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How are Canadian-made armoured personnel carriers sold to the Colombian police being used during the national strike?

By
Brent Patterson
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This El Parche Crítico video shows a Colombian police truck firing a water cannon at a protest at the Portal Americas humanitarian space last night.

Prior to this, Campaña Defender la libertad has highlighted: “There is a strong presence of tanks [in the Portal Americas humanitarian space], which make indiscriminate use of tear gas and ammunition of an unknown type in the area.”

Though likely a different model to the one seen in the video, Canada sold Armoured Personnel Carriers to the Colombian national police with similar capabilities.

In April 2015, PLANT reported: “The manufacturer is still building behemoth armoured personnel carriers (APCs). In fact, there’s a tendered order for 26 of its Huron vehicles, at about $450,000 a pop, for the National Police of Columbia.”

That article adds: “The Huron … will be outfitted with a cannon to wrangle unruly rioters with foam, tear gas, dyes and water.”

Yesterday, the United Church of Canada stated: “Canada’s sale of light armoured vehicles and armoured personnel vehicles to Colombia regardless of their intended use is deeply concerning.”

Earlier this week, the Canadian Labour Congress also stated: “Canadian unions condemn this violence and support the legitimate demands of the Colombian people for: The demilitarization of the urban areas and cities; The dismantling of the Colombian national police riot control unit (known by its Spanish acronym ESMAD).”

The Portal Americas humanitarian space

The humanitarian space is located at a TransMilenio station, a bus rapid transit (BRT) system. The Portal de Las Américas station is in the southwestern part of the city in the locality of Kennedy, which is mostly inhabited by working and low-income residents.

PBI-Colombia has previously noted it’s “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

PBI-Colombia has also reported on its accompaniment of the Justice and Peace Commission in the humanitarian space on May 6, 11, 12 and 13.

PBI-Colombia accompanies NOMADESC as ESMAD riot police fire tear gas in Buga

By
Brent Patterson
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Image from Infobae.

On May 13, PBI-Colomba posted: “Today PBI accompanied NOAMDESC in Guadalajara de Buga. Organizations and human rights commission alert to the disproportionate use of force by the ESMAD against protesters and affecting residents.”

NOMADESC further comments: “ESMAD disproportionately attacks protesters and residents of the Aures and Paloblanco neighborhoods in Buga.”

The city and the blockades

Guadalajara de Buga is a city in the department of Valle del Cauca. It is situated east of the port of Buenaventura and north of the city of Cali.

Infobae reports: “Major General Fernando Murillo Orrego indicated that ten blockades have been identified between the municipalities of Zarzal and Buga, three of which are in the vicinity of the latter municipality [Buga] that connects to Buenaventura, Colombia’s most important port [on the Pacific Ocean].”

Vanguardia notes: “The blockades impact the whole country since Buenaventura imports between 50% and 60% of the non-traditional trade burden that enters Colombia. The road corridor is closed by blockades in two parts, in Restrepo and Buga, which has caused paralysis of the local economy and foreign trade activities.”

250 Police and National Army

The Infobae article highlights: “On Thursday, May 13, a group of more than 250 uniformed police accompanied by the National Army was mobilized to proceed with the unlocking of these sectors of the Pan American Highway.”

Caracol adds: “More Army troops also arrived in Buga, disembarking for two minutes from a helicopter that landed at the SENA [National Training Service, a Ministry of Labour vocational program] headquarters, which generated controversy.”

Use of tear gas, 48 injured

La FM reports: “According to complaints from the community [in Buga], several people in the Aures neighborhood were affected by the use of tear gas and there are also said to have been about 48 injured, who were transferred to San José Hospital in this town.”

El Espectador also notes: “Citizens denounce abuses by members of the public force and use of tear gas in residential neighborhoods.”

Expired tear gas

This short video from El Parche Crítico also expresses the concern: “ESMAD fired expired tear gas at the protesters in Buga, some of them expired since 2014.”

US-made tear gas

Earlier this week, The Nation reported: “Through US arms sales programs, the Colombian government has equipped Colombia’s riot control police known as the ESMAD with US-made stun grenades and tear gas, used to terrorize protesters, according to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).”

That article adds: “Following recent protests, international organizations like WOLA and Peace Brigades International are calling on Congress to end the sale of equipment and training to ESMAD until reforms are made. Colombia remains the largest recipient of US foreign aid in Latin America, receiving over $400 million per year, half of which is allocated for military and security programs.”

