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OCHRP rejects BALIKATAN military exercise, human rights violations as the Philippines set to attend CANSEC arms show, May 27-28

By
Brent Patterson
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Image from OCHRP.

The Canadian Defence Review reports: “Marking a significant step in Canada’s Indo-Pacific engagement, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will actively participate in Exercise BALIKATAN, an annual military exercise in the Philippines, from April 20 to May 8, 2026. …While in previous years the CAF participated as observers, this year, Canadian personnel will train shoulder‑to‑shoulder with partners in areas such as air and missile defence, coastal defence, logistics and sustainment, medical support, maritime strike operations, and multinational coordination.”

That article adds: “CAF participation in Exercise BALIKATAN this year includes: The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command is a high‑readiness organization able to deploy agile special operations forces on short notice to protect Canadians from threats at home and abroad.”

OCHRP opposes these annual war games

The Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP) has highlighted: “While Canada and the US claim to be building the defensive capabilities of the Philippines, in reality they are giving military support to a government accused of well-documented human rights abuses on activists human rights defenders, and Indigenous peoples in the name of counter-insurgency.”

Land and environmental defenders

Globally, one land and environmental defender is killed every other day. Between 2012 and 2023, at least 298 defenders were killed in the Philippines (the third highest in the world after Colombia and Brazil). It continues to be the most dangerous country in Asia for land and environmental defenders.

Global Witness adds: “Indigenous Peoples account for a staggering one-third of land and environmental defender killings in the Philippines in 2012-23. Neary half of these cases were linked to mining. The military was responsible for 64 out of 117 killings of Indigenous defenders between 2012-23.”

Global Witness documented the murder of 8 more land and environmental defenders in 2024.

The State of the World’s Human Rights report (Amnesty International, April 2025) further notes that in the Philippines: “’Red-tagging’ the public vilification of human rights defenders and other targeted groups and individuals as alleged members and clandestine recruiters of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) continued. …Activists increasingly became victims of enforced disappearances. In April, labour organizer William Lariosa was reportedly abducted in Bukidnon province; the military denied holding him in custody. He remained missing at year’s end.”

Philippine peasant leader Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, the chairperson of Kilusang Magbubukid Pilipinas (KMP), will be speaking in Ottawa on Wednesday April 29 at Carleton University, Paterson Hall, Room 201. He may comment on the link between weapons exports and attacks on communities.

Public forum poster.

Bell helicopters for the Philippines

Bell Textron Canada Limited will be at the CANSEC arms show this year.

In February 2018, CBC News reported: “Earlier this week, Reuters reported the Philippines inked a $233-million deal to buy Montreal-built Bell helicopters. Other reports said the deal was worth up to $300 million. The Canadian Commercial Corporation, which facilitated the deal, wouldn’t confirm the cost.”

At that time, McMaster University professor Netina Tan and graduate student Marvin Mercado commented in The Conversation: “It doesn’t take a security expert to point out that in the Philippines under Duterte’s leadership, the helicopters were likely to be used for combat purposes. There has been major news coverage of the Philippines’ bloody internal conflicts and extra-judicial killings.”

In April 2018, the National Post reported: “Just months after a contract to sell military helicopters to the Philippines was cancelled, a Canadian firm is hoping it can revive the controversial deal. … Bell says it is now back in discussions with the Philippines as a potential client for the same helicopters.”

The Philippines at CANSEC, May 27-28

The Philippines is one of 60+ international delegations that will be present at the CANSEC arms and technology trade show at the EY Centre in Ottawa on May 27-28 that includes exhibits by the five most profitable weapons companies in the world as well as the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.

Image by CADSI (the Philippines flag is in the third row, fourth from the left).

A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.

The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) has noted: “CFSC is planning to be present at CANSEC this year… We’re planning a silent vigil/Meeting for Worship on the afternoon of the first day of CANSEC to be a physical presence of unity and nonviolence—showing that strength comes through peace.”

For updates on the mass protest being planned for May 28, click here.

