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Globe and Mail op-ed calls for Canada to buy F-35s for Arctic defence

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: An F-35 at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

In this Globe and Mail opinion piece, University of Calgary political science professor Rob Huebert argues that Canada must buy F-35s given the threat of Russia’s military capacity and the “emerging battleground” of the Arctic.

Among other actions, Huebert notes that Finland recently announced that it will buy 64 F-35s and that in the next few years Norway will have accumulated 52, Denmark 27 and the United Kingdom 135 of these fighter jets.

Huebert argues: “Canada should also be taking as much – if not more – action as Northern European countries. But Canada is a laggard on the issue.”

He further notes: “On the critically important issue of protecting our Northern region in this context of growing militarization, which requires the purchase of F-35s and NORAD modernization, Canada has done nothing but make promises.”

A few points to consider:

1- The UK has committed to buying 48 F-35s, not the 135 (actually 138) that Huebert notes. Among the reasons cited by UK defence secretary Ben Wallace for cutting their order by 90 aircraft is the high maintenance/sustainment costs of the plane.

2- Huebert doesn’t directly provide an argument for the F-35 over the Swedish Saab Gripen (the other fighter jet competing in the Canadian acquisition process) other than perhaps the single line: “…the advanced stealth and interconnectivity of the F-35 provides a greater reaction speed to Russian weapon delivery systems…”

3- While Huebert highlights the importance of the F-35 for Arctic defence, he doesn’t mention some of the issues the F-35 has experienced with cold weather in Norway and Alaska. The NATO Association of Canada also published this article several years ago citing several concerns about the suitability of the F-35 for Arctic conditions.

4- It’s unclear why Huebert is impatient with the process. On December 21, Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel Troy Crosby said the Canadian government still expects the first delivery of its new 88 fighter jets in 2025. That’s roughly the same timeframe that Norway’s smaller fleet of F-35s are expected to be fully operative.

5- While the F-35s could cost $76.8 billion. Huebert doesn’t see price as an issue. He points to “our Northern European allies and partners” responding to Russia “regardless of how expensive such decisions may be, economically and politically.”

6- Lastly, Huebert gives no context as to why the Arctic may be an “emerging battleground”. With 90 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic and Exxon, Texaco and Chevron securing patents in the early-1970s to exploit resources in a melting Arctic, a public debate on Canada buying new fighter jets merits an examination of the linkages between the militarization of the north and the existential threat of extractivism and climate change.

The Government of Canada says that the contract will be awarded in 2022. We continue to call for a public debate addressing these questions before a contract is signed.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Alternative Federal Budget 2022 calls on the Canadian government to cancel its planned $76.8 billion purchase of new fighter jets this coming March/April and redirect those funds to human rights and real human security.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Peace Community of San José de Apartadó march commemorating Huber Velasquez

By
Brent Patterson
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On December 23, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies @cdpsanjose that #today march in defense of life and protest the murder of leader Huber Velásquez.”

Their tweet adds: “This year closes with more than 160 human rights defenders murdered in Colombia. #Urgent guarantees to defend #DDHH [human rights].”

The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó had previously expressed “its strongest protest against the execution of HUBER VELÁSQUEZ, who maintained close relations with our Community, always supporting our cocoa marketing.”

Velasquez, who had complained about irregularities and the corruption of the paramilitaries, was murdered on December 17.

In this article, PBI-Colombia’s Urabá Team reports on the march that took place just a few days after he was murdered. They highlight:

“On December 23 in the early hours of the morning dozens of people gathered in front of the Community to walk in a march for life and the defense of the territory to the door of the house of the social leader Huber Velásquez.

People of all ages attended: children, young people, adults and the elderly, some on foot and others by mule. All cried out for respect for life in homage to a murdered comrade, but they also marched as another example of active resistance against those who still today try in vain to silence their voices in a violent way. And they did it precisely by covering the morning with colorful protest posters that showed neighbors in their path, and that later, they would place at the entrance of the house where Huber was murdered.

Despite the pain, there were also words of hope and fraternal solidarity, because as expressed by those who spoke at the event, although today it is an empty and desolate place, that has always been a house inhabited by a smiling family that believes in the possibility of building a more just world, and there is no greater tribute than ‘continuing on the path of defending life, fighting against the silencing of the truth and for the memory of those who had the courage to defend the principles of justice and solidarity’.”

