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PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico as it accompanies the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water at activities over four-day period

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Canada joined with PBI-Mexico as they accompanied four days of activities in Mexico City, Amilcingo, Cholula, Calpan, and San Miguel Xoxtla by the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala.

The People’s Front and Samir Flores Soberanes

The People’s Front is an organization of Indigenous Nahuatl communities in the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, that has been working since 2012 to defend their territory and exercise their self-determination.

Samir Flores Soberanes was a member of the People’s Front, one of the founders of Amiltzinko community radio, and a land and environmental defender opposed to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).

Flores was murdered outside his home in Amilcingo, Morelos on February 20, 2019 because of his opposition to the PIM.

Pie de Pagina explains: “The PIM is an infrastructure project designed to generate electric energy through thermoelectric plans, a gas pipeline, an aqueduct, and a network of energy transmission via high tension towers.”

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 – MEXICO CITY

Somoselmedio reports: “At the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos-Puebla-Tlaxcala and groups of relatives of the disappeared, announced the start of the National and International Day ‘Justice for Samir and self-determination for the peoples’, seven years after the murder of community communicator and defender of the territory Samir Flores Soberanes.”

That article adds: “Amira Flores Vázquez, daughter of Samir Flores, said: ‘Samir did not die, the government killed him.’ In his speech, he framed the murder within a context of militarization, forced displacement and structural violence that, he said, has turned the country into ‘a great mass grave.’”

DW Español video.

Previous article: Indigenous land defender killed in Mexico days before referendum on controversial gas pipeline (Brent Patterson, Rabble.ca, February 22, 2019).

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 – AMILCINGO

El Sol de Cuautla reports: “To commemorate the anniversary of the death [of Samir Flores], a mass was held at the activist’s home and later a march that concluded at the community’s primary school, in the center of Amilcingo. There they placed a wreath at the foot of the bust that is located in the campus. The march continued to the community cemetery, where the remains of Flores Soberanes rest.”

Photo of procession in Amilcingo on February 20 by Congreso Nacional Indígena.

Previous article: PBI-Mexico accompanies activities in Amilcingo on the 6th anniversary of the murder of Indigenous Nahua defender Samir Flores Soberanes (Brent Patterson, PBI-Canada, February 21, 2025).

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 – CHOLULA, CALPAN

El Sol de Puebla reports: “Members of the Union of Peoples Against the Garbage Dump and in Defense of Water built a sports field on the property [to stop the expansion of] the intermunicipal garbage dump of Cholula – closed in 2024… Through different WhatsApp groups and other social networks, an invitation [was] shared to inaugurate Saturday, February 21, the community site located on the Cholula – Calpan highway, in which they will also plant trees to reforest the area.”

Angulo 7 also reports: “[On February 11, a] fire caused the destruction of the crops of the ‘Free Palestine Forest’, whose work of months was lost. The objective of this project was to counteract the damage of contamination on the land with leachate from the landfill and other solid waste.”

And El Sol de Puebla reports: “Untreated wastewater travels approximately seven kilometers through farmland and on the side of the road that leads to Calpan, to concentrate in an excavation located meters from the San Pedro Cholula landfill, which was closed in 2024 due to environmental damage and contamination of aquifers. The lack of a sewage treatment plant is part of a problem that, according to residents, has been going on for about 20 years and that, with the increase in population, has worsened mainly in recent months, since the liquid not only gives off bad odors, but has stagnated in properties where the owners have stopped planting corn and tejocote due to the effects caused to the fertile lands.”

Peace Brigades International was also shown the pathway of a gas pipeline associated with the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) megaproject.

In February 2021, Proceso reported: “Experts from the UNAM [the National Autonomous University of Mexico], the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP) and the National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) have warned about the dangers of a gas pipeline network being installed in an area considered at risk due to its proximity to the Popocatepetl volcano. …A key destination [of the pipeline is the] the Combined Cycle Power Plant in Yecapixtla, Morelos, known as the Huexca Thermoelectric Plant. …On February 20, 2019, Samir Flores Soberanes, one of the leaders of the resistance against the plant, was murdered; it is not the only case of aggression against the opponents of the PIM, says Teresa Castellanos Ruiz.”

