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While the PBI-Mexico accompanied Ejido del Baijo seeks justice, Fresnillo plans to expand into Canada in 2026

By
Brent Patterson
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Ejido.el.bajio: “For the fourth year we attend the Annual Assembly of Shareholders of #FresnilloPLC in London to reiterate to shareholders that the company lies in its reports, evades justice, owes us more than 13 billion pesos, that the board of directors is aware of everything and tells them nothing.”

TechStock² reports: “Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES, OTC:FNLPF) has gone from sleepy precious‑metals stock to market rocket in 2025. The London‑listed miner, the world’s largest primary silver producer and a major gold producer in Mexico, has seen its share price more than triple this year as gold and silver prices hit record levels and the company delivered a surge in profits and cash flow.”

That article adds: “Fresnillo’s 2024 results, released in March 2025, marked the turning of the tide: Profit before tax jumped from $114.0m in 2023 to $743.9m in 2024 — a 552% increase, driven by higher gross profit and lower exploration and admin spend.”

Fresnillo in Mexico

TechStock² further notes: “Fresnillo has long been embroiled in a dispute with the Ejido El Bajío agrarian community in Sonora, linked to the Soledad‑Dipolos gold mine, where operations were halted in 2013 after a court ordered the company to vacate land the court said belonged to the ejido.”

It adds: “NGOs and protection groups such as Peace Brigades International have highlighted the case as an example of human‑rights and environmental risk, pointing to community members allegedly killed or threatened over the years of conflict (without establishing direct legal responsibility for the company).”

And it comments: “The case is likely to keep Fresnillo under ESG and reputational scrutiny in the UK and Mexico.”

Fresnillo in Canada

The TechStock² article also highlights: “The most significant strategic development in 2025 is Fresnillo’s move beyond Mexico for the first time. On 31 October 2025, Fresnillo announced a cash offer of about $560m (C$780m) to acquire Probe Gold Inc., a Canadian gold developer listed on the TSX.”

The Toronto-based Probe Gold Inc. lists three projects on its website: Novador Project, Detour Gold Quebec, and Other Val-d’Or East Properties.

Commenting on the Fresnillo purchase, Probe Gold notes: “Subject to the various approvals required, the Transaction is expected to close in Q1 2026.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has provided security and advocacy support to members of the Ejido El Bajío due to the ongoing threats they face.

The Peace Brigades International team in the United Kingdom highlight in their report The Case for Change: Why human rights defenders need a UK law on mandatory due diligence (November 2024): “Minera Penmont operated the Soledad-Dipolos open-pit gold mine located in the territory of the El Bajío Ejido in Mexico, between 2010 and 2013. When mining exploration began on communal lands, local communities began to defend their rights. Agrarian Courts have ruled that Penmont were operating on the land illegally without the community’s permission, ordering Penmont to leave the land and compensate the residents. However, land and environmental defenders calling for accountability have faced a series of reprisals including arbitrary detention, criminalisation, and killings. Minera Penmont is a subsidiary of Fresnillo PLC, a UK-incorporated company listed on the London Stock Exchange.”

For more about the struggle of the Ejido El Bajío, see their website and their Instagram, Facebook and X social media accounts.

Further reading: PBI-Mexico accompanied Ejido El Bajio challenges Fresnillo PLC at annual shareholders meeting in London, UK (PBI-Canada article, June 4, 2025).

Wolastoqey land defenders reject the proposed Sisson open-pit tungsten mine and weapons production

By
Brent Patterson
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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.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada’s participation in Security Action for Europe (SAFE).

Significantly, that statement highlighted: “As all 27 EU [European Union] Member States increase defence investments, greater cooperation on procurement opens massive new opportunities for Canadian manufacturers to build and export Canadian-made technologies and capabilities.”

Politico explains: “Canada’s accession to the loan-for-weapons SAFE scheme gives Ottawa access to jointly financed defense projects and allows Canadian companies to bid into EU-supported joint procurement projects. For Brussels, securing a G7 partner strengthens the credibility of SAFE as it seeks to coordinate long-term weapons demand and ramp up Europe’s defense industrial base.”

And Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty says: “This will allow Canada, for example, to participate by supplying capabilities such as ammunition, missiles, drones, artillery systems, infantry weapons and beyond.”

Just three weeks prior, on November 10, 2025, CBC News also reported: “Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says his goal is to help make Canada the NATO partner of choice when it comes to supplying critical minerals as defence becomes a focus for many countries.”

This relationship between the mining of critical minerals and “defence production” in Canada has also been seen in various announcements over recent months including the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan (June 2025), the critical minerals partnership with Germany (August 2025), the “strategic projects” under the Critical Minerals Production Alliance (October 2025), and the $2 billion allocated in Budget 2025 to create a Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund (November 2025).

These critical minerals could come from proposed mines in the Golden Triangle area of British Columbia (powered by the proposed North Coast Transmission Line), the Ring of Fire in Ontario, and New Brunswick.

The major projects announcements made by Prime Minister Carney on September 11, 2025 and November 13, 2025 have also highlighted this relationship.

Wolastoq Grand Council rejects the Sisson Mine

For example, the November announcement included the Northcliff Resources’ Sisson Mine in Sisson Brook, New Brunswick that would produce tungsten.

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: “[That] news has provoked indignation from Indigenous Elders who oppose the project, including Wolastoq Grand Chief Ron Tremblay. The Wolastoqey Grand Council represents a traditional governance structure with a grassroots constituency.”

That article continues: “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. …[Alma Brooks, a Wolastoq Elder also] pointed to Israel’s prolonged and devastating U.S.-backed assault on the Gaza Strip, ‘a genocide that’s happening right under the nose of the world’…”

Major projects in “the national interest”

The Carney government’s recommendation that the Sisson Mine be fast-tracked by the Major Projects Office (MPO) suggests this mine is seen as a “nation-building project” that is “the national interest”.

This past October, Stephen Fuhr, the Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, also stated: “Designating critical minerals as essential to Canada’s national interests under the Defence Production Act is a decisive step in protecting the sovereignty of our strategic resources. This measure deepens Canada’s strategic alignment with NATO and our allies, strengthens supply chain resilience and secures reliable access to the resources our domestic defence industry depends on.”

Safety concerns for land defenders

The potential clash between “national interest” designation and the assertion of Indigenous rights is cause for concern.

PBI-Canada recalls the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) actions against anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick.

Photo: “RCMP Emergency Response Team members during early morning raid on camp, Oct 17, 2013.” Photo from Warrior Publications.

Photo: “RCMP bring 60 drawn guns, dogs, assault rifles, to serve injunction on the wrong road” Photo by Miles Howe/ Halifax Media Co-op.

APTN News has reported: “Mi’kmaw resistance to local exploration by Texas-based SWN Resources began in June 2013, escalated through the summer and eventually led to a blockade and land occupation that halted work. The standoff culminated in an Oct. 17 police raid in which camouflage-clad Mounties with assault rifles, riot control shotguns and canine units descended on the camp and arrested over 40 people.”

A report issued in November 2020 by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) concluded: “Several incidents or practices interfered to varying degrees with the protesters’ rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. That report also noted that some of the RCMP’s surveillance practices and physical searches were “inconsistent with protesters’ charter rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.”

Several years after the October 17, 2013 raid, the C-IRG was formed.

According to the RCMP: “The Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) was created in 2017 to provide strategic oversight addressing energy industry incidents and related public order, national security and crime issues.”

Following the launch of a CRCC systemic investigation of the C-IRG in March 2023 after nearly 500 complaints against it, the unit was rebranded the Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC) on January 1, 2024.

We continue to follow this.

International volunteer from Canada among those injured in settler attack in Israeli-occupied West Bank

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still: CBC News report.

CBC News reports: “A Canadian activist injured in a settler attack over the weekend in a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank says she and three others were thrown on the ground and beaten by settlers before some of their wallets and passports were stolen.”

“The woman, who is from British Columbia, said she and three other foreigners from Italy had arrived less than a week before the early Sunday morning attack at a home in Ein al-Duyuk, roughly four kilometres north of the West Bank city of Jericho.”

