This hour we are following a media conference being held by the Tocoa Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods (Comité Municipal en Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos).
The Public Ministry of Honduras has posted: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office, through the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Life (FEDCV) in coordination with members of the Police Directorate of Investigations (DPI), executed the arrest of three alleged perpetrators of the murder of human rights and environmental defender, Juan Antonio López.”
Their statement adds: “They are the former mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez Martínez, Juan Ángel Ramos Gallegos and Héctor Eduardo Méndez; whom the Public Prosecutor’s Office also accuses of the crime of association to commit a crime to the detriment of other fundamental rights.”
Infobae also reports: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Adán Fúnez is being investigated as the alleged mastermind of the murder of environmentalist Juan López, within a line of investigation that is still open and has already included the arrest of other alleged suspects.”
That article adds: “The spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Yuri Mora … said that investigations cover not only the material authors of the crime, but also possible masterminds, with the aim of fully clarifying the structure behind the murder.”
Juan López was the coordinator of the Tocoa Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods. He was killed on September 14, 2024, inside his vehicle after leaving a church in the city of Tocoa.
With PBI-Honduras, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson visited Tocoa and Guapinol on October 29-30, 2024.
Peace Brigades International has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and the defenders of the Guapinol River since January 2019.
Photo: CADSI image promoting the CANSEC event in Ottawa showing the flags of Saudi Arabia (third row, sixth over), Türkiye (fourth row, fourth over) and the United Arab Emirates (fourth row, sixth over).
The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) has published a partial listof the 60+ international delegations that will be attending the CANSEC “defence, security and emerging technology event” at the EY Centre in Ottawa this coming May 27-28, 2026.
Those countries are Saudi Arabia (with a score of 9/100), Türkiye (32/100), and the United Arab Emirates (18/100).
The Dublin-Brussels-Mexico City-based human rights organization Front Line Defenders notes:
Saudia Arabia: “Human rights defenders, activists and individuals who criticise government policies or express dissent or diverging opinion to those of the authorities are subjected to harassment, surveillance, arbitrary detention, smear campaigns, prolonged and unfair trials. Family members of HRDs are also targeted and subjected to intimidation and harassment at the hands of the authorities.”
Türkiye: “Human rights defenders (HRDs) in Türkiye have been subjected to judicial harassment, including criminal prosecution, violent attacks, threats, surveillance, prolonged arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment. In the aftermath of an attempted coup in July 2016, the environment for the work of HRDs deteriorated even further. Through the wide-ranging use of State of Emergency laws, the Turkish government has significantly infringed on the rights to freedom of expression, media, assembly, and association, and has particularly restricted the liberty of those engaged in human rights work.”
United Arab Emirates: “The persecution of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the UAE is systematic. Since 2011, the state has intensified its crackdown on freedom of association, assembly and freedom of expression. HRDs and members of their families are subjected to forced disappearance, prolonged arbitrary detention, torture, judicial harassment and unfair trials, travel ban, physical and digital surveillance and arbitrary dismissal from work.”
“Partly free” countries
Freedom House also ranks seven additional countries that will be at CANSEC as “partly free”. Those countries are Hungary, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, and Ukraine (with an average freedom score of 54/100).
Israel and international human rights law
And while Freedom House gives Israel a score of 73/100 for freedom, we do note that there are concerns about its presence at CANSEC this year given the International Court of Justice ruling (that the claim of Israel committing genocide against the Palestinian people is “plausible”), the International Criminal Court ruling (that has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity), and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory finding (that concluded that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide).
We further note the expert commentary that these findings trigger State obligations within the Genocide Convention and the Arms Trade Treaty.
We also recall that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented: “The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has committed more targeted killings of journalists than any other government’s military since CPJ began documentation in 1992.”
Canada’s position
With respect to arms exports to Saudi Arabia, Canada has previously taken the “no substantial risk” position that while Saudi Arabia’s overall human rights record remains problematic, “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.”
