about the Interoceanic Corridor megaproject.

We continue to follow this.

Find us on social media!

By
Brent Patterson
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Apart from our bi-weekly e-newsletter – that you can subscribe to for free here – we post daily on social media.

You can find us on X/Twitter here, Instagram here, and Facebook here.

Thanks!

Three law professors note International Court of Justice ruling means it would be illegal for Canada to export arms to Israel

By
Brent Patterson
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Excerpt from Ruling by UN’s top court means Canada and the U.S. could be complicit in Gaza genocide (The Conversation, January 28, 2024).

Photo: Heidi Matthews, Faisal A. Bhabha, Mohammad Fadel.

Heidi Matthews, Assistant Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Faisal A. Bhabha, Associate Professor of Law, York University, and Mohammad Fadel, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto have commented:

“The International Court of Justice has issued a ground-breaking decision in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, ordering Israel to comply with six provisional measures to safeguard the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from genocidal violence.

The court’s order is binding on Israel and formalizes the international legal obligations of other countries that are parties to the UN Genocide Convention.

Properly understood, the order should dramatically alter both the foreign and domestic policy decisions of Israel’s allies, including Canada and the United States.

Israel and its allies cannot dismiss or minimize the importance of this decision. In granting interim relief, the court concluded that South Africa’s allegations of genocide are, at a minimum, legally and factually plausible.

Both Canada and the U.S. have construed the court’s decision narrowly, suggesting it merely reiterates Israel’s right of self-defence and obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.

Read: Statement by Minister Joly on the International Court of Justice’s decision on South Africa’s request for provisional measures in its case against Israel (January 26, 2024).

This is a legally indefensible reading of the court’s ruling.

The court’s provisional measures also impact Canada’s compliance with its own laws on military exports.

In 2022, Canada sent more than $21 million worth of military exports to Israel. The Export and Import Permits Act forbids arms permits to be issued if there’s a “substantial risk” that the goods could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.

Because the ICJ found a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, continuing to export arms to Israel would be illegal. It would also be flagrantly inconsistent with Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide, and could expose Canada and Canadian officials to liability for participation in genocide.”

Their full commentary can be read in Ruling by UN’s top court means Canada and the U.S. could be complicit in Gaza genocide (The Conversation, January 28, 2024).

PBI-Honduras observes trial of student activist accused of arson at US Embassy during national strike protests

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 26, PBI-Honduras posted:

“We observe the trial of Henry Bonilla [Acevedo] for the burning of [tires in front of] the US embassy in a protest on [May 31st, 2019]. The @defencofadeh [Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras/COFADEH] denounces the criminalization of the national strike. We highlight the work of the #DDHH [human rights] of COFADEH and their work to respect the right to demonstrate.”

The anti-privatization protests

On April 30, 2019, just before the protest in question, Reuters reported:

“[Protests are taking] place as a work-stoppage continued in schools and some hospitals, after unions representing teachers and doctors launched strikes late last week. President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who leads a conservative government allied with the United States, has defended the two bills as needed overhauls of the health and public education systems, including plans for new infrastructure and better training of workers. His allies deny that the bills, approved late last week but still requiring a final vote, would privatize services or would lead to mass layoffs, another fear of the protesters.”

AP/CNN photo of protest at US Embassy on May 31, 2019.

In June 2019, Deutsche Welle reported: “After footage of riots, barricaded streets, masked police officers and firebombs outside the US Embassy went around the word, Hernandez caved in. He withdrew his decrees and offered to engage in dialogue with the protesters.”

Photo: “Military police officers shoot tear gas at students during clashes in Tegucigalpa.”

And in July 2019, Amnesty International explained:

“The current generalized discontent of the population was provoked by the approval, on 25 April, of laws that transformed the national health education systems, which in the opinion of teachers’ leaders and the Medical College of Honduras, will lead to the privatization of these sectors and the massive dismissal of employees. Although these laws were repealed, protesters have continued to demand the president’s resignation.”

They further noted:

“In a desperate attempt to silence the voices demanding his resignation, President Hernández has used the armed forces to control the protests. According to information gathered by Amnesty International, during this period the security forces have indiscriminately used less-than-lethal weapons, such as tear gas or rubber bullets, causing injury to dozens of people. In total, six people have been killed in this context since April, four of them by firearms, of which at least three were at the hands of the security forces.”