Past statement on US tear gas sales to Colombia

This joint statement signed by WOLA, the Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective, Amazon Watch and numerous other groups in December 2019 also noted: “Many of the ESMAD’s weapons, including tear gas and ‘bean bags’ are purchased with the Colombian government’s own funds through U.S. arms sales programs.”

“Much of its materiel, for instance, comes from one Pennsylvania-based company, Combined Systems, Inc., which sells tear gas canisters and stun grenades to Colombia.”

That statement adds: “We call on the State Department and the U.S. Congress to place a moratorium on sales of crowd control weapons to Colombia until the ESMAD has either been replaced by a new force or undergone a full overhaul toward building a dramatically different, more rights-respecting culture and doctrine based on de-escalation, respect for peaceful protest, and minimal use of force.”

Statement from NOMADESC, dhColombia and other organizations.

It says: “The agents have violently and indiscriminately attacked those in the scene with unconventional weapons and tear gas, and adults have been injured and affected. …We call the attention of the international community to make an immediate pronouncement and thus avoid containing the critical situations in this municipality of the Cauca Valley.”

PBI-Colombia at Portal Américas humanitarian space in Bogota where the ESMAD has committed human rights violations

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 13, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted: “PBI accompanies the Justice and Peace Commission in the ‘to heat the pot’ humanitarian space in Bogota. @DefenderLiberta highlights the critical situation of violations of human rights in Portal Américas since the beginning national strike includes…”

27 protesters injured
8 documented cases of detention and torture
4 cases of illegal detention
1 homicide
12 detained without prosecution and released with injuries
6 arrested and released
1 war helicopter landing 

Reports of police violence

This fuller statement notes: “The Transmilenio de las Américas portal has been used as a military base and torture center for several nights since the strike began. The protesters denounce that many have been arrested and entered inside the portal where they have been tortured, some cases have even been published by their victims.”

“On May 7, the young Dylan Blion, musician, leader of the local youth and who had accompanied the marches, was shot down by an ESMAD tank. …On April 28, Daniel Alejandro Zapata was beaten by a stunner who kept him in a coma for days and died on May 10.”

“There is a strong presence of tanks, which make indiscriminate use of tear gas and ammunition of an unknown type in the area.”

“Many women have organized to support young people by making pots, making food, delivering water, the police harass them, beat them.”

Their statement concludes: “It is important that national and international organizations that defend human rights are aware of the complaints so that a complete and effective follow-up can be carried out on what is being experienced in the city within the framework of the National Strike.”

City councillor denounces the human rights violations

Bogota city councillor Diego Cancino has tweeted: “We denounce human rights violations in Bogotá and Portal Américas: 20 injured. Inside the Portal of the America there have been serious mistreatments of young people (organizations report 8 verified cases). Illegal detentions. Gunshot wounds. Violence against youth. Stop NOW!”

For more on this situation, there is also this Publimetro article: Portal Americas, a war scenario where police brutality has been the protagonist in the protests.

The space

The humanitarian space is located at a TransMilenio station, a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá. The Portal de Las Américas station is in southwestern Bogotá in the locality of Kennedy, which is mostly inhabited by working and low-income residents.

PBI-Colombia has previously noted it’s “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

Teusaradio further explains: “The proclaimed Humanitarian Space on the Americas Portal in the town of Kennedy in Bogotá has already been configured for several days in a place of artistic, cultural and political debate that resists constant police repression.”

PBI-Colombia has also reported on its accompaniment of the Justice and Peace Commission in the humanitarian space on May 6, 11 and 12.

For more – Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Maya Kaqchikel journalist Norma Sancir at hearing, next court date is June 7

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 12, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on their Facebook page: “PBI accompanied journalist Norma Sancir at the mid-phase hearing in Chiquimula’s first instance court. This one has been suspended because an appeal against Judge Juan José Regalado is in the process, brought by the plaintiff.”

That same day, Prensa Comunitaria reported:

“The court of First Instance Criminal, Drug Trafficking and Crimes against the Environment on duty in Chiquimula, suspended the intermediate stage hearing of the journalist Norma Sancir, against three agents and a former commissioner of the National Civil Police (PNC), for the crime of abuse of authority.”

“The judge on duty Juan José Regalado Rivas recused himself this Wednesday from continuing to learn about the process, because he was challenged by the defense of the journalist Sancir in 2019. The hearing was scheduled for June 7, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. in the same court.”

“The journalist Norma Sancir and the legal team will have to wait until that date to find out if they send agents Olga Leticia Segura, Marcelina López Pérez, Mirna Marleny Ortiz and former commissioner Ceferino Salquin to trial for oral and public debate, accused of abuse of authority and illegal detention against the communicator, on September 18, 2014.”