“The group of foreign activists were then helped by locals and taken to a nearby hospital where they were treated. Despite the attack, the woman says they want to return to the village to continue their work.”

The article adds: “The activists are working with a Palestinian group that allows foreigners to stay in communities within the West Bank where settler violence has been reported. The woman says they aim to keep watch over the villages during the day and at night, aiming to deter settler attacks through their presence.”

The Canadian, who is not being identified for safety reasons, has highlighted: “This is not about us. We were beaten for 15 minutes. Palestinians here endure this violence every day, every hour, a thousand-fold.”

The CBC News article also reports: “About 94 per cent of all investigation files opened by the Israeli Police into settler violence from 2005 to 2024 ended without indictment, according to monitoring by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. Since 2005, just three per cent of the investigation files opened into settler violence led to full or partial convictions.”

The Guardian article on the attack notes: “According to UN figures, Israeli settlers and security forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, including 233 children, in the West Bank over the past two years, in what many Israeli and Palestinian observers believe is a concerted campaign of violence aimed at seizing territory.”

On October 24, 2025, Amnesty International noted: “In 2025, there have been over 860 violent settler attacks in the West Bank. World Leaders have a legal obligation to dismantle Israel’s unlawful occupation and to bring its system of apartheid to an end.”

Despite these numbers CTV News now reports: “In total, so far, Ottawa has imposed sanctions against 15 individuals and seven entities for “participating or facilitating extremist settler violence.”

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading: International Solidarity Movement volunteer Ayşenur Eygi, 26, killed by the Israeli military in Beita, Palestine (PBI-Canada article, September 7, 2024)

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS at “Voices that Persist” forum on violence perpetrated by security forces-paramilitary groups

By
Brent Patterson
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The Barrancabermeja, Colombia-based Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (Credhos) has posted on social media:

“We started the 2nd Meeting of Victims of Case 08 in the region of Medio Magdalena, a space where social organizations, victims and human rights defenders meet to review progress and make key decisions against participation in the Medio Magdalene Subcase.

Case 08 investigates crimes committed by public force, military and other state agents, in connivance with paramilitary and third civilian structures.

During the installation act, Iván Madero, president of CREDHOS, affirmed that expectations are high and that real guarantees based on justice and truth are required essential principles to live with dignity and peace. He also emphasized that half-truths will not be accepted: the story of the Middle Magdalena must be known complete and without conceals. If necessary the streets will be the place where victims will demand truth, justice, repair and not repetition.”

Case O8

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) is a tribunal that is responsible for administrating justice for crimes committed before December 1, 2016, in the context of the internal armed conflict that began in May 1964.

The José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) has noted: “In this macro-case, crimes committed by members of the security forces and other agents of the State, in collusion with paramilitary groups or civilian third parties in the context of the conflict, are being investigated.”

CAJAR further specifies: “Figures from the JEP indicate that in this macro-case there were 15,710 victims of crimes attributed to members of the security forces, 56,502 to paramilitaries and 280 to other agents of the State. The crimes being investigated in this case are: massacres, homicides, sexual violence, illegal detentions, torture, forced disappearances, dispossession and forced displacement.”

Attacks against CREDHOS

Manuel Camilo Ayala Sandoval from CREDHOS says: “Credhos has functioned as a coordination of social movements and articulation of unions, peasant organizations, women’s organizations in defense, promotion, protection of human rights and demand for the application and respect of International Humanitarian Law.”

PBI-Colombia: “Since 1987, when CREDHOS began its work to defend and protect human rights in the city of Barrancabermeja, the organization has documented, in detail, 16 cases of extrajudicial executions against its members, perpetrated by paramilitary groups with the connivance of Colombian state agents, in addition to 10 cases of forced displacement, four assassination attempts, and arbitrary arrests. [Its report to the JEP] details incidents affecting over 80 members between 1987 and 2016”

Violence against union activists

In February 2017, Julie Wetterslev, a Researcher in the Department of Law at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, wrote: “more than 3,000 Colombian labour unionists have been killed in the past 40 years. And the murders have generally not been investigated, much less sanctioned, because shifting governments have either implied or directly claimed that the worker’s unions are connected to the guerrilla.”

