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PBI-Honduras accompanies LGBTQI+ rights organization Arcoiris at ‘Vote for Equality’ meeting ahead of November 28 election

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras has posted: “Last October 15, PBI accompanied Arcoíris, the LGTB Association of Honduras to the presentation of the actions of the campaign ‘Vote for Equality’ organized Somos- CDC [Center for Development and LGBTI Cooperation]. One of the goals of the campaign is to promote the free, transparent and informed vote of vulnerable groups, such as the #LGTBIQ+ community.”

“David Valle, Program Manager and Access to Justice of Somos CDC, pointed out that it is important that people holding public office recognize that the LGTBIQ+ community is part of society, an entity of change and that therefore, laws and changes must be generated that respect your rights. In the same vein, he encouraged no hate speech being promoted against the community.”

PBI-Honduras adds: “We stress the importance of the involvement of the collective of sexual diversity in building an increasingly inclusive world.”

November 28 general election

A general election will take place in Honduras on November 28 of this year.

On September 14, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “More than 30 human rights organizations ask to prevent and sanction campaigns that promote hatred towards women and LGTB people. In the electoral framework, they ask the @MP_Honduras [Public Ministry] to act ex officio against any incitement to discrimination.”

Donny Reyes of Arcoiris has stated that members of the National Party have orchestrated a campaign of rejection towards these groups, therefore, there must be protection from the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Equality and Equity

The Honduran Constitution expressly bans same-sex marriage and refuses to recognize them even if they have been legally sanctioned in other countries, including in Canada where it has been legal since July 2005. Honduras also bans adoption by same-sex couples.

Gender Identity Act

In Honduras it is not possible to change your name and it’s “forbidden by law to make any modification of the sex assigned in the original birth certificate.” This past July, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that the Honduran State must allow people to alter their gender identity on identification documents and public records.

Canada, LGBTQI+ rights and security forces

Reyes has also stated: “The biggest problem that we face is the violence of the state security forces towards the LGBT+ community: the armed forces, the police, the criminal investigation police, military police, municipal police.”

In November 2020, during the UN periodic review of human rights in Honduras, Canada recommended that Honduras: “Investigate and bring to justice cases of human rights violations implicating military forces and create a well-defined plan to complete the reform of the police and remove the military from civilian security duties.”

And yet, as noted here, Canada has trained members of the Honduran military, provided surveillance equipment and training (that can be used to monitor human rights defenders), and has had a security cooperation agreement with Colombia for activities in Honduras.

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

RCMP handcuff unconscious Pacheedaht land defender at Fairy Creek blockade against logging on unceded lands

By
Brent Patterson
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Still from video by journalist Brandi Morin.

On October 18, Brandi Morin tweeted: “Indigenous land defenders arrested at #FairyCreekBlockade including Pacheedaht land defender Whale Tale removed from her own territories. At one point it was unknown as to whether she was breathing after arrest.”

A little over an hour later Morin tweeted: “Whaletale was put in the back of a police truck and I’m told she will be processed at either Duncan or Lake Cowichan. Unknown the status of her health at the moment but she was breathing when she was put in the truck.”

And then several hours after that Morin (was thankfully able to) tweet: “I’m told Whaletale is released and doing fine.”

The RCMP update notes that 6 individuals were arrested, but does not mention the arrest and removal of an unconscious Indigenous land defender from her territory.

Timeline of land defence struggle

Forest defenders set up road blockades in August 2020 to stop the logging company Teal-Jones from cutting old growth forest on Pacheedaht and Dididaht territories on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

On April 1, 2021, British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Frits Verhoeven granted Teal-Jones an injunction that prohibited these roadblocks.

The RCMP began enforcing the injunction on May 17. By June 4, more than 170 people had been arrested. As of September 17, the RCMP had arrested 1,043 people.

On September 28, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Douglas Thompson chose not to extend the injunction. He ruled: “[The] methods of enforcement of the court’s order have led to serious and substantial infringement of civil liberties.”

But by October 8, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein reinstated the injunction citing the economic interests of the logging company.

Ongoing struggle

For updates on this ongoing land defence struggle, follow Brandi Morin on Twitter and search the hashtag #FairyCreekBlockade.

A Defence of Indigenous Land BIPOC fund -Fairy Creek has been established “to support Indigenous land defenders in whatever ways are needed to support their frontline work.” To date, it has raised more than $164,000.