“[Sancir was detained] while covering a mobilization of the Ch’orti ‘people, in Camotán, Chiquimula, which ended in a violent eviction by security agents. Four days later, on September 22, she was released, since the agents had no arguments or evidence to prove that Sancir had committed a crime in that demonstration.”

Norma Sancir

Frontline Defenders has explained: “Norma Sancir is a journalist, social communicator and human rights defender of the Ch’orti ’people in Chiquimula, Guatemala.”

“She works as a communicator in the Central Campesina Chortí Nuevo Día (Nuevo Día Ch’orti’ Indigenous Association, CCCND), and is also a correspondent of Prensa Comunitaria. The Central Campesina Chortí Nuevo Día works alongside indigenous Ch’orti’ communities in the region of Chiquimula, Guatemala.”

“They provide legal support and visibility to the communities of Jocotán, Olopa and Camotán, who face threats and violations to land, environmental, and cultural rights, following to the implementation of hydroelectric and mining projects in their territories.”

PBI-Guatemala has also previously explained: “During 2014, members of CCCND experienced an alarming escalation of threats and attacks against them, reporting 81 security incidents to PBI in just six months.”

“In September 2014, various protesters were injured and two members of CCCND were arrested during a peaceful protest, which was broken up by police using firearms, teargas, sticks and stones. Front Line Defenders stated that ‘the arrest and detention of Norma Lila Sut Sancir and Carlos Alfredo Juárez Díaz forms part of an attempt by the authorities to criminalize human rights defenders’.”

Press freedom

When Sancir visited Quebec in May 2018, she told Radio Canada Internacional: “Freedom of information will exist when they let us tell the truth. We believe that freedom of expression should not be exclusive for the benefit of journalists working in the major media or for an editorial line.”

PBI-Honduras at the Viva Berta feminist camp as the trial of one of the alleged intellectual co-authors continues

By
Brent Patterson
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“The people know how to do justice.” – Berta Caceres

On May 13, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted that it was present at the Viva Berta feminist camp.

PBI-Honduras was also there for the opening of the camp on May 4.

At that time, Criterio.hn reported: “During the ninth day of the trial against David Castillo [who is on trial as an alleged intellectual co-author of the murder of COPINH co-founder Berta Caceres] organizations inaugurated the ¡Viva Berta! feminist camp in front of the Supreme Court of Justice building in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.”

The article continues: “[Her daughter] Bertha Zúniga Cáceres [says that] the camp is an initiative of feminist organizations ‘to also accompany the demand for justice and ratify that this process is not only of interest to her daughters, her family or her organization COPINH, but also of the community of human rights in Honduras and outside Honduras’.”

Less than a year before she was murdered, Berta stated: “We must shake our conscience free of the rapacious capitalism, racism and patriarchy that will only assure our own self-destruction. …Our Mother Earth – militarized, fenced-in, poisoned, a place where basic rights are systematically violated – demands that we take action.”

A participant at the camp says: “We are going to be taking actions and we are inviting other colleagues to come to this space that belongs to all of us, so that we can reclaim the thought, the legacy and everything that Berta has left to each one of us.”

In one of her speeches, Cáceres said “History is going to apply justice. Impunity is not eternal. The people know how to do justice and the Honduran people in resistance are going to do justice!”

The banner in the photo includes a portion of that quote: “Los pueblos saben hacer Justicia” [The people know how to do justice].

PBI-Honduras has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.

MP Paul Manly puts on Order Paper key questions about timeline of Canada’s planned fighter jet purchase

By
Brent Patterson
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Paul Manly, Member of Parliament for Nanaimo-Ladysmith, has put a question on the Order Paper about Canada’s planned purchase of fighter jets.

Q-7352 states:

“With regard to the government’s acquisition of 88 advanced fighter aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force: (a) in what month are the successful bidder and aircraft expected to be chosen by the government; (b) in what month is a contract expected to be signed with the chosen bidder; (c) will the government conduct a revised cost analysis of the acquisition, and, if so, (i) when will the analysis be conducted, (ii) will the analysis be made public, and, if so, when; and (d) will the government sign the contract before the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s cost analysis of the acquisition is completed and made public?”

These are crucial questions for an informed public debate.

What we know (and don’t know) at this point

Timeline

The Canadian government intends to award a contract at some point in 2022 to one of three companies bidding to build a new fleet of fighter jets.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has stated: “The initial evaluation of proposals is anticipated to be completed by spring 2021, at which point Canada may choose to enter into dialogue with two or more compliant bidders and request revised proposals.”