Photo: OCHRP at ILPS meeting.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the dangers faced by human rights defenders from the arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show as part of our commitment to holistic protection accompaniment.

PBI recently launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

The Network Against Anti-Trade Union Violence remembers the trade union commitment of Juan López in Honduras

By
Brent Patterson
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The Network Against Anti-Trade Union Violence has posted on social media:

“Juan will always be Juan, the seed of the Aguán! Nineteen months on from the murder of our comrade JUAN LÓPEZ – coordinator of the Tocoa Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods, and a councillor for the same municipality – we remember part of his struggle for life and his trade union commitment in the Aguán. #NetworkAgainstAnti-tradeunionViolence”

Infobae has reported: “López was killed on September 14, 2024, inside his vehicle after leaving a church in the city of Tocoa, despite having precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). …[The Municipal Committee] pointed out that López was killed for his active role in the defense of the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras National Park, a protected area ‘threatened’ by the mining and energy project promoted by Emco/Pinares/Ecotek.”

“A tireless fighter for workers’ rights”

The Latin American Coordination of Banana Unions (COLSIBA) has stated: “Juan López was a tireless fighter for workers’ rights and his murder has been interpreted by the trade union movement as a direct attack on freedom of association and workers’ organization in Honduras.”

The Railroad Company Fabric Workers Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Tela Railroad Company – SITRATERCO) in Honduras is among the unions demanding justice for Juan López. The Tela Railroad Company is a subsidiary of Chiquita brands. The union represents workers in the banana industry.

Emco Holding Group

Criterio.hn has noted that Inversiones Los Pinares is a subsidiary of the Emco Holding Group. An investigative report by Contra Corriente and Drilled reveals that U.S.-based Nucor maintained a relationship with Inversiones Los Pinares, the company behind a controversial mining megaproject in Honduras, at least until September 30, 2023, despite having claimed to have ended their ties in October 2019. Investors in Nucor have included the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (an institutional investor that manages the Québec Pension Plan), the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Photo: On October 30, 2024, PBI-Canada visited Guapinol and saw the pelletizing plant associated with the Los Pinares megaproject.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

PBI-Honduras accompanies International Day of Peasants’ Struggle march in Tegucigalpa as risk of criminalization intensifies

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo by Plataforma Agraria.

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

“Under the slogan ‘Land is not for sale; it must be protected and defended’, a peaceful demonstration took place to mark International Day of Peasants’ Struggles, which is celebrated every April 17. During the march, the organizations and groups united within the Honduran Peasant, Indigenous and Popular Alliance reaffirmed the ongoing struggle for land, food sovereignty and the dignity of those who sustain life from the countryside.”

In their Facebook post, PBI-Honduras tagged the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC), the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and Plataforma Agraria, a national network of more than 30 organizations that promotes agrarian reform and policies in favour of peasants.

Criterio.hn reports: “More than three hundred people from the agrarian movement arrived in the Honduran capital on the International Day of Peasant Struggles to demand access to land, comprehensive agrarian reform and an end to evictions and criminalization. …Brought together in the Peasant, Indigenous and Popular Alliance of Honduras, more than 30 grassroots organizations demanded social justice and access to land and denounced the persistence of deep inequalities in the countryside, the concentration of land and the historical exclusion of communities from the interests of agribusiness.”

The article highlights: “The mobilization occurs while the administration of [Honduran president] Nasry Asfura analyzes actions to strengthen the ‘legal security’ of agribusiness in land conflicts, a point that peasant organizations question for its impact on communities.”

It adds: “Along these lines, Pedro Mejía, a lawyer for the Agrarian Platform, indicated that the possible toughening of the crime of usurpation and the relaxation of evictions would intensify the criminalization of the peasant and indigenous movement, as they are used as tools to intimidate, prosecute and dispossess communities of land.”

Prensa Rural adds: “During this day of protests, which began on April 16 in Tegucigalpa, the National Police arrested peasant leader José Luis Fuentes, an incident that has caused alarm among social organisations. Fuentes, a member of the Landless Movement in El Progreso, Yoro, was detained at the El Durazno police post, at the entrance to the Central District, whilst on his way to take part in the protest actions organized as part of this commemoration. The arrest comes at a time that organizations describe as a resurgence in the criminalization of peasant leaders.”

