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PBI-Honduras issues Alert about risks faced by leaders of the Agrarian Platform and Camarones cooperative

By
Brent Patterson
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On December 11, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted on social media:

“At PBI, we are concerned about the risks faced by the leaders of the Agrarian Platform and the peasant families of the Camarones cooperative in Quebrada de Arena, Tocoa, Colón. It is important to implement effective protection measures against the attacks allegedly perpetrated by the criminal group ‘Los Cachos’.”

Avispa Midia also reports: “This Monday (8), members of the criminal group known as ‘Los Cachos’ attacked peasants from the Camarones Cooperative, as well as several other members of organizations grouped in the Agrarian Platform of the Bajo Aguán Valley, northern Honduras. The result was dozens of people injured, including the Deputy Coordinator of the Platform, Wendy Castro, and even an agent of the National Police. The attack occurred at noon, while security forces were serving a court order to evict the criminal group ‘Los Cachos’, who have maintained control of the lands of the Camarones Peasant Cooperative since December 2024 when they dispossessed peasant families through attacks with high-caliber weapons.”

These slides from PBI-Honduras further state:

“ALERT

Attacks against the Camarones cooperative (Agrarian Platform)

Despite the eviction attempt on 7 December to allow the peasant families of the Camarones Cooperative to recover their land, the families – displaced since 24 December 2024 – have not been able to regain possession of their territory, according to reports by the Agrarian Platform and COPA.”

“The organisations also report attacks perpetrated against the families in the context of this recovery process. According to the information received, the attackers belong to the criminal group ‘Los Cachos’, which continues to operate within the peasant territory, posing a risk to the integrity and security of the communities.

PBI expresses its concern for the physical integrity and safety of the cooperative’s members in light of the recent attacks reported. We reiterate the importance of guaranteeing the right of access to land and of adopting protective measures for the communities involved in this process.”

Agrarian Platform

Avispa Midia has explained: “The Agrarian Platform of Aguán is made up of 25 cooperatives seeking to recuperate their lands in the valley. In addition, there are associate campesino companies, which total 43 organizations, that seek through different forms of struggle to recuperate the lands that were taken from them.”

On October 30, 2024, PBI-Canada met with several representatives of the Agrarian Platform including Yoni Rivas, Raul Ramirez and Wendy Castro.

Photo: PBI-Canada and PBI-Honduras meet the Agrarian Platform in front of a poster of Carlos Escaleras Mejía, an environmental defender who was killed on October 18, 1997.

We highlighted at that time that the Honduras National Protection Mechanism has assessed their risk level as high (84 per cent).

On November 7, 2025, Canada commented on the protection needs of human rights defenders in Honduras during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Honduras at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Speaking on behalf of Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Joseph Flores Ayala stated:

“Canada recommends that Honduras fully implement the National Protection Mechanism by establishing robust accountability measures for state authorities who fail to provide adequate protection to human rights defenders, including Indigenous rights defenders, environmental rights defenders, and journalists.”

More at: Canada calls on Honduras to strengthen its Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders at UPR intervention at the UN in Geneva (PBI-Canada article, November 12, 2025).

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies AJR at meeting with Ixil peoples as trial on genocide charges against former General delayed to April 2026

By
Brent Patterson
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On December 10, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on social media:

“Last Friday, #PBI accompanied the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) in a meeting with the Ixil people.

Lawyers from the Human Rights Law Firm presented an update on the #Genocide case, within the framework of the opening of the oral and public trial against Luis Enrique Mendoza García. The first hearing, initially scheduled for September 2025 and later rescheduled for December 10, 2025, was postponed until 2026.”

On December 10, EP Investiga reported: “The hearing was scheduled for this day; however, it was again postponed and rescheduled for April 27, 2026.”

That article highlights: “Within the framework of International Human Rights Day, which is commemorated on December 10, organizations of victims and survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict, together with social and human rights groups, denounced the suspension of the hearing to begin the oral and public debate against the military officer Luis Enrique Mendoza García.”