That media release adds: “Canada will finalize terms with the preferred bidder prior to the contract award, which is anticipated in 2022.”

Skies has reported: “Canada will select a winner by late 2021.”

Last month, Troy Crosby, the assistant deputy minister of materiel at the Department of National Defence, told the Canadian Press: “[This] is a project where COVID has created some challenges. Despite all of that, I still see the evaluation being completed this year. And that would get us to a point where we could enter whatever the resulting agreements or contracts are next year in 2022.”

Cost

The Government of Canada says the acquisition of the new aircraft, associated equipment and setup to enable entry into service will cost $15-19 billion.

Despite the scale of the purchase, no official calculation has been made public on the full, lifecycle cost of the new warplanes, but it is a certainty that the actual cost (when operations, sustainment, disposal and contingency acquisition costs are considered) would be billions more than the sticker price. This No Fighter Jets campaign report has pegged the life cycle costs of the fighter jets at $76.7 billion.

It is not known when the Parliamentary Budget Office will do an assessment of the cost of the fighter jets. It has been our understanding that the PBO would not do a cost-analysis until a winner has been chosen from among the three contenders.

Nor is it clear how wide the scope of the report would be (a more precise calculation vs a life-cycle cost analysis). It has also been our understanding that a PBO report generally takes between 3 to 6 months to produce.

The Canadian government has not given a specific date of when it will shortlist one of the contenders or if that decision will be made public.

We also do not know if it will be a matter of days, weeks or months before the selection of the fighter jet and the signing of the contract. Nor do we know where the Parliamentary Budget Office calculation of the chosen warplane would fit into that timeline.

Answers

The House of Commons is currently scheduled to sit until June 9, with a possible extension to June 23. It is our hope that there will be answers to the questions posed by Paul Manly by that time. A specific timeline is crucial to an informed public debate.

United Church of Canada expresses concern over militarized response of Colombian government to ongoing national strike

By
Brent Patterson
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With 388,363 members, the United Church of Canada is the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada.

On May 13, it issued this statement. Key excerpts include:

“Since April 28, thousands of Colombians have joined street protests. The response of the Colombian government has been to violently repress the largely peaceful protests.

Partners of The United Church of Canada have expressed their deep concern about the police violence against largely peaceful protests. Many of those raising their voices in legitimate, peaceful protest are young people.

As part of their ministry, Colombian Methodist pastors are accompanying young adults striking in Cali, one of the centres of protest and police violence. The Methodist Church of Colombia (IMC) has affirmed the right of the multitudes of people who are going out into the streets peacefully, stating that they have every constitutional right to do so.

The United Church of Canada has written to Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau to urge the Canadian government to:

-take immediate steps to exert diplomatic pressure so police repression and violence against protestors end immediately.

-centre its relationship with Colombia on a ‘whole of government’ approach that foregrounds the human rights emergency and the peace process at its core. Canada’s sale of light armoured vehicles and armoured personnel vehicles to Colombia regardless of their intended use is deeply concerning. Ongoing Canadian trade and investment risk are contributing to a human rights situation characterized by repression and violence.

While the initial impetus for the protest was the Colombian government’s tax reform bill, the root causes of the protests include:

-the complicit silence on the part of the government regarding the repeated massacres and assassinations of women and men from labour and social organizations, youth leaders, and human rights defenders.

-lack of fulfillment of previous agreements regarding various Indigenous land rights.

-official opposition and apathy at the highest levels that has led to a systematic dismantling and delegitimization of the 2016 Peace Accords.”

To read their full statement, please click here.

Their letter to the Foreign Minister, and cc’d to Ambassador Marcel Lebleu, Colombian president Ivan Duque, among others, can be read here.

PBI has been present in Colombia since 1994 and has been accompanying human rights defenders throughout the national strike. For a visual record of that, please see: Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS on a national strike march to Camilo Torres Park in Barrancabermeja

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 12, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted: “PBI has been accompanying the human rights organization CREDHOS in Barrancabermeja in different mobilizations during the national strike in their work of monitoring and verifying the marches and in cases of arbitrary detentions in the city.”

“Today we were with them on a march to the Camilo Torres Park.”

On April 29, the day after the first national strike mobilization, CREDHOS participated in a PBI-Canada convened webinar on fracking, extractivism and the dangers faced by environmental defenders in the Magdalena Medio region.

Then on May 5, CREDHOS participated in a PBI convened Zoom call with officials from the Embassy of Canada in Colombia and Global Affairs Canada to describe to them the situation with the national strike.

