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PBI-Colombia accompanies dhColombia at meeting with Canadian Embassy and victims of police violence

By
Brent Patterson
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On November 29, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Today there was an important meeting with victims of police violence accompanied by @dhColombia with the diplomatic corps. Victims expressed lack of progress in the processes and constant threats against them and requested impulses in their cases to avoid impunity.”

PBI-Colombia adds: “We thank @ONUHumanRights @NoruegaenCOL @CanadayColombia @UEenColombia @UKinColombia for their presence and availability to follow up on cases of police violence.”

In June of this year, Human Rights Watch stated: “Members of the Colombian National Police have committed egregious abuses against mostly peaceful demonstrators in protests that began in April 2021.”

Human Rights Watch further notes: “On May 14, the Ombudsperson’s Office reported 2 cases of rape, 14 cases of sexual assault, and 71 other cases of gender-based violence by police officers, including slapping and verbal abuse.”

And José Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, says: “These brutal abuses are not isolated incidents by rogue officers, but rather the result of systemic shortcomings of the Colombian police.”

Canada’s interventions

On May 9, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau stated: “Canada condemns the violence, including the disproportionate use of force by security forces, and urges that the violence cease.”

That comment was quickly followed by: “We welcome the Government of Colombia’s commitment to fully investigate and hold accountable those who may be guilty of violating human rights during these events.”

By July 14, when Garneau met with Colombian Vice-President Marta Lucía Ramírez the readout from that call noted a more generic statement: “Minister Garneau emphasized Canada’s concerns regarding violence in Colombia, both in the context of social protests and against social leaders and ex-combatants working to implement peace.”

Garneau then repeated his message from 10 weeks earlier and “called on Colombia to keep its commitment to fully investigate and hold anyone who has violated human rights to account for their actions.”

And yet there are clear indications that the Government of Colombia has not followed up in an urgent and timely manner and held police accountable for violations.

On October 26, 2021, Mélanie Joly replaced Marc Garneau as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. We look forward to statements from her on the urgency of this matter especially in her first meeting with Colombian government officials.

PBI-Canada recognizes Sleydo’ on International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham).

Today, Monday November 29, is International Women Human Rights Defenders Day.

It recognizes women engaged in the defence of the right to land, territory, environment, water, and Indigenous rights, and freedom of association and expression.

On this day, we wish to recognize Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’.

Sleydo’ was arrested by Canadian police ten days ago, on Friday November 19, as she was protecting the Wedzin Kwa river from the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being built on her territory without free, prior and informed consent.

She was arrested after the police used an axe and then a chainsaw to smash open the door of the log cabin she was in with other defenders and journalists that was situated where Coastal GasLink intends to drill under the river.

The dramatic video of that can be seen here.

In it, you can see an RCMP Emergency Response Team officer point an assault rifle at her as attack dogs bark.

She was held in custody until Tuesday November 23.

The comments she made after being released from the Prince George Correctional Centre that day can be seen here.

In that video, Sleydo’ says: “C-IRG [the Community-Industry Response Group] and the RCMP need to be abolished. Anybody who is not into prison abolition should be after this experience that we’ve had.”

Criminalized for defending her territory and upholding the right to consent, Sleydo’ is due in Prince George court on February 14, 2022.

International Women Human Rights Defenders Day is also recognized in the framework of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign that began on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) and that ends on International Human Rights Day (December 10).

Video of Canadian police smashing down a door and arresting Sleydo’ at gunpoint on November 19.

PBI-Mexico highlights statement to Canadian government and investors rejecting the Fortuna Silver Mines San José project

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: On December 14, 2020, the No to Mining Front established a highway blockade in opposition to the renewal of an environmental permit for the Canadian-owned San José mine in Oaxaca. A year later, they continue to call for the mine to be closed.

On November 28, PBI-Mexico tweeted: “The No to Mining Front in Central Valleys of #Oaxaca claims its right to self-determination and to decide on the development model in its territory. Read their position on the Fortuna Silvers mine.”

Their position states: “The gross profit of the ‘San José’ project since the beginning of its commercial exploitation (2011) has been 750 million dollars…”

“For the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, there has been community division, threats, murders and aggressions against community defenders, environmental pollution and the alarming decrease in water wells.”

