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PBI-Colombia visits the Justice and Peace Colombia office in Bogota

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted: “Visit to the Justice and Peace Colombia office in Bogota.”

PBI-Colombia has highlighted on their website: “J&P’s members have been the target of many security incidents since 1996, including serious threats to their personal integrity, being illegally followed and subjected to illegal wiretapping and surveillance, assassination plots, kidnappings40 and smear campaigns. Despite the signing of the peace agreement between the FARC and the government in 2016 and the transition to the post-conflict phase, in many areas where the Commission works, the armed violence has not stopped. Due to this situation the local communities and the members of J&P who accompany them continue to face high levels of risk.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission since 1994.

Secretary of State Randeep Sarai links aid with trade prior to Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Secretary of State for International Development Randeep Sarai.

The Canadian Press reports: “The MP [Member of Parliament] overseeing foreign aid says Ottawa wants to focus its international assistance efforts on countries that can generate economic spinoffs for Canadians.”

Randeep Sarai, the secretary of state for international development, tells The Canadian Press: “The first priority is focusing our development dollars in a trade and development nexus. Due to the new trade realities that the world is facing — and specifically Canada — I think we need to use development as a positive tool to help create new pathways and create mutual prosperity for the partner countries as well.”

The article further highlights that Sarai says that Canada needs to focus its aid on countries it wants to trade with.

The news report also notes: “[Prime Minister Mark] Carney telegraphed how his government would be linking aid and trade when he appointed MP Yasir Naqvi as parliamentary secretary both to Sarai and to Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu.”

The article concludes with Sarai suggesting more federal top-ups for Canadian programs in regions including Latin America.

Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico

The Canadian Press article appears just prior to a Team Canada Trade Mission to Mexico that will take place from February 15 to 20.

That announcement highlights that Mexico is “Canada’s third-largest merchandise trading partner” and that bilateral trade between Canada and Mexico reached nearly $56 billion in 2024.

Notably, there were also 114 Canadian mining companies operating in Mexico with $13.0 billion in assets in 2024. The Embassy of Canada in Mexico has also noted: “In Mexico, Canada has invested over $10.3 billion dollars in the energy sector alone, including $4.1 billion dollars in renewable energy.”

Calgary-based TC Energy is the largest Canadian investor in Mexico. It’s the company that recently completed the Southeast Gateway (Puerta al Sureste) pipeline.

Mining, pipelines and extractive megaprojects can bring risks for organizations, defenders and communities who raise concerns about their human rights and environmental impacts, as well as to the journalists who report these stories.

Support for the Protection Mechanism

In September 2025, human rights defenders with the Civil Society Space of Organizations (Espacio OSC) asked Global Affairs Canada and Members of Parliament from all parties to support an investment in the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico.

They highlighted Prime Minister Carney’s statement of September 18, 2025, on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Mexico that pledged “$9.9 million in funding for United Nations-led projects to support migrant integration initiatives in Mexico and combat the illicit production and trafficking of fentanyl.”

Notably, the Government of Canada has previously called for the strengthening of the Protection Mechanism during the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico in January 2024.

At that time, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

Webinar, February 12

To hear about the critical need for a strengthened Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico, please join us for this webinar featuring representatives from Espacio OSC.

Register here.

PBI-Canada remains attentive to final investment decisions on LNG Canada Phase 2 and Ksi Lisims in British Columbia

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still: “Get your gun off of me, lower your gun!” PBI-Canada is concerned that heavily-armed raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) against Indigenous land and environmental defenders could be repeated.

In January 2026, The Globe and Mail reported on the pending financial investment decisions to be made on two megaprojects opposed by Indigenous land and environmental defenders in northern British Columbia.

The newspaper highlighted:

– “Industry analysts expect LNG Canada to make a final investment decision by the end of 2026 on whether to proceed with Phase 2.”

– “Ksi Lisims is expected to make a final investment decision in 2026.”

