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Gitxsan, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and Wolastoq land defenders oppose mines linked to U.S. weapons production

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Gitxsan land defender Kolin Sutherland-Wilson speaks at ILPS conference in Ottawa; May 26, 2026. Photo by Radyo Migrante TO.

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) has posted on LinkedIn: “CADSI’s VP of Communications & Government Relations, Nicolas Todd attended the Critical Minerals for Defence this week in Toronto. We shared insight into how Canada’s critical mineral industry plays a role within this new defence ecosystem, notably its effect on industrial capacity and supply chains.”

Speakers at that June 9-19, 2026, conference also included representatives from the Marten Falls First Nation, Lockheed Martin, Natural Resources Canada, Export Development Canada, the Department of National Defence, the United States Air Force, UK Export Finance, the European Union Delegation to the United States, the Government of Ontario, the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and Lomiko Metals.

Gitxsan land defender Kolin Sutherland-Wilson has highlighted the connection between corporate mining on Indigenous lands in Canada and weapons production. At a Palestine solidarity rally in Victoria, British Columbia in February 2026, Sutherland-Wilson expressed his opposition to “mines to fuel their need for the rare earth elements and critical minerals to build their weapons that they employ against peoples all around the world.” He concluded with “Free Palestine!”

The Tyee has reported that Vancouver-based Defense Metals is proposing the Wicheeda project, located 80 kilometres north of Prince George, that contains neodymium and praseodymium, rare earth elements that can be used in the manufacturing of military equipment. The Tyee notes: “In 2020, [Defense Metals] brought in two strategic advisers [one from Lockheed Martin, the other who had been with the CIA] to help with business development and securing purchase agreements.”

Last month, Shiri Pasternak and Nessie Nankivell wrote: “Even as Prime Minister Mark Carney touts his plans to protect Canada’s economic sovereignty, the country’s critical minerals are making their way into U.S. weapons.”

The article explains: “Nickel, copper, graphite, cobalt, tungsten, chromium, and rare earth elements are not just inputs for batteries and wind turbines. They are also needed to build fighter jets, drones, missiles, radar systems, submarines, armour, and ammunition. …Starting in 2022, the U.S. Department of War began pouring millions of dollars into Canadian mining companies extracting critical minerals. …Over just two years in 2024 and 2025, the Pentagon invested over $78 million USD in companies operating mining projects in Canada: Fortune Minerals, Lomiko Metals, Fireweed Metals, Northcliff Resources, Nano One Materials, and Electra Battery Materials.”

Pasternak and Nankivell cite the example of the Lomiko Metals La Loutre graphite mine near Duhamel, Quebec, about 120 kilometres north of Ottawa. They note: “It secured an $8.4 million USD grant from the Pentagon, matched by a further $4.9 million CAD grant from Natural Resources Canada. …Canada’s environmental assessment processes do not ask where minerals will ultimately go once they leave the mine site. They do not ask whether extracted materials will power batteries or weapons.”

They add: “The La Loutre graphite mine has faced strong opposition from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.”

And Pasternak and Nankivell have also noted: “In New Brunswick, the proposed Sisson tungsten project, owned by Northcliff Resources, received $15 million USD in Pentagon funding. Tungsten carbide, an exceptionally hard metal, is used in armour-piercing ammunition. Wolastoqey leaders have opposed the project for years.”

The NB Media Co-op has further reported: “[Elder Alma Brooks has] pointed to Israel’s prolonged and devastating U.S.-backed assault on the Gaza Strip, ‘a genocide that’s happening right under the nose of the world’”.

That article further notes: “[Wolastoq Grand Chief Ron] Tremblay said the Wolastoq Grand Council rejects activities contributing to war and what he called the ‘continuum of genocide’ in places such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

The risk of attacks against defenders

In their Global Analysis 2025/26 report issued today, Front Line Defenders documents that the “most targeted areas of human rights defence” worldwide are “land, environmental and peasant communities’ rights” (23.46% of the human rights defenders killed in 2025) and “Indigenous peoples’ rights” (17.03% of those killed).

And in their September 2025 report, Global Witness noted: “Once again, mining emerged as the deadliest sector, with at least 29 related cases in 2024. Next came logging with eight cases and agribusiness with four. Road-building and infrastructure projects, poaching and hydropower have also driven deadly attacks in 2024.”

We continue to follow this with concern.

Additional reading: ‘Our minerals could be used to annex us’: why Canada doesn’t want US mining (Sara Hashemi, The Guardian, January 5, 2026); Elbows up? Canada is letting Pentagon take ‘unprecedented’ stakes in Canadian mines (Shiri Pasternak and Nessie Nankivell, The Breach, May 22, 2026); Wolastoqey land defenders reject the proposed Sisson open-pit tungsten mine and weapons production (PBI-Canada article, December 2, 2025) and Why Is the US War Department Buying into a BC Mining Company? (Amanda Follett Hosgood, The Tyee, October 16, 2025).

Human rights defenders block access to Eurosatory arms fair near Paris to protest Israeli weapons companies

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Association France Palestine Solidarité.