Previous articles: PBI-Mexico accompanies Peoples’ Front in Defence of Land and Water at highway blockade at Cholula garbage dump (Brent Patterson, PBI-Canada, March 22, 2024) and PBI-Mexico accompanies the Peoples Front at media conference on the torture of PIM megaproject opponent Jaime Dominguez (Brent Patterson, PBI-Canada, December 12, 2023).

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 – SAN MIGUEL XOXTLA

The People’s Front posted on social media about a Forum on the San Andrés Accords in Pavigi Park in San Miguel Xoxtla, Puebla. The sessions at this forum were titled: “Thirty years after the San Andrés Accords were violated and the war of extermination began, what comes next?”;  “How have we progressed toward autonomy in practice and the defense of our rights?” (that the People’s Front spoke at); and “The right to self-determination of peoples in the context of the new General Water Law”.

Contrastes 12 reports: “A group is opposed to the projects to drill water wells in the demarcation [of Pavigi Park].”

And El Sol de Puebla has previously reported: “[On November 11, 2025] residents of the municipality of San Miguel Xoxtla demanded that municipal authorities return to the citizens the control of the wells based on uses and customs. Therefore, they created a drinking water committee so that it is in charge of ensuring that the vital liquid stays in the demarcation and no longer profits from it.”

Previous article: PBI-Mexico accompanies the Peoples’ Front as community assembly creates drinking water committee in Xoxtla, Puebla (Brent Patterson, PBI-Canada, November 25, 2025).

Watch for further updates and follow-ups to these accompaniments.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) since early 2020.

Additional situation

The afternoon of the Forum in San Miguel Xoxtla, CBC News reported: “The Secretariat of National Defence said in a statement that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, as ‘El Mencho’, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), died from injuries while he was being transferred to Mexico City following a clash with military special forces. A federal official told The Associated Press that the Mexican army killed El Mencho during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco, where the cartel that traffics huge amounts of fentanyl and cocaine into the United States is based.”

The Globe and Mail notes: “The current turmoil in Mexico is taking place after Ms. Anand’s cabinet colleagues, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, led a massive trade mission with 370 delegates to Mexico last week. The mission ended on Feb. 20.”

The Team Canada Trade Mission was in Mexico City from February 15 to 17, then in Guadalajara and Monterrey from February 18 to 20. Two days after that mission, Global Affairs Canada is advising Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution” in those parts of Mexico.

Global Affairs Canada posted this map urging caution. San Miguel Xoxtla is near Puebla. PBI-Canada is now in Mexico City.

More to come.

PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico to accompany People’s Front and the commemoration of Samir Flores in Amilcingo

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Mexico posted on social media: “Seven years after the unpunished murder of Samir Flores Soberanes, human rights defender and community communicator, PBI accompanies the Front of People in Defense of Land and Water – Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala in Amilcingo in their fight for justice.”

PBI-Canada was present with PBI-Mexico for this accompaniment.

The People’s Front also posted on social media: “Day in Amilcingo Justice for Samir and Self-Determination for the People”

News and social media reports

El Sol de Cuautla reported: “To commemorate his death anniversary, a mass was held at the activist’s home and later a march that concluded at the community’s primary school, in the center of Amilcingo. There they placed a wreath at the foot of the bust that is located in the campus. The march continued to the community cemetery, where the remains of Flores Soberanes rest.”

That article also highlighted: “Inhabitants of the community of Amilcingo, in Temoac, Morelos, together with members of the Permanent Assembly of the Peoples of Morelos, demanded justice seven years after the murder of activist Samir Flores Soberanes, which occurred on February 20, 2019, outside his home.”

Desinformémonos also posted on social media: “#Mexico ✊ | From Amilcingo, Morelos, collectives and family members remembered Samir Flores Soberanes at the House of Indigenous Peoples and Communities that bears his name, and pointed out that his murder remains unsolved. Video: Otomíes in Resistance and Rebellion”

Reporter Pedro Tonantzin posted: “SEVEN YEARS SINCE THE ASSASSINATION OF ACTIVIST AND COMMUNITY COMMUNICATOR SAMIR FLORES SOBERANES This February 20th marks seven years since the assassination of activist and community communicator Samir Flores Soberanes, originally from the indigenous community of Amilcingo, in Temoac.”