The Globe and Mail had previously reported in October 2025: “The backers of Ksi Lisims plan to make a final investment decision by the end of this year [2025], in hopes of starting LNG exports to Asia in 2029.”

By November 2025, Natural Gas Intelligence reported: “Backers of Ksi Lisims LNG expect to reach a final investment decision (FID) next year [2026]… The project’s developers were aiming to sanction it this year [2025], but they remain in mature conversations to sign up additional offtakers and secure construction loan financing.”

Two weeks ago, the Prince George Citizen reported the British Columbia Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions Adrian Dix saying: “We hope to be approaching a final investment decision [on Ksi Lisims].”

Once the final investment decision is made, construction could begin quickly. Western LNG spokesperson Rebecca Scott has previously stated: “We would be starting construction soon thereafter.”

Ksi Lisims LNG terminal

The Globe and Mail article also notes that in November 2025 Prime Minister Mark Carney added Ksi Lisims LNG to its list of major projects of national interest to be considered for fast-tracking by the Major Projects Office.

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

LNG Canada Phase 2

The Globe and Mail also notes that Prime Minister Carney had announced in September 2025 that LNG Canada Phase 2 was on its list of major projects that it has recommended to the MPO for fast-tracking.

The National Observer has previously reported: “If LNG Canada Phase 2 is built … additional compressor stations will need to be built [on Wet’suwet’en territory] to squeeze more gas into the pipeline.” And the Canadian Press has noted: “Hereditary chiefs say two of the proposed compressor stations that would be a part of Coastal GasLink’s Phase 2 would be located on their traditional territory.”

Land and environmental defenders

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

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

In August 2024, they established a blockade on a road to stop truck transport related to the construction of the pipeline.

Photo: Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs: “As we stand our ground and turn back LNG trucks, the love and support you are all showing us at the Genada [Frog Clan] Injunction is overwhelming!”

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

RCMP violence against defenders

Amnesty International has documented the “harassment, intimidation, unlawful surveillance and criminalization” by the RCMP C-IRG against land defenders opposed to the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Front Line Defenders has also called on authorities in Canada to comply with their obligations under international law to recognize, respect and reinforce the work of human rights defenders.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks has described what land defenders experienced as “psychological warfare”.

“RCMP snipers meant to intimidate and abuse”

The Tyee has reported that RCMP Sergeant Ryan Arnold, who led the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team on November 19, 2021, said RCMP snipers, carrying carbine assault rifles modified to make them more effective at longer distances, were present to provide “a quick response unit” for officers making the arrests.

After that raid, Toronto-based Canadian Forces College Department of Defence Studies professor Chris Madsen told PressProgress: “Emergency Response Teams [ERTs] are being improperly used in suppressing peaceful indigenous protests on their own lands. Use of the ERT in this situation is improper because the protestors are clearly neither armed nor offering resistance, other than perhaps words.”

University of Winnipeg criminal justice professor Kevin Walby also told PressProgress: “I think the use of the ERT and the snipers is clearly meant to intimidate and abuse. It is meant to be traumatizing.”

Video still: RCMP with assault rifles on Wet’suwet’en territory, November 19, 2021. CBC News/Michael Toledano.

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

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

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

Additional reading: PBI-Canada continues to monitor the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission systemic investigation of the RCMP C-IRG (January 23, 2026).

Country report: The export of “military goods” to Indonesia; attacks against human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The Indonesian National Armed Forces has been accused of committing human rights abuses in Papua. Photo by Gitoyo aryo – Own work.

This year, Peace Brigades International-Canada is researching the export of military goods/strategic goods and technology from Canada and highlighting their potential impact on the safety and security of human rights defenders in five countries: Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, Palestine and the United States.

Last year, The Maple highlighted: “Canada is a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which is enshrined in the Export and Import Permits Act. Under this law, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs must not approve export permits for military goods if there is a substantial risk the goods could be used to facilitate serious human rights abuses or violations of international law.”