This morning, the Dublin, Ireland-based Front Line Defenders and HRD Memorial released their Global Analysis 2025/26 report that documents that Palestine was the second most deadly country for human rights defenders in 2025 (160 HRDs were killed in Colombia, 43 in Palestine, 43 in Mexico, that along with other killings total at least 358 human rights defenders from 28 different countries).

Guerre à la guerre (War on War) has been organizing against the Eurosatory arms show, the world’s largest land and air defence trade show, that is taking place this week in Villepinte situated north-east of Paris.

Their listed activities include: “Monday, June 15, in Villepinte to protest the opening of the trade show!”

Anadolu Français now reports: “Pro-Palestinian activists on Monday blocked the road leading to the Eurosatory international arms fair, held in Villepinte, near Paris, to protest against the participation of Israeli companies in the event.”

That article continues: “Gathered near the exhibition center, the demonstrators waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags as well as placards bearing the slogan ‘Stop the war profiteers.’ …The demonstrators also staged a sit-in on a roundabout near the exhibition centre. …The mobilization took place to the sound of several songs and music, including the Italian song ‘Bella Ciao’.”

The Activestills Collective has also posted on Instagram: “TODAY. Protesters block the entrance at the opening of Eurosatory, Europe’s largest defence show, to demonstrate against the participation of Israeli firms, in Villepinte, north of Paris. The protesters were held for three hours by police at the site and several were taken into the police stations. Although Israel will not have a national pavilion at Eurosatory, Israeli companies will still present their products. The French Minister for Foreign Affairs claims he informed the organisers that only defensive equipment could be displayed. The demonstration was co-organised by the Stop Arming Israel France group and the collective ‘guerre à la guerre’, which have organised many demonstrations and actions in front of French companies selling weapons to Israel, or components to be used in Israeli ammunition or military equipment. Sales to a state committing genocide, as Israel is doing in Gaza, could amount to war crimes and is in violation of both EU and domestic French laws.”

Photos from the protest can be found at Anadolu English, plus from the Activestills Collective, along with video from Alma Plus TV, additional videos from Sputnik Nusantara, and photos from BDS France. Video still below from Sputnik Africa.

Agence France-Presse additionally reports: “Israeli private companies are allowed this year to display ‘defensive’ weapons, while in 2024 France had initially decreed a ‘total’ ban on Israeli participation, due to the war in Gaza. With their high-performance ‘Iron Dome’ missile defence system, the Israelis will be able to promote capabilities ‘that have never been so needed’, according to the show’s curator. He warned against ‘ambiguous stands’ also displaying offensive weapons, which are banned, implying that such participants would be banned from the show.”

Haaretz also reported: “Among the exhibitors were dozens of small and medium-sized Israeli companies. But on the eve of the opening, several discovered that their stands had been sealed off behind gray plywood panels.” And The Jerusalem Post noted: “Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, IAI-Israel Aerospace Industries, and Elbit Systems were allowed to display their platforms.”

BHRC report

In their report Navigating a global crossroads: Human rights defenders and business in 2025, the London, United Kingdom-based Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) documented: “Protesters at arms fairs targeting companies selling weapons to Israel were detained in the United States, Turkey, Switzerland and France, whilst activists in New Zealand faced violence for protesting the militarisation of aerospace technology and its uses against civilian populations.”

Overall, the Business and Human Rights Centre documented 46 attacks against human rights defenders raising concerns about arms and weapons companies and their complicity in conflict and genocide.

The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), whose members include the world’s largest weapons companies, has posted on social media that it will be at Eurosatory this week.

Movement building

On May 7, 2026, PBI-Canada participated in the “Shut It Down: Global Actions Disrupting the Arms Trade” webinar featuring movement activists from Stop Arming Israel-France, Desarma Madrid, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT-United Kingdom), alongside Labour Against the Arms Trade and the Shut Down CANSEC campaign in Canada. The webinar was organized jointly by the Shut Down CANSEC campaign and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).

PBI-Canada also participated in two other webinars this year focused on the implications and consequences of the arms trade organized by the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC-Quakers) that featured speakers from Project Ploughshares (based in Waterloo, Ontario) and the Quaker Peace Hub (based in Birmingham, England).

We will continue to look for updates and analysis posted on Instagram by Guerre à la guerre here.

For more about the Shut Down CANSEC campaign, click here.

As part of its commitment to the holistic accompaniment of human rights defenders and journalists, Peace Brigades International-Canada is observing the intersection between the export of weapons, the implications of those weapons on organizations, defenders and communities around the world, and the increasing criminalization of those who are challenging the arms trade.

More than 358 human rights defenders were killed around the world in 2025: Front Line Defenders and HRD Memorial report

By
Brent Patterson
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The Global Analysis 2025/26 report produced by Front Line Defenders and HRD Memorial has found: “At least 358 human rights defenders from 28 different countries were killed in 2025 in an attempt to silence them and put an end to their work.”

The data on the number of human rights defenders killed in 2025 includes: Colombia – 165; Mexico – 43; Palestine – 43; Brazil – 22; Honduras – 13; Guatemala – 10; Philippines – 4; Nicaragua – 3; Kenya – 3; Indonesia – 1.

