PBI-Canada expresses its concern about the continued criminalization and harassment of Wet’suwet’en land defenders and water protectors opposed to the construction without free, prior and informed consent of the TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their unceded territory and across the Wedzin Kwa river in British Columbia.

Yintah Access has posted on Instagram:

“In the last two years we have been focusing on building our relationships and continuing the fight against the criminalization of our people for upholding Wet’suwet’en ‘anuk niwh it’en (law).

The violence experienced Nov 18/19, 2021 goes beyond a calendar day. We continue to hold each other up and fight.

Upcoming court dates are:

Nov 27- Dec 1 for Sabina and Dsta’hyl continued trial

Jan 8- 19 is scheduled for Sleydo’, Shay and Corey arrested at Coyote Camp.

Civil suit against the RCMP, CGL and Forsythe Security for Intimidation and Harrassmet is ongoing.

Please stay tuned and support through the donate link in our bio!”

That donation link is https://www.yintahaccess.com/donate

For more on the violence experienced Nov 18/19, 2021, please see this Democracy Now! report: Dramatic Video Shows Militarized Canadian Police Raid Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders & Journalists (November 24, 2021).

Video still: Berenice Celeita holds up a tear gas canister during a PBI-Canada webinar on police violence in Colombia, June 3, 2021.

When Association for Research and Social Action (Nomadesc) president Berenice Celeita was in Canada recently she noted the impunity the Colombian national police have in relation to their violence against participants in the National Strike of 2021.

Emblematic of that police violence is the multitude of tear gas canisters they fired at the National Strike protests.

In June 2021, Celeita participated in a PBI-Canada webinar that focused on the issue of police violence during that pivotal time.

She held up a tear gas canister to underline her concerns.

The logo at the bottom of the canister held by Celeita suggests the manufacturer of the tear gas is Combined Tactical Systems (CTS).

Photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade has explained: “Combined Systems has several brand names, including Combined Tactical Systems (CTS) under which its CS [chlorobenzylidene malononitrile] gas munitions are marketed.”

Combined Systems is located in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, about 400 kilometres south of Toronto.

CTS tear gas has been used against protests in Ferguson, Missouri following the police murder of Michael Brown in 2010, by Egyptian security forces in Tahrir Square in 2011, against Palestinian youth in the West Bank in 2012, and by police at the Civic Strike in Buenaventura, Colombia in 2017.

The call to suspend arms sales to Colombia

In May 2021, Amnesty International called on the United States to suspend the sale of tear gas to Colombia. They highlighted:

“A suspension of weapons must remain in place until the Colombian security forces fully comply with international law and standards on the use of force, abuses are independently and impartially investigated, and there is full accountability for all human rights violations that have been committed by the Colombian authorities.”

Last month, Amnesty International further noted:

“In a case in the Siloé neighborhood in Cali, police fired tear gas unlawfully and in excessive quantities – including against peaceful protesters who had nowhere to disperse to – using Venom, a multiple-barrel grenade launcher often mounted on vehicles or tripods, that does not allow precise aiming, as required by UN guidance on the use of less lethal weapons. These launchers are therefore not appropriate for use in crowd control operations or any other law enforcement function. Venom grenade launchers have also been used often against Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces.”

Combined Systems also manufactures the Venom grenade launcher.

Image from the Consejo Regional Indígena del Cauca (CRIC).

Continued impunity for the Colombian police

On May 9, 2021, Canada’s then-foreign minister Marc Garneau stated: “We welcome the Government of Colombia’s commitment to fully investigate and hold accountable those who may be guilty of violating human rights during these events.”

When Garneau met with Colombia’s then-foreign minister Marta Lucía Ramírez on July 14, 2021, the readout from that meeting noted:

“Minister Garneau emphasized Canada’s concerns regarding violence in Colombia, both in the context of social protests and against social leaders and ex-combatants working to implement peace. He called on Colombia to keep its commitment to fully investigate and hold anyone who has violated human rights to account for their actions.”

And yet in March 2023, PBI-Colombia highlighted:

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

Justice for Colombia also reports: “There has been little progress in investigations into police abuses against protesters during Colombia’s National Strike mobilisations in 2019 and 2021, the United Nations Committee on Torture has warned.”

