Home Blog Page 246

PBI-Mexico accompanies Paso del Norte and Families United at search to locate missing persons in Ciudad Juárez

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 19, PBI-Mexico tweeted:

“In recent days, PBI accompanies @CdhPasodelNorte [Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre] and @UnidasVerdad [Families United for Truth and Justice] in a search to locate missing persons in Ciudad Juárez. The search for truth, justice and the return home of the disappeared is essential to guarantee peace and human rights.”

On Facebook, PBI-Mexico also noted: “We recognize and accompany those who walk day by day in search of truth, justice and the return home of all and all the missing. Your walk is a fundamental part of achieving peace and respect for human rights.”

Earlier this month, NBC reported: “Mexico’s National Registry of Missing Persons reported that more than 100,000 people are missing nationwide, including 3,462 in the state of Chihuahua and 911 in the city of Juarez.”

In July 2020, NBC had reported (when 73,200 people were missing): “The majority of disappearances have been reported since 2006 and 40 percent were recorded since December 2018, since the start of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has accompanied the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre since 2013.

PBI-Honduras expresses concern at detention of Guapinol River defenders at police station

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Guapinol River defenders detained at police station in Olancho.

On March 18, Criterio reported: “22 days after they were released – after 914 days of arbitrary detention – Guapinol’s defenders have still not received their letters of freedom from the Trujillo Court.”

The article further explains: “This is a situation that recently caused harm to the defenders, who were arrested by agents of the National Police when they were going to the National Registry of Persons to process their new national identification documents, the lawyer of the Justice for the Peoples law firm, Kenia Oliva, told Criterio.hn.”

“Oliva said they have been requesting the issuance of the eight letters of freedom to the Trujillo Court since February 28. To date, the Tribunal has not fulfilled its responsibility.”

The article also notes: “Peace Brigades International expressed its concern at the detention of the defenders of the Guapinol River in a police post for not having yet received their letters of freedom. ‘The defense of human rights must be able to be carried out in conditions of freedom and security,’ the organization published.”

This PBI-Honduras tweet says: “We express our concern about the retention of the defenders of the river @guapinolre in a police station in Olancho. The defenders have not received their freedom cards. The defense of human rights must be able to be carried out in conditions of freedom and security.”

It has also tweeted: “Three weeks ago, the defenders of @guapinolre were released. However, it continues: No freedom cards. No progress in reparation for damages and investigation of arbitrary detention. Without respecting the declaration of a municipality free of mining in an open council.”

Los Pinares mine continues

Last month, EFE reported: “Los Pinares has installed a processing plant for iron oxide pellets in the municipality of Tocoa, department of Colón and has requested an ‘expansion of the area of the concession from 100 hectares to 1,000 hectares.”

Now @Guapinolre has tweeted: “State declared the country free of mining but made an exception for Los Pinares/Ecotek – even though there is environmental contamination – so that it can continue destroying Carlos Escaleras National Park, showing how it succumbs to mining business pressure and economic influences.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied the defenders of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers for the past three years.

Canadian company hopes to commercially develop fracking prospect near Puerto Wilches, Colombia “in the mid to long-term”

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: CREDHOS president Ivan Madero at a protest against fracking in 2021.

On March 18 during the Q4 (fourth quarter) earnings conference call for Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd., Chief Executive Officer Charle Gamba responded to questions from Chen Lin from Lin Asset Management about fracking in Colombia.

LIN: “You have some shale value opportunity if I remember correctly. Do you have any plan for this year or the next in the near-term?”

GAMBA: “Yes, you are quite correct. We do hold interest in two non-conventional shale blocks basically with ConocoPhillips. And we’re really just waiting to see the results of the drilling pilots that Exxon and Ecopetrol are going to conduct next year to test the commercial viability of that resource. So, we’re sort of just sitting and waiting on those results to come out. And if they are successful, hopefully, that’s something we could develop in the mid to long-term, but no plans this year or next.”

LIN: “Do you know when their results will come up?”

GAMBA: “They are planning to execute the horizontal fracking pilots next year. That’s Ecopetrol with their partners Exxon on their two pilots that they are going to be executing very close to our blocks with ConocoPhillips. So, I expect that we should see results from those probably second half of next year.”

The full transcript of the Q4 call can be read here.