Cable Noticias Digital posted: “Seven years after the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes, family, friends and members of the Amilcingo Resistance Assembly held a peaceful demonstration in the Temoac cemetery to remember him.”

And SomoselMedio posted a series of texts and photos beginning with: “Seven years after the murder of the Nahua communicator and defender Samir Flores Soberanes, collectives, organizations and family members gather in Amilcingo, Morelos.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) since early 2020.

PBI-Canada with PBI-Mexico to accompany People’s Front at press conference and rally in memory of Samir Flores Soberanes

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Mexico has posted on social media: “Today we are accompanying the FPDTA-MPT [People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala] as part of the activities commemorating Samir Flores.”

PBI-Canada participated alongside PBI-Mexico in the accompaniment of this protest.

The People’s Front is an organization of Indigenous Nahuatl communities in the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala, that has been working since 2012 to defend their territory and exercise their self-determination.

Samir Flores Soberanes was a member of the People’s Front, one of the founders of Amiltzinko community radio, and a land and environmental defender opposed to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).

Flores was murdered outside his home in Amilcingo, Morelos on February 20, 2019 because of his opposition to the PIM.

Pie de Pagina explains: “The PIM is an infrastructure project designed to generate electric energy through thermoelectric plans, a gas pipeline, an aqueduct, and a network of energy transmission via high tension towers.”

La Jornada posted a video of the protest and noted: “With a political-cultural rally on #Bucareli street, they remember the territory defender #SamirFlores, as part of the National and International Days Justice for Samir Flores and the self-determination of the peoples, called by various groups, among them the #EZLN.”

Once Noticias also reports: “Seven years after the murder of social leader Samir Flores, members of the National Indigenous Congress, including his daughter Amira, described as a farce the trial that began a few days ago, against Javier N., the only one arrested for this crime. …During a rally in front of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), in Mexico City, they asked the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to continue with the investigation that is suspended and find the intellectual authors.”

And Somoselmedio reports: “At the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), the National Indigenous Congress (CNI), the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water Morelos-Puebla-Tlaxcala and groups of relatives of the disappeared, announced the start of the National and International Day ‘Justice for Samir and self-determination for the peoples’, seven years after the murder of community communicator and defender of the territory Samir Flores Soberanes.”

That article adds: “Amira Flores Vázquez, daughter of Samir Flores, said: ‘Samir did not die, the government killed him.’ In his speech, he framed the murder within a context of militarization, forced displacement and structural violence that, he said, has turned the country into ‘a great mass grave.’”

Photo: Amira Flores Vázquez. Photo by PBI-Canada.

The Somoselmedio also highlights: “Members of the Committee of Parents of the 43 Disappeared Normalistas of Ayotzinapa participated in the table, who denounced the continuity of impunity in their own case and reiterated that ‘in Mexico there is no justice for the poor’.”

Photo: Parents of missing Ayotzinapa students.

We also note that the National Indigenous Congress posted on social media this “Statement of the Press Conference of the National and International Day ‘Justice for Samir and Self-Determination of the Peoples’” that included: “WE REPORT, that 7 years after the murder of our brother, Samir Flores Soberanes, IMPUNITY, COMPLICITY and COVER-UP have become GOVERNMENT in this bad-called FOURTH TRANSFORMATION. They are, the owners of power and money, responsible for the fact that seven years later there is no TRUTH or JUSTICE for our brother Samir Flores Soberanes. They are: Valentín Lavin, Angelina ‘N’, Hugo Erick Flores, Humberto Sandoval, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Uriel Carmona, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador and the organized crime (as their guarantor), who first drew him as an opponent, ‘radical left and conservative’ and, afterwards, ended up ripping his life, for sublegitimate opposition to the Integral Morelos Project, and especially for opposing the Thermoelectrica of Huexca.”