But as Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares conclude in their report, No Credible Evidence: Canada’s Flawed Analysis of Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia, the federal government’s assessment is “fundamentally flawed” as it misinterprets, or ignores, key pillars of the Arms Trade Treaty.
With respect to Israel, on August 2, 2025, Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated: “Canada has drawn, and will continue to draw, a hard line: since January 2024, we have refused any new permits for controlled goods that could be used in Gaza. Not one has been approved. We went further by freezing all existing permits in 2024 that could have allowed military components to be used in Gaza, and those permits remain suspended today.”
While investigative reporting by The Maple questions this, the Government of Canada has yet to comment on why Israel (along with Israeli weapons companies Elbit Systems and Plasan) will be at CANSEC this year.
Accompaniment
As part of our commitment to promoting education and awareness and the accompaniment of human rights defenders whose lives are at risk, PBI-Canada continues to monitor the implications of the CANSEC arms show in the context of the safety and security of human rights defenders and journalists.
Photo: Fedepesan president Yuli Velásquez commenting on, as Credhos notes, this achievement for the historic struggle of artisanal fishing communities.
This past Saturday May 9, Los Informantes reported: “Yuli Velásquez’s fight against pollution in the San Silvestre Marsh in Barrancabermeja culminated in a landmark ruling in favor of the fishermen and endangered species that inhabit these waters. Tune in this Sunday to #LosInformantes to meet a leader who faced threats for defending the water that sustains hundreds of families.”
A portion of that Los Informantes video report can be seen here. The full video cannot be seen in Canada, but for others here is the link.
The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (Credhos) has also highlighted on social media: “This [court ruling] undoubtedly represents an achievement for the historic struggle of artisanal fishing communities, who defend the water, their enterprise, their habitat for subsistence and permanence on the territory.”
Credhos also notes: “Since the year 2022 CREDHOS together with Fedepesan have begun research work, compiling the evidence that Fedepesan has been collecting since its inception on environmental impacts through the Environmental and Community Monitoring in Caño Rosario and Caño San Silvestre.”
The court ruling
On May 6, 2026, Enlace Television reported: “The Administrative Court of Santander issued a ruling that warns of a serious threat to collective environmental rights due to the contamination of Caño Rosario, a key tributary that directly impacts the San Silvestre swamp, a strategic ecosystem in the Barrancabermeja region. According to the ruling, the environmental problem has been intensified by multiple factors, including wastewater discharges, the presence of hydrocarbons and other chemical contaminants that have significantly deteriorated the quality of the water.”
The article continues: “The court ruling mandates the implementation of an environmental monitoring process that includes physicochemical testing of the water, sludge analysis, and detailed studies of ecosystem conditions. These tests must be carried out in certified laboratories to guarantee reliable results. In addition, a period of six months was established from the notification of the sentence to initiate the necessary actions in the Caño Rosario and the San Silvestre swamp, in order to evaluate and mitigate the environmental damage.”
The article also highlights: “The communities see this decision as an important step towards the environmental recovery of Caño Rosario, with the expectation of achieving the cleaning of the tributary and the protection of the natural resources that sustain their economy and way of life.”
Vanguardia further reports: “The Administrative Court of Santander confirmed in second instance the ruling of the popular action filed by the Federation of Artisanal Fishermen, Environmentalists and Tourists (Fedepesan) for the alleged contamination of the El Rosario channel in Barrancabermeja.”
That article notes that the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (Credhos) accompanied the popular action.
The Vanguardia article also quotes Yuli Andrea Velasquez, the president of Fedepesan, who says following this court ruling: “As fishing communities we have always been concerned about the state of the water of the El Rosario channel, about all the species that have died day by day in large quantities. Our concern was always that water and sludge tests could be carried out to find out what the fishing communities and the community in general of Barrancabermeja were consuming.”
PBI-Canada visits the Rosario channel
On the morning of Thursday June 30, 2022, PBI-Canada joined with PBI-Colombia as they accompanied Fedepesan and Credhos on a visit by boat on the San Silvestre wetland ecosystem in Barrancabermeja and were shown the impacts on water, wildlife and livelihoods of artisanal fishers.