Canada and UN vote on peasant rights

At this time, we recall that Canada abstained in the vote on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas that was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018.

PBI-Honduras has previously noted that this UN Declaration recognizes key elements such as “the right to land, to natural resources and to food sovereignty, based on the principle of equality between men and women.”

Image showing Canada’s vote on the UN Declaration shared by Andrea Nuila, gender and women’s rights coordinator at FIAN International, at a PBI co-organized webinar.

We continue to follow this.

International Trade Union Confederation: “Northrop is a serial violator of consumer and labour protections”

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from “ITUC Corporate Underminers of Democracy 2025” report.

Northrop Grumman is a sponsor of the CANSEC “defence, security & emerging technology event” taking place at the EY Centre in Ottawa this coming Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28, 2026.

It is also a member of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the Government of Canada-funded association that organizes the annual arms and technology trade show.

The US-based transnational corporation is the world’s sixth largest weapons manufacturer. In 2025, it was the third most profitable weapons company with USD $37.85 billion in arms revenue.

Northrop Grumman undermines democracy

In September 2025, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) noted in their report 2025 Corporate Underminers of Democracy: “This year’s list focuses on the rising threat to democracy posed by major and emerging players in the rapid militarisation of the global economy.”

The ITUC list specifies seven corporations, including Northrop Grumman.

The report states: “Northrop is a serial violator of consumer and labour protections. It has been penalised US$779m in the US for violations of false claims, benefit plan administration, export control, hazardous waste, and wage and hour laws.”

“The company also has the lowest unionisation rate among major US arms manufacturers (just 4 per cent). In the late 1990s and early 2000s, one in every five Northrop workers was a union member. By 2022, that ratio had collapsed to one in every 25, outpacing declines elsewhere in the industry.”

And it comments: “This was no accident. Industry researchers have described it as ‘a conscious strategy of the big weapons-making firms to outsource work to non-union subcontractors and states with anti-union ‘right to work’ laws.’ The result has been devastating for workplace democracy and workers’ ability to collectively negotiate fair wages and benefits. It also is impacting democracy on a wider scale, with researchers observing that this industry-wide relocation strategy ‘created a geopolitical shift that, in turn, tightened military spending’s control over the economy.’”

ITUC: Weapons industry increasingly dictate state priorities

ITUC, along with Greenpeace, 350.org, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and others, have also signed a joint statement that notes: “The weapons industry, alongside a growing network of arms traders and military contractors, increasingly dictates state priorities. As militarism takes centre stage, resources that could address the urgent challenges of climate change, poverty, and inequality are diverted into weapons systems, expanding arms races, and dangerous geopolitical standoffs.”

It adds: “The human cost of militarism and unchecked wealth concentration is almost unimaginable. Military conflicts uproot millions, with over 100 million people worldwide currently displaced due to conflict or persecution.”

“In solidarity with people affected by wars”

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Just prior to the most recent G7 summit in June 2025, the CLC signed a Labour 7 statement that highlights: “Trade unions of the Labour 7 stand in solidarity with people affected by wars on all continents, fighting for their freedoms, for social justice, for democracy, for their rights and those of future generations.”

That statement adds: “The resources have been found to significantly increase military spending, when for more than a decade, public services have been starved of resources under wrongheaded fiscal consolidation and austerity policies.”

CLC convention, May 11-15

The CLC will be holding its 31st Constitutional Convention from Monday, May 11 to Friday, May 15, 2026, in Winnipeg.

Just last month, CLC president Bea Bruske commented: “In times of war and uncertainty, the labour movement’s role is clear: to stand with working people, to defend international solidarity, and to insist that peace, justice, and democracy cannot be built through violence.”

CANSEC, May 27-28

Social movements, faith communities, organizations and individuals are now preparing to protest the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa.