The report adds: “At the time of publication, the HRD Memorial continued to research and conduct verifications on the additional killings of 119 individuals perpetrated in Bangladesh, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ecuador, Gaza (Palestine), Iran, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Philippines, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Yemen.”

Canada

There are two references to Canada in the report:

CRIMINALISATION OF SOLIDARITY: “In Canada, such patterns were mirrored through courtordered precautionary measures restricting proPalestinian demonstrations in university spaces, as well as police raids and criminalisation campaigns against defenders linked to organisations stigmatised as ‘terrorist’ for their criticism of Israel. These practices contributed to a chilling effect on proPalestinian human rights work, discouraging defenders from engaging in legitimate advocacy.”

RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION: “In June, Bill 5 (Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act) was approved by the Ontario Government despite widespread condemnation by environmental, indigenous and labour rights defenders. Bill 5 could open the door to the designation of the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich region in Northern Ontario, as a ‘special economic zone’, ignoring environmental regulations, bypassing First Nations and increasing the presence of extractive projects.”

Partners

The report also notes: “For 2025, the HRD Memorial has counted on the invaluable support of the following organisations and individuals to verify cases of killings of HRDs [including] Peace Brigades International (Nicaragua).”

To read the 84-page report, click here.

PBI-Mexico accompanies National March in Mexico City against the forced disappearance of persons in lead-up to FIFA World Cup

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Cerezo Committee.

On May 30, the Cerezo Committee posted on social media: “We wrapped up the march and activities for International Week of the Detained and Disappeared; the Zócalo had more police than dignity—long live FIFA!”

During the march, Hector Cerezo posted on social media: “We remain surrounded by Mexico City government police. We are next to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. We are not allowed to enter the Zócalo; we are confined to the protest site in front of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. We hold the head of government responsible for the increased repression.”

Video still by Cerezo Committee.

Less than two weeks later, on June 10, the Cerezo Committee also posted on social media: “A government blockade in Mexico City to prevent the march of families of people who have been forcibly disappeared or abducted by private individuals from reaching the soccer stadium.”

This again was in the context of the FIFA World Cup that began the following day, June 11, and will continue to July 19, 2026.

The German news service Deutsche Welle also reports: “Contingents of teachers, relatives of the disappeared and students converged early this Thursday [June 11] in the vicinity of the stadium, but they were met with a heavy police deployment. …’Mexico champion in disappearance!’ was one of the most repeated chants by the demonstrators, from different groups that share a rejection of Mexico hosting another World Cup while facing the violence of organized crime.”

This huge strike and day of mobilization was reportedly organized by the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and the mobilizations of collectives of relatives and mothers searching for disappeared persons.

Ahead of this, Amnesty International Amnesty announced that it would act as an observer during the protest and reiterated its concern about the risks faced by women human rights defenders in Mexico.

#FútbolConMemoria

PBI-Mexico also accompanies Espacio OSC.

On June 9, Espacio OSC posted: “Within the framework of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Mexico-United States-Canada, the Space of Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) launched the #FútbolConMemoria [Soccer With Memory] campaign, an initiative that seeks to vindicate the memory of those who have been victims of violence for exercising their rights to defend rights and freedom of expression.”

According to official figures, more than 130,000 missing people are registered in Mexico. Demographics of this number are not available, so it is not presently known how many of the forcibly disappeared are union members or organized workers, though they are at risk in this context.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada attentive to UN Human Rights Council session on digital surveillance, notes RCMP surveillance of Indigenous land defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from cover of “Pushed into the Shadows” report.

PBI-Canada is attentive to the upcoming session on June 23, 2026, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on the erosion of the rights to assembly and association due to digital surveillance.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Gina Romero, has issued a new report on the threat to these rights posed by digital surveillance.

The 78-page report co-authored by Romero can be found at “Pushed into the Shadows”: Evidencing digital surveillance chilling effects and the erosion of the rights to freedom of assembly and of association.

Online monitoring and drones

The “Pushed into the Shadows” report states: “Authorities employ a blend of covert, hidden and online monitoring (including data scraping) strategies with more overt visible forms (such as surveillance drones).”

“Open-source intelligence monitoring”

In April 2026, The Tyee reported that a freedom of information request found that “CRU-BC Intel” is “actively monitoring opposition” to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, as well as “anticipated protest activity” that an RCMP spokesperson says “has come to our attention through open source intelligence monitoring” that, according to the RCMP in an internal document, includes “online activity”.

Journalist Amanda Follett Hosgood explains in her article: “The Critical Incident Secretariat [has] a biweekly meeting that brings together several provincial ministries, resource sector regulators and a controversial RCMP protest-policing unit called the Critical Response Unit — British Columbia, also known as CRU-BC.”

Surveillance by drones

The Guardian has also reported: “Documents show that ahead of the [January 7, 2019] raid, the RCMP deployed an array of surveillance, including heavily armed police patrols, a jet boat, helicopter, drone technology, heat-sensing cameras and close monitoring of key land defenders’ movements and social media postings.”

More on this at: RCMP use helicopters, airplanes and drones to surveil and arrest Wet’suwet’en land defenders (PBI-Canada article, May 21, 2023).

Surveillance of political activism

The “Pushed into the Shadows” report also notes: “Civic and political activism is increasingly used as opportunities for surveillance.”