We also recall that just a few days later, on July 5, 2022, there was an armed attack against Velásquez by two unknown assailants who shot at her, harming her bodyguard. who had been with us that day on the water.
On December 7, 2022, we hosted this webinar with Credhos and Fedepesan to further amplify their concerns about the San Silvestre wetlands.
Accompaniment
The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (Credhos) accompanies the Federation of Artisanal Fishermen, Environmentalists and Tourists (Fedepesan). Peace Brigades International has accompanied Credhos since 1994.
From Canada we continue to follow the work of Fedepesan and Credhos with great interest and congratulate them on this landmark court ruling.
Photo: PBI-Mexico accompanies the Cerezo Committee as members hold banners with the images of Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez and Edmundo Reyes Amaya. Photo by Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos “Hasta Encontrarlos”.
El Economista reports: “Collectives of searching mothers and relatives of disappeared persons marched on May 10 in Mexico City during the XIV March of National Dignity ‘Mothers Searching for their Sons, Daughters, Truth and Justice’, to demand from the Mexican State results in the searches, justice and attention to the crisis of disappearances in the country. In this context of the mobilization, the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recognized the work of the searching mothers and pointed out that disappearances continue to be one of the main challenges in terms of human rights in Mexico.”
The Guardian now reports: “State actors are involved in disappearances in Mexico at an ‘alarming’ rate, according to a report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The sweeping investigation, to which the Guardian was given exclusive access, presents a dire picture of the crisis of disappearances in Mexico, where more than 130,000 people have gone missing, mostly in the last 20 years since the government declared its war on drug cartels.”
The article adds: “Forced disappearance – where a person is detained, extrajudicially killed by the state and their body then destroyed or hidden – has a long history in Mexico, going back to the country’s so-called dirty war of the 1960s and 70s where dissidents were even thrown out of planes and into the Pacific Ocean.”
The Cerezo Committee has previously explained: “On May 25, 2007, in the city of Oaxaca, Edmundo Reyes Amaya and Gabriel Alberto Cruz Sánchez, members of the Popular Democratic Revolutionary Party-Popular Revolutionary Army (PDR) were arrested and disappeared by various police and military groups.”
Twelve years after their disappearance, Proceso reported: “On May 6, 2019, the Fourth District Court of Amparo in Criminal Matters in Mexico City issued a sentence that recognized ‘the serious violation of human rights’ against Popular Revolutionary Army members ‘by agents of the Mexican State’.”
That decision was appealed by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Secretariat of National Defence (Sedena), but the First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation upheld the decision on August 10, 2022.
A Special Search Commission was established on November 3, 2022.
On April 21, 2026, Nadin Reyes Maldonado, daughter of Edmundo Reyes Amaya, met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk in Mexico City.
Proceso reports: “Reyes said that the ominous delays in investigations of cases of the so-called ‘dirty war’ were discussed… The defender added that the objective of the collectives was for the High Commissioner ‘to understand the dimension of the problem of forced disappearances in the country and the lack of political will that the Mexican State as a whole has to, first, recognize the problem.’”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International began to accompany the Cerezo Committee in 2002.
PBI-Mexico advocacy coordinator Manuel Jabonero and PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Francisco Cerezo Contreras of the Cerezo Committee in Mexico City in February 2026.
“This week, we met with Arcoíris to get an update on the security situation facing the LGBTI+ community in Honduras and to assess the status of compliance with the reparations measures ordered in landmark rulings such as the Leonela Zelaya case.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling established the implementation of a procedure for the recognition of gender identity, which would allow transgender people to update their information on identity documents.
At PBI, we express concern over the delay in implementing these reparations measures and emphasize that the right to life, dignity, security, and access to justice are fundamental human rights.”