In April 2021, Gamba commented that the two pilots are “positive steps towards realizing the commercial potential of the unconventional shale oil field in Colombia and specifically for the resources prospects that we have through our position in the Middle Magdalena Valley basin.”

Canacol holds a 20 per cent stake in the VMM-2/Plata and VMM-3/Piranga projects with ConcoPhillips holding the remaining stake.

The two pilots

In November 2020, Colombia’s national oil company was awarded approval for the Kale project near the municipality of Puerto Wilches.

Then in April 2021, ExxonMobil was awarded the contract for the Platero project, also near Puerto Wilches. That block is 70 per cent control by Exxon as the operator, with the remaining 30 per cent held by Toronto-based Sintana Energy.

Fracking opponents threatened

Environmental defenders in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia continue to be threatened for their opposition to fracking.

Last month, Carolina Agón and Ramón Abril were named in pamphlets circulated by paramilitary groups. Carolina and Ramón were told to leave the area or face the consequences. Ten days later the home of Yuvelis Natalia Morales was broken into.

Carolina is a member of CREDHOS, Ramón is a Board member of CREDHOS, and Yuvelis is with a youth group accompanied by CREDHOS.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project accompanies the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS).

We continue to follow this situation closely.

Cordatec tweet: “Thanks for the information, the two Canacol fracking blocks are located in our municipality, San Martín, Cesar.”

PBI-Colombia accompanies Justice and Peace Commission at the Perla Amazónica reserve

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 18, PBI-Colombia tweeted:

“[On] #18M and #19M [PBI] accompanies @Justiciaypazcol [Justice and Peace Commission] in the Perla Amazónica Peasant Reserve Zone [ZRCPA] in #Putumayo, where thanks to the work of ADISPA [the Association for the Integral Sustainable Development of the Perla Amazónica], 90 young people are in defense of #life and #territory.”

The ZRCPA is located near Puerto Asis in the department of Putumayo, which is situated in south-west Colombia near the border with Ecuador.

PBI-Colombia accompanies the Justice and Peace Commission that in turn accompanies Jani Silva, the president of ADISPA.

Amnesty International has highlighted: “Jani Silva has dedicated her life to protecting the Amazon and the life that exists in it from efforts by armed groups and multinational companies to take control of her territory.”

The Guardian has also reported: “Silva says she has seen firsthand the effects of big business in Putumayo, where, she believes, oil companies ‘exploit irresponsibly’ and contaminate the environment.”

And PBI-Colombia has noted: “Over the years, one of the great challenges they have faced has been the arrival and expansion of oil companies.”

“According to Jani, these projects came about in the early 2000s when the people leading the ZRCPA were less active due of the threats they were receiving.”

That timing coincides, as Canadian Dimension has reported, with Canada’s Petrobank investing $50 million in its Putumayo oil operations.

Petrobank was a Calgary-based company whose Putumayo operations were taken over by Calgary-based Petrominerales Ltd. in December 2010. Calgary-based Pacific Rubiales (now Frontera Energy Ltd.) bought Petrominerales in September 2013.

Amnesty International has noted: “[Jani Silva] has also denounced the socio-environmental effects of oil operations, including those of Amerisur.”

It adds: “Amerisur is a hydrocarbon exploitation company operating mainly in Putumayo basins [whose partners have included] Canacol Energy Ltd. (Canada) [and] Pacific Exploration & Production (Frontera Energy, Canada).”

In November 2019, GeoPark purchased Amerisur.

We continue to follow this situation.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Nunca Pares group seeking justice for women sexually assaulted on university campus

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 18, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanies the Nunca Pares association to a unilateral hearing at the Public Ministry.”

The PBI-Guatemala website further explains: “The Association of Victims and Relatives of Violence against Women in Universities, Nunca Pares, accompanies university students who are survivors of sexual violence.”

“It demands the application of protocols for providing attention to victims of sexual violence in state institutions (Public Prosecutor’s Office -MP-, National Civil Police -PNC- and National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala -INACIF-) and the creation of similar structures for protection within Guatemalan universities.”

“Its principal objective is the non-repetition of these crimes.”

PBI-Guatemala adds: “Nunca Pares demands justice for the rapes suffered by several students in January 2020.”

It further notes: “According to the collective, these rapes were committed by members of the ‘Honorable Committee for the Friday of the Sorrows Strike’, a kind of fraternity of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), during an initiation rite and within the grounds of the University itself.”