Her article further cites: “As the British NGO Justice for Colombia notes in the article Focus: Trade Union Rights in Colombia, Justice for Colombia (JFC) in International Union Rights Vol. 23, No. 1, Latin America (2016), pp. 16-17, 28: ‘The grim toll of Colombia’s war on trade unions amounts to at least 13,713 violations of the right to life and liberty since 1977 – 3062 assassinations, 233 kidnappings, 342 violent attacks, 6572 violent threats, 1890 forced displacements and 725 arbitrary detentions. Between 2000 and 2010, Colombia accounted for 63% of trade unionists murdered globally (…) Colombian organisations regularly point out that there often appears to be more time dedicated to investigating false accusations than to bringing those responsible for carrying out the murders to justice’.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

Related content: Colombia: the most dangerous country to be a trade unionist (BBC, May 1, 2013).

Nomadesc honours union historian and activist María Tila Uribe, prepares for the centennial of the Banana Strike

By
Brent Patterson
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The Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) has posted on social media:

“On November 27th, at the Casa de los Pueblos (House of the Peoples) in Bogotá, the proposal for the Centennial of the Banana Strike and Massacre, which took place in Ciénaga, Magdalena, on December 6, 1928, was launched. On this occasion, a heartfelt tribute was paid to the teacher, friend, and colleague María Tila Uribe. Her life and work narrate the events of a country that, despite its wounds, endures thanks to the dignity of courageous men and women. Accompanied by the women of Ciénaga, union leaders from Sintraunicol [the National Union of University Workers and Employees of Colombia], the CUT [the Central Union of Workers], and Fecode [the Colombian Federation of Education Workers], family, friends, descendants of great fighters from the beginning of the last century, and students and graduates of the Intercultural University of the Peoples, María Tila, in a warm exchange of knowledge, spoke about the historical importance of the struggles of the 1920s and the role of women in confronting social injustices.”

Center of Labor Studies and Research (Cestra) has noted: “Tila Uribe began teaching basic literacy at the beginning of the 1960s. Accused of subversion, she remained in prison for four years. After her liberation, she took her teaching experience to Nicaragua, invited by the Sandinista government.”

That article adds: “In 1985, she founded, in Bogota, the Centre of Labor Studies and Research (Cestra). It promotes the education of trade union members and rural workers focusing particularly on the elderly. …[In 2010] she took on the post of Head of the History department at the National School for Female Leaders of Trade Unions.”

Commemoration in 2028 of the Banana Massacre

This past September, a letter signed by Nomadesc highlighted: “In 2028, the centenary of the massacre against the workers who worked for the United Fruit Company, murdered on December 5, 1928, is commemorated. The undersigned organizations are coordinating the great pilgrimage in honor of the heroes of the banana strike…”

Time magazine has provided this history of the Banana Massacre:

“In October 1928, banana workers from UFC plantations in the Magdalena zone assembled and created a list of [nine] demands under the labor union Magdalena Workers Union (Unión Sindical de Trabajadores del Magdalena, USTM). Their demands were modest, ranging from higher pay and insurance to the discontinuance of company stores. The most important demand, however, was the recognition of UFC employees as formal company workers entitled to the full protections of Colombian labor law.

United Fruit’s general manager, Thomas Bradshaw, baulked. He refused to recognize and negotiate with the USTM.

In a final effort [after failed negotiations], crowds of workers gathered at Ciénaga to talk with the governor and United Fruit. Neither the governor nor a UFC representative ever arrived, but by nightfall, General Carlos Cortés Vargas, now armed with a new decree to restore order, demanded the crowd disperse and return home. When workers refused, the general’s soldiers lit the plaza up with gunfire.”

As many as 2,000 workers were killed that night.

The University of Toronto Visualizing the Americas project notes: “The people of the banana zone insisted that the military killed hundreds of strikers that night, but when daylight broke, according to official memory, just nine bodies lay in the plaza. Josefa María, who worked from Ciénaga to support the strike, noted that the military had deliberately left each corpse as a symbol: ‘They had only left nine dead bodies, equal to the nine demands that the workers made.’”

In 1970, the United Fruit Company merged with another company to form the United Brands Company.