The Ottawa-based Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) has previously urged, in the context of National Energy Board hearings on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project, that the RCMP “exercise restraint in its surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities concerning events where there is little if any indication that violence or other criminal acts are likely to occur.”

The CRCC also recommended that “the RCMP develop appropriate policies and/or guidance to govern its collection and retention of information, and that the RCMP not retain personal information where it its established that there is no criminal nexus and the events for which it has been collected have concluded.”

Predictive, algorithmic surveillance

The “Pushed into the Shadows” report comments: “The discriminatory potential of AI surveillance tools, including facial recognition and predictive algorithms, are well documented.”

In September 2020, the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) noted its concern that the RCMP had contracted firms, including US-based Babel Street, “that uses algorithms to track, analyze and translate online communications … to engage in widespread online surveillance and so-called ‘proactive’ identification of threats.”

At that time, Cynthia Khoo, a Citizen Lab research fellow and human rights lawyer who recently co-authored a report ‘To Surveil and Protect’ on algorithmic policing, told The Tyee: “Given the track record of Canadian law enforcement using social media surveillance to target civil rights movements and Indigenous and racial justice activists, the RCMP should not be further expanding these kinds of capabilities without wide public consultation and an independent inquiry into this technology’s impact on human rights and historically marginalized groups, such as Black and Indigenous communities.”

The psychological stress of surveillance

The “Pushed into the Shadows” report also highlights: “Surveillance-induced chilling effects assert profound impacts on the individual. These manifest in several, critical, ways, affecting the intimate spheres of life. Beyond economic, cultural and social consequences, they impact people’s ability to function in society and access vital services. The belief of being under surveillance cripples interpersonal trust and social relation ships. Participants highlighted the deep psychological stress arising from mistrust, isolation and fractured social relations affecting ‘every aspect of an activist’s life’.”

This echoes with the “Criminalization, Intimidation and Harassment of Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders” report produced by Amnesty International that documents surveillance by the RCMP of land defenders on their territories in Canada.

This Amnesty International report notes: “Wet’suwet’en land defenders interviewed by Amnesty International shared that the intimidation, harassment, unlawful surveillance and criminalization that they have experienced has negatively impacted their land defence activities. While they used to feel happy and at home on their territory, it is now in some ways associated with feelings of anxiety and stress.”

Bill C-2

In September 2025, Greenpeace Canada expressed their concern that the Canadian government’s Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, would “endow the federal government with extraordinary new surveillance powers” and that “the history of RCMP surveillance and repression of land defenders (particularly but not exclusively Indigenous) suggest that these powers will be misused.”

In November 2025, CBC News reported: “Last month, the Liberals made the move to split the bill in hopes of getting some of the border protection-specific measures through Parliament and into law more quickly, with a promise to return to the more contentious issues down the road.”

In their critique of the new Bill C-12, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) notes the findings of a UN committee in their decennial human rights check-up on Canada a concern about “an assault on the right to peaceful protest, including through expanded surveillance of dissenting voices…”

The call for a national inquiry

In March 2026, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) called for a national inquiry into the surveillance of Indigenous peoples both historically and with concern about proposed megaprojects.

We continue to follow this issue and will be monitoring the debate on freedom of assembly and digital surveillance at the UN on June 23, 2026.

How a submarine purchase and arms fairs are worsening security risks for Indigenous land defenders and human rights activists

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: The police response to the protest organized by the Shut Down CANSEC campaign in Ottawa, May 28, 2026.

As part of our commitment at Peace Brigades International-Canada to the holistic protective accompaniment of human rights defenders, journalists and Indigenous land and environmental defenders, we are researching the links between increasing military budgets, documented attacks against defenders opposing weapons companies and arms fairs, and the implications for land defenders.

The imminent decision on submarines

On July 10, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intention to acquire up to 12 new submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy.

On October 27, 2025, the Ottawa Citizen further reported: “The Liberal government will spend tens of billions of dollars — with some estimates of up to $100 billion — on a new fleet of submarines.”

More recently, on May 23, 2026, CBC News reported: “Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is expected to make a decision within weeks [also reported as by late-June 2026] on whether to go with the Hanwha Ocean bid or one by German rival TKMS (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems).”

It has also been reported by Politico that the decision will be made “within 30 days” from June 13, 2026, meaning by mid-July.

Hanwha and TKMS

The companies bidding for Canada’s submarine contract have been criticized by human rights advocates.

We are now following the work of Abandon Hanwha, an “international campaign pressuring Hanwha to cut ties with Israeli genocide.”

We also recall that the American Friends Service Committee has included TKMS on their list of Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide.

Implications for Indigenous land defenders

PBI-Canada has been following the opposition of Gitanyow and Gitxsan land and environmental defenders to the construction of the proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline on their territories in northern British Columbia, Canada. We are also following Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan opposition to LNG Canada Phase II that would include compressor stations on Wet’suwet’en territory to increase the flow of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline built without consent.

iPolitics now reports in the context of this submarine purchase: “The Republic of Korea has so far invested $1.6 billion in LNG Canada and will be expanding that to $3.2 billion in the future. The country is also committing to importing 3.4 million tonnes of LNG annually from Canada, more than five times the current amount.”