Canadian helicopters for the Colombian police

We do not know if Canada has continued to monitor this situation of impunity, or whether Global Affairs Canada officials amplified in their communications with their US counterparts the call for a suspension of arms transfers to Colombia.

We do know, however, that briefing notes obtained by The Maple dated July 2022 for then-Defence Minister Anita Anand indicated that Mirabel, Quebec-based Bell Helicopter Textron Canada “is providing … four 407 helicopters to the Colombian National Police”.

Unclassified document obtained by The Maple.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service also highlights that the “Army and National Police have expressed interest” in “remotely-piloted systems & autonomous technologies”. Remotely-piloted systems could refer to drone technology used for surveillance purposes, including the surveillance of popular protests.

And we know that the Canadian Commercial Corporation supported the efforts of General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada to sell armoured vehicles to the Colombian military and was “pleased to announce” the signing of the contract this past June.

We continue to follow this situation with concern.

Nomadesc: “Colombians do not want more weapons, no more massacres, no more disappearances, no more threats, no more fear. #StopTheGenocide. We demand truth, justice and guarantees of non-repetition. Don’t send us any more weapons. That has made them accomplices of Barbarism.”

The United Nations COP28 climate change conference will take place from November 30 to December 12, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is expected that a “global stocktake” will take place at COP28. This will be the first assessment since the promises made at COP21 in Paris in 2015.

Last month, Global Witness highlighted:

“Environmental defenders who aim to stop this destruction bear the brunt of our changing climate and corporate abuses. Our latest report on defenders found that at least 1,910 land and environmental defenders globally have lost their lives since we started documenting killings in 2012 – an average of one person killed every two days. Of these, at least 1,390 defenders have been killed since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.”

Global Witness has also stated that Parties should:

“-Recognize the link between the climate crisis and growing violence and repression against land and environmental defenders and take meaningful steps to protect defenders and civic space (online and in person) to promote ambition and climate action.
-Hold a Dialogue under UNFCCC on Environmental Human rights defenders, including Indigenous peoples and frontline communities, to identify and address the obstacles that defenders face when trying to exercise their rights to access information, public participation, and education.”

Furthermore, the Human Rights & Climate Change Working Group included in their submission on Elements for a Global Stocktake Decision that Enhances Human Rights-based Climate Action this draft language that could be endorsed by the Conference of Parties:

“Urging all Parties to commit to the enhanced protection of environmental human rights defenders, including reporting, investigating and seeking accountability and redress for reprisals against environmental human rights defenders, and public information about the actions taken to do so as well as public recognition of the importance of their work.”

This is consistent with the UN Human Rights Council statement from 2019 that affirms: “Human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement” to limit global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Prior to COP27, EarthRights International, Global Witness, Natural Justice, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA), CIVICUS, and the International Land Coalition released a set of recommendations calling on those at COP27 to take meaningful steps to protect those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

At that time, Silvana Baldovino of SPDA said: “A higher recognition and incorporation by the UNFCCC and COP27 of the role of defenders in facing the climate crisis is crucial to move States towards stronger protection schemes.”

Amnesty International also called on all parties at COP27 to: “Ensure the action plan recognizes the role of environmental human rights defenders in promoting effective and ambitious climate action and includes concrete measures to protect them in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.”

And UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry recommended “establishing an international tribunal for the prosecution of perpetrators of violence against and the killing of environmental and indigenous human rights defenders and enhanced participatory processes at future COP conferences as well as the General Assembly.”

Even prior to this, Fridays for Future ahead of the COP26 summit in October-November 2021 in Scotland called on world leaders to: “Stop the violence and criminalization against indigenous peoples, small farmers, small fisherfolk, and other environmental and land defenders. Support the work they do. Respect and listen to our defenders.”

And in September 2021, the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice in their “solutions from the frontlines” called “on all governments to respect the right of freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and to immediately halt the criminalization of land defenders, whose efforts are central to a climate-just world.”

Why have we not seen progress on this?

We will be asking defenders and leading advocates about the status of this call at COP28, why the COP summits to date have failed to include this language, and what needs to be done to both get this language included and for real protections to be implemented.

Stay tuned for more details!