Mendoza Garcia

The International Justice Monitor has explained that Mendoza Garcia, the third in command of the Guatemalan army from April 1982 to July 1983 during which time he oversaw counter-insurgency operations, was first accused of crimes in 2011, but eluded arrest until June of 2019. He was indicted in September 2019 on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Maya Ixil peoples.

After he was arrested, Democracy Now! reported: “He will be tried in March for his involvement in an operation that killed over 1,700 Maya Ixil people and displaced thousands more in the early 1980s.”

The Centre for Human Rights and Legal Action (CALDH) documents here the charges against Mendoza Garcia.

Context

This week, the Washington Post reported: “A CIA-backed coup in Guatemala saw the ouster of the country’s democratically elected leftist president, Jacobo Árbenz, in 1954. …The land reforms implemented by Árbenz — involving the seizure and redistribution of uncultivated portions of large plantations, for compensation — threatened the interests of the Boston-based United Fruit Company, which owned vast banana plantations in the country. …Guatemala endured oppressive military regimes before the country plunged into a civil war in 1960 that lasted 36 years — with the Indigenous Mayan population bearing the brunt of the toll.”

Aljazeera has previously reported: “A civil war between leftist guerrilla forces and the Guatemalan military from 1960 to 1996 left an estimated 200,000 people dead and another 45,000 people disappeared. More than 80 percent of victims were Indigenous Maya civilians. Military forces were responsible for 93 percent of killings, according to a United Nations-backed truth commission. The Commission for Historical Clarification determined state actors committed acts of genocide, and Guatemalan courts have since come to the same conclusion. The commission presented its report on February 25, 1999, and the date was later recognised as the annual day of dignity for victims.”

The Progressive Magazine has reported: “Israel began selling weapons to Guatemala in 1974: armored personnel carriers, military communications equipment, light cannons, machine guns, Uzis, and thousands of Galil assault rifles, which became the Guatemalan troops’ standard weapon. In the 1980s Israel built a factory inside Guatemala to produce the Galils and bullets to go with them. …’Israeli advisers—some official, others private—helped Guatemalan internal security agents hunt underground rebel groups,’ reported correspondent Ed Cody for The Washington Post [in 1983].”

Accompaniment

The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) is a coalition of survivors from 22 communities in five regions of the country that suffered the scorched earth policy between 1978 and 1985.

PBI-Guatemala began accompanying the AJR Board of Directors in April 2024 and will continue to do so for the duration of this judicial process.

PBI-Honduras observes land and territory organizations file a motion to annul the results of the November 30 election

By
Brent Patterson
-

On December 9, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted on social media:

“Yesterday, we observed several Honduran land and territory organizations, including @arcahhonduras [the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication], COPA [the Coordinator of Popular Organizations of the Aguán], the Agrarian Platform [a national network of more than 30 organizations], and La Vía Campesina, filing a motion to annul the election results with the National Electoral Council and a complaint for electoral crimes with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to lawyer Pedro Mejía, the organizations found ‘serious irregularities in the processes of transmission, dissemination, verification, and transfer’ of electoral data. He also denounced alleged attempts to ‘impose foreign will’, specifically from the United States. Esly Banegas, coordinator of COPA, added: ‘We are not acting on behalf of any political party. We are here as organizations demanding respect for the human right of the people to elect their representatives and participate in the democratic processes of the country.’”

Castro alleges “electoral coup”

The Guardian has also reported: “Since Hondurans went to the polls on 30 November, the vote count has dragged on, with repeated interruptions and outages on the electoral council’s website. …[Now] Honduras’s president, Xiomara Castro, has alleged that an ‘electoral coup’ is under way in the country’s presidential election, which she says has been marked by ‘interference from the president of the United States, Donald Trump’.”