Dogwood has made this link with the submarine purchase too further highlighting, as CBC News reports, that the German government-owned company Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) has now signed an agreement to buy one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year from Ksi Lisims over an up to 20-year span, while the Duesseldorf-based Uniper has signed a letter of interest to purchase liquefied natural gas from the Ksi Lisims LNG terminal linked to the PRGT fracked gas pipeline.

$4 billion+ in Canadian arms exports in 2025

Along with buying “military goods”, Canada is committed to exporting more weapons, military components and technology.

A recently released report from Global Affairs Canada documents that Canada exported $2.045 billion of “military goods” to non-US markets in 2025.

In March 2026, Project Ploughshares reported that the value of contracts concluded between the Canadian Commercial Corporation and the U.S. Depart of War in fiscal year 2025 totaled $2.07 billion.

Persistent human rights concerns about arms exports

The Global Affairs Canada report on the export of military goods notes: “Saudi Arabia was the largest non-U.S. export destination by value [in 2025], receiving approximately $404 million in Canadian military exports…”

Following a public outcry, Global Affairs Canada conducted a risk assessment that in September 2019 concluded: “Officials found no credible evidence linking Canadian exports of military equipment or other controlled items to any human rights or humanitarian law violations committed by the Saudi government.”

In August 2021, Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares countered with the 50-page report: “NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE” CANADA’S FLAWED ANALYSIS OF ARMS EXPORTS TO SAUDI ARABIA.

Canada seeks to boost arms exports

The Government of Canada’s “Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy” (February 2026) has now also pledged to “Substantially increase financial support for export promotion efforts, and add new Trade Commissioners in the UK and key EU markets and ramp up Canada’s presence at major global defence and aerospace trade shows.”

That Strategy promises: “Enhanced support to Canadian firms selling abroad: When it comes to selling Canadian capabilities, the country needs more boots on the ground. This means more Trade Commissioners championing industry’s products, particularly in Europe and the United Kingdom. It means directing Canadian Defence Attachés and other Defence officials to more effectively support trade-promotion initiatives. It means a stronger and more visible Canadian presence at major international defence and aerospace trade shows. Better support for export opportunities also means stronger efforts to receive foreign buyers in Canada.”

Canada at arms fairs, increased attacks against HRDs

The Government of Canada’s pledge to be at arms fairs coincides with the UK-based Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) documenting an increase in “attacks” against human rights defenders opposing arms companies and arms fairs.

This past May 2026, the BHRC also documented 46 attacks against human rights defenders (HRDs) in 2025 for “raising concerns about arms and weapons companies and their complicity in conflict and genocide – a significant increase from only two attacks recorded per year in 2023 and in 2024.”

The BHRC further noted: “Protesters at arms fairs targeting companies selling weapons to Israel were detained in the United States, Turkey, Switzerland and France, whilst activists in New Zealand faced violence for protesting the militarisation of aerospace technology and its uses against civilian populations.”

Eurosatory in Paris, June 2026

The Eurosatory arms fair in Paris is taking place in the coming days, June 15-19, 2026.The Canadian Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) is highlighting that there will be a “Canada Pavillon” at Eurosatory.

Stop Arming Israel-France has noted: “From June 12 to 15, 2026, the War on War coalition is calling for a weekend of mobilization against the holding of the Eurosatory exhibition, the global supermarket of war and control.” Their four-days of activities will include: “Monday, June 15 in Villepinte to oppose the opening of the show!”

DX KOREA in 2026 Seoul ADEX in 2027

Additionally, South Korea has at least two upcoming major arms fairs.

DX KOREA is more formally called Defense Expo Korea. The next DX KOREA weapons fair will take place on September 16-19, 2026, at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Goyang, north-west of Seoul.

The next Seoul ADEX, the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, will take place on October 19–24, 2027, also at KINTEX.

There will be a “Canada Partnership Pavillion” at DX Korea in September 2026 and Canada will likely also be at Seoul ADEX in October 2027.

Protest at DX KOREA 2022

The South Korean daily newspaper The Hankyoreh has reported: “In September 2022, eight peace activists were prosecuted for obstruction of business by climbing onto armored vehicles and tanks displayed at the ‘DX KOREA 2022’ arms exhibition … playing violins and guitars, holding banners warning about the injustices in the arms industry, and shouting slogans ‘Stop profiting from war’.”

“The court sentenced each activist to a fine of 500,000 won [about CAD $460.00] and sentenced the two minors at the time to a one-year suspended sentence.”

After that: “On April 15, 2025, the Supreme Court’s Second Division … stated, ‘Matters related to the national defense industry, such as weapons production and export, have public and social significance and thus constitute matters of public interest,’ and added, ‘Restrictions on freedom of expression on public interest must be made with greater caution than in matters belonging to the private domain’…”

The case was remanded with a not guilty verdict.

Canada at DSEI in Germany and the UK, 2027

There will also be the first ever Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms show in Hanover, Germany this coming March 9-12, 2027. This has been presented as a “spin-off” of the DSEI arms fair held in London. The next DSEI UK will take place on September 7-10, 2027.

CADSI is planning a “Canada Pavillion” at both DSEI Germany in March 2027 and at DSEI UK in September 2027.