Members of the Gitxsan nation will be rallying in Smithers tomorrow (November 21) to “ban a militarized RCMP C-IRG that terrorize our people and land defenders.”

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government says:

“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 Community –Industry Response Group (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 highlight that the rally is being held to:

1. Stop industry-led injunctions that allow industry looting of indigenous lands
2. To pressure the RCMP to sign the Armistice Agreement tabled by the Gitxsan Huwilp Government
3. To dismantle the RCMP C-IRG (only militarized unit in Canada)

Pipelines coming to Gitxsan territory

Amanda Follett Hosgood  of The Tyee has previously reported that three pipelines – the TC Energy Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline and the Enbridge Pacific Trail and Westcoast Connector pipelines – have their environmental assessment certificates, “a blanket authorization allowing the pipelines to move forward”.

Her article further explains: “Among the territories that the three pipelines would cross are Wet’suwet’en yintah and Gitxsan laxyip. …The Gwininitxw Indigenous Protected Area, 170,000 hectares encompassing pristine wilderness that includes important wildlife habitat, unique wild salmon populations and Indigenous cultural heritage, [is] just upstream from the proposed route of two pipelines…”

The Globe and Mail has also previously reported: “Wilps Gwininitxw said in a statement that the protected territories are upstream from two proposed gas pipelines that would affect salmon-bearing rivers and streams: the [TC Energy] Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project and the [Enbridge] Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission Project.”

Wilps Gwininitxw member Ankhla Jennifer Zyp says: “We’re worried, for sure, that we’re going to be met with the same violence [as seen against the Wet’suwet’en], with the same push from the government. We’re concerned about how these pipelines crossing all these rivers are going to affect the salmon returning back to our territory.”

Photo: Heavily-armed RCMP C-IRG officers on Gitxsan territory, November 2021.

CRCC launch systemic investigation of the C-IRG

On March 9, 2023, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launched a “systemic investigation” of the C-IRG. The terms of reference for that investigation can be read here. It remains unclear when the findings of the investigation will be released and if they will acknowledge/recognize the demands of Indigenous nations like the Gitxsan.

It does not appear that the investigation will be looking further into the choking of a Gitxsan land defender in November 2021.

Video: CBC has reported that 24 year old Gitxsan land defender Denzel Sutherland-Wilson shouted “I can’t breathe!” as RCMP officers tackled him at an encampment that was opposing the C-IRG raid on Wet’suwet’en territory.

For more on the C-IRG:

Whose police? RCMP unit acts as a private security force, critics say – The Fifth Estate (November 4, 2023)

Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs march in Vancouver to demand the dismantling of controversial RCMP C-IRG unit (October 12, 2023)

Gitxsan Huwilp Government proposes “military armistice agreement” with RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) (April 22, 2023)

RCMP “E” Division says its “lawful obligations” take priority over Hereditary Chiefs ban on C-IRG on Gitxsan territory (March 17, 2023)

Gitxsan hereditary chiefs ban the RCMP’s “community-industry response group” (CIRG) from their territories (March 10, 2023)

Photo by Alisdare Hickson from the ISHR website.

United Nations special experts, including Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, say: “Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making.” To stop this, the UN experts have demanded an “arms embargo on all warring parties.”

Amnesty International has also called on the international community to “impose a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict given that serious violations amounting to crimes under international law are being committed.”

Amnesty International adds: “States must refrain from supplying Israel with arms and military materiel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance. They should also call on states supplying arms to Palestinian armed groups to refrain from doing so.”

Numerous others including Just Peace Advocates, the Campaign Against Arms Trade, CIVICUS, Fundación Mundubat, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the New Democratic Party of Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress, the Ontario Federation of Labour, and Project Ploughshares have also expressed their support for an end to arms transfers in accordance with international law obligations.

While Hamas reportedly may be receiving support from Iran and North Korea through, as CNN describes it, “a combination of guile, improvisation, tenacity”, the major exporters of weapons to Israel include the United States, Germany, Italy and Canada.

And yet, along with the Government of Canada’s refusal to call for a ceasefire, it has also not suspended its arms sales to Israel.