Permanent Commission says it will not validate process

EFE further reports that a declaration “agreed [to] by the Permanent Commission of Parliament, which is made up of only nine of the 128 deputies of that branch of the State, … [says] the National Congress will not validate a process tainted by internal pressures from organized crime structures linked to drug trafficking such as the MS-13, 18 gangs, among others, and much less under external pressures and for direct violation of the freedom of voters.” Their statement add: “[Trump incurred in] an unprecedented act of coercion against the sovereignty of a country in the world.”

Military says it will ensure transfer of power

Aljazeera now reports: “The Honduran military has stepped into the chaotic aftermath of the country’s election, saying it will ensure the transfer of power is carried out once a winner is declared. Armed forces chief Roosevelt Hernandez said on [December 10] that the military, which carried out a coup in 2009 and has a history of intervening in elections, would guarantee that the results were honoured.”

The latest count

Contra Corriente reports: “The latest count published by the CNE [National Electoral Council] , gives as the virtual winner Asfura, the candidate who was publicly supported by the president of the United States, Donald Trump and in view of this, the liberal candidate, Salvador Nasralla has denounced fraud and requests that a ‘vote by vote’ count be made.”

More specifically, EFE reports: “Asfura leads the last official count of votes of the CNE with 1,298,835 (40.52%), followed by the candidate of the also conservative Liberal Party, Salvador Nasralla, with 1,256,428 votes (39.48%). The candidate of the ruling Libre, Rixi Moncada, continues to be relegated in third place with 618,448 ballots (19.29%), with 99.40% of the ballots counted.”

We continue to follow this situation.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras accompanies organizations at press conference in front of the US Embassy on electoral interference (December 5, 2025).

PBI helps to amplify the voices of Indigenous Purépecha and Meyah land defenders during visit to the UK

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI helps to amplify the voices of Indigenous Purépecha and Meyah land defenders during visit to the UK

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Claudia Ignacio Álvarez, a Purépecha woman who works for the Human Rights Solidarity Network in Mexico, and Lia Yewen, a Meyah woman with PUSAKA, an organization that defends the rights of West Papua’s indigenous peoples, were invited by Peace Brigades International to speak in the United Kingdom.

Claudia Ignacio Álvarez

Ignacio Álvarez tells AFP: “The objective of the trip is to be able to make visible the serious human rights situation in Michoacán, the attacks against human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, for defending our land and territory, for defending the environment. …In addition to local political interests, there are a number of transnational interests focused on the companies that are exporting their products. In Michoacán, a lot of food is produced that is eaten in the world.”

She also told a public forum in London: “It’s time to look after those who look after us, including the Indigenous people & human rights defenders working to protect society and the planet. It’s time to reaffirm our commitment to them.”

The AFP article further reports that Ignacio Álvarez is the aunt of Roxana Valentín Cárdenas. Last month, the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán stated: “On the 46th anniversary of the defense of communal lands, at 12:10 p.m., an armed commando attacked the peaceful demonstration of the community, where C. Roxana Valentín Cárdenas, 24 years old, originally from the sister community of San Andrés Tziróndaro, was killed… Due to the seriousness of the aggression, the insecurity and impunity that prevail, the community, by decision of its highest authority, which is the General Assembly, has agreed to take over the Morelia-Zacapu highway indefinitely at the height of Santa Fe de la Laguna and the suspension of all its school activities.”

Lia Yewen

Yewen tells AFP: “As a West Papuan, when you understand your story, you can realise that you need to do something to save our land and our people. I believe that environmental devastation is linked to the violation of human rights. When you destroy our land, it affects our rights. To save people, you must save the forest. We can’t live without it. Maybe the most important thing for people in cities is money. For us it is our forest. We have everything there, not only food, but also our values, our sacred side, our history. When you destroy it, it impacts our lives.”

She has also commented: “This project aims to plant sugar cane plantations for sugarcane production and then also create new rice fields in Merauke, West Papua. And then they’re taking over 2 million hectares of forest and land. So just imagine 2 million hectares of forest and land. It is very big, and it’s more than 10 times the size of the city of London [at about 157,000 hectares].”