In 1990, that company was renamed Chiquita Brands International.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) since 2011, and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

PBI-Canada seeks to get the Protection Mechanism on the agenda of the Mexico-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Social media image from Roberto Velasco Álvarez.

A Government of Mexico press release notes: “As a follow-up to the Mexico-Canada Action Plan recently agreed upon by President Claudia Sheinbaum and Prime Minister Mark Carney, the First Meeting of the Mexico-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (AEIMC) was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The meeting was led by Undersecretary for North America Roberto Velasco and Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison.

Undersecretary Velasco Álvarez tweeted about the meeting here.

Along with Deputy Foreign Minister Morrison, the Canadian delegation included Cameron MacKay (Canadian ambassador to Mexico), Susan Pereverzoff (Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of Canada in Mexico), Ashraf Hassanein (director for Mexico and Trilateral Affairs), Tomás López (deputy director for Latin America and Promotion of Natural Resources Exports), Lana Edwards (in charge of the Directorate General of Bilateral Affairs and Trade, Environment and Climate Change of Canada); Jeffrey Biggs (Director General of Policy and Economics of the Land and Minerals Sector, Natural Resources Canada) and several others.

Photo: Social media image from Roberto Velasco Álvarez.

The press release adds: “Both delegations agreed to give continuity to the mechanism and hold the Second Meeting of the Mexico-Canada Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2026, which will be held in Canada.”

Protection Mechanism

The Mexican federal government and states operate protection mechanisms for journalists and human rights defenders. These mechanisms provide a range of protections including camera systems, panic buttons, police protection, and relocation assistance for human rights defenders and journalists under threat.

Notably, the Government of Canada has commented on the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism. It did so at the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico in January 2024.

At the UN UPR session, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

Prior to this session, Canada had also asked Mexico: “How will the new General law to respect, protect, guarantee, and promote the rights of human rights defenders and journalists address key challenges under the current mechanism, including in achieving results, improving federal-state-municipal cooperation, and promoting prevention of violence against human rights defenders and journalists?”

Just two weeks ago Canada also called on Honduras to strengthen its Protection Mechanism during another UN UPR session.

Canada 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.”

PBI and Espacio OSC advocacy

This past September, Peace Brigades International and the Civil Society Space of Organizations (Espacio OSC) highlighted Canada’s position at meetings with Global Affairs Canada, Members of Parliament, and civil society allies.

We also met briefly with Maninder Sidhu, the Minister of International Trade, when he presented to House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade.

Then in October, Stuart Trew, senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), told the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT): “In light of the new Canada-Mexico Action Plan, I think it would be beneficial to strengthen cooperation with Mexico in areas like human rights as well by supporting the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists which is under the jurisdiction of the Mexican government. This benefits Canadian businesses by giving them greater assurances that their Mexican operations are not going to be involved perhaps involuntarily in human rights violations.”

This coming February 2026, we will continue to amplify this message about the Protection Mechanism when Dominic LeBlanc, Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy, will lead a Team Canada Trade Mission (TCTM) to Mexico.

Further reading: Radio Canada International reports on PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico advocacy visit with Espacio OSC on Protection Mechanism (November 5, 2025).

More from Espacio OSC.

Filipino human rights defenders and allies rally in Ottawa as thousands protest corruption in the Philippines

By
Brent Patterson
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On Sunday November 30, Deutsche Welle reported: “Thousands of people in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, are protesting alleged ‘ghost’ flood-control projects at the center of a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal. Demonstrators accuse officials of diverting public funds meant to protect communities from deadly floods. Many demand arrests, saying top politicians are escaping scrutiny despite repeated infrastructure failures during recent typhoons.”

The Associated Press adds: “President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been scrambling to quell public outrage over the massive corruption blamed for substandard, defective or non-existent flood control projects across an archipelago long prone to deadly flooding and extreme weather in tropical Asia.”

Here in Ottawa, groups including Anakbayan Ottawa, the Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Migrante Ottawa, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), gathered first adjacent to the US Embassy then in front of the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines to participate in this day of action.