This article adds: “In Guatemala City, on Saturday, January 25, 2020, around 4 p.m., two young female university students were admitted to the San Juan de Dios General Hospital in an unconscious state, after attending the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC).”

“The girls were physically and emotionally assaulted, as well as forced to ingest an anesthetic.”

That article further notes: “In the hospital and in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, they were treated with delay and stigmatized by medical and justice personnel.”

And Ruda has reported: “The movement demands justice, both from the Public Ministry -MP- and the rector of the University of San Carlos -USAC- Murphy Paiz, for the young women who were victims of different types of violence.”

It has also been reported that: “According to a survey conducted in 2019 with more than 700 students, 89% of women at the University of San Carlos have experienced harassment on campus. 30% of bullies are professors.”

Nunca Pares says: “We fight so that no young student, no woman suffers psychological, physical, sexual violence, harassment and any type of violence in the USAC. Because the lives of all young women matter, we demand truth and justice!”

PBI-Guatemala began accompanying Nunca Pares in April 2021.

Photo: The launch of Nunca Pares.

 

Canada set to spend $76.8 billion on Lockheed Martin F-35 warplanes

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Government of Canada’s Future fighter capability project webpage notes that a contract will be awarded in 2022 for “88 advanced fighter aircraft”.

Yesterday, Major-General Eric Kenny, commander of the Canadian NORAD region, also commented he expects the decision within the year.

While suggesting the possibility of a delay, the Ottawa Citizen reported late last year: “The winning bidder [could] be announced in March/April of 2022.”

Now, the Toronto Star editorial board comments: “The government should finally stop dithering on the decade-long embarrassment of procuring fighters. It should make a decision, most likely in favour of the Lockheed-Martin F-35 that it once derided, and get on with it.”

The call for Canada to buy the F-35 has also recently been made by Conservative national defence critic Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, retired Canadian naval intelligence officer Andrew Chester, and Canada’s former chief of defence staff Tom Lawson.

The F-35 is also believed to be the choice of the Canadian military.

The CBC has previously reported: “The military signed three MOUs with the U.S. in 1997, 2002 and 2006 committing Canada in some measure to the new F-35 fighter jets, but had not enlisted Public Works, which vets federal procurements.”

As a partner country in the development of the F-35, Canada has already invested USD $613 million (approximately CAD $773 million) in the warplane since 1997.

This spring, Canada will pay another USD $71.7 million (about CAD $90 million) to the US military for the development of this fighter jet.

This coincides with the upcoming federal budget expected in the first week of April. The Canadian Press reports: “Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has hinted that more money may be coming for the military in her upcoming budget as Canada sees many of its allies boosting their defence spending.”

While an official estimate has not been released, it has been calculated that buying the F-35s will cost $76.8 billion over 30 years.

All of this coincides with the upcoming Global Mobilization to #StopLockheedMartin on April 28, the same week as the company’s annual meeting.

In a statement released today on the war in Ukraine, Peace Brigades International highlights: “The dominant security discourse associated with the militarization of societies is a setback. Billions more spent on weapons will not make the world safer.”

We continue to follow this situation.

PBI statement of concern on human rights violations in the context of the war in Ukraine and the escalation of the conflict

By
Brent Patterson
-

Concern over human rights violations in the context of the war in Ukraine and the escalation of the conflict

Peace Brigades International expresses its deepest concern about the serious violations of human rights that are occurring in the context of the war in Ukraine and the escalation of the conflict.

“As an organization committed to peace, nonviolent conflict resolution and an end to militarization, we add our voice to those calling for an immediate end to this war.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 1,761 civilian casualties (636 killed, 1,125 injured) in Ukraine from February 24 (when the Russian aggression began) to March 13. The OHCHR has stated that it “believes that the real figures are considerably higher”.

It has also been reported that 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers and up to 6,000 Russian soldiers were killed during this period.

The provision of military aid and the legitimization of a warmongering discourse are causes for extreme concern.

Despite the call of the UN Secretary Antonio Guterres for the “immediate cessation of hostilities and serious negotiations based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law”, many countries have responded to the crisis by exporting weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, and promising to increase military spending. We are concerned that this initiative could perpetuate armed conflict and suffering for the civilian population worldwide.