The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) has noted: “CFSC is planning to be present at CANSEC this year… We’re planning a silent vigil/Meeting for Worship on the afternoon of the first day of CANSEC to be a physical presence of unity and nonviolence—showing that strength comes through peace.”

For updates on the mass protest being planned for May 28, click here.

Additional reading: PBI-Canada notes Unifor resolution in support of Palestinian workers and their call for an arms embargo on Israel (August 27, 2025).

PBI-Mexico speaks at Espacio OSC “Proteger La Dignidad” forum in Morelia, Michoacán on strengthening Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Civil Society Space of Organizations (Espacio OSC) has posted on social media:

“Press release

From Morelia, Michoacán, we are launching the #ProtegerLaDignidad [Protect Dignity] campaign and microsite, an initiative that highlights the work of human rights defenders and journalists, as well as the challenges they face in securing their protection within the state.

Michoacán ranks third in terms of the number of people enrolled in the @Mecanismo_MX [Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists] (162 as of February 2026). High levels of violence persist: 8 journalists murdered, 4 missing and more than 30 human rights defenders murdered; the most recent case was that of Roberto Chávez.

The campaign is promoting proposals to strengthen protection policies: effective implementation of the state regulatory framework, greater inter-institutional coordination, and the creation of conditions for the free exercise of human rights advocacy and journalism.

Find out more:

Website: https://bit.ly/4tdJpKx

X: https://bit.ly/4ttZ9ZO

#ProtectDignity #RightToDefend”

Proteger la Dignidad

As noted above, for more about the “Potager la Dignidad” campaign, click here.

That webpage includes 19 recommendations to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists at both the federal and state level.

One recommendation at the federal level is to “build a comprehensive public policy that takes into account the territorial needs and the diversity of the existing regulatory frameworks in the states.” And a recommendation at the state level is to “guarantee the active participation of the Advisory Councils and/or representatives of human rights defenders and journalists in the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies and protection plans at the state level.”

Accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project accompanies Espacio OSC and is a member group as well.

PBI-Canada met with Espacio OSC on February 24, 2026, in Mexico City.

We continue to follow the work of Espacio OSC.

PBI-Mexico accompanies presentation of CEMDA report that documents aggressions in 2025, calls for strengthening Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has posted on social media:

“Today [April 16] we were accompanying the presentation of the annual report by @CEMDA [the Mexican Center for Environmental Law] on the situation of people and communities defending environmental human rights in Mexico during 2025.

Among other data, the states with lethal aggressions were highlighted, such as Morelos, Puebla, and Michoacán, as well as the increase in aggression events and specific aggressions compared to the previous year, rising from 94 events and 236 specific aggressions to 235 and 314, respectively.

@CEMDA and its annual report are essential for understanding the reality faced by people and communities defending rights and the environment in Mexico.

You can consult it here.”

La Jornada reports: “During 2025, ten murders of environmentalists and land defenders were recorded in Mexico – the previous year 25 cases were reported. Of these, three occurred in Jalisco, two in Oaxaca, one in Morelos, as well as in Michoacán, Guerrero and Puebla, according to a report by the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA). However, Gustavo Alanís, executive director of this organization, indicated that 2025 is the second year with the most attacks against defenders only below 2022, since he mentioned that there are not only lethal attacks in the country.”

Among those killed in 2025 (CEMDA image).

Agence France-Press notes: “In addition to the 10 murders, CEMDA recorded 135 ‘aggression events,’ ranging from cases of ‘stigmatization’ and ‘defamation’ to ‘theft’ or ‘espionage.’ Gustavo Alanís, executive director of CEMDA, said that the Mexican State is ‘the main perpetrator of aggressions against defenders.’ According to the report, various federal, state or municipal authorities participated in 76 cases of aggression, which corresponds to 56.2% of the total documented.”

Strengthening the Protection Mechanism

Infobae also reports: “In cumulative terms, in the last eleven years 199 defenders have been murdered in the country.”

That article notes: “Faced with this scenario, CEMDA urged the authorities to combat impunity, eradicate stigmatization against activists and strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.”