EDC’s financing of oil and gas corporations threatens Indigenous land defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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In May of this year, following the revelation that 215 Indigenous children are buried in a mass grave at the former Kamloops residential school, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked that flags at all federal buildings be flown at half-staff.

Export Development Canada (EDC), an Ottawa-based public financing/credit agency wholly-owned by the Government of Canada, complied.

While it engaged in this performative action, EDC finances Enbridge, Inc., the Calgary-based company building a pipeline that Ojibwe water protector Tara Houska has described as “a perpetuation of cultural genocide.”

Oil Change International has noted: “EDC currently provides oil and gas companies with an average of over CAD 13 billion in support each year. As a result, Canada ranks second highest among G20 countries in total public financing for fossil fuels, and highest on a per-capita basis.”

Now, the Toronto Star reports: “EDC, the government’s export credit agency, says it provided financing and insurance that helped facilitate $62 billion in business for Canadian oil and gas companies from 2015 to 2020.”

Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines

The article highlights: “EDC is funding the construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which is estimated to cost at least $12.7 billion. The agency also made up to $500 million in loans available to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project.”

The Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline is being built on Secwepemc territory without free, prior and informed consent. The pipeline is being built just north of Kamloops where the residential school and mass grave is situated. The Coastal GasLink is being built on Wet’suwet’en territory also without free, prior and informed consent.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on Canada to cease construction on both these pipelines.

The Committee has also indicated that it expects to provide an update on this resolution in its periodic review due on November 15, just days after COP26 concludes.

Line 3 pipeline

Above Ground has noted that Export Development Canada has also provided up to $5.78 billion to Enbridge between January 2010 and April 2020. It further notes: “The firm aims to increase volumes of oil sands crude piped to the U.S. through its Line 3 pipeline replacement project.” That replacement project was first announced in 2014.

Over the past year, more than 800 water protectors were arrested in Minnesota resisting this pipeline. Enbridge provided $2.4 million to the police who brutalized and arrested these protectors.

Canada Pension Plan

The Toronto Star also notes: “And the board that invests the Canada Pension Plan’s $500-billion pool of money says it had about $17.6 billion invested with fossil fuel producers around the world as of March 2021.”

Subsidies must end

The issue of public financing for oil and gas companies is expected to be on the agenda of the UN COP26 climate summit starting on October 31.

The Toronto Star notes: “For Julia Levin, senior program manager of climate and energy for the advocacy organization Environmental Defence, Canada must eliminate public financing of fossil fuel projects by the end of this year.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has commented: “We call on leaders and governments to recognize that climate change and environmental degradation severely undermine the human rights of their people.”

By continuing to subsidize the fossil fuel industry with billions of dollars a year, and enabling the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders, Canada is failing to recognize that climate change undermines human rights.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ZEDEs opponent Christopher Castillo to file complaint after attack

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 18, PBI-Honduras posted: “Last weekend, PBI accompanied Christopher Castillo, Coordinator General of ARCAH to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Police Investigation Department.”

“Christopher Castillo, defender of human rights and opponent to the installation of the ZEDEs, had been attacked by an unknown man, who hit him and stole his cell phone: ′′A man started following me, called me by my name and I didn’t answer.””

Paso de Animal Grande adds: “This could be the first direct attack on a human rights defender who opposes the Special Zones of Economic Development (ZEDE).”

Their article further notes: “Castillo is one of the most visible figures against the ZEDE, his voice and his face are seen everywhere, his passion for defending national sovereignty and territories from the dispossession promoted by [the ZEDEs] project.”

La Tribuna notes that Article 2 of the ZEDE Law establishes different types of modalities including special agro-industrial zones, autonomous cities, renewable energy districts (for wind or solar parks), and special mining zones (such as Guapinol).

Canadian investors are reportedly involved in the Mariposa “health sanctuary” ZEDE and a possible “Little Canada” ZEDE in Trujillo.

All forms of ZEDEs have environmental and land rights implications.

PBI-Honduras comments: “We remember the important role of people defending sovereignty, land and territory in the global fight against climate change.”

On April 13, 2021, PBI-Honduras also observed a court hearing for ARCAH environmentalists charged for defending the Choluteca River from the pollution caused by a poultry company. More on that here.

PBI-Nicaragua accompanies human rights defenders living in exile in Costa Rica

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Nicaragua Project accompanies Nicaraguan human rights defenders living in exile in Costa Rica.