On May 11, the Colombian monitoring group Temblores reported: 1,956 cases of police brutality since April 28, 313 victims of physical violence by the police, 40 victims of homicide allegedly committed by the police, and 418 violent interactions by members of the public force (police and military) among other acts of violence.

As violence by state security forces against the national strike continues, CREDHOS has called on the international community, including Canada, to end any support of the police and army. You can read more about that on rabble.ca at Human rights defenders call on Canada to end support to Colombian police and army.

PBI-Colombia notes: “Painted on the street are the words ‘We want Peace’ and an image that pays tribute to Lucas Villa, a student who was killed by armed civilians on May 5 while participating in a peaceful sit-in in the city of Pereira.”

PBI-Colombia continues to accompany human rights defenders during the national strike. For more on that, please see Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

PBI-Mexico participates in Observation Mission on the situation of violence in the mountain region of Guerrero

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 12, La Jornada reported: “The Observation Mission of National and International Organizations on the Situation of Violence in the Mountain Region expressed concern about the lack of attention to cases of disappearance, gender violence and the prevailing impunity of those responsible in the Montaña Alta region of Guerrero.”

The Observation Mission included Espacio OSC, the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations (Red TDT), the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre, SERAPAZ, Fundar, and the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project.

The article highlights: “Lena Weber from Peace Brigades International argued that the testimonies are worrying, in particular, very serious in the investigation processes, the implementation of protection measures, an increase in violence in the region, including disappearances and femicides with a level of almost total impunity.”

This statement from the Observation Mission further notes:

“This 11 and 12 May we heard the testimonies of families of missing persons, cases of gender-based violence and assaults on defenders and journalists. In these accounts we were able to notice a serious lack of attention on the part of public institutions to the situation of structural violence in the region, the lack of effective protection measures for victims of human rights violations and defenders, as well as measures for victim care.”

The Mission asked federal, state and municipal officials to ensure:

1- Measures are implemented to prevent violence against women and assaults on human rights defenders and journalists.

2- Appropriate protection measures are provided for both victims of human rights violations and defenders and journalists, which we consider necessary to be carried out by the Mechanism for the Protection of Defenders and Journalists of the Ministry of the Government in the face of their advocacy to combat impunity where appropriate.

3- Structural problems of disappearance of people and femicides are addressed, which requires prompt, impartial and thorough investigations for victims to access truth and justice.

4- Action is taken to reverse the violence that prevails on Guerrero Mountain.

5- Public recognition is given to the work of human rights defenders, especially those victims who have transcended their pain in fighting impunity.

To watch the video of the media conference, please click here.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Justice and Peace Commission at ‘to heat the pot’ humanitarian space

By
Brent Patterson
-

On May 12 at 8 pm, PBI-Colombia posted: “PBI accompanies the Justice and Peace Commission in the ‘to heat the pot’ humanitarian space in Portal Americas in Bogota where the population participates in peaceful protest and cultural activities.”

Portal de las Americas Kennedy is a transit station in Ciudad Kennedy, a predominantly poor and working-class locality in Bogotá.

The space

PBI-Colombia has previously noted it’s “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

Teusaradio further explains: “The proclaimed Humanitarian Space on the Americas Portal in the town of Kennedy in Bogotá has already been configured for several days in a place of artistic, cultural and political debate that resists constant police repression.”

Ana Teresa Bernal notes: “Here at Portal Américas we are able to establish the participation of young people in their public space. There is music, a community pot, bicycles and microfootball because the strike is lived with joy.”

Contagio Radio says: “Various artistic and cultural activities are registered to form a ‘collective resistance’ and make the area a space free of confrontations and violence that mainly affects the inhabitants of the sector.”

And Conexion Capital explains: “Given the arrests and concern for fellow protesters, protesters and residents of the sector have made community pots in order to take care of all the days of peaceful sit-ins that take place in the area daily in the mornings and nights.”

Last night

Last night, Caracol News reported: “In the Portal Americas with Avenida Ciudad de Cali about 500 people gathered to protest with music and cultural expressions.” AS Colombia adds: “Clashes between ESMAD [riot police] and protesters at Portal Americas in Bogota are reported at this time (9:22 pm).” And Telesur notes: “The public force attacked the peaceful march in the Portal Americas sector of Bogota, denounced citizens on social media.”

The banner reads: Humanitarian Space “To Heat the Pot”.

PBI-Colombia continues to accompany human rights groups during the national strike. For more on that, please see Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

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