La Jornada also highlights: “One of the cases of aggression so far in 2026 is that of Erick Saracho, director of Alianza Jaguar, who survived gunshot wounds. He pointed out that despite belonging to the Protection Mechanism, ‘I had to press the button several times and call on other occasions because after 25 minutes of the attack the ambulance did not arrive.’ Now, he and his family had to changhotheir residence and leave the country as a protective measure.”

PBI-Canada supports call to strengthen Protection Mechanism

On March 27, 2026, PBI-Canada alongside the Americas Policy Group (APG) met on this issue with representatives from the Mexico and Trilateral Affairs Division of Global Affairs Canada, as well as the Human Rights and Freedoms Division, and the Embassy of Canada in Mexico.

Photo: PBI-Canada highlights the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism in Mexico at APG-organized call with Global Affairs Canada.

The upcoming Canada-Mexico Dialogue in May 2026

We look forward to continuing to provide input for the upcoming Canada-Mexico Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Affairs expected to take place in late-May in Ottawa. The thematic issues to be discussed include freedom of expression, media freedom and rights in the digital space, the theme under which the Protection Mechanism is expected to be discussed by the two countries.

We are now planning a second webinar with PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC in advance of the Canada-Mexico Dialogue on Human Rights and Multilateral Affairs.

Additional reading: Espacio OSC and Consorcio Oaxaca launch “Proteger La Dignidad” campaign in Oaxaca with call to strengthen Protection Mechanism (PBI-Canada article, April 13, 2026).

Cerezo Committee participates in the ‘Ricardo Flores Magón’ Labour Human Rights Schools in Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
-

Francisco Cerezo of the Cerezo Committee in Mexico has posted on social media:

“We share with you the photos of the Labor Human Rights Schools ‘Ricardo Flores Magón’, which are held in CDMX [Mexico City] and Toluca. Where we continue with the objective of the people to know more about their labor human rights, know how to exercise and defend them in an organized manner.

This joint effort by the OLEP [Organization for the Struggle for Popular Emancipation] and the Cerezo Mexico Committee is carried out completely free of charge and with the solidarity of the people.

Decent work, fair pay and social security!”

Ricardo Flores Magón

Britannica explains: “Ricardo Flores Magón (born September 16, 1873, San Antonio Eloxochitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico—died November 21, 1922, Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.) was a Mexican reformer and anarchist who was an intellectual precursor of the Mexican Revolution. Flores Magón was born to an indigenous father and a mestiza mother. …In 1918 he was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 and mailing indecent material—namely, various articles from Regeneración. Flores Magón was imprisoned for almost 8 of his 18 years in exile. In 1922 he was found dead in his cell at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. Officially, he had died of a heart attack, though it was speculated that he had been murdered by prison guards or died of medical neglect. After supporters transported his body to Los Angeles, Mexican railway workers paid to send Flores Magón’s body to Mexico City, where thousands of people carrying anarchist red-and-black flags attended his funeral.”

Photo: Ricardo Flores Magón.

PBI-Canada meets Cerezo Committee

On February 26, 2026, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Francisco Cerezo Contreras of the Cerezo Committee along with PBI-Mexico advocacy coordinator Manuel Jabonero Prieto.

As noted on the Comite Cerezo website: “We are a solidarity collective of volunteer work, dedicated to the defense of the Human Rights of victims of repression for political reasons in Mexico.” Their Facebook page also notes: “We are an independent organization that defends and promotes human rights in Mexico since August 13, 2001.”

The Comité Cerezo was founded after the arrest of three Cerezo brothers, Alejandro, Héctor and Antonio. They were sent to a maximum-security federal prison, suffering physical and psychological torture. Francisco, family members and allies formed the Comité Cerezo to fight for their liberation.

This PBI project information bulletin that interviewed Francisco in March 2005 notes: “PBI has been accompanying Emiliana and Francisco Cerezo Contreras, members of the Cerezo Committee, since February 2002.”

You can find out more about the work of the Cerezo Committee from their website and on Facebook and X.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH and French, German and Colombian embassy visit to Choluteca River

By
Brent Patterson
-

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

“ARCAH receives the embassies of France, Germany and Colombia, on a walk to contemplate the degradation situation of the Choluteca River: the river that resists death.