A review of Canada’s annual reports on exports of “military goods” reveals that over the last five years Canada has exported almost $100 million of these so-called “military goods” to Israel: $21,329,783.93 (in 2022), $26,092,288.99 (2021), $18,947,640.49 (2020), $13,744,727.53 (2019) and $15,950,952.12 (2018).

The CANSEC weapons show, scheduled to take place just six months from now on May 29-30, 2024, at the EY Centre in Ottawa, is connected to this concern.

As noted on the CANSEC webpage: “CANSEC showcases leading-edge technology, products and services for land-based, naval, aerospace and joint forces military units. This two-day event is the largest and most important defence industry trade show in Canada.”

That webpage further highlights that “50+ international delegations” are present at CANSEC and that of the “more than 12,000+ registrants from all over the world, including military leaders and government officials” of which 74% “have purchasing power”.

The “List of Exhibitors” at CANSEC include “Israel Representatives” and Elbit Systems Ltd., and its 2024 Sponsors include L3 Harris, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The Campaign Against Arms Trade and World Beyond War have provided information on the relationship between these companies and the Israeli military.

Stop CANSEC, May 29-30, 2024

For more on the annual protests against the CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa, please see this World Beyond War webpage.

Photo: Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh killed by the IDF is remembered at Stop CANSEC protest, May 28, 2023.

Further reading: Rather than calling for a ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, Canadian banks are profiting from holdings in weapons companies (Peace Brigades International-Canada, November 6, 2023) and The Breach barred from weapons show for ‘critical anti-war journalism’ (The Breach, May 31, 2023)

Photo: A session of the Visionary Workshop meeting.

PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson has returned from ten days of visionary and advocacy meetings with PBI colleagues in Caparica, Portugal.

The PBI entities present at these meetings along with Canada included Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nepal, Kenya, Indonesia, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and the International Office in Belgium.

Key decisions from the “Visionary Workshop” meeting with members of the International Council and International Operations Council include the agreement to explore strategic alliances with new partners to change the behaviour of state and non-state actors, new ways to provide security training in countries where we do not do physical accompaniment, and to build more south-north partnerships with social movements and activists.

Photo: Participants gathered at the conclusion of the Visionary Workshop meetings.

And notable outcomes from the “Advocacy Working Group face-to-face meeting” include a renewed focus on support for the United Nations Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights, exploring ways to include language on the protection of human rights defenders in international agreements, highlighting the relationship between Global North transnational corporations, finance capital and the human rights situations that PBI accompanies, exploring new ways engage in public mobilization campaigns, drawing attention to the shrinking space for activism in both the Global North and Latin America, and more fully recognizing the various forms of intersectionality in the organizations, defenders and communities we accompany.

Photo: A group photo of the Advocacy Working Group participants.

Tangibly, these discussions have helped shape a work plan for PBI-Canada in 2024 that could ideally include these interventions:

January – Launching a new student-focused outreach tool to encourage young activists to apply to accompany human rights defenders in Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala. Also, organizing a webinar focused on PBI accompanied lawyers.

February – Organizing an advocacy intervention in Canada featuring social leaders from Colombia who have been imprisoned and criminalized for their resistance to the impacts of Calgary-based Frontera Energy on their community.

March – Launching a revitalized Urgent Action e-petition campaign enabling the public to engage in campaigns calling for the protection of threatened human rights defenders and the resolution of situations that put them in danger.

April – Visiting Gitxsan territory in British Columbia as they continue to call for the disbanding of the militarized RCMP C-IRG unit that has been deployed to suppress Indigenous resistance to the construction of pipelines on their territories without consent.

May – Supporting the activist mobilization against the CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa where helicopters, armoured vehicles, automatic rifles and other arms implicated in human rights violations in multiple countries are marketed and sold.

June – Organizing a webinar on the shrinking space/increasing repression of activists around the world, notably in Canada (against Wet’suwe’ten land defenders), the United States (the Ojibwe opposing the Line 3 pipeline), the United Kingdom (Extinction Rebellion activists) and Guatemala (including Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous Council of Olopa).

July – Supporting the mobilization against the NATO summit in Washington, DC that could reflect on the PBI-North America Project’s historic accompaniment of Innu resistance to NATO low-level flight training and practice bombing missions in Nitassinan.