Accompaniment

At PBI-Canada we continue to highlight that the FPDTA-MPT has linked the PIM megaproject to Toronto-based Alamos Gold and its Esperanza mine. In November 2020, they posted: “[Mexican president] Lopez Obrador’s [support for the PIM] betrays the peasant and the promise of change of his government, to favour transnational corporations [including] Canadian miners like Alamos Gold.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the People’s Front since early 2020.

PBI-Mexico seeks new field volunteers, deadline for applications is March 15, 2026

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has posted on social media:

“¡Join the PBI Mexico team!

Our call is now open for those who want to be part of our accompaniment team for #HumanRights defenders in Mexico.

Here is the link to apply.”

The web-link notes that applications must be received by March 15, 2026, and further notes other timelines and considerations.

From PBI-Canada, we encourage you to apply!

Government of Canada pledges to “increase our defence exports by 50%” in new Defence Industrial Strategy

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still: Live feed of announcement.

Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched a $6.6 billion “Defence Industrial Strategy to strengthen security, create prosperity, and reinforce strategic autonomy”.

The statement from the Prime Minister’s Office highlights: “The Defence Industrial Strategy will create 125,000 high-paying careers, increase our defence exports by 50%, raise the share of defence acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70%, and grow Canadian defence industry revenues by 240%.”

It further notes that in order to “Scale up Canada’s defence and dual-use innovation, and export it to our allies” the Government of Canada will “Boost Canadian defence exports through a new dedicated team for export promotion” 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”.

What does a 50% increase mean?

In the most recent Annual Report on Strategic Goods and Technologies Pursuant to Section 27 of the Export and Import Permits Act, Global Affairs Canada noted: “For the 2024 calendar year, the value of Canadian exports of controlled military goods and technology to non-U.S. destinations amounted to approximately $2.504 billion, compared to a value of $2.143 billion in 2023 and $2.122 billion in 2022.”

It has been estimated that Canada exports at least another $1 billion in “military goods” to the United States on an annual basis.

It’s not clear from today’s announcement if the intention to “increase our defence exports by 50%” is in relation to the $2.5 billion figure (to non-U.S. destinations) or it refers to the estimated $3.5 billion (that included exports to the U.S.).

Will human rights obligations be considered?

We note that today’s announcement does not mention Canada’s obligations to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), C-233, the proposed No More Loopholes Act that would apply ATT requirements to military exports to the U.S., or reference obligations to international law or human rights obligations.

What is meant by “guardrails”?

CTV News quotes the prime minister saying today: “We will be very deliberate and open in terms of defence and security partnerships we sign with allies throughout the world and what opportunities that opens up and be clear about what the guardrails are around … the types of exports we would envision with those countries. We will be broadening our partnerships. We’re deepening with our closest allies.”

What are the implications of the safety of human rights defenders?

From PBI-Canada we are looking specifically at the implications of military exports to countries where State actors violate human rights and where these exports directly put at risk the safety and lives of human rights defenders, land and environmental defenders, lawyers, journalists, social leaders and communities.

As part of the holistic protective accompaniment we provide to threatened human rights defenders around the world, we will be seeking answers to these concerns and measures to ensure that Canadian-made weapons, components and technologies do not put at further risk the lives of human rights defenders.

We look specifically to the relationship between “Voices at risk: Canada’s guidelines on supporting human rights defenders” and the new “team for export promotion” and the appointment of “new trade commissioners in the United Kingdom and key European markets” who will be at “major global defence and aerospace trade shows” so that the role of Canada’s embassies, consulates and international missions includes a prioritization of the safety and security of human rights defenders.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada monitors updates from Team Canada Trade Mission for references to human rights defenders and journalists

By
Brent Patterson
-

X photo from Dominic LeBlanc.

The Globe and Mail has reported: “A massive Canadian trade delegation will descend on Mexico on Sunday [February 15] … Led by Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for North American trade, the trip will include leaders of approximately 250 Canadian businesses as well as government and industry officials [for a total of 370 Canadian delegates].”