“Far from reducing poverty, the mining project has generated systematic violence in our territories, trying to confront the different groups to favor their interests.”

Additionally, “the mining company contaminated the Coyote River (2018) and Santa Rosa (2020), directly affecting the communities of: Magdalena Ocotlán, Monte del Toro, San Matías Chilazoa and the Noria de Ortiz.”

Their position concludes with this demand “To the Canadian government and investors: respect the determinations of the communities of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, members of the No to Mining Front: Here we say yes to life, No to Mining!, the FSM business has only brought violence, dispossession and pollution to our communities.”

This past July, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) rejected a new environmental permit for the company.

The previously granted environmental permit then expired on October 23.

But on October 25, Fortuna highlighted in this media statement: “[Fortuna’s Mexican subsidiary, Companía Minera Cuzcatlán] … has obtained a provisional injunction from a Mexican federal court that allows the continued operation of the San Jose Mine beyond the expiry date of the EIA [environmental permit].”

The mine’s controversial history

NACLA reports: “In March 2009, a group of residents protested this violation of their rights by setting up an encampment at the entrance to the mine. In May, 1,000 state and federal police—acting at the request of the mining company and its local political allies—evicted protesters using helicopters, tear gas, and dogs.”

The mine began production in September 2011.

El Universal has reported that there has been four deaths and eight people shot in direct relation to the mine between 2010 and 2012.

Webinar earlier this year

On March 11, Peace Brigades International and Amnesty International co-hosted this webinar that featured Neftali Reyes of Educa Oaxaca and representatives from Magdalena Ocotlán discussing the impacts of this mine.

This Educa Oaxaca report on the webinar highlights: “The representatives of the community located just a few meters from the San José mining project, owned by the FSM company, reiterated that ‘the mining company is affecting us a lot’ with water pollution, mine waste, constant noise and the shortage of water.”

PBI-Mexico began accompanying Educa Oaxaca in May 2013.

PBI-Honduras accompanies Muñecas de Arcoiris trans collective observers seeking inclusive vote on election day

By
Brent Patterson
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On November 28, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted: “PBI accompanies the collective of trans women Muñecas de Arcoiris who observe to secure the inclusive vote. The defender of human rights and trans woman JLo Cordova denounces gender discrimination at the time of casting her vote.”

Reportar Sin Miedo (Report without Fear) has also tweeted: “JLo Córdova, director of the trans collective Muñecas de @arcoirisghn denounces that she suffered discrimination towards her gender expression when voting in #Tegucigalpa.”

This accompaniment took place in a dangerous context. The Washington Post reports: “At least 31 political-related slayings have occurred during the campaign, the highest number on record, according to the Honduran National Observatory of Violence. Those killed include congressional and mayoral candidates and their top supporters.”

Additionally in this context, Le Monde has reported that during the election campaign the ruling National Party vilified the Libre proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.

Initial results

Late that same day, Reuters reported: “With over 27% of the vote counted, Xiomara Castro, the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, had 53.7% support, while Nasry Asfura, candidate of the ruling National Party had 33.8%, the national electoral council said.”

The following day, November 29, The Guardian reported: “With half the ballots counted, Castro held a nearly 20-point lead over Nasry Asfura who won 34% of the vote, according to a preliminary tally on Monday.”

Election monitoring

Reuters also notes: “Numerous national and international election observers monitored Sunday’s voting, including the European Union’s 68-member mission. Zeljana Zovko, the chief EU observer, told reporters around midday that her team mostly saw calm voting with high turnout, although most polling stations they visited opened late.”

The New York Times adds: “The chief of the Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission, Costa Rica’s former president Luis Guillermo Solís, called the vote ‘a beautiful example of citizen participation’, noting the high apparent turnout.”

The Associated Press has also reported: “The Organization of American States observation mission said in a statement late Sunday that the voting had appeared to be ‘appropriate and peaceful’.”

Canada

The Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua has tweeted: “Canada welcomes electoral observation missions from the #OAS and the #EuropeanUnion for general elections in #Honduras on Nov. 28.”

It also tweeted: “Canada is concerned by recent political violence in lead up to Honduras elections. Citizens have the right to exercise their democratic rights in an environment that is safe, fair and free from violence.”