While Hernández was supported by the United States at the time of these protests, the month after his eight-year presidency concluded in January 2022, he was arrested on drug trafficking and weapons charges. In April 2022, Hernández was extradited to the U.S. to face trial. That trial is now expected to begin on February 12.

Photo of Hernandez being extradited to the U.S. in April 2022.

Acevedo arrested and jailed in 2021

Following the anti-privatization protest at the US Embassy in May 2019, Bonilla Acevedo was arrested in August 2021 and spent four months and 10 days in the “Marco Aurelio Soto” National Penitentiary in Tamara, about 50 kilometres northwest of Tegucigalpa.

PBI-Honduras visited with Bonilla Acevedo in prison on December 7, 2021. At that time, it posted: “PBI accompanies @Cofadeh to visit Henry Bonilla, student accused of participating in the burning of tires in front of the US embassy in protests for #health and #education. Henry is deprived of his liberty in the Támara penitentiary.”

PBI-Honduras also posted on December 14, 2019, that Acevedo had “obtain[ed] his letter of freedom with alternative measures after four months in preventive detention.”

The Marco Aurelio Soto prison was designed to hold 8,000 prisoners, but was reportedly holding 17,000 prisoners in 2017.

The trial

DefensoresEnLinea.com now reports: “The defense of the young man, made up of the legal representatives of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), Karol Cárdenas and Cynthia Turcios, rejected the charges, stating that it would be in the present trial that the non-participation of their client in the event will be proven, as well as that the elements of the criminal type are not configured.”

The article further notes: “The trial will continue on Friday [January] 26, where the evacuation of the evidence will continue and the conclusions of the parties will end.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading.

CBC News obtains RCMP C-IRG video of the arrests of Indigenous land defenders on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021

By
Brent Patterson
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CBC News reports that it has obtained Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) video footage that shows the arrests at a blockade of work on the Coastal Gaslink fracked gas pipeline on November 19, 2021.

That police video can be seen at Police footage shows arrests at Wet’suwet’en blockade (Jackie McKay, reporter, CBC Indigenous).

Up until this point, the video available of the arrests was shot by documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano from inside the cabin raided by the C-IRG. Toledano was also arrested that day along with photojournalist Amber Bracken.

Video by Michael Toledano.

The three land defenders – Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan) and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) – were found guilty of criminal contempt of court by British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen on January 12 of this year.

An abuse of process hearing then took place on January 12-19 that alleges the C-IRG used excessive force and violated the Charter Rights of  the land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

While C-IRG Silver Commander Superintendent James Elliott testified C-IRG officers would have had special training on Indigenous cultural sensitivity, an unidentified C-IRG officer could be heard in an audio recording made on the day of the arrests saying: “They all had the fuckin’ paint like, are you an orc?” This refers to the red handprints that honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Bronze Commander Inspector Glen Fishbook also testified that it would have been common practice to shoot gas canisters into the cabin to force the land defenders out. He then said: “Ultimately, with Superintendent Elliott, I decided not to because of the optics.” Once the door to the cabin was broken down with an axe and chainsaw the C-IRG found at the site, Corporal Sebastien Pilote pointed a 40mm projectile launcher at the land defenders.

More at Twelve concerning things we learned about the RCMP C-IRG during the first week of the abuse of process hearing.

Also on Instagram.

The abuse of process hearing is scheduled to resume on June 17-21.

Just prior to that, March 9 will mark the 12-month mark of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) systemic investigation of the C-IRG. The CRCC has previously stated in tries to complete their investigations within 12-18 months. The 18-month mark would fall on June 9, just a week before the hearing resumes.

We continue to follow this.

International Court of Justice delivers interim ruling, calls on Israel to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Image from BBC video of today’s ICJ ruling.

The Guardian reports:

“[International Court of Justice president] Judge [Joan E.] Donoghue says the court has decided that Israel must ‘take all measures within its its power’ to prevent all acts within the scope of the genocide convention.

She says it must ensure ‘with immediate effect’ that its forces do not commit any of the acts covered by the convention.

It must also take immediate measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, she says.“

The ICJ ruling can be read in full here.

Implications for Canada under the Genocide Convention

In its response to the provisional ruling, South Africa has highlighted:

“Third States are now on notice of the existence of a serious risk of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. They must, therefore, also act independently and immediately to prevent genocide by Israel and to ensure that they are not themselves in violation of the Genocide Convention, including by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide. This necessarily imposes an obligation on all States to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions, which are plausibly genocidal.”