August – Publishing a feature article that compares and contrasts efforts in Kenya (notably by the PBI-Kenya accompanied Missing Voice coalition), Colombia (by the PBI-Colombia accompanied Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners) and Canada (such as by Winnipeg Police Cause Harm) to counter police violence.

September – Organizing a webinar linking the Canadian and Spanish corporations involved in the construction of the Oxec III hydroelectric dam on Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ territory in Guatemala without free, prior and informed consent.

October – Organizing a visit by Guatemalan social leaders who have been criminalized for their opposition to river diversions and environmental harms caused by the sugar plantations that export sugar to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

November – Organizing a webinar at the time of the next round of talks on the UN Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights. Also, supporting an intervention at the UN COP29 climate change talks that are expected to take place in Eastern Europe.

December – Visiting PBI-Mexico accompanied organizations, defenders and communities in Chihuahua and documenting the concerns about the mining concessions granted to Canadian mining companies without consent and the ongoing environmental implications of the TC Energy Encino-Topolobampo pipeline.

These ideas and plans will continue to be developed over the coming months.

As always, your support is needed to allow this work to happen. To make an online donation to help support these activities in 2024, please click here.

Photo: Activists blockade a Lockheed Martin facility in Ottawa, November 10.

The CANSEC weapons show, scheduled to take place May 29-30, 2024, at the EY Centre in Ottawa, can be connected to that “genocide in the making” as well as the arming of repression against organizations, defenders and communities around the world.

The Associated Press reports: “More than 11,400 Palestinians have been killed [over the past five weeks], two-thirds of them women and minors, according to Palestinian health authorities. The U.N. humanitarian affairs office estimates that about 2,700 people, including 1,500 children, are missing and believed buried in the ruins.”

United Nations special experts, including Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, now say: “Grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of 7 October, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making.”

The growing call for an arms embargo

Additionally, the UN special experts have demanded an “arms embargo on all warring parties”.

Amnesty International has also called on the international community to “impose a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties to the conflict given that serious violations amounting to crimes under international law are being committed.”

Amnesty International adds: “States must refrain from supplying Israel with arms and military materiel, including related technologies, parts and components, technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance. They should also call on states supplying arms to Palestinian armed groups to refrain from doing so.”

Numerous organizations – including Just Peace Advocates, Campaign Against Arms Trade, CIVICUS, Fundación Mundubat, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have also called on “the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and other States that authorise the continued transfer of arms, and other forms of military support to Israel to immediately bring an end to such transfers in accordance with their international law obligations.”

And the NDP in Canada have said: “The NDP is asking for #CeasefireForGaza now, and we are asking for the end of arms sells to Israël.”

Two years ago, the Canadian Labour Congress called on “the Government of Canada to halt all arms sales to Israel.” Last year, the Ontario Federation of Labour passed a resolution that also supports “an end to Canadian arms sales to Israel”.

Where do the weapons come from?

Hamas, that has been described as “guerilla organisation”, “uses fast-moving light vehicles like jeeps, pickup trucks and motorbikes” and “is thought to have around 10,000 rockets” some reportedly manufactured in Iran, others assembled within Gaza. The Associated Press also says that Hamas has received weapons from North Korea.

Israel, the world 18^th largest military, has 241 fighter jets and 2,200 tanks, a budget of $23.6 billion in 2023, and primarily receives its weapons from the United States (70.2 per cent), Germany (23.9 per cent), Italy (5.9 per cent) and Canada (0.05 per cent). The Times of Israel has also reported: “Ninety-two percent of Israel’s imports came from the US, mostly F-35 jets and guided bombs, followed by shipments from Germany and Italy.”

CNN has reported: “Israel says Iran supports Hamas to the tune of some $100 million dollars a year.” In contrast, the Associated Press notes that Israel receives “US$3.3 billion in congressionally mandated annual funding, plus another US$500 million toward missile defence technology” from the United States.

The role played by CANSEC

As noted on the CANSEC webpage: “CANSEC showcases leading-edge technology, products and services for land-based, naval, aerospace and joint forces military units. This two-day event is the largest and most important defence industry trade show in Canada.”