On October 17, La Prensa reported: “The growing harassment, including recent attacks on young Nicaraguans exiled in Costa Rica, has led a number of exiles to flee once more.”

“Attacks such as the one against Joao Maldonado on September 11th have sparked fear among many young people. …At least seven young Nicaraguans left Costa Rica in the first half of October, and others are on the verge of leaving the neighboring country for fear of suffering attack from unknown sources.”

The article adds: “Many young people preparing to leave Costa Rica and seek asylum in countries such as Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, the U.S., Spain, England, or Germany.”

It also quotes Wendy Quintero from the “Nicaragua Nunca + Human Rights Collective who says: “The competent authorities of this country [Costa Rica] have an obligation to clarify all doubts on the circumstances and motivations” of the attacks against Joao Maldonado and Rayza Hope [who was attacked on October 2 in San Jose].

Quintero adds: “We encourage exiled Nicaraguans to make any needed denunciations to the Costa Rican government. The offices of our Collective continue receiving denunciations of human rights violations against the exiled Nicaraguans.”

PBI launched its accompaniment project for Nicaraguans in exile in January 2020.

Since the social crisis of April 2018 and the intensification of repression against Nicaraguan citizens, 108,000 people have fled the country, of which it is estimated that approximately 85,000 have sought protection in Costa Rica.

The situation is expected to intensify in the lead-up to the presidential election in Nicaragua on November 7.

Among those currently imprisoned in Nicaragua is Dora María Téllez, one of the best-known heroes of the Sandinista Revolution, who was arrested on June 13 of this year. She has not been seen since. Photo by PBI-Nicaragua.

Upcoming webinar, November 6

Exiled Nicaraguan environmental rights defender Amaru Ruiz Aleman will be speaking on the Peace Brigades International ‘COP26 and land defenders’ webinar on November 6. To register to hear him speak (with simultaneous translation in English), click here.

EarthRights International statement on environmental defenders in the lead-up to COP26

By
Brent Patterson
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Ojibwe water protector Tara Houska.

On October 18, EarthRights International “called on the Biden administration to use the upcoming COP26 climate negotiations to announce that the United States will no longer allow coercive tactics  — including torture —  against those who speak out against climate-damaging extractive projects and will call on other countries to do the same.”

Their statement adds: “This call to action comes just months after Indigenous environmental defenders protesting Line 3 in Minnesota reported harassment, intimidation, and torture (‘pain compliance’) at the hands of police officers.”

It has been documented that the Minnesota police violence against environmental defenders was funded by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. Earlier this month, The Guardian reported those payments totalled $2.4 million.

The EarthRights International statement includes a quote from water protector Tara Houska of the Giniw Collective who says:

“I would say to John Kerry [United States special presidential envoy for climate], you cannot be a leader on human rights and social justice if you are penalizing, criminalizing, suppressing, and outright committing violent atrocities on Indigenous peoples, on water protectors, on citizens engaged in civil disobedience who are trying to protect this one planet, our only home. The status quo and business as usual are literally killing us.”

PBI-Canada echoes this call to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Climate Change Ambassador Patricia Fuller and other Canadian officials who are expected at COP26.

We further highlight along with the fight against Line 3 the land defence struggles now underway on sovereign Indigenous territories within Canada by the Secwepemc peoples against the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline and the Wet’suwet’en peoples against the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.

EarthRights International calls on governments, corporations and financial institutions to take action in these five areas:

1- Decriminalize opposition to fossil fuels and deforestation.

2- Fight corruption and state capture that drives illegal resource extraction and deforestation.

3- End the use of public security forces to protect fossil fuel and agribusiness projects.

4- Recognize and respect frontline communities’ land rights, and the right to participate in the decisions that impact their territories and environment.

5- Give frontline communities a seat at the table during global climate negotiations.

The full statement by EarthRights International can be read here.

Webinar with frontline land defenders, November 6

Global Witness has documented that there were 227 lethal attacks against land and environmental rights defenders in 2020. That includes 65 defenders in Colombia, 30 in Mexico, 17 in Honduras, 13 in Guatemala and 12 in Nicaragua.

PBI will be convening a webinar with defenders from these countries to highlight their struggles and expectations of COP26.

It will feature Danilo Rueda from Colombia, Juana Ramona Zuñiga from Honduras, Amaru Ruiz from Nicaragua, and a defender with Salvemos los cerros from Mexico. We will have confirmation soon about the speakers from Guatemala and Kenya.