For comparison, Toronto covers 64,000 hectares and urban Ottawa 54,949 hectares. Metro Vancouver covers approximately 280,120 hectares.

The petition – Land Grabbing and Deforestation Is the Biggest Deforestation, President Prabowo Stops PSN Merauke! – can be found here.

The full AFP article can be read at From Mexico to West Papua, the struggle of indigenous peoples to defend their rights (AFP, December 9, 2025).

Four land defenders arrested at Fairy Creek including Six Nations Mohawk land defender Logan Staats

By
Brent Patterson
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Instagram photo: Logan Staats at the Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek Blockade.

The Nanaimo Bulletin reports: “Four more people were arrested on Dec. 8 for allegedly breaching the court-ordered injunction at a blockade near a forestry operation in the Carmanah Valley, near Lake Cowichan.”

Their court appearances will be in January 2026.

The APTN video report on the arrests can be seen here.

One of those arrested was Mohawk land defender and musician Logan Staats from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario. An APTN interview with Staats at the land defence gathering on December 6 can be seen here.

Video still: Fairy Creek video of arrest.

Yesterday, his sister Lyla Staats posted on social media: “My brother was violently arrested by racially fuelled RCMP in BC defending some of the oldest trees left on Turtle Island. These trees are set to be chopped, killed, and sold off to China. This is #kkkanada. Follow and donate to @fairycreekblockade and don’t just watch from your warm cozy life.”

She has also posted this request for support.

The arrests on December 8 reportedly brings the total number of people arrested at blockades on the forestry roads to eleven. The Nanaimo Bulletin notes: “Eight for breaching the injunction, one for criminal mischief, one for criminal obstruction of police for resisting arrest and one for breaching their release conditions.”

Environmental defender Will O’Connell says: “This fight is far from over. The old growth trees in this area are considered to the best of what’s left and once they fall, you can’t put them back up again so we’re trying our best to make sure they keep standing. The province had promised to protect B.C.’s old-growth forests and put on hold cutting them down, but that’s a broken promise.”

An RCMP statement says: “The police will continue patrolling the Walbran Forest Service Road in the coming days to ensure unimpeded access.”

RCMP unit under investigation

The RCMP has noted that the operations on the Walbran Forest Service Road have involved the Critical Response Unit – British Columbia (CRU-BC). This is the new  name for the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).

On March 9, 2023, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launched a systemic investigation into the C-IRG. That investigation includes C-IRG activities related to “the Teal Cedar Products Ltd injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed.”

The systemic investigation was launched after the CRCC received nearly 500 formal complaints about the C-IRG in British Columbia. CBC News reported at the time: “More than 100 grievances accepted for investigation contain allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and charter violations by the force’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).”

Notably, the CRCC has been without a chairperson since January 2025 meaning it is unable to issue any decisions. It is the responsibility of the federal Minister of Public Safety to appoint a new chairperson.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Canadian police raid Cougar Camp on Pacheedaht territory, arrest land defenders, dismantle and burn camp (PBI-Canada article, November 29, 2025).

Colombian lawyers’ collective CAJAR calls on Organization of American States to reject Trump’s national security strategy

By
Brent Patterson
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The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) has posted on its website a statement signed by itself and other International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) member organizations titled: “OAS Must Condemn U.S. Hostilities in Latin America”.

The letter demands that: “The Organization of American States (OAS) pronounce itself in forceful rejection of the recently declared national security policy of the United States government and the recent acts of diplomatic, economic and military hostility in the Caribbean Sea that threaten the sovereignty of Latin American nations.”

It further notes: “The escalation of hostility against the governments of Latin American and Caribbean countries by the United States has exceeded the limits of diplomacy and international law. Since August 2025, the U.S. Navy has established a significant military presence in the southern Caribbean Sea, deploying naval and air units, including the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the largest in the U.S. fleet.”