The 2017 election

The Associated Press reports: “In 2017, after a protracted election filled with irregularities, protesters filled the streets and the government imposed a curfew. Three weeks later outgoing President Orlando Hernández was declared the winner despite the Organization of American States observation mission calling for an election re-do. At least 23 people were killed.”

The 2009 coup

And BNN Bloomberg notes: “Castro, the wife of a president deposed in a 2009 coup, leads polls heading into Sunday’s vote and could potentially end 12 years of rule by the conservative National Party.”

We continue to follow reports on this election.

Unist’ot’en Chief Howihkat denounces arson attack against Gidimt’en cabin that was blocking Coastal GasLink site

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 3, Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’ announced in this video that a log cabin had been built on the space where Coastal GasLink was preparing to drill under the Wedzin Kwa river for its fracked gas pipeline.

The Wet’suwet’en oppose this pipeline being built on their lands without their free, prior and informed consent.

By November 19, this video shows the RCMP tearing down the front door of the cabin with an axe and chainsaw and then arresting the land defenders and journalists inside.

Shortly afterwards the cabin was burned down.

On November 20, when we were present on the territory, the access road to Coyote Camp was blocked by the RCMP and CGL trucks.

On November 24, journalist Brandi Morin tweeted: “Wet’suwet’en leaders/supporters know they sure didn’t set it on fire.”

Photo-journalist Amber Bracken later posted these photos of the remnants of the cabin and the Coyote Camp site.

She tweeted: “For clarity this is not the Coyote Camp site, this is a side road at the bottom of the forestry road. Was loaded into dump trucks and dropped here.”

On November 27, the Unist’ot’en posted this video of Chief Howihkat saying: “CGL burnt down Gidimt’en’s cabin.”

Their tweet says: “We know too well the pain of arson on our homes & attempts at displacing us from our Yintah as a land-grab tactic by Industry and colonial gov’t.”

Chief Howihkat highlights the pattern of arson in the video.

This APTN article also notes that a cabin (situated at the 27-kilometre mark on the Morice West Forest Service Road) that was used by land defenders as a meeting place was burned down on August 14-15, 2020. At that time, the RCMP said it was investigating the incident.

By August 19, Black Press Media reported that the RCMP had identified two suspects and that “the investigation continues and information will be provided to the B.C. Prosecution Service regarding potential charges.”

Likhts’amisyu (Fireweed) Clan has now also tweeted: “My Wet’suwet’en cabin was burned to the ground in 2005 by a Forestry worker.”

Secwepemc land defender Kanahus Manuel also tweeted: “One of the reasons why we build tiny houses on wheels because we experienced our cabin also burned to the ground by the governments of bc and Canada armed with a sun peaks resort court injunction 2001.”

We also recall in April 2020 the arson attack against the Spirit of the Buffalo Camp on Treaty 1 territory in southern Manitoba. It opposed the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands export pipeline. At that time, CBC reported: “Some camp supporters and observers on social media are calling on police to investigate it as a hate crime.”

We express our profound concern about this pattern of arson attacks against Indigenous land defenders on their territories.

Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs evict BC NDP MLA Nathan Cullen from his Hazelton constituency office on Gitxsan territory

By
Brent Patterson
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The Gitxsan have posted on Instagram: “Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs evict MLA Nathan Cullen from Gitxsan Lax’yip [territory].”

Their post continues: “The NDP has failed to uphold good relations with our peoples, and due to the violence inflicted on Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Wilp [house group] members, the NDP is no longer welcome on our territories.”

“Someone needs to be accountable for the violent actions inflicted upon our peoples and territories by the RCMP and Coastal GasLink.”

It concludes: “We do not believe these are simply renegade police actions following the rulings of a mere Provincial Court. We know that the feds and the province are guilty of trying to exterminate our way of life.”

Cullen was a federal NDP Member of Parliament from June 2004 to October 2019.

On January 27, 2020, he was appointed by British Columbia premier John Horgan as the liaison between the province and the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs.

Horgan’s government backs the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

On February 20, 2020, after two militarized RCMP raids on Wet’suwet’en territory, Horgan stated that cancelling the pipeline is “not an option for me.”

By July 21, 2020, it was reported Cullen had been paid $87,805 in fees and $2,593 in expenses for his work liaising between the provincial government and the Wet’suwet’en.

Then on October 24, 2020, Cullen was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly and is now the Minister of State for Lands and Resource Operations in Horgan’s cabinet.