Likewise, we are concerned that under the slogan of “security”, countries and armies that perpetrate serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity are recognized as “important allies” of NATO.

“From PBI we call on all parties, in particular political leaders and the media, to take extreme care in their language during public speeches, and in particular, to explore all possible diplomatic channels for the construction of peace.”

In a scenario of international polarization, the stigmatization of pacificism is alarming.

We deplore that over 14,000 anti-war protesters have been arrested in Russia since the war began. We also hold concerns around the March 4th passing of a new Russian law making anti-war demonstrations and independent reporting on the war and army illegal, with sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

We are also troubled by the punishments applied by both Russia and Ukraine to conscientious objectors and fear for the situation of human rights defenders both in Ukraine and in Russia.

“PBI stands in solidarity with Ukrainian and Russian civil society initiatives providing mutual support and nonviolent alternatives in the midst of war, particularly women’s organizations and movements.”

In a global scenario marked by the climate emergency, the desire to stop financing the Russian military by stopping Russian oil and gas exports to Europe must not result in more extractivism instead of climate action.

For example, the Canadian government has stated that it could increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels per day to offset Russian oil exports to Europe. At the same time, the Canadian company TC Energy continues to build the Coastal GasLink pipeline in the Wet’suwet’en territory without free, prior and informed consent. Notably, the steel for that pipeline came from Evraz PLC, whose largest shareholder is a Russian oligarch.

“PBI calls for binding legislation that requires companies to fully respect Human Rights throughout their supply chain and guarantee sustainable economic, social, and environmental investment.”

The dominant security discourse associated with the militarization of societies is a setback. Billions more spent on weapons will not make the world safer.

In 2020, the world military spending grew over 2.5% to almost $2 trillion. Russia spent $61.7 billion, while Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Canada spent a combined $246 billion. The United States spent $778 billion, bringing NATO spending to more than $1 trillion in 2020.

Since the war started, countries including Spain, Germany, France and Canada have all stated they will increase their military spending. Spain currently spends 1.4% of its GDP on the military; its government now says it will increase that to 2%. Canada intends to go from 1.39% of its GDP spent on the military to “exceeding the two per cent level” according to the Minister of Defence – likely an increase of $20 billion per year.

“At PBI, we are committed to a concept of security linked to protecting human rights and respecting life, ecosystems and common goods. The intensification of the conflict in this war, and all wars occurring across the globe, calls for the urgent need to strengthen civil and development cooperation instruments aimed at conflict management and the promotion of an effective and lasting peace.”

Haudenosaunee land defender warns developer intends to reapply for injunction against 1492 Land Back Lane

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 17, Haudenosaunee land defender Skyler Williams posted on Facebook:

“After a year of relative peace, we have received word from what would have been the developer at Landback Lane. They intend to reapply for their injunction. We are taking this very seriously. We see it as an open threat against our people and our lands. The violence they can wield with the help of the courts and cops is disgusting.

On March 22nd Foxgate will be looking to schedule a time with the court to have this process restarted. This same process led to 50 people being arrested, it saw us get shot at, tasered, and beaten. Families stood by and watched their loved ones dragged from their cars and swarmed with brutality.

This has been an outright failure, when it comes to the federal or provincial governments coming to the table with anything that looks like gaining the consent of our nations.

There is a path toward peace. Courts, cops, guns and jails are not it.

We have done what we can to replenish the land. We have planted trees and gardens with the help of so many. This is Haudenosaunee land and it will remain that for our future generations.”

Background

On July 19, 2020, Haudenosaunee land defenders began a reoccupation of a 25-acre area of land about near the city of Caledonia, located about an hour southwest of Toronto.

Foxgate Developments planned to build at least 218 houses on this land. That was reportedly the first phase of a 1,000 unit housing development.

The Haudenosaunee asserted it was their territory through the Haldimand Treaty of 1784 that granted them an area of 950,000 acres in southern Ontario.

On July 31, 2020, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) escorted a court sheriff who delivered a first court injunction against the reoccupation.

Kate Gunn, a Vancouver-based lawyer with First Peoples Law, has also pointed out that an injunction is not a determination of which party is right, rather it seeks, in principle, to preserve the status quo until the underlying dispute is resolved.

That means, for instance, that a land developer can more easily persuade the court that the economic harm is greater to them than communities seeking to protect their culture and traditions from centuries of land dispossession.