PBI-Canada was present in London, UK to observe the Quaker and wider-community protests against DSEI in September 2025.

CANSEC 2027

PBI-Canada is also following the community organizing related to the annual CANSEC arms show expected to take place on May 26-27, 2027, at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa, Canada.

For updates from the Shut Down CANSEC campaign, click here.

We continue to follow all of this with concern.

Additional reading: “Elbows up? Canada is letting Pentagon take ‘unprecedented’ stakes in Canadian mines: By fast-tracking critical minerals, Canada is not simply building a green economy. It is being further integrated into the U.S. war industry” (by Shiri Pasternak & Nessie Nankivell, The Breach, May 22, 2026).

PBI-Canada notes while the UN has called for strengthening the CORE, the Canadian government has “eliminated” the position

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: On September 29, 2025, PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico accompanied two representatives from Espacio OSC at a meeting in Ottawa with Terrence Cowl, the Deputy Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE).

CBC News reports: “Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is eliminating a watchdog position responsible for investigating allegations of human rights violations committed by Canadian companies operating abroad.”

This article adds: “The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) was introduced under former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2019 to investigate potential abuses, including the use of forced labour. But Carney said on Thursday [June 11] that the role would be ‘eliminated,’ suggesting that the office hadn’t been effective. …Carney said the decision to cut the role was taken ‘a few months ago’ but it doesn’t appear that a government official had yet announced it.”

It further notes: “The CORE had been criticized for lacking the powers to fulfil its mandate. Advocates have said the office needed the ability to compel documents and testimony from companies, for example.”

UN Committee on Human Rights

On March 24, 2026, The Globe and Mail reported: “The United Nations Committee on Human Rights, which includes representatives from the United States, France and Spain, criticized Ottawa for failing to fill the post of a watchdog whose job was to investigate human rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad.”

The newspaper noted: “’The Committee recommended that Canada urgently appoint a new Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise and ensure the office’s independence and adequate resources,’ the panel said in its report.”

It adds: “The panel [also] called on Canada to ‘strengthen mechanisms to ensure that business enterprises under its jurisdiction respect human rights standards, including when operating abroad.’”

UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders

On April 11, 2025, Mary Lawlor, who was at that time the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, posted on social media: “At #HRC58 [the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council] I welcomed #Canada’s support for human rights defenders abroad. But I had to say it: Canadian extractive mining companies are putting defenders at risk all over the world. We need binding due diligence obligations, a stronger @CORE_Ombuds [Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise/CORE], and real accountability.”

In November 2024, Lawlor also called for a “significant strengthening of the CORE.”

At that time, Lawlor commented: “I have long-standing concerns as to the adequacy of the CORE, in its current form, to provide any adequate form of redress for human rights defenders and the communities they represent when their rights have been violated or been put at risk by Canadian companies operating abroad. This has been reflected in conversations I have had with human rights defenders since taking up my mandate, who, where aware of the CORE, have repeatedly told me they have no confidence in its effectiveness.”

Specifically, Lawlor called on the Government of Canada to: “Provide the CORE with legally enforceable powers to compel evidence and testimony from companies, in line with international standards and best practice on ombudspersons’ offices, to enable effective investigations of all cases and overcome the barriers presented when companies refuse to meaningfully engage with the CORE.”

Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability

In their response to the elimination of the CORE, the Canadian Network for Corporate Responsibility commented: “In our view, this represents an abandonment of basic human rights principles, leaving communities and workers who allege serious human rights abuse by Canadian companies at significant risk of further harm.”

They further stated: “To our knowledge, this decision was never communicated to the scores of communities and workers who assumed great personal risk to trust the CORE with allegations of human rights abuse linked to Canadian companies, sometimes at the direct encouragement of Canadian government officials. The government’s failure to notify directly-impacted people represents a callous disregard for human life and basic transparency, and is a betrayal of the government’s stated commitment to ‘Canadian values’. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.”

PBI-Canada monitors attacks against HRDs

Peace Brigades International-Canada continues to document violations by Canadian companies within Canada as well as in the countries where PBI physically accompanies land and environmental defenders, including Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and now Southeast Asia (the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand).

Our initial research in July 2024, utilizing the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) database, found that 21 Canadian companies have been implicated in 88 attacks against human rights defenders over the past nine years.

We have also expressed concern that Lawlor’s office had registered 15 cases between June 2019 and March 2022 of retaliation against human rights defenders that she alleged can be linked to the activities of Canadian mining companies.

We continue to follow this.

OCHRP, Migrante Ottawa, BAYAN warn Canada’s deepening military cooperation with the Philippines will worsen the human rights crisis

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The Ottawa Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Anakbayan and Migrante Ottawa rally outside the Department of Defence building in Ottawa, Thursday June 11, 2026.

The Manila Bulletin reports: “The Department of National Defense (DND) and its Canadian counterpart signed a logistics agreement designed to ‘put teeth’ into their expanding security alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Canadian Minister of National Defence David McGuinty signed the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA) and a Statement of Intent (SOI) for Deepening Defense Cooperation during a defense ministers’ meeting (DMM) at the Parliament Hill in Canada on Thursday, June 11.”