The CBC has previously noted: “Canada will abide by all rulings arising from South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), officials at Global Affairs Canada have told CBC News.”

That article explains: “[An ICJ provisional measure on preventing genocide] would greatly complicate the sale of Canadian arms or dual-use technologies to Israeli buyers. Countries like Canada that have signed the international Genocide Convention treaty are expected to take proactive measures to prevent and suppress acts of genocide.”

Following the ICJ ruling, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Just Peace Advocates called on the Trudeau government to ensure Canada is not enabling a genocide by immediately suspending direct Canadian assistance to the Israeli military.

We also take note of this tweet from the UK Director of Human Rights Watch:

The Arms Trade Treaty

Amnesty International has also commented: “Any state that is a party to the [Arms Trade Treaty] must obey strict rules on international arms transfers. The Treaty was designed to stop deadly weapons from getting into the hands of people who will use them to commit human rights violations, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

Canada acceded to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty on September 17, 2019.

Rachel Small of World Beyond War Canada has observed: “[The Arms Trade Treaty] would absolutely require Canada to cut off shipping weapons to a state that’s at risk of committing serious war crimes.”

Canadian arms sales to Israel

In 2022, Canadian companies sold a total of $21 million in “military goods” to Israel of which $3.1 million fell under a category that includes “bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, other explosive devices and charges and related equipment and accessories.”

Furthermore, at least 110 Canadian-based suppliers have been awarded contracts valued in excess of $38 billion to develop the F-35 fighter jet, an aircraft the Israeli military is reportedly using to bomb Gaza. A study commissioned by its manufacturer Lockheed Martin says there are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 jet.

Yesterday, Alex Cosh of The Maple reported: “Peace activists and humanitarian organizations are accusing the Trudeau government of sowing confusion in its responses to questions about whether or not it has allowed Canadian companies to continue exporting military goods to Israel since October 7.”

Canadian groups have called for an arms embargo

Just two days prior to the ICJ ruling, Doctors of the World Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Humanity & Inclusion Canada, Islamic Relief Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Oxfam Canada, Save the Children Canada called for Canada “to immediately halt the direct or indirect transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is a risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.”

The Waterloo, Ontario-based peace research institute Project Ploughshares has also previously commented: “The gravity of this situation calls for immediate action to ensure Canada is meeting its domestic and international obligations to mitigate the risk of contributing to violations of international law, for example, violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including possible war crimes, in Gaza. Given the substantial risk that Canadian military goods could contribute to such abuses in Gaza, Canada must immediately halt all transfers of weapons to Israel.”

The human costs

Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed at least 25,490 people — the majority women and children — and wounded another 63,354 people. The offensive has also displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

More than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October 7, with many amputations performed without anesthesia.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) supports the call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, respect for international humanitarian law, an end to collective punishment and a process of negotiations leading to a just and lasting peace.

Twelve concerning things we learned about the RCMP C-IRG during the first week of the abuse of process hearing

By
Brent Patterson
-

Dramatic Video Shows Militarized Canadian Police Raid Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders & Journalists (Democracy Now!, November 24, 2021).

An abuse of process application was heard in a courtroom in Smithers, British Columbia this past week (January 12-19) that alleges the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) used excessive force and violated the Charter Rights of Indigenous land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.

Land defenders Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan) and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) were arrested by C-IRG officers on November 19, 2021.

1- “Lethal-force overwatch” Sergeant Ryan Arnold of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) testified: “We were there to provide lethal-force overwatch for the tac team to go hands-on with people who need to be arrested.”

2- No negotiator Sergeant Arnold also testified that while ERT teams normally include a negotiator, he wasn’t aware of one on site that day. C-IRG Silver Commander Superintendent James Elliott testified: “There was not going to be any negotiation.”

3- “Orcs” While Superintendent Elliott testified that C-IRG officers would have had special training on Indigenous cultural sensitivity, an officer could be heard in an audio recording saying: “They all had the fuckin’ paint like, are you an orc?” This refers to the red handprints that honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

4- “Mohawk symbology” Superintendent Elliott testified that Mohawk flags (the Warrior/Unity flag), patches and stickers heightened his risk assessment of the situation. Defence lawyer Frances Mahon told the court that the Haudenosaunee word for warrior is Rotisken’rakéhte, meaning “he carries the burden of peace.” Despite his Indigenous cultural sensitivity training, Elliott admitted he was not aware of that context.