INDONESIA

State violence against human rights defenders

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

According to this Global Witness database, 2 of these land and environmental defenders were killed by the Armed Forces; 5 were killed by the Police; 2 were killed by Private security guards, Police; 1 was killed by Corporations, Police; 1 was killed by Organized crime / mafias, Government officials; 2 were killed by Private security guards; 5 were killed by Corporations; 2 were killed by Organised crime / mafias, Corporations; 1 was killed by Hitmen; 1 by Others; and 3 by Unknown actors.

Front Line Defenders has also documented the killing of 9 human rights defenders in Indonesia since 2019.

Additionally, in their 2024/25 Report on Indonesia, Amnesty International noted: “In Papua, unlawful killings of civilians continued with impunity within the context of the conflict between the Indonesian military and armed separatist groups. In May, in its concluding observations, the UN Human Rights Committee raised concerns about extrajudicial killings of Indigenous Papuans.”

And in May 2025, Human Rights Watch highlighted: “The security forces’ military operations in the densely forested Central Highlands areas [of West Papua] have allegedly killed and injured dozens of civilians with drone strikes and the indiscriminate use of explosive munitions, and displaced thousands of Indigenous Papuans.”

Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, adds: “The Indonesian military has a long history of abuses in West Papua that poses a particular risk to the Indigenous communities.”

“Irresponsible Arms Transfers”: Amnesty International

The Amnesty International The State of the World’s Human Rights (April 2025) report notes: “Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

According to Government of Canada figures, during the period of 2012 to 2024 when 25 land and environmental defenders were killed in Indonesia, Canada exported almost $45 billion of so-called “military goods and technology” to that country.

History of Canadian arms exports to Indonesia

In February 2018, David Webster, an Associate professor of Human Rights Studies at King’s University College at Western University, wrote:

“Indonesia notoriously invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975, with more than 100,000 Timorese perishing under the subsequent military occupation. From 1975 to 1991 [under Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, John Turner, and Brian Mulroney] Canada nonetheless was willing to sell arms to Indonesia.

In 1991, a massacre in East Timor prompted Barbara McDougall, foreign minister in Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government, to impose an arms embargo. There was no suggestion that Canadian-made arms had been used in the massacre, but McDougall was taking no chances.

Arms sales to Indonesia resumed as Jean Chrétien’s government [that came into office in November 1993] embraced Indonesia, but there was increasing dissent within the Department of Foreign Affairs about it.

In September 1999, after extensive public pressure, foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy imposed an arms embargo as pro-Indonesia militia groups killed, forcibly relocated and terrorized the Timorese population. No evidence was required that Canadian-supplied weapons were being used against civilians. The government simply acted.”

Nevertheless, on August 30, 2020, The Globe and Mail reported: “A Canadian manufacturer was preparing to ship military equipment to Indonesia a year ago even as brutal attacks by Indonesian troops drove thousands in occupied East Timor from their homes, an internal Foreign Affairs department memorandum indicates. The memo suggests Ottawa was reluctant to cancel an export permit for the shipment because officials feared the company would sue the federal government over its handling of military sales.”

“Military Cooperation” in 2025

Most recently, in August 2025, the Department of National Defence issued a media release that stated: “The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan signed a Military Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), the Indonesian National Armed Forces.”

General Carignan is quoted in that media release saying: “Formalizing our military cooperation with a key Indo-Pacific partner like Indonesia is vital to strengthening Canada’s ability to promote peace and stability in the region. By enhancing our interoperability with the Tentara Nasional Indonesia, we ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces remain ready to uphold international law and defend Canadian sovereignty.”

The CANSEC arms show

Peace Brigades International-Canada will be observing the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization against the CANSEC arms show this coming Wednesday May 27, 2026, starting at 8 am at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

While the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the organizer of the CANSEC arms show, does not make public the names of the 60+ international delegations that attend CANSEC, it is likely that Indonesia sends a delegation to CANSEC.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading

PBI-Canada to research links between the export of Canadian “military goods” and state violence against human rights defenders (January 13, 2026)

Thoughts on the Global Affairs Canada “Voices at Risk” guidelines and the Export and Import Permits Act on “military goods” (March 2, 2025).