That webpage further highlights that “50+ international delegations” are present at CANSEC and that of the “more than 12,000+ registrants from all over the world, including military leaders and government officials” of which 74% “have purchasing power”.

The “List of Exhibitors” at CANSEC include “Israel Representatives” and Elbit Systems Ltd., and its 2024 Sponsors include L3 Harris, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and World Beyond War have provided detailed information on the relationship between these companies and the Israeli military.

Tweet from then-Israeli ambassador to Canada, Ronen Hoffman.

Israel helped arm the genocide in Guatemala

While the immediate concern is the weaponry sold to Israel, the country is also the world’s 10^th largest exporter of weapons, including weapons that have been used in the repression of social movements in Latin America.

Aljazeera reports: “During the Cold War, the US backed military dictatorships in Latin America that suppressed leftist movements, [says] Jehad Jusef, the vice president of the Palestinian Union of Latin America, an association of Palestinian diaspora groups.”

The article adds that Israel served “as a major arms dealer to the US-backed military dictatorships in places like Guatemala and Argentina.”

Spring Magazine further notes: “The US suspended military aid to Guatemala in 1977—their human rights abuses were a bad look, so Israel stepped in for them. Israeli president Ephrain Katzir signed an agreement supplying the Guatemalan military with $38 million worth of arms during the civil war period, including rifles, helicopters, equipment for surveillance, and training. The Guatemalan civil war began in 1960 and ended in 1996. In the late 1970s, when Israel signed this arms agreement, the Guatemalan civil war was entering its genocidal peak—approximately 200,000 were killed, many of those being the Indigenous Mayan population who were revolting against their oppressive government.”

Holocaust Museum Houston has noted that the United Nations-organized Commission of Historical Clarification (CEH) concluded in February 1999 that the Guatemalan army “committed genocide against four specific groups: the Ixil Mayas; the Q’anjob’al and Chuj Mayas; the K’iche’ Mayas of Joyabaj, Zacualpa and Chiché; and the Achi Mayas.”

Another article in Aljazeera adds: “Israel sold weapons to the South African apartheid government in 1975… Napalm and other weapons were supplied to El Salvador during its counterinsurgency wars between 1980-1992 that killed more than 75,000 civilians.”

As recently as May 2019, Amnesty International Israel produced a report on how “Israeli companies export weapons to countries that systematically violate human rights”. Haaretz says that includes Mexico, South Sudan, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates.

Land defenders connect pipeline with white phosphorous

On October 16, Ojibwe land defender Tara Houska was arrested after she locked herself to construction equipment at a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction site in Elliston, Virginia. “Free Gaza” was written on the lock-on tube on her arms.

At the time of this action, Appalachians Against Pipelines highlighted: “The connection between MVP & the genocide unfolding in Gaza. MVP would supply gas to the Pentagon and the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, which is operated by BAE Systems – a corporation that supplies Israel with white phosphorus & other weapons.”

John Ramming Chappell, an Advocacy & Legal Fellow at Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), recently wrote in The Hill: “In its investigation, Amnesty International said it identified U.S. Department of Defense codes on Israel’s phosphorus-based munitions. The munitions may have been exported from the United States.”

BAE Systems is also an exhibitor at CANSEC in Ottawa.

Rafael remote weapon system for Canadian-made LAVs to be sold to Colombia

Last month, The Times of Israel also reported that Israel as “one of the main providers of arms to Colombia’s military” was “halting security exports” to Colombia over President Gustavo Petro’s critical comments about Israel’s assault on Gaza.

This could have implications for the recently announced CAD $418-million contract to sell 55 Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs), to be manufactured by London, Ontario-based General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), to the Colombian Ministry of National Defence.

Those LAVs were to be equipped, according to the defence and security magazine Army Recognition, with a remote weapons system (RWS) including an Orbital ATK type cannon and Browning machine gun, from the Raifa, Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems company.

The Canadian Commercial Corporation that helped facilitate the sale of LAVs to Colombia is also a regular exhibitor at the CANSEC weapons show.

Stop CANSEC, May 29-30, 2024

For more on the annual protests against the CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa, please see this World Beyond War webpage.