Leonela Zelaya detained, assaulted by the police
Outright International has explained: “Leonela Zelaya was a trans woman living in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She was 34, a sex worker, and lived with HIV—conditions that, in 2004, placed her in the direct line of routine policing and abuse. The record reflects that she was detained repeatedly that year, and the Court accepted that she was assaulted by police officers in the context of those detentions. On the night of September 6, 2004, she went out to work; in the early hours of 7 September, a street vendor found her body in Comayagüela, just outside Tegucigalpa—bearing indications of a violent death.”
Vicky Hernández killed by security forces
Outright International has also noted: “Vicky Hernández was a trans woman, a sex worker, and an activist with the Colectivo Unidad Color Rosa, a group working on the human rights of trans people and on HIV prevention. In the early hours after the June 2009 coup d’état in Honduras, as a nationwide curfew took effect and military and police forces flooded the streets, Hernández went to a friend’s house; the next morning, she was found dead. From the outset, the authorities’ handling of the case reflected the prejudice the Court would later identify: in official records she was initially registered as an ‘unknown’ male, despite information that should have allowed her to be identified.”
In June 2021, The Guardian reported: “In a landmark ruling for transgender rights, the Honduras government has been found responsible for the 2009 murder of the trans woman and activist Vicky Hernández.”
“The Costa Rican-based Inter-American court of human rights … has ordered Honduras, which has the world’s highest rate of murders of trans people, to pay reparations to Hernández’s family and implement a sweeping range of measures designed to protect trans people, including anti-discrimination training for security forces and state collection of data on violence against LGBTQ+ people. It also ruled that the state must allow people to alter their gender identity on identification documents and public records. This could set an important precedent for Central America, where most countries do not allow people to legally change their gender.”
Security forces a major threat
On November 1, 2024, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Jennifer Cordoba, the director of the Muñecas (Dolls) Collective, and Donny Reyes, the director of Asociación Arcoiris, at the Arcoiris office in Tegucigalpa.
Reyes has 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.”
As noted above, Hernández was murdered on June 28, 2009, the first night of the coup. On July 30, 2009, about a month after the coup, The Globe and Mail reported: “Canada is still providing training to members of the Honduran army.”
By February 17, 2015, Sandra Cuffe reported in Ricochet: “Militarization, impunity, and human rights abuses have dominated Honduras since the coup. …Since 2011, Canada has provided the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) with $5 million in surveillance and criminal investigation equipment and training to investigate homicides and violent crimes, wrote Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development spokesperson John Babcock in an email to Ricochet.”
That article adds: “Given the alarming frequency of threats and attacks against human rights activists, farmworker movement participants, Indigenous leaders, journalists and others in Honduras, training in surveillance raises concerns. Bertha Oliva, coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared [COFADEH] in Honduras takes it for granted that human rights activists and social movement organizations are under heavy surveillance.”
PBI-Honduras COPINH coordinator Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres has commented: “We have an army in a country where there’s no armed conflict with any other country. The only conflict in Honduras is a conflict of interests of the richest people with the most historically impoverished people.”
She has backed the proposed US legislation titled The Berta Cáceres Act, named in honour of her mother who was assassinated in March 2016, that states: “The Honduran police are widely established to be deeply corrupt and to commit human rights abuses, including torture, rape, illegal detention, and murder, with impunity.”
It calls on the United States to suspend all “security assistance to Honduran military and police until such time as human rights violations by Honduran state security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought to justice.”
PBI-Canada has highlighted that with Canada exporting $1 billion of “military goods” to the United States every year for the production of weapons there that The Berta Cáceres Act should also apply to Canada.
Photo and video: Nomadesc president Berenice Celeita (center) with Global Sumud Flotilla members Ledys Sanjuán and Saif Abukeshek in Cali, Colombia, December 2025.
“While the Palestinian people continue to face bombings, forced displacement, hunger, and a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, thousands of people around the world continue to raise their voices to denounce the genocide and demand an end to the violence against Palestine.
On April 30, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek were arrested during international solidarity actions and human rights advocacy. The Global Sumud Flotilla demands their immediate release and guarantees for those who stand in solidarity with and denounce the situation facing the Palestinian people.