That article can be read at HUBER VELÁSQUEZ, «HOY MARCHAMOS POR EL RESPETO A LA VIDA Y A VIVIR EN NUESTRO TERRITORIO»

The Peace Community is located more than 700 kilometres northwest of Bogota in the mountainous northern region in the department of Antioquia.

PBI-Colombia began accompanying the Peace Community in 1999.

“#Read our new article: “Huber Velásquez: today we march for respect for life and living in our territory”. Faced with the serious security context, the @cdpsanjose once again shows courage and dignity in defense of memory and justice.”

PBI-Colombia accompanies the painting of the “Who gave the order?” mural in front of military academy in Bogotá

By
Brent Patterson
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On December 4, PBI-Colombia accompanied the painting the “Who gave the order?” mural in front of the General José María Córdova Military Academy in Bogotá.

The mural was first painted there by three young artists on October 18, 2019, but was covered with white paint within hours by members of the Army.

Photo: Campaign for Truth/El Pais.

That first mural portrayed the faces of five high-level military commanders under whose command 5,763 extrajudicial executions were committed between 2000 and 2010. These victims are referred to as false positives, youth murdered by the army but presented as guerillas killed in combat.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace has subsequently determined that at least 6,402 individuals were illegally killed and presented as killed in combat between 2002 and 2008.

After almost two years of legal actions after the first mural was painted over, the Constitutional Court ruled on November 9 that the mural must be protected for several key reasons including it “contributes to the construction of historical memory”.

The new mural painted earlier this month now reflects the 6,402 killed and the 14 high-level commanders who are allegedly responsible for their deaths.

The PBI-Colombia accompanied organizations that have backed this mural include: the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective, the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, and MOVICE.

More can be read about this in the PBI-Colombia article: “WHO GAVE THE ORDER?”: A CALL FOR JUSTICE AND TRUTH.

The arbitrarily detained Guapinol River defenders to spend Christmas in prison

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras visits Jeremías Martínez in La Ceiba prison, November 2021.

This Christmas Eve day we continue to follow the situation of the eight criminalized defenders of the Guapinol River in Honduras.

These defenders are being criminally prosecuted for peacefully protesting the installation of an open-pit iron oxide mine in Carlos Escaleras National Park after contamination of the Guapinol River and the San Pedro Sector appeared.

Seven of the defenders incarcerated since September 1, 2019, are being held in the Olanchito prison, while an eighth defender held since December 8, 2018, is at La Ceiba prison.

On the morning of December 14, PBI-Honduras was present as the legal team representing the eight defenders of the Guapinol River filed a habeas corpus writ on the illegality of the continued detention of the defenders in prison.

At that time, the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Common and Public Goods Legal Defence Team explained: “According to the Criminal Procedural Code, the constitutional action of Habeas Corpus must be resolved immediately, regardless of the upcoming vacation period of the Judiciary.”

It then highlighted: “The Plenary must meet immediately and issue a resolution to release Guapinol’s defenders so that they can finally spend this Christmas with their families after more than 27 months of arbitrary detention.”

But on December 20, Criterio reported: “The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice went on vacation without having resolved the habeas corpus presented on Tuesday, December 14, by the legal team of the eight defenders of Guapinol.”

That article adds: “The legal body will not return until January 5, 2022, said the lawyer of the justice firm Justice for the Peoples, Edy Tabora.”

Tabora says the action is “one more arbitrariness” in a series of arbitrary actions against the defenders and that the court’s refusal to resolve the appeal shows “how it treats legal situations in the country with total contempt.”

He says: “We as a legal team will continue to insist that this appeal must be resolved and that it must be resolved as mandated by the Constitution and also as we said complying with the resolution of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.”

This past February, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that the detention of the Guapinol defenders was arbitrary, breached a number of human rights standards including the guarantee to a fair trial, and called for their immediate release.

From Canada, we continue to follow the incarceration and trial of these defenders with great concern.

PBI-Honduras visits Guapinol defenders in Olanchito prison, August 2021.

Peace Community of San José de Apartadó to march for life and to live on their territory

By
Brent Patterson
-

Twitter photo: “Today we march for respect for life and to live in our territory.”