They will be joined in this online event by David R. Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment.

The webinar will be on Saturday November 6 at 1 pm EST (Ontario/Quebec) and 1900 CEST (European time) with simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

To register for it, please click here.

Danilo Rueda, Juana Ramona Zuñiga, Amaru Ruiz.

Colombian environmentalist and national strike leader Victor Orlando Mosquera murdered in Cali

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Victor Orlando Mosquera

El Disconcierto reports: “Youth social leader Victor Orlando Mosquera, one of the leaders of the National Strike in the Colombian city of Cali, has been found dead four days after his disappearance.”

“Mosquera, 33, who led the Return to the Countryside Ethnic Garden in eastern Cali, has been found buried in the vicinity of the orchard itself. The body has stab wounds, reports Colombian broadcaster Blu Radio.”

The article adds: “Víctor, who participated in the dialogues with the district administration, had the dream of showing a different face of eastern Cali and generating new opportunities for his children and young people.”

El Tiempo highlights: “From the so-called first lines of Puerto Resistencia, in eastern Cali, Mosquera actively participated in the national strike in May and June in the capital of Valle del Cauca.”

And Infobae further notes: “Mosquera, who participated in the environmental organization Huerta Étnica Retorno al Campo,became known in different episodes of the previous national strike when he promoted dialogues between different social actors in the city of Cali.”

PBI-Canada extends its condolences to his friends and family and its solidarity to all those seeking peace with justice in Colombia.

More on this soon.

Canada must stop the criminalization of land defenders for success at the COP26 summit

By
Brent Patterson
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Photos: Prime Minister Trudeau addresses the United Nations in September 2016, the RCMP raid Wet’suwet’en territory in January 2019.

If the Canadian government continues to enable the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders opposed to fossil fuel megaprojects, it will continue to miss the carbon emission reduction targets it has pledged at United Nations climate summits.

Under the Harper and Trudeau governments, Canada has previously promised to cut emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. At the Leaders Summit on Climate in April of this year, Trudeau announced that Canada had set a more ambitious emissions reduction target of 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Given Canada’s emissions were 731 megatonnes in 2005, a 30 per cent reduction would have meant a 2030 target of 512 megatonnes. The new 40-45 per cent reduction target sets a goal of 402-438 megatonnes.

In 2016, the year following the Paris Agreement, Canada’s emissions were 707 megatonnes. In 2019, the most recent year that data is available, that rose to 730 megatonnes. Furthermore, Environment Canada projected in 2017 that Canada would emit between 697 and 790 megatonnes in 2030.

Despite these lacklustre numbers, the Canadian government insists it’s “on track to exceed the Paris targets.”

Land defenders criminalized

As carbon emissions increase, Indigenous land defenders opposed to fossil fuel megaprojects have continued to be criminalized despite the commitments made at the COP21 summit in Paris in December 2015.

The Line 3 and Trans Mountain tar sands pipelines and the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline could generate 430 megatonnes of carbon pollution annually.

The Trudeau government approved the Line 3 export pipeline in November 2016, less than a year after COP21. More than 800 water protectors were arrested in Minnesota this past year resisting this pipeline. They were arrested by police funded by Calgary-based Enbridge, the company building the pipeline.

Secwepemc land defender Kanahus Manuel and others have been arrested on their territory opposing the ongoing construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline bought by the Trudeau government in May 2018.

And two highly militarized raids on Wet’suwet’en territory resulted in the arrest of 36 land defenders (14 in 2019, 22 in 2020) opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Another RCMP raid is expected within weeks.

Criminalized Indigenous resistance to extractive megaprojects has been crucial in upholding the promise of the Paris Agreement.

The Indigenous Environmental Network and Oil Change International recently calculated that: “Indigenous resistance has stopped or delayed greenhouse gas pollution equivalent to at least one-quarter of annual U.S. and Canadian emissions.”

That’s more than any COP summit has been able to achieve.

Furthermore, the Human Rights Council passed this resolution in 2019 that affirms defenders “must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

Commenting on the upcoming COP26 talks, cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says: “We, frankly, would welcome ideas from international partners and others as to how we can be the most constructive international player possible in these conversations.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to arrive in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 summit around November 1.

One constructive – and essential – step to success at COP26 would be for him to stop the criminalization of frontline land defenders and water protectors opposed to the extractive megaprojects that are accelerating the climate crisis.