Today, it is urgent to add more voices, break the silence, and continue denouncing the ongoing genocide. Solidarity with Palestine cannot be criminalized.”
Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek
Just prior to the departure of the Flotilla from Spain on April 12, Amnesty International stated: “Israeli authorities must ensure safe passage for these unarmed activists and human rights defenders.”
Greenpeace International also explained: “Hundreds of medics, teachers, and eco-builders, with expertise in healthcare, education, and sustainable rebuilding, are sailing to support the people of Gaza.”
On the night of April 29-30, Israel intercepted 22 boats from the Flotilla in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea and detained nearly 180 people from multiple countries, including two Canadians.
The Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, denounced this raid against the Flotilla by the Israeli military.
The Associated Press has further reported that Israeli authorities had taken two leaders of the Flotilla – Spanish citizen Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila – to Israel for questioning. They are being held in Shikma Prison in Israel.
Arbitrary detention of human rights defenders
On May 7, 2026, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), “was informed by Adalah (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) of the abduction, arbitrary detention and acts of ill-treatment against Thiago Ávila e Silva Oliveira and Saif Abukeshek, two human rights defenders involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF).”
The Observatory adds: “Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek reported physical violence, degrading treatment, and being held for prolonged periods in stress positions by Israeli military forces while at sea.”
The Observatory has called on the Israeli authorities to: “Ensure that human rights activists supporting the Palestinian people, as well as all human rights defenders, can carry out their activities freely and without fear of reprisals.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied Nomadesc since 2011, and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.
Photo: PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson with Berenice Celeita, translator Michael Carty, and Rachel Lim from Amnesty International Canada in Ottawa, October 2023.
PBI-Canada is following the Perseverance and her Canadian crew of human rights defenders via the Global Sumud Flotilla tracker here.
We also continue to highlight the concern that export of weapons, components and technology can be linked directly to violations of the safety and security of human rights defenders globally.
Photo: The Golden Rule crew (left-right): Albert S. Bigelow, Orion Sherwood, William Huntington, and George Willoughby.
George Willoughby was one of the signatories of a letter dated January 12, 1981, that invited people to help form an organization that would become Peace Brigades International at its founding meeting on Grindstone Island, 100 kilometres south of Ottawa, Canada in September 1981.
Willoughby maintained a long association with PBI and attended the PBI General Assembly north of Toronto, Ontario in June 1992 that approved the first Principles and Mandate statement for the organization.
Photo: Willoughby, with Steve Kaal, at PBI General Assembly, Toronto, 1992.
On May 1, 1958, Willoughby, along with Albert Bigelow (the captain), William R. Huntington (the first mate) and Orion Sherwood set sail on The Golden Rule sailboat from Honolulu towards the Marshall Islands to prevent an atomic weapons test.
The crew was arrested by the US Coast Guard five nautical miles from Hawaii.
On June 4, 1958, with Bigelow still in jail, Willoughby, Huntington and Sherwood were joined by Jim Peck in a second attempt to get to the Marshall Islands but were arrested and sentenced to sixty days in jail.
National Geographic has reported: “The Quakers who planned the Golden Rule’s 1958 voyage designed it as an act of civil disobedience to call attention to atmospheric nuclear weapons testing.”
That article highlights: “The voyage was halted by the U.S. Coast Guard and the captain, Albert Bigelow, a Quaker and former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, was thrown in jail. The international publicity this confrontation attracted helped spur the growing opposition to nuclear tests and the arms race.”
It further notes: “The public demonstrations these direct actions provoked around the country caused a reluctant [US President Dwight D.] Eisenhower to suspend atomic tests in August 1958.”
The War Resisters League has also commented: “That opposition [generated by The Golden Rule also] eventually lead to the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty prohibiting nuclear testing in the atmosphere, underwater or in outer space.”