Their outreach highlighted: “As typhoon after typhoon hits the country and flimsy flood control infrastructure fails, as we watch our kababayan [fellow Filipinos] drown while the government officials sit by, in comfort, it is clear that Malacañang [the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines] is all too happy with letting the average Filipinos bear the full weight of their greed.”

That outreach then noted: “On Bonifacio Day (November 30), a day that celebrates resistance amidst injustice, hundreds of thousands will take to the streets, in the Philippines and abroad, to demand accountability and justice against all those involved in this corruption!”

The flyer that was handed out at today’s protest further asserts: “The Marcoses and Duterte are criminal dynasties.”

It then states: “The Filipino people back home and abroad are demanding accountability as billions of pesos have been stolen and used by politicians for luxury goods, mansions and expensive vacations. We urgently call not just for the resignation and removal of these corrupt politicians, but also to change the corrupt system that allowed these opportunists and bureaucratic capitalists to take power in the first place.”

Third deadliest country for land and environmental defenders

Between 2012 and 2024, the Philippines was the third deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, according to data from Global Witness. They note that 306 defenders were killed in the Philippines during this period, with 413 killed in Brazil and 509 killed in Colombia during these years.

Global Witness has further noted about the situation in the Philippines: “The military has been linked to the highest number of killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the last decade… A Global Witness investigation published in December 2024 found that the government’s push to expand critical minerals mining in the country is putting frontline communities, especially Indigenous Peoples, at risk of militarisation and violence.”

Canada and the Philippines

On November 5, 2025, the Canadian government tabled a Notice of Intent to enter into free trade negotiations with the Philippines. Just a few days earlier, on November 2, Canada and the Philippines signed a “Status of Visiting Forces Agreement” to further deepen security cooperation after a closed-door meeting in Manila.

The Government of Canada notes: “It will allow the Canadian Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to work more closely together through participation in joint and multinational operations and exercises in each other’s territories.”

At that time, Canada’s defence minister David McGuinty stated: “Peace is built on rules, not recklessness. …The Philippines has shown true leadership in upholding international law … and for that [it has] Canada’s greatest and deepest respect.”

PBI South East Asia Project

Peace Brigades International continues to be in the process of exploring the formation of a South East Asia Project that would include Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.

Additional reading: Canada participates in Balikatan exercise despite Philippine military implicated in killings of environmental defenders (PBI-Canada article, April 26, 2025).

Photo of protest in Ottawa, November 30, 2025.

Canadian police raid Cougar Camp on Pacheedaht territory, arrest land defenders, dismantle and burn camp

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo by Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek Blockade.

On Tuesday November 25 and Wednesday November 26, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC) raided the Cougar Camp established on Pacheedaht territory to stop the logging of old-growth trees. At least six forest defenders were arrested at that time.

On November 25, the Ada’itsx / Fairy Creek Blockade posted on Instagram: “We are being raided at this exact moment.”

On November 27, they posted on Instagram: “RCMP BURNS CAMP TO THE GROUND AND DENIES ACCESS TO ELDER BILL IN VIOLATION OF INJUNCTION … Bill’s spiritual cabin was burned to the ground by industry along with the rest of camp. The RCMP has been facilitating this destruction.”

Video still: Pacheedaht Elder Bill Jones says: “I was denied access to my religious and spiritual practice place up at the Walbran. Also my private property there was burnt down either by the RCMP or the industry as we call it.”

Video still from oldgrowthaction.

Stand.earth also posted: “On the morning of November 25, the RCMP Critical Response Unit (CRU) raided the forest protectors’ Cougar Camp in the Upper Walbran on Pacheedaht lands, which has been stopping logging in some of the last old growth forests left in B.C. since August 2025.”

That post continued: “Arrests have continued since then and given that past RCMP CRU operations at forest protection camps in B.C. like Fairy Creek have included violent arrests and injuries from militarized police, and blocked access to legal observers and media, there is a growing concern about the potential use of force and the treatment of those being detained or removed.”

RCMP statements

In a news release issued on November 25, the RCMP stated: “A blockade made up of individuals, vehicles, and wooden items had been established on the Walbran Forest Service Road within the injunction area for several months, preventing road access and thereby violating the court order.”