That news report further notes: “Teodoro described the security alliance as a microcosm of the entire Canada-Philippines relationship, revealing that both nations plan to enter into future partnerships covering infrastructure, critical minerals, energy, telecommunications, and businesses. …The two defense chiefs are also currently working on an upcoming information-sharing agreement to safeguard bilateral operations, according to Teodoro. He said future cooperation will also expand rapidly into cybersecurity, training exchanges, and additional multilateral maritime cooperative activities.”

The Philippine News Agency also reports: “McGuinty said the agreements build on the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) that he and Teodoro signed in Manila in November 2025.”

Photo from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP Radio DWDD).

“Human rights crisis in the Philippines”

But BAYAN BC cautions: “Continuing Canada-Philippines military partnership will only worsen human rights crisis in the Philippines.”

Sharing this concern, the Ottawa Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Anakbayan and Migrante Ottawa rallied in front of the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa as McGuinty and Teodoro were received by an honour guard, then participated in the signing ceremony and joint press conference.

OCHRP notes: “Teodoro’s term has seen grave instances of human rights violations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) including the bombardments of indigenous communities in Mindoro in January, and the recent massacre of 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental in April.”

Military linked to killings of land and environmental defenders

Global Witness and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) have reported: “Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. …The military has been linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the Philippines over the past decade. These abuses have gone unchecked.”

Arms exports and human rights

PBI-Canada continues to make the link between the export of “military goods” and violations against human rights defenders, their organizations and communities. In the context of the attacks documented by Global Witness and Kalikasan PNE, we further note that a delegation from the Philippines attended the CANSEC arms show this past May 27-28, 2026, at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa.

Image from Facebook.

PBI recently launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

We continue to follow this.

Instagram post by OCHRP Ottawa promoting the rally held on June 11, 2026.

Sentencing of Rheinmetall representative who assaulted woman at protest against CANSEC arms show in Ottawa scheduled for July 13

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still of the assault on May 29, 2024, outside CANSEC.

On June 8, CBC News reported that a Swiss man, an employee of the munitions company Rheinmetall, who assaulted a 21-year-old Palestinian Canadian outside the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa in May 2024 will be sentenced on July 13.

The news article notes: “David Henschel, 58, appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on Friday [June 5], having returned from his home in Switzerland for sentencing submissions after pleading guilty in July 2025 to assaulting the anti-war protester.”

Previously, on July 17, 2025, CBC News had reported: “A Swiss man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman at an anti-war, pro-Palestinian demonstration in Ottawa during the 2024 CANSEC conference… Henschel paid a $5,000 cash deposit following his arrest. He is expected to be sentenced following submissions on Nov. 24.”

And just days after the assault, on June 5, 2024, CBC News had reported: “In a five-second video captured by people participating in the demonstration, a man appears to strike a woman wearing a hijab, knocking her to the ground. The man is then seen pushing another woman wearing a keffiyeh — a checkered scarf typically worn in Arab cultures that has also come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians.”

We continue to follow this.

Amnesty International, lawyers, and public figures comment on the terrorism-related provisions in the sentencing of the Filton 4

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The Filton 4, from left to right: Charlotte (Lottie) Head, 29; Leona (Ellie) Kamio, 30; Sam Corner, 23; and Fatema Rajwani, 21.

The Guardian reports: “A judge has imposed lengthy custodial sentences on four Palestine Action activists who smashed up drones and other equipment at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK factory [Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol] after ruling that there was a ‘terrorist connection’ to their offending.”

This is said to have been the first time in British history that someone accused of criminal damage has been sentenced as a terrorist.

Providing additional context, Andrew Feinstein, the Executive Director of the London-based non-profit Shadow World Investigations that exposes the illicit global weapons trade, has stated: “These quadcopter drones are key instruments of genocide, used by the Israeli forces in Gaza for surveillance, targeting and to kill.”

The Guardian adds: “Representing [Charlotte Head, 29], Rajiv Menon KC had told [the judge, Mr Justice Johnson] that it was unprecedented for the prosecution to apply for a judge to sentence a defendant as a terrorist for a non-violent offence.” Menon further argued that it would be “perverse” to find who, was motivated by humanitarian concern about “an arms company trading in death and destruction”, to have a terrorist connection. Head was sentenced by Mr Justice Johnson to five years in prison.

The Guardian also reports: “In written arguments, Mira Hammad KC, representing [Leona Kamio, 30, who was sentenced to five years], said the defendants had initially been arrested on suspicion of involvement in acts of terrorism but not charged with those offences… [And] Tom Wainwright KC, representing [Samuel Corner, 23, who was sentenced to seven years and eight months], said a terrorist connection finding against the defendants would also mean the suffragettes, the Greenham Common women and the Trident Ploughshares movement were terrorists.”

Open Letter from lawyers: An open letter signed by more than 50 lawyers and legal experts says: “Blurring the distinction between principled direct action and terrorism is the hallmark of authoritarian regimes.” Al Jazeera notes: “The letter has been signed by law professors from universities in the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada as well as by dozens of practising barristers and solicitors.”