5- Assumption of buried weapons Superintendent Elliott also testified: “I remember one post that I was provided at the time that said something about hiding weapons under the snow, in the forest.” Mahon told the court the social media post referred to the Haudenosaunee great law of peace, in which five warring nations bury their weapons under a pine tree to unite. Elliott admitted he may have misunderstood the post.

6- Officer wanted to shoot at a security camera While C-IRG officers are apparently highly trained, Corporal Sebastien Pilote sought permission to fire his weapon to disable a security camera on the exterior of the tiny house where the land defenders were located. He was instructed instead to disable the camera by cutting its cable.

7- Officer suggested using police dog Defence lawyer Quinn Candler read a transcript from a radio transmission in which Corporal Pilote also suggested sending a police dog into the tiny house. Pilote said over the police radio that day: “We’re going to have to go in. We can use the dog or we can use people.”

8- Use of chainsaw While heavily armed with various weapons, C-IRG officers were not equipped with basic “breaching” devices to get past the locked door of the tiny house. Instead, they used axes, a sledgehammer and a chainsaw they found on the site. An officer joked that it was like the scene in the horror film The Shining in which a character breaks through a door and says: “Here’s Johnny.”

9- Launcher aimed at defenders Bronze Commander Inspector Glen Fishbook of the ERT testified it would have been common practice to shoot gas canisters into the tiny house to force the land defenders out. He then said: “Ultimately, with Superintendent Elliott, I decided not to because of the optics.” Once the door was broken down, Corporal Pilote pointed a 40mm projectile launcher at the land defenders.

10- Use of company lawyer While the RCMP presumably has its own legal counsel, Bronze Sub-Commander Staff Sergeant Sascha Baldinger testified he called the law firm that secured the injunction for Coastal GasLink to determine if a warrant was needed to enter the tiny house where the land defenders were staying.

Disturbing testimony is also coming to light with respect to the arrest of Indigenous land defenders the previous day, November 18, 2021:

11- “Ogre-looking dude” An officer can be heard in an audio recording saying: “That big fuckin’ ogre-looking dude, he’s actually like, autistic.”

12- “Beat the shit out of him” An officer also says: “Then the fucking guys just beat the shit out of him and then he started crying. I felt bad for him. Apparently the sergeant grabbed his balls and twisted. I guess he was on the ground and everyone was just grabbing limbs. He didn’t have a limb to grab, so he’s like, just grab his balls, like, ‘You done now? You done resisting?’”

The abuse of process hearing will resume June 17-21 in Smithers.

Just prior to that, March 9 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) systemic investigation of the C-IRG and April 17 will mark the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Further reading:

Abuse of process hearing for Wet’suwet’en leader, blockade members to resume in June (CBC News, January 19, 2024)

Dogs, Snipers and Axes: Inside the RCMP’s Actions in Wet’suwet’en Territory (The Tyee, January 17, 2024)

Audio Reveals RCMP Officers Laughed about Beating a Land Defender (The Tyee)

Caught on tape: RCMP officers laugh about brutal arrests (Dogwood, January 18, 2024)

Abolish C-IRG Twitter feed.

PBI-Colombia accompanied NOMADESC calls for protection measures after attack on Bahía Málaga in the rural area of Buenaventura

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Mangaña is a community of 21 families located in Bahía Málaga (Valle del Cauca).

On January 23, PBI-Colombia retweeted this post from the Association for Social Research and Action (NOMADESC):

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

El Espectador further explains: “After the incursion of an armed group that has not been identified, the inhabitants of Bahía Málaga, in the rural area of Buenaventura, have been confined and frightened since 1:00 a.m. on Monday, January 22, 2024. The community council of the Black Communities in the area published a statement denouncing the situation and asking for the presence of the security forces.”

Map: “The Naval Base of the National Navy is located just one kilometer from Bahía Málaga.”

That statement says: “We are being invaded and threatened by an outlaw group that took over the community of Mangaña. We ask the security forces to make an urgent presence. They have already tried to kidnap two leaders of the Community Council who were traveling in boats from rural towns near Buenaventura.”

“The community resists a forced displacement of our communities”

La Silla Vacía adds: “The Community Council does not specify which group is, but in the surroundings of Bahía Málaga there is a presence of the ELN [National Liberation Army] and the Clan del Golfo [paramilitary].”

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

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

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