“This mobilization constitutes the largest demonstration of military power of that country in Latin America in decades, which is carried out under the justification of an alleged anti-drug operation. UN expert rapporteurs have denounced that in 21 of the attacks claimed by the US government in this context, more than 80 civilians have been killed, constituting serious violations of the right to life and the international law of the sea and therefore, they affirmed: ‘those responsible for ordering and carrying out these extrajudicial killings must be investigated and prosecuted for homicide’.”

And it concludes: “In the face of this escalation of violence and tension in the region, the OAS has the political and legal duty to provide a joint response in accordance with international law to the latent threat to sovereignty posed by these acts of the government of Donald Trump, in a way that guarantees ‘the defense of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence’, as stated in Article 1 of the OAS Charter.”

The full statement can be read at La OEA debe condenar las hostilidades de Estados Unidos en la región latinoamericana.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) since 1995.

PBI-Spanish State to hold online information session for those interested in applying to be a field team volunteer, December 12

By
Brent Patterson
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Our colleagues at PBI-Spanish State will be holding an online seminar on Friday December 12 at 16h CET (10 am ET) for those interested in volunteering with PBI field teams in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

This session will be in Spanish.

To register for it, email sensibilizacion@pbi-ee.org

PBI-Spanish State further notes: “And if you know anyone who might want to participate, please share this with them!”

Increased military spending and critical mineral mining puts the land and water, and environmental defenders, at risk

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The F-35 fighter jet is the first military aircraft with a lithium-ion backup battery for mission-critical roles. Photo by Kaszynzki, Lockheed Martin.

Last week, Pubaffairsbruxelles.eu reported: “The European Commission has adopted [on December 3, 2025] the RESourceEU Action Plan to accelerate and amplify its efforts to secure the EU’s supply of critical raw materials, such as rare earth elements, cobalt or lithium. Building on the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the initiative provides financing and concrete tools to protect industry from geopolitical and price shocks, promote projects on critical raw materials in Europe and beyond, and partner with like-minded countries to diversify supply chains.”

Similarly, the Canadian government led the Critical Minerals Production Alliance initiative at the G7 summit in June 2025 to “enhance critical mineral supply chains for collective defence and advanced technology.”

Lithium is a critical mineral

The Guardian has reported: “By 2040, the world is expected to need four times as many critical minerals as it does today… While the importance of such minerals to the green transition is often touted, with many crucial to the manufacture of turbines, solar panels and other low carbon energy sources, campaigners point out that much of the demand comes from the arms and consumer tech industries.”

Critical minerals are essential to weapons production and can be seen to be interrelated with The Hague Summit Declaration to increase military spending and Canada’s participation in Security Action for Europe (SAFE).

Proposed lithium mine in Spain

Extremadura New Energies – owned by Australian company Infinity Metals (previously Infinity Lithium) – is applying for a licence to operate the San José Lithium de Valdeflores Project near the city of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura in southwest Spain.

The mine would be situated in the valley of Valdeflores that sits on top of the European Union’s second largest hard rock lithium deposit.

In November 2022, PBI-Spanish State brought environmental defenders from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico to the site of this proposed mine because “transiting the territories affected by capitalist extractivism in the Spanish State is also defending human rights and the commons.”

Photo by Asociación ICID.

Three years later on November 19, 2025, El Periódico reported: “Now, the multinational is now waiting for the regional administration to give the green light to the Application for the Exploitation Concession of the San José de Valdeflores Lithium Project.”

Proposed lithium mine in Nevada

This week, PBI-Canada reported on the Indigenous-led opposition to the proposed Vancouver-based Lithium Americas Corp. Thacker Pass open-pit lithium mine in Nevada in the southwestern area of the United States.

Photo from People of Red Mountain website.

In August 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (since rebranded the Department of War) awarded $11.8 million to Lithium Nevada Corporation, a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp., for the Thacker Pass mine.

This past summer, ProPublica reported: “Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have for years worked alongside private mine security to surveil the largely peaceful protesters who oppose the mine.”