In an update posted on November 27, the RCMP add: “Following the arrests, the area was closed off to allow for Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership and Tsawak-qin Forestry Inc. to clear the roadway and resume their operations.”

Photos by Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek Blockade.

Ambitious camp established

By November 28, oldgrowthaction posted: “The aftermath of the RCMP raid on Cougar Camp – We have established a new camp for those wanting to join us on the front lines its name is Ambitious camp, and we are asking you to JOIN US!”

RCMP unit under investigation

The RCMP unit that reportedly raided and burned Cougar Camp is currently under investigation by a federal watchdog agency.

On March 9, 2023, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launched a systemic investigation into he RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), the previous name of CRU-BC.

That investigation includes C-IRG activities related to “the Teal Cedar Products Ltd injunction in the Fairy Creek watershed.”

It 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.

Timeline of fairycreekblockade social media posts

August 24: “THE UPPER WALBRAN IS BEING CUT This week westernforestproducts started clear cutting 8 old growth cut blocks in the headwaters of the Walbran Watershed on Pacheedaht Territory. If we don’t draw the line industry -enabled by the provincial government- will keep logging these last elders of the forest until there are non left to log.”

August 25: “THE BLOCKADES ARE BACK … A 15-foot tall cougar sculpture has been erected to block logging trucks on Monday morning from actively logging in the Upper Walbran Valley. With the blessing of several local elders, the anonymous group is demanding permanent protection of all BC’s ancient forests, including eight approved cut blocks in the Upper Walbran that have been approved for logging by the Province.”

September 6: “Elder Bill Jones — a guardian of Pacheedaht ancient oldgrowth forests, a voice for the voiceless — is being sued. Not for wrongdoing, but for daring to protect what little remains of the old-growth forests.”

September 12: “Justice Amy Francis has granted an injunction against Elder Bill Jones, Will O’Connel et al to TSAWAK-QIN FORESTRY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP and TSAWAK-QIN FORESTRY INC. Now RCMP can enforce the injunction and make arrests of land defenders protecting the Walbran Valley at Cougar Camp.”

September 15: “We are preparing for battle. Enforcement can happen at any time at the Upper Walbran’ Cougar Camp, so that Western Forest Products can begin clear cutting some of the last old growth forest on Vancouver Island.”

September 17: “RCMP did NOT begin enforcement at camp today. They circled camp with a helicopter, but the convoy of police cars was headed to another location.”

September 29: “COUGER CAMP WEEK 5 RECAP With no sign of loggers, land defenders, have been taking the time to rainproof camp and explore the cut blocks that Western Forest Products wants to clear cut in the upper Walbran.”

November 5: “Early Monday morning land defenders peacefully blocked active old growth logging on Edinburgh Mountain, where Teal Jones has been cutting old growth forest containing trees up to 1000 years old.”

November 25: “SOS – COME TO CAMP RCMP are at Cougar Camp. They have arrived in full force and have disabled communications. Now is the time to get in your car and start driving. The more people who are there during enforcement, the safer everyone will be. If you can’t come to camp, call David Eby right now and tell him to stop sending RCMP to arrest land defenders.”

Additional reading

Article by Brandi Morin.

Article by Sidney Coles.

Coles writes: “In 2021, the world watched as RCMP-CIRG violently descended on peaceful demonstrators trying to stop the clearcut of ancient old growth trees in the Fairy Creek watershed. After 1,118 arrests, nearly $19 million in enforcement costs, and 500 formal complaints about the force’s behaviour to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, the blockade resulted in a temporary logging deferral in 2021.”

News coverage of this also includes: 4 arrested, cougar sculpture dismantled as RCMP move in on forestry protest camp on Vancouver Island (CBC News, November 25); Police clear protesters from Vancouver Island logging blockade (Canadian Press, November 25); Protesters return to Upper Walbran logging blockade after arrests (Times Colonist, November 26); Police clear Vancouver Island protest camp, forestry activities to resume (CBC News, November 27).

