What is the relationship between militarization of territory and human rights?

Years ago, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was told that the militarization of Indigenous territories was the root cause of many forms of human rights violations. The recommendation made at that time was that the Permanent Forum should form a Working Group on Militarization.

And in this letter to the editor in The Guardian, PBI-UK noted: “PBI has provided protection to at-risk human rights defenders in the country since 2000, an experience that has shown us that in the federal states where a security strategy based on militarization has been implemented, attacks against activists have increased significantly.”

Furthermore, PBI-Honduras accompanied COPINH coordinator Bertha Zuniga Caceres says in the film La Lucha Sigue: “We have an army in a country where there’s no armed conflict with any other country. The only conflict in Honduras is a conflict of interests of the richest people with the most historically impoverished people.”

Militarization can also refer to the use of military equipment and tactics by the police.

The Guardian gives this example: “Notes from a strategy session for a militarized raid on ancestral lands of the Wet’suwet’en nation show that commanders of Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), argued that ‘lethal overwatch is req’d’ – a term for deploying an officer who is prepared to use lethal force. …On 7 January 2019, RCMP officers – dressed in military-green fatigues and armed with assault rifles – descended on the checkpoint, dismantling the gate and arresting 14 people.”

Despite this UN resolution calling for “[the RCMP] and associated security and policing services will be withdrawn from their traditional lands”, the CBC has reported the RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en territory between January 2019 (when the raid described above happened) and March 2020 cost $13.1 million.

In essence, it can be argued that the RCMP has militarized the unceded Indigenous Wet’suwet’en territory as illustrated in this video from the Water Protector Legal Collective, this video of an interaction between the RCMP and two journalists, and in this video of the RCMP’s interaction with documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano.

Earlier this month, University of British Columbia professor Sheryl Lightfoot was appointed to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a seven-person body that provides the UN Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the rights of Indigenous peoples. This would be an important issue for that body to consider.

Less than a year before she was killed, Berta Caceres commented: “Our Mother Earth – militarized, fenced-in, poisoned, a place where basic rights are systematically violated – demands that we take action.”

That’s a call to all of us to understand the issue of militarization and militarism in its various forms and to contribute to building a more peaceful, just world.

For more on this, you may also be interested in the World Beyond War Canada and Science for Peace organized webinar Militarism & Climate Change: Disaster in Progress that is happening on Thursday April 29 at 7:00 pm ET.

Screenshot from the Mutual Aid Media film La Lucha Sigue.

The Government of Canada is in the process of selecting a new fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force. It plans to choose either the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, or the Saab Gripen.

It 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.”

The Future fighter capability project website also provides these dates: “Implementation project approval: 2022” and “Contract award: 2022”.

Now, the Canadian Press reports: “Troy Crosby, the assistant deputy minister of materiel at the Department of National Defence, says officials remain on track to meet that schedule [of finishing the evaluation process later this year and selecting] a winner next year.”

The Deputy Minister at DND says: “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.”

This purchase appears to be moving ahead despite the Parliamentary Budget Officer now projecting a $363.4 billion deficit.

It also follows news of research by a team at Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management that says Canada will lose $11.9 billion because of the government’s purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

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

But the No Fighter Jet Coalition recently released this report that estimates the actual cost of Canada purchasing 88 new fighter jets could total $76.8 billion.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer does not plan to cost the new fighter jet until the Canadian government chooses one of the three fighter jets.

From the comments made by the Department of National Defence, it is not precisely clear when that selection will be made or if the costing by the Parliamentary Budget Officer would be completed before the contract is signed by the Government of Canada.

The No Fighter Jet Coalition will be present on Parliament Hill on Budget Day – Thursday April 19 at 3:30 pm – to highlight these concerns.

Photo: Teen Vogue.

Today, March 31, is the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Egale Canada has tweeted: “#TransDayOfVisibility2021 is about celebrating trans people & progresses made toward true equity for the trans community. Beyond that #TDOV is about renewing our commitment to educate ourselves on trans issues and to raise our voices against transphobia in all its forms.”

PBI-Guatemala posted on its Facebook page a quote from Monica Chub an Indigenous trans woman. She says: “As an Indigenous woman, I visibilize my existence next to the great woman who gave me life, about my identity she is always with me supporting me. I live in a territory where I make my rights visible and respected. My struggle is very strong, and it faces discrimination day after day.”

PBI-Colombia accompanied CREDHOS has tweeted: “CREDHOS accompanies and supports the defence of human rights of the Trans community.”

And PBI-Honduras has posted: “The LGTBIQ+ community in Honduras is in a situation of structural violence, stigma and discrimination. Trans women face the most attacks, assaults, harassment, arrests and even murder.”

It adds: “In the face of this, organizations and people who defend LGTBIQ + rights create mechanisms for collective care and self defence and demand a system of care and protection with a differential approach.”

On this day, we encourage you to watch the 18-minute documentary Somos (in Spanish), a co-production between PBI-Honduras and PBI-United Kingdom.

PBI-UK has noted: “Somos tells the story of Arcoiris, a group of LGBT+ human rights defenders in Honduras. In recent years the organization has faced mounting attacks and threats following relentless public abuse and stigmatization.”

We also encourage you to read the 8-page PBI-Honduras publication: En busqueda de una proteccion integral para la diversidad sexual en Honduras (In search of comprehensive protection for sexual diversity in Honduras).

Peace Brigades International accompanies human rights defenders around the world, including those engaged in struggles related to gender identity.

The Yogyakarta Principles, a set of international human rights principles, affirm that “sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person’s dignity and humanity and must not be the basis for discrimination or abuse.”

Principle 27 calls on all states to: “Ensure the protection of human rights defenders, working on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, against any violence, threat, retaliation, de facto or de jure discrimination, pressure, or any other arbitrary action perpetrated by the State, or by non-State actors, in response to their human rights activities.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied Arcoiris since July 2015.

#DiaDeLaVisibilidadTrans

Read this document in full here.

Millions of dollars are spent on the “policing” of Indigenous land defenders on their traditional and unceded lands in this country.

On March 30, 1492 Land Back Lane tweeted: “Today we have learned the OPP have spent $16.3 million dollars on the policing of 1492 Landback Lane from July 19, 2020 to January 19, 2021. That’s an average of $2.6 million a month or $90,000 a day.”

This follows an APTN article by Brett Forester that reports: “The figures reveal the OPP were spending between $2 million and $3 million per month on salaries, round-the-clock overtime, food, hotels, travel costs, supplies, equipment, building rentals and other related expenses between July 2020 and January 2021.”

Land defender Skyler Williams says: “What an amazing waste of money. Rather than spending $16.3 million on policing and seeing the criminalization of Indigenous people standing up for their rights, they could’ve sent two ministers down here from the feds, a couple from the province, and resolved this in a peaceful way eight months ago.”

Similarly, a few months ago, Chantelle Bellrichard reported: “The cost of policing the Coastal GasLink pipeline conflict in northern B.C. between January 2019 and March 2020 was more than $13 million, according to documents obtained by CBC News.”

That article quotes Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’moks who said the police costs were “a tremendous waste of money.”

We also recall that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged Canada to withdraw the RCMP and associated security and policing services from Wet’suwet’en traditional lands.

More broadly, Global Witness in its report on threats against land and environmental defenders has called on governments to “guarantee that no business project goes ahead without the free, prior and informed consent of potentially and affected indigenous communities at every stage of the project cycle or operation.”

PBI-Canada expresses concern about the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders and water protectors in this country.

We express further concern about the legislation in Alberta and Manitoba that would further criminalize and punish these land defenders.