Public Services International (PSI) affiliates demand investigations into attacks against legitimately elected union leaders in Guatemala

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: René Scup Morán, member and leader of the Guatemalan Education Workers Union (STEG), was killed in September 2024.

Latam Gremial reports: “Affiliates of Public Services International (PSI) expressed concern about the context of violence, insecurity and democratic fragility in Guatemala, and called for state guarantees for work, life and social rights.”

The article continues: “The affiliated and fraternal unions of Public Services International (PSI) in Guatemala released a statement in which they describe a scenario marked by violence, uncertainty and violation of rights, while reiterating their trajectory of struggle for social and labor justice.”

It further highlights: “The organizations also express their solidarity with the families of leaders and workers who have lost their lives and demand ‘serious, impartial and exhaustive’ investigations by the Ministry of the Interior, with the aim of identifying those responsible for the attacks against ‘legitimately elected” union leaders.’”

ITUC report

In its 2025 ITUC Global Rights Index: The World’s Worst Countries for Workers, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) documented: “Trade unionists were killed in five countries: Cameroon, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and South Africa.”

That report documents the killings of three union activists in Guatemala in 2024: Ronaldo Geovany Gómez Godoy, a member of the National Union of Health Workers of Guatemala (SNTSG); René Sucup Morán, a union leader of Sindicato de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de la Educación de Guatemala (STEG); and Anastacio Tzib Caal, a leader in the network of textile maquila unions in Guatemala.

Protection Mechanism

A protection mechanism for human rights defenders was established via Ministerial Accord on August 28, 2024.

Prensa Comunitaria has reported: “The policy defines a human rights defender as ‘any person who, individually or collectively, acts or seeks to act to promote and procure the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms,’ according to international standards. The document also emphasizes that the status of defender is determined exclusively by the activity carried out, regardless of whether he receives remuneration, belongs to an organization or acts occasionally or permanently.”

Further reading: PBI-Guatemala attends the presentation of new public policy for the protection of human rights defenders (November 14, 2025).

We continue to follow this.

ASOPODEHU notes the importance of the Secretariat of Human Rights and the Protection Mechanism in Honduras

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: PBI-Honduras accompanying Dina Meza in 2019.

The Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras (ASOPODEHU) has posted on social media:

“Human rights are not improvised or negotiated. They are guaranteed.

The Secretariat of Human Rights is not a symbolic position or a political appointment: it is a constitutional obligation of the Honduran State and a key element for the protection of dignity, life, and fundamental freedoms.

In a context where violence, impunity, the criminalization of protest, and attacks on journalists and human rights defenders persist, the selection of the head of this institution must be based on technical, ethical, and democratic criteria, not partisan interests.”

La Tribuna reports: “The Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ASOPODEHU) and Young Promoters and Defenders of Human Rights (JOPRODEH) issued a national and international alert statement in response to public information about a possible dissolution of the Honduran Human Rights Secretariat [SEDH], considering that it would be an event of ‘extreme institutional gravity’ and a direct risk to the protection of fundamental rights in the country.”

The article adds: “[The organizations] also emphasized that the SEDH fulfills strategic and irreplaceable functions, including the coordination of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators, and Justice Operators, as well as the mechanism for attention to people displaced by violence. Weakening the institution, they warned, could increase the risk of irreparable damage, including attacks on life, personal integrity and freedom.”

Excerpt from statement.

The Associated Press has reported: “Trump-backed businessman Nasry Asfura was sworn in [on January 27] as president of Honduras, and pledged to create jobs, crack down on crime and improve key social services like education and health care.”

The day prior to the swearing in of Asfura, Infobae reported: “The next administration headed by Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura in Honduras is preparing to implement an ambitious reduction of the state apparatus. The elimination of 38 public institutions and a strict austerity policy define a structural shift whose purpose is to optimize spending and generate substantial savings.”