Defend Our Juries: A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries also told The New Arab: “Sentencing people as terrorists for damaging the weapons of genocide is not acceptable in a democracy and is inconsistent with the rule of law.” Defend Our Juries also posted: “Saving Lives Is Not Terrorism.”

Good Law Project: The Good Law Project says: “This grotesque distortion of the law tightens the screws on the public’s right to protest, placing more limits on our freedom to fight injustice.”

Public figures: Artists for Palestine also posted: “Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Steve Coogan, and Lord John Hendy KC are among around 100 public figures warning of a miscarriage of justice if four human rights defenders receive unprecedented terrorism sentences for taking action against an Israeli arms manufacturer.”

Amnesty International UK: And Kerry Moscogiuri from Amnesty International UK said: “Today’s sentencing hearing risks marking a new low in the ongoing crackdown against protest across the UK. Criminal damage has never been treated as terrorism within the UK justice system before, and it is completely disproportionate to do so because the offence occurred at a protest.” Amnesty International UK further posted on social media: “Today’s decision shows how direct action protesters could be treated in the future. The use of terrorism laws against direct action protesters must end. Together we must continue calling out the abuse of power and fighting for our right to protest.”

Tayab Ali: Additionally, Tayab Ali, Partner at Bindmans LLP, further observed: “Meanwhile – British citizens suspected of war crimes as part of the IDF have been sentenced to 0 years imprisonment. In fact no one has even been investigated.”

We continue to follow this situation in the UK for any implications it may have on sentencing and the criminalization of protest in Canada.

—

OPEN LETTER FROM LAWYERS AND LEGAL EXPERTS

On 12 June, the Crown Prosecution Service will apply to have four young people (Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Fatema Zainab Rajwani and Samuel Corner) sentenced as terrorists, solely on the basis of their convictions for criminal damage. This is the first time, in British legal history, that such an application has been made in this context.

Damage to property has been a recurring feature of protest campaigns from the Suffragettes and the women of Greenham Common to Extinction Rebellion and the Trident Ploughshares movement. Military equipment has often been the target. Indeed the subject matter of the case in R v Jones, famous for Lord Hoffman’s dicta on civil disobedience, concerned extensive damage to military aircraft destined to support the invasion of Iraq. The defendants in that case were sentenced with conditional discharges.

It has never previously even been suggested that those taking such action should be treated as terrorists. Blurring the distinction between principled direct action and terrorism is the hallmark of authoritarian regimes.

The prosecution’s application is based on the motivation of the defendants, which was to prevent drones being used to kill civilians in Gaza. According to Mr Justice Johnson, in a preliminary ruling, such a motivation is consistent with section 1 of the Terrorism Act, and thereby capable of establishing a ‘terrorist connection’ for the purposes of The Sentencing Act 2020, section 69(3):

“On s1(1)(b) of the TA 2000, Rajiv Menon KC and others strongly argued that influencing government was not the purpose of the action – the purpose of the action was to damage weapons and save lives – I accept that this was one motivating factor – but that does not mean that another purpose was not to damage property to be made available to the Israeli government and thereby influence the Israeli government”.

In this analysis it is the motivation to “influence the Israeli government” to stop killing Palestinians, which justifies treating convictions for criminal damage as being on a par with acts of terrorism. That cannot be right.

If the prosecution application is successful, the Filton 4 will be sentenced as terrorists: their jail sentences will be extended, early release provisions disapplied, and upon eventual release they could be licensed as terrorists for up to 15 years, requiring them to register any new device, bank account, email, or relationship with the police.

Such an outcome would be wrong in principle for the following reasons:

i) The conscientious motivation of the defendants, which was to save lives and to uphold international law, is a mitigating factor, and it would be perverse, and contrary to basic legal principle, to treat it as an aggravating factor.

ii) It would be wrong to disregard the findings of various international bodies and legal scholars to the effect that the Government of Israel is committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, imposing a moral, if not legal, obligation on all to intercede, in particular by stopping weapons reaching the genocidaires.

iii) It is wrong in principle to sentence people on an entirely different basis from that on which they were convicted (all the more where the potential for a terrorist sentence was actively concealed from the jury).

We note with concern reports of political interference in prosecutions concerning Palestine Action. We note also that one troubling legal precedent has already been set in these proceedings: the attempt to prosecute the lead defence counsel, Rajiv Menon KC, over his closing speech, following a procedure since ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal.

We, the undersigned, consider it vital to the integrity of the criminal justice system that the Filton 4 are sentenced on the same basis that they were convicted, i.e. causing damage to drones and other property of an Israeli weapons manufacturer, with the conscientious motive of saving lives, upholding international humanitarian law and preventing unimaginable human suffering.

Signed:

Michael Mansfield KC, Barrister

Liz Davies KC, Barrister

Gudrun Young KC, Barrister

Penny Green, Professor of Law and Globalisation QMUL [Queen Mary University of London]

Declan Owens, Solicitor

David Whyte, Professor of Climate Justice QMUL

Neve Gordon, Professor of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, QMUL

Yvette Russell, Professor of Law and Feminist Theory, University of Bristol

Bill Bowring, Barrister, Emeritus Professor of Law, Field Court Chambers, Birkbeck College

Richard Vogler, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Sussex

and 48 others

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