Following the November 2021 RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Cullen posted a series of tweets about the situation.

Cullen commented: “The recent enforcement action on the Morice Service Road in Wet’suwet’en territory was an incredibly unfortunate and traumatic event for many. This enforcement took place following an injunction sought by the company and granted by the court.”

He added: “This long running dispute has divided families & communities and made the work of reconciling provincial & Wet’suwet’en laws and title incredibly challenging.”

Responses to his tweets have highlighted that Cullen has not acknowledged that while the Wet’suwet’en band council has responsibility for the reserve, the Hereditary Chiefs are recognized as having authority over the broader territory and that they have not given their free, prior and informed consent to the pipeline being built on those lands.

Cullen’s colleague Mike Farnworth is the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. In response to the actions of Wet’suwet’en land defenders earlier this month, Farnworth commented: “The right to protest does not extend to criminal actions.”

While Farnworth has stated he does direct “police operations”, he did authorize on January 27, 2020 – the same day as Cullen’s appointment – the “internal redeployment of resources within the Provincial Police Services” on Wet’suwet’en lands in order to “maintain law and order.” Days later a militarized raid against the Wet’suwet’en began.

The eviction action at Cullen’s office in Hazelton on November 27, comes after RCMP officers were deployed in nearby New Hazelton on November 19 against a Gitxsan blockade of the railroad tracks in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en.

Cullen has not yet responded via his Twitter account to the eviction.

The Notice of Eviction from the Gitxsan Government.

The House of Commons fails Wet’suwet’en land defenders and water protectors

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The House of Commons on November 22, while Wet’suwet’en land defenders and allies were being held at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre.

The House of Commons resumed sitting just days after a militarized RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory in which 30 people were arrested.

That raid – on Thursday November 18 and Friday November 19 – involved RCMP officers with machine guns, attack dogs and helicopters.

How was that reflected in the House of Commons sitting that began on Monday November 22 while land defenders and journalists were still being held in jail?

The Speech from the Throne, read by Mary Simon, this country’s first Indigenous Governor General, made no reference to the Wet’suwet’en. Instead, without conscious irony, it highlighted the need for “breaking down barriers”.

The first direct mention of the situation didn’t come until Wednesday November 24, when Conservative leader Erin O’Toole stated: “The Coastal GasLink project has agreements with 20 indigenous communities in B.C.”

The Prime Minister responded: “We will continue to move forward in a way that is led by and guided by the partnerships with indigenous peoples across this country.”

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s opening question that day noted: “We are in a climate crisis and we need to act urgently.”

And yet while the Coastal GasLink pipeline would produce 125 million metric tons of carbon pollution on annual basis, Singh supports the CGL project.

It wasn’t until Thursday November 25 that NDP MP Taylor Bacharach stated: “Mr. Speaker, last week, militarized police once again descended on Wet’suwet’en territory. The world watched as unarmed indigenous women were arrested at gunpoint. I have heard from dozens of indigenous leaders who are horrified by what happened.”

Bacharach then asked: “To the minister responsible for the RCMP, do the events of November 19 reflect his view of how Canada should engage with indigenous people on their lands and, if not, what is he going to do to review RCMP conduct?”

While Liberal MP Marco Mendicino responded with “concern at the way in which the operation was conducted in the Wet’suwet’en territory”, there was no firm promise to address the violence, only “our job will be to ensure that there is alignment between the values and the principles that underscore the responsibilities of the RCMP and those operations.”

That day, NDP MP Niki Ashton also briefly noted: “We must stand with land protectors such as those on Wet’suwet’en territory.”

Then on Friday November 26, Green MP Mike Morrice presented a petition that calls for “halting all existing and planned construction of the Coastal GasLink project on Wet’suwet’en territory and ordering the RCMP to dismantle its exclusion zone and stand down.”

Bacharach’s question and Mendicino’s response (71 seconds in length), Morrice’s tabling of the petition (that took 39 seconds), and Ashton’s expression of support (about 3 seconds), means that there was less than 2-minutes of airtime in the House of Commons given to the violence against the Wet’suwet’en.

Some MPs took to Twitter, notably NDP MP Leah Gazan.