On December 23, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “#Today the @cdpsanjose march out of respect for life and to live in their territory in peace. Amid an increase in threats and attacks, the @cdpsanjose expresses its rejection of the murder of Huber Velasquez, a leader close to the CdP. #Urgent guarantees for the defense of #DDHH [human rights].”

The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, which is accompanied by PBI-Colombia, posted earlier this week: “Our Peace Community, which has suffered hundreds of lethal attacks by the military-paramilitary alliance over the last 25 years, wants to express its strongest protest against the execution of HUBER VELÁSQUEZ, who maintained close relations with our Community, always supporting our cocoa marketing.”

The Community links this back to a meeting on November 19 convened by paramilitaries with communal boards: “In this meeting, among other issues, a strict control of wood cutting and crops was announced, explaining that forest conservation has the objective of preserving the paramilitaries’ hideouts.”

They highlight: “[The paramilitaries] also announced that they control the activities of our Peace Community, because according to them we do not stick to their interests.”

Huber Velasquez, who had complained about irregularities and the corruption of the paramilitaries, was murdered on December 17.

Contagio Radio, reporting on his death, noted: “According to the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace, INDEPAZ, just 11 days before the end of the year, there are 165 homicides against defenders who carry out important work within their communities and territories.”

The Peace Community is located more than 700 kilometres northwest of Bogota in the mountainous northern region in the department of Antioquia.

On March 23, 1997, the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado was formed. The farming community declared itself neutral in the armed conflict and rejected the presence of all the armed groups in its territory.

Earlier this year, Yes! magazine reported: “The Peace Community, in addition to suffering [a] new wave of violence [after the peace agreement in 2016], is also under the threat of losing their communal land from a state project of agrarian reform, according to Germán Romero, a lawyer with dhColombia, a nonprofit organization in charge of representing the community in court to seek justice for the violence they have experienced.”

PBI-Colombia began accompanying the Peace Community in 1999.

PBI-Colombia has stated: “PBI will stand by the Community in this dignified struggle until they have security guarantees and the life they long for and deserve.”

“PBI accompanies @cdpsanjose that #today march in defense of life and protest the murder of leader Huber Velásquez. This year closes with more than 160 human rights defenders murdered in Colombia. #Urgent guarantees to defend #DDHH [human rights].”

“Territories of water” report connects Indigenous land defence struggles against TC Energy pipelines in Mexico and Canada

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Earlier this month, Itzam Pineda from the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM) presented the report to members of the Regional Council of Indigenous Peoples in Defense of the Territories of Puebla-Hidalgo.

Calgary-based TC Energy has been implicated in the violation of Indigenous rights in Canada (notably with its Coastal GasLink gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia) and in Mexico (with its Tula pipeline project that crosses Indigenous territories in the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo).

Some of this ongoing situation is covered in the new 216-page report (in Spanish) titled: Territories of water: defense of community areas and the shared history of their peoples (before the Tuxpan-Tula gas pipeline).

The report was produced by researchers from the Workshop for the Defence of Territories (Taller por la Defensa de los Territorios), the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM), the Center for Studies for Change in the Mexican Countryside (Ceccam) and GRAIN in collaboration with communities impacted by the pipeline.

Des Informemonos summarizes: “The intention of this document is to return its findings to the communities from which these interwoven voices emerged, so that they serve as a tool for transformation.”

The report links TC Energy and “a series of irregularities in Mexico against Otomi, Nahua and Totonac communities and in Canada against Wet’suwet’en communities.”

In short, the Tula Pipeline Project is a 287-kilometre gas pipeline from Tuxpan, Veracruz through the states of Puebla and Hidalgo.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline is a 670-kilometre gas pipeline that begins in northeastern British Columbia and crosses Wet’suwet’en territory in that province on its way to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Kitimat on the Pacific Ocean coast.

Both TC Energy gas pipelines are still under construction and both are being resisted by Indigenous peoples.

Earlier this month, the research team that prepared the report presented it to the Otomi, Nahua and Tepehua communities grouped together as the Regional Council of Indigenous Peoples in Defense of the Territory of Puebla and Hidalgo.