George Lakey (who was a PBI volunteer in Sri Lanka in 1989) has written in Waging Nonviolence: “When the Golden Rule was stopped by the U.S. government near Hawaii, Earle and Barbara Reynolds used their family’s sailing ship the Phoenix to continue the voyage toward the testing area. A decade later, activists with A Quaker Action Group, or AQAG, in turn used the Phoenix to bring medical aid to Vietnamese civilians suffering from the U.S. Naval blockade of the Vietnamese coast. Taking its cue from the Golden Rule voyage a decade earlier, the Phoenix’s voyages to Vietnam had the aim of launching a mass movement at a moment when none existed.”
Other Words has also noted: “The Golden Rule was the forebear of all the peace and environmental protest boats that followed, from the Sea Shepherds to Free Gaza. The connection to Greenpeace is direct.”
That article shares: “In 1971, Golden Rule supporter Marie Bohlen attended a meeting in Vancouver, Canada of people concerned about nuclear weapons testing. She suggested a voyage toward the U.S. nuclear test site in the Aleutian Islands á la the Golden Rule. Soon, the rusty trawler Phyllis Cormack was renamed the Greenpeace and headed north toward the Alaskan Archipelago. The rest, as they say, is history.”
In the spring of 2026, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise provided support to the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing with aid to Gaza.
On May 2, 2026, PBI-Canada observed rally and march in Ottawa demanding the release of Global Sumud Flotilla human rights defenders from Israeli military custody. We see the link between this presence in 2026 and The Golden Rule in 1958.
On our 45th anniversary, PBI-Canada remembers and reaffirms the role of George Willoughby in the formation of Peace Brigades International and the inspiration his example provided for other initiatives that promote peace with justice.
The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“Today, #PBI is accompanying members of REDSAG [the Network for the Defense of Food Sovereignty] and the Pajales Sis community council on a tour of the community in the municipality of Andrés Villaseca. During the tour, we have observed the damage caused by the construction of gabions by the local sugar mill to divert the river’s course, and the subsequent destruction wrought by the river’s force. This puts the community at risk of potential flooding. We also took the opportunity to see how work is progressing on the road that will connect the community to the main road, as well as the water tank which, thanks to the efforts of the community’s political council, they have managed to secure.”
Gabions can be understood as wire mesh cages filled with materials like rocks, stones, or concrete, commonly used in civil engineering for erosion control, retaining walls, and river bank stabilization.
PBI-Guatemala has previously explained: “The Pajales Sis community is located between the El Pilar and Tululá sugar refineries. José Miguel Sánchez López, a member of the Pajales Sis Community Development Council (COCODE), has been speaking out for years about the consequences of both sugar refineries’ poor practices, which have affected community members’ lives. As a result, he has been targeted for criminalization by the sugar refineries.”
Canada
In April 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted: “Guatemala’s main raw and refined sugar exports are destined for the United States, followed by Taiwan and Canada.”
This USDA chart suggests the most recent figure is that Canada imported 176,956 metric tons of sugar from Guatemala.
On May 2-4, 2023, PBI-Canada visited the South Coast of Guatemala to learn more about the impacts of sugar production on communities and their access to water.
At that time, PBI-Canada saw diminished and polluted rivers attributed to sugar production and visited numerous communities that shared stories about how the water required for sugar mills had dried wells and gardens.
Photo: The entrance to the El Pilar sugar mill. Photo by PBI-Canada.
Photo: PBI-Canada hears testimony in the community of Pajales Sis about the impacts of the El Pilar sugar mill, May 2, 2023.
Accompaniment
PBI has accompanied members of the REDSAG Political Council since September 2025, especially José Miguel Sánchez López from the Pajales Sis community in San Andrés Villa Seca, Retalhuleu, and sisters Carmelina and Estela Chocooj from the Soledad Sayaxut community in Cobán, Alta Verapaz.
“On May 1, we accompanied the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) in Bogotá during the International Workers’ Day march.
The CSPP was present at various points along the march as the Verification and Intervention Commission (CVI), as part of the Defend Freedom Campaign, with the aim of denouncing arbitrary arrests, judicial persecution and the criminalization of social protest in Colombia, as well as guaranteeing and defending the right to protest.