Williams has stated: “This development must be seen as being yet another instance in an ongoing history of colonial land theft and genocide, that it is people from Six Nations who are facing the greater harm if this matter is decided against their interests.”

Over a 350 day period, more than 38 people were arrested and more than $16.3 million was spent on policing this peaceful reoccupation.

Then on July 2, 2021, the developer backed down – the land defenders had stopped the development on their territory.

Between 1980 and 1995, 29 claims related to the Haldimand Tract have been filed with the Canadian government. The Six Nations council has a court case, filed in 1995, against the federal and provincial governments over the lands taken from them.

It is scheduled to go to court in October 2022. If successful, it would result in monetary compensation, not a return of the territory to the Haudenosaunee.

We continue to follow this situation.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ASODEBICOQ at town hall meeting that declares Quimistán free of mining, dams and ZEDEs

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 17, PBI-Honduras tweeted:

“PBI recently accompanied ASODEBICOQ during an open town hall and during a meeting on the community development of Regadillos. In the open town hall, Quimistán was declared free of ZEDES and ratified free of mining and hydroelectric plants.”

Quimistán is a town and a municipality in the department of Santa Bárbara.

On Facebook, PBI-Honduras further explains:

“Recently PBI accompanied ASODEBICOQ during an open house and during a meeting focused on community development of the Regadillos community.

In the open meeting, Quimistán was declared free of ZEDES and ratified free of mining and hydroelectric power. Amada Lopez, vice coordinator of ASODEBICOQ, was elected member of the Municipal Transparency Commission.

We highlight the important work of ASODEBICOQ in the defense of common goods and in sustainable community development.”

Last month, Foreign Policy reported: “[Honduran president Xiomara] Castro has said she will abolish the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDEs), the semi-autonomous corporate enclaves that have their own low tax schemes as well as independent legal systems, environmental and labor regulations, and security forces.”

That article adds: “ZEDEs—which are considered a pet project of [now former president] Hernández’s, who pushed them through the Supreme Court in 2013—are widely loathed in Honduras, where many see them as a means of divvying the country’s territory to sell off to largely foreign investors while contributing to the displacement of rural minorities.”

This month, the BBC reported: “The new government of Honduras has announced that it will ban open-pit mining in the Central American nation. The government also said that it would cancel environmental permits for mining operations across the country.”

That article adds: “It is not yet clear if the cancellation will apply only to new projects or also to those already operating.”

And in February 2019, Radio Progreso reported that Santa Bárbara is “threatened by more than 15 hydroelectric projects and 23 concessions for mining.”

That article notes: “In the municipality of Quimistán, there is an imminent danger from the installation of the Santa Lucia hydroelectric dam, which is advanced by 90%. And, despite the fact that there is a strong rejection by the population, they currently intend to build a second hydroelectric dam also on the Cuyagual River.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied ASODEBICOQ since May 2018.

PBI-Canada webinar: Abelino Mejía on the sugar industry and the human right to water in Guatemala

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 13, Abelino Salvador Mejía Cancino from the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) joined a Peace Brigades International-Canada organized webinar on Defending the right to water from harm by the sugar industry in Guatemala.

The webinar was hosted by PBI-Canada Board member Marianna Tzabiras and also featured Kerstin Reemtsma from PBI-Guatemala.

You can watch the Facebook video of that webinar (mostly in Spanish) by clicking here.

To hear the audio for Abelino’s introductory comments in English (a 14-minute audio file from the Zoom webinar), please click below.

Abelino also spoke about the ways in which accompaniment and solidarity can help in the struggle to uphold the right to water:

“We ask that the international community watch very closely what happens. You can send diplomatic support for the hearings so that they see we do have support.”

“There is a year-by-year certification process for the sugar mills. They need to visit not just the sugar mills, but the communities, that they come to see the rivers, they need to see the reality of the poverty the sugar cane industry is leaving here in our country.”

“An international commission needs to come to verify the damage that has taken place. And to say if you aren’t going to protect the environment, we can’t buy your sugar.”

Kerstin Reemtsma of PBI-Guatemala added to Abelino’s comment:

“For people listening today, you can ask Canadian companies or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs how they guarantee in the supply chain respect for human rights because as I understand it this commitment does exist. How are they ensuring respect for human rights?”

We continue to follow this situation closely.

1...245246247...476Page 246 of 476