The Des Informemonos article concludes: “The handover took place in Chila, a community in the mountains that has sworn to resist the gas pipeline.”

“The people of the Regional Council accepted and celebrated the document, and pledged to continue their fight, and eventually to establish links with the Wet’suwet’en communities that resist TC-Energy in Canada.”

It then highlights: “This is not the end it is a beginning.”

PBI-Canada visited Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan territories at the time of a third heavily-armed RCMP raid against land defenders in November 2021 and seeks to help connect Indigenous land defenders in common struggle.

After the second RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, the PBI-Mexico accompanied Educa Oaxaca made the link with the Tula pipeline and noted: “It should be remembered that TransCanada was the first private company to build and operate gas pipelines in Mexico, where it currently has more than 1,618 kilometers of gas pipelines.”

The PDF of the report Territories of water: defense of community areas and the shared history of their peoples (before the Tuxpan-Tula gas pipeline), that for now is only available in Spanish, can be downloaded here.

Also on Spotify in Spanish: “For the group of academic co-authors of the book, ‘Territories of water’, the Tuxpan-Tula gas pipeline does not seek a benefit for the communities through which it passes, on the contrary, it harms them and impacts their territory, affecting bodies of water, forests and alter their culture.”

When Ivan Madero and CREDHOS members spent Christmas at the PBI house in Barrancabermeja

By
Brent Patterson
-

As Christmas approaches for many people, we revisit this story told by Ivan Madero of the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS).

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

In this video Ivan explains the intensity of the security situation in the city of Barrancabermeja, Santander in 1995.

So much so that CREDHOS members “sought refuge, each of us with our respective families, in the PBI house and spent Christmas there.”

Ivan says: “It was a very special moment, there was a high risk, but in PBI we found fraternity, affection, a good reception, and this was very important.”

And in this video posted on December 24, 2019, Ivan wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous year.

He adds: “Together with our children, with the new generations, as soon as this time is given in the world for Christmas rejoicing and reflections ends, let’s continue in the streets with our social protests.”

Pentagon documents reveal civilian deaths from US airstrikes; Canadian air force remains silent on its numbers

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: CF-18 in Libya, 2011.

On December 18, the New York Times reported on the U.S. airstrikes that have claimed the lives of civilians in numerous countries.

Aljazeera summarizes: “The report, based on a trove of confidential Pentagon documents covering more than 1,300 reports of civilian casualties, undercuts the US government’s portrayal of a war fought with precision bombs, the publication said.”

Among the reports citied is the killing of 120 Syrian villagers by US Air Force A-10 attack jets and a B-52 bomber in July 2016.

It also includes a report of dozens more killed when an F-15 dropped three 500-pound precision-guided bombs on another Syrian village in March 2019.

This past September, Airwars, an organization that tracks military actions related to civilian harm, reported: “Based on official US military data, we have concluded that the US has carried out a minimum of 91,340 airstrikes throughout the 20 years of the War on Terror.”

Airwars adds: “Based on our comprehensive review of credible sources, we found at least 22,679 civilians were likely directly killed by US strikes since 9/11, with that number potentially as high as 48,308.”

Canadian airstrikes

Pentagon documents have also revealed that Canadian CF-18s may have killed up to 27 civilians during an airstrike on Iraq in January 2015.

And that Pentagon document says: “[Canadian Joint Operations Command Legal Advisor] opinion is that, under the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), there are no obligations for the [Canadian Air Force] to conduct an investigation.”

In October 2015, the CBC also reported: “Canadian fighter planes have now been connected to a second airstrike in Iraq that has been reviewed by the Pentagon for possible civilian casualties, CBC’s the fifth estate has learned.”

Lack of transparency about casualties

Just months before he became Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau commented on the report about the first CF-18 airstrike: “One of the things that has been consistent from [the Harper] government has been a lack of openness and transparency, even on issues as important as our engagements around the world with Canadian military forces.”

And in May 2017, the CBC reported: “The air force said it has ‘no information’ that any of its airstrikes, on-target or otherwise, killed or wounded civilians.”

That article quoted Chris Woods of Airwars who commented: “As I understand it Canada’s position is not that it didn’t kill any civilians — only that it’s not aware of having killed any. A subtle, though, important distinction.”