Critical minerals in Guatemala

Montreal-based Central America Nickel says that it “controls directly or indirectly, various world-class resource properties including nickel, lithium, and rare earth deposits integral to the transition towards a clean energy and green economy, in Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other regions.”

This past May, the PBI-Guatemala accompanied journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc posted on social media: “A member of the anti-mining resistance is murdered, from the 54 communities in Sierra Santa Cruz, jurisdiction of Livingston, Izabal, where the company Rio Nickel S. intends to operate.”

Rio Nickel is a subsidiary of Central America Nickel.

Photo: Misael Mata Asencio, a land defender from the Maya Q’eqchi’ village of Las Flores in Livingston, Guatemala, was killed on May 14, 2025.

Another critical mineral – tungsten

Spain

Last week, elEconomista.es reported that Abenójar Tungsten, a company belonging to Mining Hill’s S.L. – which is owned by the Spanish group PMC (Promotora de Minas de Carbón) and Alcudia Mining S.L. – wants to develop the El Moto tungsten and gold mine project in Abenójar in the southwest of the province of Ciudad Real.

Their hope is to start extraction in 2027.

And elDiario.es has noted: “The company has explained that tungsten has uses related to the military and aerospace industry, for the manufacture of armour, ammunition, turbines and high-strength components, but also for products related to electronics and telecommunications, wind turbines and energy storage technologies or high-precision tools, such as those related to industrial machining.”

ElDiario.es also reports: “The European Commission has included the ‘El Moto’ mining project in the list of strategic projects that it will finance to extract critical minerals and guarantee Europe’s autonomy from third countries. …Ecologists in Action will appeal to the European Commission its inclusion [of the El Moto mine] as a strategic project and it will be the previous step to take the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union together with other groups.”

Canada

PBI-Canada has also highlighted the opposition of Indigenous Wolastoqey land defenders to the proposed Northcliff Resources Sisson open-pit tungsten mine on their lands in the province of New Brunswick in eastern Canada.

On May 1, 2025, Northcliff itself had announced that it had been awarded US $15 million from the United States Department of Defense (rebranded as the Department of War in September 2025) to develop the mine.

This past summer, the NB Media Co-op reported: “[Given the U.S. Department of War has invested in the mine, Wolastoq Grand Chief Ron] Tremblay said the Wolastoq Grand Council rejects activities contributing to war and what he called the ‘continuum of genocide’ in places such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

Video still: To listen to the NB Media Co-op’s interview with Wolastoq Elder Alma Brooks and Wolastoq Grand Chief Ron Tremblay who is also known as Spasaqit Possesom, please click here.

The risks

Global Justice Now has also highlighted: “Over a third of such transition mineral projects are on or near Indigenous or peasant land facing water risk, conflict and food insecurity. More than half of nickel, copper and zinc and 80% of lithium projects are found in Indigenous peoples’ territories.”

Peace Brigades International accompanies environmental defenders who experience aggressions and attacks for their work to protect the lands and waters of their communities from resource extraction megaprojects.

We continue to follow this.

Colombian environmental defender Jani Silva continues to face threats, highlights need to improve Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
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The Associated Press reports: “Jani Silva sits inside the wooden house she built on the banks of Colombia’s Putumayo River — a home she hasn’t slept in for more than eight years. The longtime environmental activist has been threatened for work that includes protecting part of the Amazon from oil and mining exploitation. She describes a tense escape one night through a back window after community members tipped her that armed men were outside.”

The article then notes: “Colombia says it protects activists through its National Protection Unit, which provides bodyguards and other security measures. Silva, 63, now lives under guard in Puerto Asis, a river town near the Ecuador border. She has had four full-time bodyguards for 12 years provided by the National Protection Unit.”

Notably, Silva is also accompanied by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, which is accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Threats

AP explains: “Armed groups known locally as Comandos de la Frontera, or Border Commandos, operate throughout this stretch of Putumayo, controlling territory, river traffic and parts of the local economy.”