Among Gazan’s multiple tweets on this situation, she wrote: “Genocide against indigenous peoples upholding their rights and sovereignty is so normalized in Canada that when videos are released of doors being taken down with axes and chainsaws by militarized RCMP, it’s not a breaking news story. That is called normalized genocide!”

It could also be said that the paucity of debate in the House of Commons this week reflects a normalization of state violence in that institution too.

PBI-Honduras accompanies #N25 march, expresses concern about state repression against the mobilization

By
Brent Patterson
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On November 26, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies the march of #N25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. We express our concern by following this #DefenderAlert. In Honduras 300+ femicides are registered in 2021, 90% remain in impunity.”

Diario Libre reported: “In the march, which moved to the vicinity of the Government Civic Center, where most of the offices of the Honduran Executive Branch operate, the women painted in red a Honduran flag that they installed on one of the fences placed by the military to prevent the passage of the demonstrators.”

The Alert says: “Members of the Anti-Riot Police, National Police and Military Police of Public Order attack defenders in the framework of the protest for the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women.”

It says: “While the mobilization was heading to the offices of the National Institute for Women (INAM) in the Government Civic Center, members of the Anti-Riot Police, National Police and Military Police of Public Order closed the passage and attacked the participants by pushing them with their shields and holding them violently, despite the demand of several comrades to release them.”

“Several officers insulted one of the defenders with misogynistic expressions, then physically assaulted her, hitting her face and back.”

The Alert further notes: “From the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras we condemn all forms of patriarchal violence exercised by the State against women’s bodies and other dissident expressions.”

The full Alert can be read here.

PBI-Honduras accompanies LGTBTQI+ groups march demanding the right of trans people to change their name and gender

By
Brent Patterson
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On November 26, PBI-Honduras posted:

“PBI accompanies @arcoirisghn [the Arcoiris LGTB Association of Honduras] and @somoscdc_hn [the Centre for Development and LGBTI Cooperation] in the presentation of their proposal of reforms to the law for the recognition of the name change of trans people in Honduras and a subsequent walk to the @Congress_HND [National Congress].”

The election in Honduras which will elect a new president and 128 members of the National Congress takes place this Sunday November 28.

In November 2016, the Brussels-based International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association noted in its Trans Legal Mapping Report that in Honduras it’s “not possible” to change your name and that it’s “forbidden by law to make any modification of the sex assigned in the original birth certificate.”

On June 28 of this year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that Honduras must make systemic changes to assure the rights of transgender people including allowing trans people to legally change their name and gender.

The Guardian reports: “[The IACHR] ruled that the state must allow people to alter their gender identity on identification documents and public records.”

Vice also reported: “The adoption of rules that allow name and gender changes could have an important effect on the inclusion of trans people, including in politics. The country’s only trans candidate for political office in the last election, Rihanna Ferrera, said that she lost votes because she appeared on the ballot under her birth name.”

Reuters has noted: “The government did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling, or what its next steps would be.” The BBC adds: “It is not clear how or when [the Honduran government] will enact the court order.”

Related accompaniments

PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris trans rights group at meeting on process to change name and gender after IACHR ruling (July 21)

PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris at LGBTQI+ rights march in San Pedro Sula (September 22)

PBI-Honduras accompanies presentation on the right for transgender people to change their name (October 28)

PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris/Rainbow association at media conference on the situation of the LGTBQI+ community (November 2)

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Arcoíris, the LGTB Association of Honduras, since July 2015.

PBI-Mexico accompanies march in Mexico City against gender violence and patriarchal aggressions

By
Brent Patterson
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On November 25, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies the march against gender violence in #CDMX [Mexico City]. We stand in solidarity with women who fight against impunity for patriarchal aggressions. Likewise, we call on the authorities to respect the right to demonstration and free expression.”

November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

On that day, PBI-Mexico also accompanied this gathering and this march in Chihuahua against femicide and violence against women.

This week, Agence France Presse reported: “Mexico registered 736 femicide cases between January and September [of this year], following 975 cases in the whole of last year, according to official figures.”

This is a global issue.

The Globe and Mail has also reported that the number of women in Canada who were victims of homicide has risen over the past two years.

That article notes: “The spike – with 92 women killed in the first six months of this year, an increase from 78 in the first half of 2020, and 60 in the first half of 2019.”

We continue to affirm that a world without gender violence is possible and that we must collectively seek this.

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