The news article further highlights: “[Mexico has] proven an attractive destination for Canadian foreign direct investment, which totalled $46-billion in 2024. More than 60 Canadian auto parts companies and nearly 140 Canadian mining companies operate in Mexico. And a number of Canada’s largest businesses have a sizable footprint in the country [including] TC Energy Corp. [that] has over US$11-billion invested in 3,600 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in Mexico…”

It further notes: “Companies such as Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. are betting on this growth. One reason CP bought the Kansas City Southern Railway in 2021 was to create a continental network that encompassed Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.” In May 2023, Bnamericas reported that the Government of Mexico had invited Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) to participate in the Maya Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec isthmus rail corridor between Oaxaca and Veracruz states.

More mining and energy megaprojects?

The Globe and Mail article also comments: “The regulatory environment can be constraining. [Former president Andrés Manuel] López Obrador reversed an opening of Mexico’s energy market, and around US$3.5-billion worth of investments in Canadian mining projects in the country have been stalled by regulatory challenges, according to the mining committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.”

And now Mining.com reports: “Mexico and Canada will present an joint action plan on minerals, infrastructure and supply chains in the second half of the year, Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Monday after meeting with Canada’s Minister of Trade, Dominic LeBlanc, in Mexico City. ‘We are preparing during the next month the action plan between Mexico and Canada in order to expand investment, increase commerce, reduce regulatory difficulties or obstacles, and facilitate investment,’ Ebrard told journalists. He also said a delegation of Mexico’s finance ministry will visit Canada to continue conversations, without providing a date.”

Security

CBC News adds: “The Canadian delegation arrives as authorities grapple with last month’s kidnapping of 10 workers with the Vancouver-based mining firm Vizsla Silver Corp., in the state of Sinaloa. Five have since been found dead, according to authorities who have linked the case to a faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel.”

The CBC article further notes: “Ottawa is ‘very concerned’ about the case, said LeBlanc, but added there is ‘no daylight’ between the two governments on security matters and the protection of Canadian citizens, businesses and investments in Mexico. He said Canada and Mexico maintain open and transparent discussions on security issues and that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government ‘has made very, very considerable movement forward in the security context in Mexico.’”

AFP notes: “LeBlanc said that security should be a priority and announced that the Canadian Royal Mounted Police plans to double the number of officials who work in the Canadian Embassy in Mexico this year.”

Security for communities

But The Los Angeles Times also reports on insecurity for communities and environmental defenders. It notes: “The mine workers’ disappearance in late January brought more troops into the mountains as they searched by air and on the ground for signs of them. …Roque Vargas, a human rights activist for people displaced by violence in the area, said that ‘all of the hubbub has scattered the organized crime guys’ but he worries they could return. He and others are also concerned about being mistaken for bad guys and attacked by security forces when they leave their town, because it has happened elsewhere in the state. ‘We’ve practically been abandoned’, he said.”

That report adds: “Mines, along with other businesses like avocado groves and pipelines carrying gasoline, have long attracted organized crime’s attention in Mexico as a source of extortion payments or to steal the extracted material. Saucedo, who has researched cases in Guanajuato, Sinaloa and Sonora, said he has also seen cases where mines take advantage of armed groups to control mine opponents. The Mexican government has said it has no reports that Vizsla was extorted. Sheinbaum said that her administration would talk with all mining companies in Mexico ‘to offer the support they require’.”

Human rights defenders and journalists

PBI-Canada is following the news this week about the Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico, specifically in relation to the safety and security needs of human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico.

Notably, we are looking to news reports for potential implications of any expansion of Canadian mining, energy/pipeline and transportation infrastructure on the safety and security of human rights defenders and journalists.

Last week, aware of this Team Canada Trade Mission, PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico, alongside the Space for Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) organized a webinar with the call to strengthen the Protection Mechanism and protective measures for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico.

Mario Hurtado Cardozo of Espacio OSC commented: “Violence against human rights defenders and journalists doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in a very specific context where you have different interests that all come together: economic interests, state interests, institutional interests, and institutional impunity.”