Dina Meza, the director of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras (ASOPODEHU), has been accompanied by Peace Brigades International since 2014.

We continue to follow this.

“Resisting CANSEC: Strength through PEACE” webinar, February 11

By
Brent Patterson
-

We are pleased to be working with the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC-Quakers) on a webinar on February 11 at 7:00 pm ET.

The webinar relates to the CANSEC arms show that will take place on May 27-28 this year at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

The speakers include Kelsey Gallagher from Project Ploughshares and Mel Burns from the Canadian Friends Service Committee.

To register, please click here.

Additional reading

PBI-Canada observes protests at the DSEI arms fair in London, hears concerns about violations of human rights (September 12, 2025)

Protest challenges CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa; thirteen arrested at demonstration upholding international laws (May 29, 2025)

You can also follow Shut.down.CANSEC on Instagram here.

PBI-Canada now on UpScrolled!

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International-Canada is now on UpScrolled. To find us there, download the UpScrolled app and search for PBIcanada.

UpScrolled is a social media application that has surged in popularity after US-backed investors and companies took over TikTok last week.

Al Jazeera has reported: “On Wednesday, TikTok permanently banned Emmy Award-winning journalist and Al Jazeera contributor from Gaza, Bisan Owda, sparking outrage and boycott calls from her supporters. The app has also been accused of content censorship around unprecedented ICE violence in the US.”

UpScrolled was founded in July 2025 by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian developer. It is backed by Tech for Palestine.

Al Jazeera also notes: “In a report last year, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese accused IBM and several other Big Tech companies of complicity in what she called ‘Israel’s genocide’. Social media apps like Instagram, X and TikTok have faced accusations of shadow bans by users posting pro-Palestine content.”

Forbes further reports: “UpScrolled’s founder Issam Hijazi said in a post on X Thursday morning the app surpassed 1 million users, a big increase from 150,000 users just a few days prior.”

And Newsweek adds: “Users on X describe it as a ‘no censorship, no billionaires’ social networking app.”

You can find PBI-Canada on UpScrolled (download the app and search PBIcanada), Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook and X.

PBI-Colombia accompanies the CREDHOS 2026 Assessment and Planning session in Barrancabermeja

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) has posted on social media:

“We begin our 2026 Assessment and Planning session, which will be fundamental for analyzing and projecting agendas that will allow us to continue defending life and dignity in the Magdalena Medio region.”

PBI-Canada remembers Ivan Madero’s visit to Canada in November 2019 and our visit with the CREDHOS team in Barrancabermeja, Puerto Wilches, Bajo Simacota and the San Silvestre wetland in July 2022.

We continue to follow, with respect and affection, the work of CREDHOS.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

PBI-Canada to host webinar on strengthening the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico, February 12

By
Brent Patterson
-

(Left to right): Elizabeth Guadalupe Mosqueda Rivera, Héctor Hugo Arreola Galván, Mario Hurtado Cardozo, Aledia Quintana Ordaz.

On Thursday February 12 at 3 pm ET (2 pm in Mexico City), PBI-Mexico, Espacio OSC and PBI-Canada are jointly holding a webinar on strengthening the Protection Mechanism.

The speakers include Elizabeth Guadalupe Mosqueda Rivera (with the Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equity Oaxaca), Héctor Hugo Arreola Galván (with the Zeferino Ladrillero Human Rights Center), Mario Hurtado Cardozo (Espacio OSC) and Aledia Quintana Ordaz (from the National Network of Human Rights Defenders).

To register for this webinar, click here.

This webinar follows the advocacy visit by Elizabeth and Hugo in September 2025 to Ottawa where they met with Members of Parliament, Global Affairs Canada officials, and civil society allies to amplify the call to strengthen the Protection Mechanism.

And it precedes the Team Canada Trade Mission (TCTM) to Mexico from February 15 to 20 that will be led by Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy.

At the United Nations Universal Periodic Review session held on January 24, 2024, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

Stay tuned for updates on this.

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