Will the G20 summit just prior to COP26 recognize land and environmental rights defenders?

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The G20 virtual summit on October 14, 2021.

Peace Brigades International believes that “respect for, protection, promotion and fulfilment of human rights, and the protection of those who defend them, must be an essential and non-negotiable part of measures adopted” at COP26.

The United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 26 climate summit will take place in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 to November 12.

In tandem with this, the G20 (including representatives from the United States, Canada and the European Union) will be meeting in Rome, Italy on October 30-31.

When the G7 leaders gathered in Cornwall, England this past June, their Open Societies Statement affirmed: “The importance of civic space and partnership with diverse, independent and pluralistic civil societies, including human rights defenders, in promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

That’s much weaker than this UN Human Rights Council resolution from March 2019 that states: “Human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

Global Witness, Fridays for Future and others are calling for a more explicit recognition of land and environmental rights defenders at COP26.

That’s because on average four land defenders have been killed every week since the Paris Agreement was reached at COP21 in December 2015.

It would be a step forward if both the G20 communique and Glasgow Pact included a statement affirming that governments must: commit to ending the criminalization and violence against land and environmental rights defenders; recognize their frontline work as essential for climate justice; ensure that those who commit violence against defenders face justice; and utilize all available tools to strengthen and ensure the protection of defenders.

Just last week, the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Norway along with Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico signed this statement that recalls: “The Security Council has encouraged States to create a safe and enabling environment for those who protect and promote human rights, especially women, to allow them to conduct their work independently, and to address threats and violence against them.”

Canada at COP26

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce that he will attend COP26 closer to the beginning of the summit.

That may be because he will almost certainly be at the G20 summit in Rome.

Indigenous land defenders in Canada are also being criminalized for their opposition to major fossil fuel megaprojects, notably the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline on Secwepemc territory and the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.

PBI webinar, November 6

Global Witness has documented that there were 227 lethal attacks against land and environmental rights defenders in 2020. That includes 65 defenders in Colombia, 30 in Mexico, 17 in Honduras, 13 in Guatemala and 12 in Nicaragua.

Peace Brigades International will be convening a webinar with defenders from these countries to highlight their struggles and expectations of COP26.

It will feature Danilo Rueda from Colombia, Juana Ramona Zuñiga from Honduras, Amaru Ruiz from Nicaragua, and a defender with Salvemos los cerros from Mexico. We will have confirmation soon about the speakers from Guatemala and Kenya.

The webinar will be on Saturday November 6 at 1 pm EST (Ontario/Quebec) and 1900 CEST (European time) with simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

To register for it, please click here.

Danilo Rueda, Juana Ramona Zuñiga, Amaru Ruiz.

PBI-Kenya accompanies inquest hearing in the police killing of 20-year-old Nura Malicha

By
Brent Patterson
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Twitter photo: Equator News Uganda.

In their most recent newsletter, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project noted: “PBI Kenya accompanied HRDs [human rights defenders] to Milimani Court during the inquest hearing of the case of Nura Malicha, who was killed on 15 February 2015.”

They add: “The Magistrate found a police officer culpable of the death of the 20-year-old. The court has directed the forwarding of the inquest file to the Director of Public Prosecution for the necessary action.”

An 8-minute video of the Magistrate speaking on the case posted by Missing Voices Kenya can be seen here.

While Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi found Police Officer David Rono culpable on July 29, 2021, in the death of Nura in 2015, as noted above, it was ordered that the file be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for “appropriate action”.

PBI-Kenya comments: “[We] see this ruling as a win for justice, even though we express our concern about the long time it took for the case to reach this stage. Sadly, many cases of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are stuck in the justice system for many years, which means justice is delayed for the victims and their families.”

Commentary by lawyer Demas Kiprono posted by Amnesty Kenya on the long delay in this case can also be read here.

This past August, The New York Times reported: “At least 834 people have been killed by the police or were reported missing since 2007 — 166 of them last year — according to Missing Voices, a group of organizations that document police killings.”

Earlier this year, The Star reported: “[Missing Voices] says the 157 cases [of people killed by the police in 2020] were a result of 131 separate incidents and that 83 per cent of the cases have not been investigated.”

It then highlights: “A paltry 3.5 per cent of the cases have the alleged perpetrators arrested and 7 per cent are under investigation by IPOA [the independent policing oversight authority].”

The Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project supports the work of Missing Voices, the Police Reforms Working Group and the Social Justice Centres Working Group.

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