He highlighted three Canadian mining projects of concern: the Equinox Gold Los Filos mine, Fortuna Silver San José mine and the New Gold Cerro de San Pedro mine. Indigenous communities have also raised concerns about TC Energy pipelines on their territories. And there have been concerns expressed about railway megaprojects including the Mayan Train (that CPKC was invited to join).

You can watch the webinar in Spanish here.

PBI-Canada is monitoring news reports and official announcements from cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament, Embassy officials and corporate representatives to see if some attention is given to these concerns.

Integrated protection policies needed for human rights defenders and journalists with Canadian megaprojects in Mexico: Espacio OSC

By
Brent Patterson
-

On February 12, PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico, alongside the Space for Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC), organized a webinar on the strengthening of the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico.

You can watch the webinar in Spanish here.

In response to a question about the Protection Mechanism and Canadian companies in Mexico, Mario Hurtado Cardozo of Espacio OSC stated:

“Violence against human rights defenders and journalists doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in a very specific context where you have different interests that all come together: economic interests, state interests, institutional interests, and institutional impunity.

With extractive projects and infrastructure there are a lot of Canadian interests, particularly in mining. There are a lot of Canadian companies involved in mining. …And a lot of them are on Indigenous territories. Lots of them haven’t gone through the proper free, prior and informed consent. And they’ve had huge social, cultural, and environmental impacts. Huge impacts on the criminalization of protests when communities oppose the imposition of these projects. …And violating the rights of Indigenous peoples. As well as the attacks against journalists who document these things in compliance with their role.

To give you some specific cases.

Equinox Gold – Los Filos mine in Eduardo Neri, Guerrero

One is the Los Filos in Guerrero. This is Equinox Gold, a Canadian company, and there is constant issues with Indigenous communities because of the environmental impacts and the ways it is affecting their access to water. There is also the presence of criminal groups. Human rights defenders who were demanding consultation and reparations have been threatened and harassed and have had threats against their lives. …The protection mechanism needs to respond to this in a community way to be effective. Unfortunately, today there’s a lot to do in the federal protection mechanism in terms of a community response for protection.

Fortuna Silver Mines – San José mine in San José del Progreso, Oaxaca

There is also El Progreso in Oaxaca that is linked to Fortuna mining, the Canadian company. There has been killings and attacks against human rights defenders, acts of criminalization, and also fragmentation of the community with those in favour of the mining initiative and those who are against. There is continued risk for the leaders and journalists who are documenting the impacts of this project. In this case there has been no sanctions and completely without justice. And so the protection mechanism has done nothing, there just doing palliative measures. So, one of the things we’ve said a lot, not to the mechanism specifically because there are lots of different bodies, and because the Attorney General’s office is also involved, but they need to be much more proactive in the investigations when violations have taken place. …When crimes are committed against defenders, they really need to push forward with investigations into that.

New Gold – Cerro de San Pedro mine in San Luis Potosí

And there’s San Pedro de Potosi which is linked to New Gold, another Canadian company, and there has been a long, long court case. They found in favour of the community. The aggression here is the court system. And so some don’t see it as an attack because they are not attacking the life of people, but it can be selling someone’s name, or attacking their economic viability, and also freedom. So, what we have said in this way, is that the mechanism should also be much more proactive in this sense. Coordinating with the public defence bodies when human rights defenders are being criminalized in this way and providing them with a much better defence, and also support to victims and making sure they have proper representation, and given them support in the costs that are involved in civil or criminal cases when they are criminalized in this way.

Common patterns

And so very common patterns. Projects that are imposed without any guarantees, criminalization of the defence of rights, a state response that is very fragmented. So when we are faced with this the protection mechanism is indispensable but at the moment it is completely failing, it needs to get stronger and it needs to get much more active and collaborate much better with the other bodies that are involved. It needs to be proactive in community, individual, and all of these different ways. It needs to be an integrated approach. Many of these risks are territorial and collective and it needs to recognize that and therefore the protection mechanism must cover these measures and not just individual protection measures.