Further reading: Rather than calling for a ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, Canadian banks are profiting from holdings in weapons companies (Peace Brigades International-Canada, November 6, 2023) and The Breach barred from weapons show for ‘critical anti-war journalism’ (The Breach, May 31, 2023)

Photo: Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli military on May 11, 2022. She was remembered at the June 1, 2022 protest against CANSEC. Visualizing Palestine has tweeted that she was killed by a 5.56 mm bullet likely supplied by Elbit Systems subsidiary IMI Systems.

Photo by Canadian Palestine Association.

Peace Brigades International 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.

Numerous Canadian organizations have backed the call for a ceasefire, as have 33 Members of Parliament.

On November 2, United Nations experts also supported the call for a humanitarian ceasefire and highlighted: “We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide. The time for action is now. …The Israeli airstrike on a residential complex in the Jabalia refugee camp is a brazen violation of international law – and a war crime.”

Profiting from conflict

Last month, CNN reported: “When war breaks out, defense companies tend to make money. That means aerospace and defense stocks tend to rise during geopolitical unrest. In the immediate aftermath of the Israel-Hamas War, shares of military contractors spiked as both institutional and retail investors bought in.”

TD Bank holds $16 million in General Dynamics stock

Investigative journalist Eli Clifton has written in The Guardian that an analyst from TD Bank took note of the profit-making potential of the current situation during a General Dynamics third-quarter earnings call on October 25.

The article in The Guardian notes: “The death toll … wasn’t top of mind for TD Cowen’s Cai von Rumohr, managing director and senior research analyst specializing in the aerospace industry. His question was about the upside for General Dynamics, an aerospace and weapons company in which TD Asset Management holds over $16m in stock.”

On the call, Von Rumohr said: “Can you give us some general color in terms of areas where you think you could see incremental acceleration in demand?” Jason Aiken from General Dynamic replied: “If you look at the incremental demand potential coming out of that, the biggest one to highlight and that really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”

Significantly, Clifton adds: “That next day, Von Rumohr assigned a ‘buy’ rating to General Dynamics’ stock.”

RBC holds USD $57.7 million in Palantir Technologies Inc.

Just Peace Advocates has noted: “As of November 2021, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has 2,403,812 shares of Palantir Technologies Inc Class A (US:PLTR) with total holdings valued at $57,787,000 USD. The RBC holdings in Palantir have been steadily increasing quarter over quarter.”

They add: “Palantir provides Artificial Intelligence (AI) predictive system to Israeli security forces, to identify people in occupied Palestine.”

Earlier this month, Palantir Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp stated: “We are on the front lines fighting what amounts to evil.”

Scotiabank holds $500 million in Elbit Systems stock

Last year, Bloomberg reported: “Bank of Nova Scotia’s asset-management arm is facing scrutiny for being the largest foreign shareholder in a publicly traded Israeli defense contractor … Elbit Systems Ltd., which has been accused of manufacturing cluster munitions.”

Mondoweiss notes: “ In October 2022, Scotiabank’s asset fund put $500 million into Elbit Systems Ltd, which amounts to 5% of the company.”

Bank of Montreal subsidiary provided USD $90 million loan to Elbit

The Breach has also reported: “A Bank of Montreal (BMO) subsidiary loaned an estimated US$90 million in 2021 to a defence-tech company that makes weapons and surveillance equipment used by the Israeli military, The Breach has learned.”

Elbit reportedly provides up to 85 per cent of Israel’s land-based military equipment and approximately 85 per cent of its drones.

Beyond the role of banks, it also notable that:

INKAS received more than $247,000 in Canadian government subsidies

The Breach also notes: “A Canadian security and defence manufacturer with headquarters that were picketed by activists in Toronto on Monday [October 30] had a subsidiary in Israel that sold a wider range of combat equipment than it publicly advertised and boasted of sales to the Israeli government.”

That article explains: “INKAS Israel’s now-deleted website said that the company offered armoured vehicles, vehicle modification and composite materials. But the company also sold cyber warfare services and remotely controlled weapon stations, according to an Israel Ministry of Defence document published in 2018. Remotely controlled weapon stations are attached to tanks and light armoured vehicles to allow soldiers to shoot weapons like machine guns, grenades and cannons from the safety of their vehicles at a faster rate than they could shoot manually.”