It further notes: “Silva has been a main voice challenging oil operations inside the reserve. As president of ADISPA, she documented spills, deforestation and road-building tied to Bogota-based oil company GeoPark’s Platanillo block and pushed environmental regulators to investigate. Advocates say those complaints, along with ADISPA’s efforts to keep new drilling and mining out, have angered armed groups that profit from mining and oil activity in the region.”

Photo: Silva on Gitanyow territory in northern British Columbia learning about the environmental impacts of the proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) fracked gas pipeline, June 2025.

The need to strengthen the protection mechanism

The AP article also reports: “About 15,000 people nationwide receive protection from the NPU, the Interior Ministry said in a 2024 report. They include environmental and human rights defenders, journalists, local officials, union leaders and others facing threats, though watchdog groups say protections often fall short in rural conflict zones.”

Global Witness has highlighted: “National and subnational protection mechanisms are among the most important tools states can provide for at-risk land and environmental defenders around the world. …But while they are a safeguard for many, these measures are far from infallible.”

Silva has told Global Witness: “Having gone through the system, I have seen first-hand how measures need to adapt to the realities that defenders face, reflecting the diversity of our needs. Too often they are conceived in cities by people who know little about our realities. After six months of requesting, persuading and waiting, the Colombian government finally granted me basic protection measures in 2014: a bulletproof vest and a mobile phone. I remember the vest was too small and, in the Putumayo heat, impossible to wear. I was grateful, but it was a symbolic gesture – one that would not keep me safe. It was really when the National Protection Unit (NPU) gave me a travel subsidy that I felt the measures became more responsive to my needs. At this point, threats were more frequent, so the subsidy allowed me to react quickly in emergency situations and hire vehicles and boats when I needed to relocate.”

Recommendations

Global Witness highlights: “Colombian organization Programa Somos Defensores has identified the key aspects of protection mechanisms that urgently need reviewing. These include the lack of effective inter-institutional coordination, delays with implementation and the need to evaluate their effectiveness.”

Programa Somos Defensores also calls on the Colombian state to: “Urgently transform NPU’s protection model, prioritising collective protection and recognising communities’ own self-protection mechanisms.”

Other Protection Mechanisms

Peace Brigades International volunteer protection teams physically accompany threatened defenders in Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.

Presently, PBI-Canada is working with PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC to help strengthen the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico: PBI-Canada seeks to get the Protection Mechanism on the agenda of the Mexico-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (December 1, 2025).

PBI-Canada also recently highlighted that the Canadian government has called on the Government of Honduras to strengthen their Protection Mechanism: Canada calls on Honduras to strengthen its Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders at UPR intervention at the UN in Geneva (November 12, 2025).

And we are following the newly announced program in Guatemala: PBI-Guatemala attends the presentation of new public policy for the protection of human rights defenders (November 14, 2025).

Further reading

Roots of resistance: Documenting the global struggles of defenders protecting land and environmental rights (Global Witness, September 17, 2025)

‘It’s not safe to live here.’ Colombia is deadliest country for environmental defenders (Steven Grattan, Associated Press, December 8, 2025).

Three ways to donate to Peace Brigades International-Canada

By
Brent Patterson
-

There are three ways to easily and safely make a donation to support the work of Peace Brigades International-Canada.

1- CanadaHelps.org

Click here to make a one-time or monthly donation. This platform automatically generates a charitable tax receipt for you.

2- Interac e-Transfer

You can make a donation by Interac e-Transfer by emailing  your donation to direction@pbicanada.org. In the “Message” field, please note if you would like a charitable tax receipt and include your mailing address.

3- Cheque

You can also mail a cheque to our mailbox at: Peace Brigades International-Canada, Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6H5.

Your donation helps to sustain the work of the one staff person and thirteen volunteers at PBI-Canada who accompany front line defenders through communications, advocacy, networking and support for our protection teams.

Thank you for your donation.

 

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