We reaffirm that protesting is a fundamental right and that human rights support is essential to protect life, dignity and social mobilization.”
The Spanish news agency EFE reported: “As part of the commemoration of International Workers’ Day, thousands of workers, trade unions and social groups took to the streets of the Colombian capital on Friday [May 1] to participate in a mobilization that traveled along important roads in the city.”
El Pais adds: “The country’s capital is the traditional central axis of the demonstrations.”
The call for the march was made by the National Unitary Command, a coalition of national trade union centres and pensioners federations, with the participation of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC) and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT).
CityTV further notes: “Some attendees pointed out that participating in this day is a personal tradition and an act of vindication. The demonstrators stressed the importance of making community work visible, demanding decent working conditions and promoting respect for workers’ rights, including fair wages and work-life balance.”
Violence against unions
Justice for Colombia has highlighted: “In March 2023, the Petro government made history by formally recognizing the trade union movement as a collective victim of the decades-long armed conflict. …[His government recognized that] trade unions were systematically and violently targeted for decades with governments playing a major role in widespread killing that aimed to eradicate organized labour.”
That article adds: “For over half a century, Colombian trade unionists faced barely comprehendible levels of violence. Between 2018 and 2023, trade unionists suffered 15,810 human rights violations: 3,323 murders, 449 attempted murders, 254 forced disappearances, 7,884 death threats and 1,987 forced displacements. Colombia accounted for over 60 per cent of worldwide killings of trade unionists during this entire period.”
It further notes: “Although attacks on trade unionists have fallen since peaking in the 1990s and 2000s, Colombia remains the world’s deadliest country for organized labour, according to this year’s Global Rights Index from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).”
On May 7, Peace Brigades International-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson moderated the “Shut It Down: Global Actions Disrupting the Arms Trade” webinar featuring movement activists from around the world.
This is part of PBI’s commitment to anticipatory accompaniment, the prevention of violence against human rights defenders around the world, specifically those whose safety is endangered by the police, military and state security forces.
The webinar was organized jointly by the Shut Down CANSEC campaign and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).
To watch the video of the webinar (available until May 15), click here.
The panelists included activists from the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Canada. Click on the bolded links below to follow them on social media.
Rosie Lucente – Shut Down CANSEC (Canada): “A campaign exposing and opposing CANSEC: The largest arms dealer convention in Canada.” Rosie highlighted the community campaign organizing a mass mobilization to shut down the annual CANSEC arms show in Ottawa. The next CANSEC takes place on May 27-28, 2026.
Kirsten Bayes – Campaign Against Arms Trade (United Kingdom): “a UK-based organisation working to end the international arms trade. Nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.” Kirsten noted the biannual effort to shut down the DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) arms fair in London. The next DSEI takes place on September 7-10, 2027.
Laura Ferrer – Desarma Madrid (Spain): “Platform for the demilitarisation of Madrid. Against arms fairs and other events.” Laura noted the biggest arms fair in Spain is the biannual FEINDEF (International Defence & Security Exhibition). The next FEINDEF takes place in Madrid on May 18-20, 2027.
Laura – Stop Arming Israel (France): “More than 30 Palestinian trade unions have launched the appeal ‘End all complicity. Stop arming Israel’. Let’s spread the word!” Laura said that the biggest biannual arms fair in France is Eurosatory. The next Eurosatory takes place in Paris on June 15-19, 2026.
Simon Black – Labour Against the Arms Trade (Canada): “Coalition of peace and labour activists working to end Canada’s participation in the international arms trade. For arms conversion and a just transition.” Simon highlighted the “hot cargo” resolution at the upcoming Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) convention on May 11-15, 2026, in Winnipeg. Palestinian trade unions have been clear: to stop the genocide, trade unions in the West must refuse all forms of collaboration with Israel.
At this time, we recall that Amnesty International has repeatedly stated: “Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