And The Breach highlights: “INKAS’ various companies have received more than $247,000 in grants from the federal government since 2010, including $38,000 to develop its bulletproof vehicles, Government of Canada records show.”

The Canadian government spent approximately $500 million on the development of the Lockheed Martin F-35 warplane

Articles in The Jerusalem Post and inews suggest that Lockheed Martin F-35 Adir warplanes may be being used in the airstrikes against Gaza.

Earlier this month, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer noted that Canada has contributed approximately $0.5 billion to the development of the F-35 from 2010-11 to 2022-23. That figure could actually be closer to $955 million.

$96 million of Canadian “military goods” were sold to Israel over the past five years

The Government of Canada also produces an annual report on exports of “military goods”. A review of those reports over just the last five years shows that Canada exported $21,329,783.93 (in 2022), $26,092,288.99 (2021), $18,947,640.49 (2020), $13,744,727.53 (2019) and $15,950,952.12 (2018) in “military goods” to Israel.

The Canadian peace research institute Project Ploughshares, that backs the UN Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire, has also endorsed “the call by the Control Arms coalition for Arms Trade Treaty States Parties to halt the transfer of arms to parties to the conflict.”

World Beyond War is also calling on these companies with offices and manufacturing facilities in Canada to stop selling arms and military technology to Israel.

We will continue to monitor this situation and reiterate our call for a ceasefire.

PBI-Canada also organizes against the arming of repression by taking part in the annual mobilization against the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa. The next CANSEC is scheduled for May 29-30, 2024. For more on this, please see this World Beyond War webpage.

In an 18-page report released on November 2, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimates the “life cycle cost” of Canada’s planned purchase of 88 Lockheed Martin F-35 warplanes at $73.9 billion.

While there isn’t a lot of specificity in the short report (the word “weapons” only appears four times), the PBO appears to suggest that about $11.3 billion will be spent on weapons, munitions and other related “operations costs”.

The report says that in the “Acquisition Phase” (2022-23 to 2034-35): “The Weapons, Munitions and Initial Spares cost element is estimated at $2.1 billion.”

Then in the “Operations and Sustainment Phase” (2025-26 to 2061-62), the report says: “Operations costs, which include system manpower, energy, and training munitions and expendables, are estimated at $9.2 billion.”

The PBO’s report is in line with what the No Fighter Jets Coalition had estimated almost three years ago, before the contract with Lockheed Martin had been signed.

In February 2021, the No Fighter Jets Coalition released this report that estimated the lifecycle costs of the fighter jet purchase at $76.8 billion.

In January 2023, when the selection was announced, Department of National Defence officials acknowledged the total cost would be about $70 billion.

What weapons are being purchased?

Earlier this year, the Ottawa Citizen had reported: “The Canadian government plans to spend more than $6 billion on new weapons for the stealth fighters it has ordered from the U.S. …The $6.3 billion will be for new advanced air-to-air missiles that would cover short, medium and long-ranges, according to National Defence. In addition, some of the money will be earmarked for new still-to-be-determined weapons projects for the stealth fighters. The budget also covers maintenance of the weapons stockpiles.”

That is somewhat in line with the PBO’s figure of $9.2 billion given it appears the PBO rolled that total in with other costs.

That article adds: “In addition, the U.S. and Canada are now in negotiations for a separate delivery of weapons that will be included with the first F-35s. That will involve short and medium-range missiles as well as smart bombs to be used against ground targets. …That purchase is included in the $19 billion overall budget for the planes.”

According to the PBO report released today, the cost of weapons and munitions included with the first F-35s is about $2.1 billion.

Notable excluded costs and omissions

The report notes as an “excluded cost” the approximate $0.5 billion spent starting in 2010-11 on the development costs of the warplane.

There is also disappointingly not a breakdown on the cost of the jet fuel will burn over its “life cycle”. And while it may not be the role of the PBO to produce, it would have been useful to see some reference to the expected carbon emissions from this new fleet.

We will have more analysis soon, but there is some frustration that the graphic released by the PBO features an image of a wrench for “operations and sustainment” rather than a bomb with a specific price tag for that notable and deadly expense.

You can read the PBO report at The Life Cycle Cost of Canada’s F-35 Program – A Fiscal Analysis.