PBI-Honduras highlights the work of CNTC El Progreso general secretary Lilian Borjas in the lead-up to International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“Tomorrow [November 29] is International Women Human Rights Defenders Day. Two days before the general elections [on November 30] in Honduras, we celebrate the important role that #women #humanrightsdefenders play in Honduras to ensure that human rights are respected for everyone. Today, we highlight the work of #humanrightsdefenders Lilian Borjas of the National Confederation of Rural Workers (CNTC) for her advocacy on the issue of access to #land and food sovereignty.”

The CNTC website notes: “The CNTC has extensive experience and a strong national and international reputation for carrying out land reclamations throughout the country through direct action (occupying and remaining on the properties) and facing hostility from landowners or alleged owners of the properties and from the governments in power. This hostility includes eviction orders, violent evictions where our comrades have been beaten, imprisoned, and even murdered. This is why the CNTC has many martyrs in its struggle for land rights.”

The quote from Liliana below says: “Previously, there wasn’t much talk about women’s empowerment. Now, there are women on boards of directors.”

The CNTC website adds: “The CNTC is currently the peasant organization that provides the most training to its members and, of course, to its male and female leaders.”

This year, UN Women noted: “In 2024, OHCHR documented the killings of 56 WHRDs, journalists, and trade unionists in conflict-affected countries—a number that likely underrepresents the real toll.”

The CNTC, created in 1985, is a small-scale farming and trade union organization, that fights for the distribution of land.

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) since May 2018.

Additional reading: PBI-Honduras concerned by arbitrary detention of CNTC El Progreso general secretary Lilian Borjas (May 2, 2024).

 

PBI entities around the world accompany the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International-Canada recalls that the Mirabal sisters were assassinated for their fight against injustice under Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo on November 25, 1960, and that the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women has been commemorated on this day since 1999.

Photo: The Mirabal Sisters from left, Minerva, Maria Teresa and Patria. Source: Casa Museo Hermanas Mirabal.

Various PBI entities marked this day.

PBI-Nicaragua

PBI-Nicaragua posted on social media:

“#25N

PBI accompanied in San Jose the Women’s March Against Violence in which Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica also participate.

Since 2018 Nicaraguan feminists have been articulating with the movement of Tica women to raise their voice against femicides in both countries, for justice and the end of impunity.

This year, displaced indigenous women from their territories were also present, demanding a dignified life, free of all kinds of violence.”

PBI-Mexico

PBI-Mexico also posted:

“25N – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Today we accompany the marches of the 25N in Cuernavaca, Morelos and in Cuetzalan, Puebla, where feminist collectives, women advocates and families of victims of femicide raised their voices to demand justice and a life free of violence.

From PBI Mexico we reaffirm our commitment to accompany those who defend rights and sustain this fight with their strength, their memory and their everyday resistance.

We are still present, walking alongside them.”

PBI-Guatemala

PBI-Guatemala posted on social media an article from Prensa Comunitaria that reported:

“’Alert, alert, alert that walks, the struggle of indigenous and peasant women’ shouted the Q’eqchi’ women of El Estor and Poqomchi’ representatives of the Sierra de las Minas de Panzós, Alta Verapaz, on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in a walk that traveled the main route of that municipality. The women carried flowers, banners and banners, where they expressed their expressions and demands to ask the State of Guatemala to guarantee their rights and the freedom to live in their communities where extractive and monoculture companies, as well as landowners, dispossess them of their lands.”

PBI-Honduras

PBI-Honduras posted:

“Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, our thoughts are with all the women and women advocates who have had to face acts of violence for the simple fact of being a woman. According to at least 33 countries, it is essential that Honduras take more measures to combat violence against women, including the passing and implementation of several laws.”

PBI-Kenya

And PBI-Kenya posted:

“Fewer than 40% of countries have laws that protect women from cyber harassment or cyberstalking.
This legal gap leaves millions of women and girls vulnerable to threats, intimidation, impersonation, doxxing, and other forms of digital abuse, often with no clear pathway to justice. This 16 Days of Activism, we raise our voices to ask for stronger legal frameworks, platform accountability, and safer digital spaces for all women and girls. Digital violence is real violence.
There is #NoExcuse for failing to protect women online.”

#16DaysOfActivism

Various other PBI entities are also highlighting the sixteen days from November 25 to December 10, World Human Rights Day.

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