In a country where 90 per cent of crimes against human rights defenders and journalists are not brought to justice, this injustice means there are no guarantees for non-repetition. They need to coordinate with other bodies in the state and also recognize the role of transnational companies, there needs to be things related to due diligence in terms of human rights, and so with megaprojects, such as the Canadian involvement in Mexico, they often happen in these areas of conflict, so you need this integrated policy to deal with it. They also need to seek to create situations in which human rights defenders and journalists can do their work safely. This isn’t a favour the state is giving them, it’s a state’s duty. The state needs to work together in all of its different instances to make sure this response actually protects human rights defenders.

What would it mean to actually integrate the protection mechanism into all of these different bodies? Environmental issues, environmental impact, consultation, identification of risks, all of the channeling of cases, all of these different bodies need to take a proactive role, they need to work together, for education, awareness raising, prevention and all these different things. If all of these act together, it can be stronger and also increase the willingness of the higher level bodies in the state to make sure investment, human rights, the rule of law, and protection can actually be promoted, and to ensure that human rights defenders and journalists can be safe in their work.”

To listen to this response in Spanish, go to the 52-minute mark here.

PBI-Canada notes British High Court ruling, considers its implications for the defenders of Palestinian human rights

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Solidarity with Palestine Action. Mexico City, Mexico, August 2025. Photo by ProtoplasmaKid.

Our colleagues at Peace Brigades International-United Kingdom (PBI-UK) have posted on social media:

“UN Human Rights Chief:  UK ban of Palestine Action a ‘disturbing misuse of counter-terrorism legislation’ and ‘an impermissible restriction’ on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly & association. The decision should be rescinded.”

At that time, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk stated: “I urge the UK Government to rescind its decision to proscribe Palestine Action and to halt investigations and further proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of this proscription. I also call on the UK Government to review and revise its counter-terrorism legislation, including its definition of terrorist acts, to bring it fully in line with international human rights norms and standards.”

Since the UK government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group on July 5, 2025, British police have arrested at least 2,489 individuals for showing support to Palestine Action. This included for simply holding a cardboard sign that says: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

High Court ruling

The Toronto Star now reports: “Britain’s High Court ruled Friday [February 13] that the government’s decision to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful, but it kept the ban in place pending another hearing while the government prepares an appeal.”

The article adds: “[The justices] gave lawyers for the two sides until Feb. 20 to prepare for that hearing.”

The Guardian further reports: “The Metropolitan police has released a statement after the high court’s ruling this morning, warning that the proscription remains in place and so showing support for Palestine Action is still a criminal offence.”

Shrinking space in Europe

The Brussels-based Solidar has noted in relation to Palestinian solidarity protests in the European Union (EU): “In at least 12 EU member states, authorities have taken disproportionate measures, including the pre-emptive banning of protests based on apparent risk to ‘public order’ and ‘security’.”

This European network of civil society organizations notes disproportionate measures by authorities to quell protests in Italy and Germany, and incidents of excessive force in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

In Canada

In December 2024, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) stated: “Across Canada and internationally, we are seeing a marked rise in violent repression of the Palestine solidarity movement. Independent Jewish Voices condemns the mounting criminalization of Palestine solidarity activism, and the use of excessive force by police to intimidate and harass activists.”

In March 2025, the BCCLA also stated: “Over the past 16 months we have witnessed a widespread pattern of professional discipline, loss of educational and training opportunities, censure, harassment, and the criminalization of individuals who have exercised their right to free political expression in calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide and demanding those actions cease. Such heavy-handed responses cast a chilling shadow over civil liberties and advocacy for Palestinian human rights across Canada.”

And in April 2025, Toronto Metropolitan University professor Shiri Pasternak and University of Windsor law professors Jillian Rogin and Joshua Sealy-Harrington wrote in The Breach: “As Palestinian solidarity organizers face dramatic arrests and deportations in a sweeping crackdown on dissent in the United States, some Canadian lawyers are taking notes. …Lawfare is being deployed to control the narrative about Israel’s genocide in Gaza—branding as “antisemitic” criticism of Israel, support for international law, or even reference to Palestinian rights, speech, and culture.”