Disclosure before new fighter jets purchased

The US Defense Department reportedly produces an annual report on civilian casualties (though its 2019 report does not mention the F-15 strike on Syria in March 2019 that killed civilians). Aljazeera also notes: “Before launching air strikes, the US military must navigate elaborate protocols to estimate and minimize civilian deaths.”

Canadian reporting appears to fall even below that standard.

As the Canadian government prepares to make its decision as soon as March/April 2022 on a $76.8 billion purchase of new fighter jets, the public and parliamentary demand should grow for a full disclosure of civilian deaths from the overseas deployments of its current fleet of CF-18s before any contract for new warplanes is signed.

PBI-Honduras accompanies the National Union of Rural Workers concerned about the Chamelecón and Ulúa Rivers

By
Brent Patterson
-

On December 20, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project tweeted: “We were recently in the department of Yoro, accompanying the CNTC Progreso. From the CNTC they share that the banks of the rivers affected by the passage of hurricanes #Eta and #Iota last year have not yet been properly fixed.”

The National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) is a small-scale farming and trade union organization that fights for the distribution of land.

PBI-Honduras also notes on Facebook: “Lilian Borjas: ‘The river is life and the banks are the protection of the families that live nearby.’”

PBI-Honduras has previously commented in their article titled The deforestation behind hurricane devastation: “The massive amounts of rainfall brought to the country by Hurricanes Eta and Iota caused the Chamelecón and Ulúa Rivers to burst their banks.”

That article quotes Miriam Miranda, the leader of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), who says: “How will these rivers ever stop flooding, when in the highlands, where the water sources are, there are not only people but also megaprojects that are destroying our forests?”

PBI-Honduras adds: “According to the CNTC testimonies, some of the demonstrations from a few months ago, carried out in order to demand the reconstruction of the edges, were strongly suppressed.”

La Prensa has reported that the police violently a protest on June 18 of this year calling for the reconstruction of the Chamelecón River. That article further notes that police fired tear gas at residents who feel “abandoned” by the state seven months after Eta and Iota hit.

By late July, La Tribuna reported that Honduran officials were meeting with a Brazilian construction conglomerate to define a strategic plan aimed at dredging the Chamelecón, Ulúa and Tinto rivers within the framework of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Sula Valley after the damage caused by the Eta and Iota storms.

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying the CNTC since May 2018.

Day 3: Wet’suwet’en land defenders occupy drill pad site, anticipate fourth RCMP raid

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo by Dan Mesec/ The Tyee.

On Sunday December 19, Gidimt’en Checkpoint tweeted:

Now, The Tyee reports: “One month after dozens of arrests, supporters of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have reoccupied a worksite on the Coastal GasLink pipeline route in the nation’s territory. The group announced Sunday they had returned to occupy Coyote Camp and block access to a strategic pipeline worksite.”

“Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks said today he visited the site on Sunday after Coastal GasLink security had been asked to leave.”

“He added that a tiny home, school bus and wall tents removed from the camp during the arrests had been returned and are now occupied.”

That article also notes: “Na’Moks said there was no Coastal GasLink security or RCMP at the site during his visit… He said no work was underway at the site, although it appeared site preparation had continued since the arrests a month ago.”

There may be 10-12 land defenders at the site now.

The CBC article on this adds: “[Gidimt’en Checkpoint media coordinator Jennifer] Wickham said the people who re-occupied the area Sunday are not the same ones who were arrested in November.”

Those arrested on November 18-19 will be in court on February 14, 2022.

And the Canadian Press reports: “The RCMP say they are investigating allegations that protesters threatened security officials, set off flares and damaged vehicles at a drill site for the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia.”

Wickham questions this account and says: “We have heard false testimony from the RCMP before about us.” She also says that the land defenders at Coyote Camp are anticipating another police action “against unarmed Indigenous people.”

International accompaniment

While we are not on the yintah, we are, along with many others around the world, watching this ongoing situation closely.

We recall that when the Guardian reported on the RCMP raid in January 2019 – the first of three militarized raids – it revealed: “Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian.”

We also recall that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged Canada “to guarantee that no force will be used against Wet’suwet’en peoples and that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and associated security and policing services will be withdrawn from their traditional lands.”

We continue to follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Twitter for daily updates.

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