Bill C-9

In October 2025, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) posted: “The federal government recently introduced Bill C-9 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places) – with the declared intent to make Canadians safer. Instead, this legislative proposal creates new criminal laws that risk serious and unjustified infringements on Charter-protected fundamental freedoms, including the criminalization of peaceful protest.”

In mid-December 2025, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) commented: “The version of the Bill being debated in the House of Commons has the potential to infringe on our hard fought-for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association with little to no oversight. Parliament should not pass this Bill without considerable amendment. As drafted, the Bill threatens labour rights, fundamental freedoms, the right to protest, and public accountability.”

Palestinian human rights defenders

We are following these issues from the perspective that the protests that uphold the role of the International Criminal Court, the rulings of the International Court of Justice, adherence to the Arms Trade Treaty and Genocide Convention, and support the overall the architecture of international law, are ultimately about protecting civilian life and the lives of human rights defenders who are at further risk without these protections.

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

The organization, founded in 2001 to protect human rights defenders, says the numbers are undoubtedly higher. They note: “In some regions and countries, including Palestine, the documentation of cases is highly challenging, if not virtually impossible.” They clearly state, however, that “those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

Global Witness has also commented: “Documenting killings and disappearances  of land and environmental defenders within these contexts [of conflict and violence in occupied territories] is challenging and has not been possible for 2024. To do so in the future, it is vital to situate the work of Palestinian defenders within the wider struggle for self-determination and their land and environmental rights.”

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading

-Peace Brigades International statement on genocide in Gaza: PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire (February 28, 2024).

– Arrest of Palestinian solidarity activists in Ottawa raises concerns about repression of protests against weapons companies (PBI-Canada, November 21, 2024).

PBI-Mexico signs statement in support of “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Centre and their work with farmworkers in Guerrero

By
Brent Patterson
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Excerpts from this statement posted on the “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Centre website include:

“Organizations committed to defending human rights in Mexico express our deep concern regarding the statements made by the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of the state of Guerrero, Omar Estrada Bustos, in which he claims that the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre ‘recruits’ farmworkers for companies not affiliated with the National Employment Service.

These statements are not only inaccurate, but they also distort and delegitimize the historical work of the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre…

The organization documents labor and human rights violations, strengthens capacity for advocacy, and maintains support centers such as the Comprehensive Services Unit (USI), also known as the Day Laborer’s House, in Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero, where thousands of families receive food, medical care, and shelter each year during their migration journeys.

Tlachinollan does not act as a labor intermediary in its creation; rather, it registers, documents, and supports the day laborer families.

Many farmworker families are forced to accept jobs offered or advertised in various locations, including the Comprehensive Services Unit (USI) and its surrounding areas, and to work in undignified conditions that violate their rights. These families continue to migrate in extremely vulnerable situations, facing extortion by organized crime and abuse by municipal and state police, while in the agricultural fields, conditions of labor exploitation persist amidst a constantly weakening labor inspection system and a lack of clarity and transparency.”

The full statement can be read here.

Signatories of this statement include among many others the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project, Oxfam Mexico, the National Network of Agricultural Day Laborers, the Network of Women Trade Unionists, and the Center for Reflection and Labor Action (CEREAL-Guadalajara) within the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations ‘All Rights for All’ (Red TDT).

As noted here on the PBI-Mexico website: “Because of its serious security situation, PBI has accompanied the ‘Tlachinollan’ Human Rights Center since late 2003.”

PBI-Canada co-organizes webinar with PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC on Protection Mechanism in Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still from Twitch.

On February 12, Peace Brigades International-Canada collaborated with Peace Brigades International-Mexico and the Space of Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) to host a 90-minute webinar to help amplify the call to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Mexico.

The webinar included two human rights defenders – Elizabeth Mosqueda and Hugo Arreola – who participated in an advocacy visit to Ottawa in September 2025.

It also featured Mario Cardozo from Espacio OSC and Aleida Quintana from the National Network of Human Rights Defenders.

The moderator of the webinar was Javier Garate, a member of the Peace Brigades International-Canada Board of Directors.

To watch the video in Spanish, click here.

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