On the tour, accompanied by PBI Honduras, the ambassadors and representatives of the embassies were able to observe first-hand the pollution, smells and water density, which the communities attribute to the toxic waste of the El Cortijo poultry farm.

Maria️ ‘Skin infections, allergies and respiratory problems’ are just some of the symptoms activist Maria Banegas mentioned during the visit. ‘We want our children to know what it’s like to play in a clean river again.’”

On March 3, PBI-Honduras and PBI-Canada visited with the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) in the village Loarque, a community has been affected by the pollution caused by the poultry company El Cortijo, including the contamination of the Choluteca River.

Choluteca River

In January 2023, PBI-Honduras posted on social media: “Last week we visited again with ARCAH the community of Loarque. The Choluteca River and the people living around it in Tegucigalpa are heavily affected by the pollution, including the children who study in a school located nearby, as well as livestock. Since 2017, the year in which the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’ installed a chicken processor, people residing in the area are struggling to safeguard their health due to toxic waste and bad smells.”

In April 2024, the HCH TV channel reported: “Residents of the Loarque sector came out to defend the Choluteca River because they claim that a company in the sector is destroying it. …The residents denounce that this company is causing them discomfort in their nose and skin as a result of the contamination. They hope that authorities will regulate this company that operates in this sector.”

At that time El Heraldo also noted: “The demonstrators claim that the Choluteca River, which passes through the sector, is being affected by waste, so they demand the intervention of environmental authorities.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) since September 2022.

What is the situation for human rights defenders in the countries that come to buy weapons and technology at CANSEC in Ottawa?

By
Brent Patterson
-

The organizer of CANSEC, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), notes that their event attracts “60+ International delegations” and “300 Exhibiting Companies”.

Amnesty International has cautioned: “[In 2024-2025] Canada continued to export arms and military equipment to countries despite lack of accountability for past violations and substantial risks that they could be used in serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

Unlike the British government, the Canadian government does not make public the list of countries that come to CANSEC to shop for weapons and technology.

It is known however from past reports (from CADSI in 2015 and the Canadian Commercial Corporation in 2014) and various social media posts that delegations from Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, United States, and the United Arab Emirates have all attended CANSEC in previous years.

Some of the countries at CANSEC 2026

This year, CADSI has posted in their “CANSEC 2026 Media Partner Prospectus” the flags of 32 of the 60+ countries that will be present.

They include (first row) Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary (second row) Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand (third row) Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain (fourth row) Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.

Human rights

To cross-reference these countries – particularly Argentina, Israel, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United States – with state violence against human right defenders and communities, go to The State of the World’s Human Rights report (Amnesty International, April 2025).

Just three examples from that Amnesty International report:

The USA- “The USA has continued to be by far the largest exporter of arms to Israel, and some European states, including the Czech Republic, France and Germany, have continued to transfer arms to states where there was a lack of accountability for past abuses and a substantial risk they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”

Peru- “Criminal investigations were ongoing into 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries during protests between December 2022 and February 2023. In July, the Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against high-ranking military and police officers and the Attorney General presented a second constitutional complaint against President Dina Boluarte and five of her former ministers. Investigations into killings during protests in November 2020 had not made significant progress.”

Philippines- “’Red-tagging’ the public vilification of human rights defenders and other targeted groups and individuals as alleged members and clandestine recruiters of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) continued. …Activists increasingly became victims of enforced disappearances. In April, labour organizer William Lariosa was reportedly abducted in Bukidnon province; the military denied holding him in custody. He remained missing at year’s end.”

Furthermore, in their World Report 2025, Human Rights Watch noted: “Soldiers [in Mexico] have been implicated in a wide range of serious abuses against civilians, including torture, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. These accusations are rarely effectively investigated by civilian authorities. …The military has obstructed the investigation and prosecution of past human rights abuses, including the 2014 Ayotzinapa mass kidnapping case and widespread military abuses committed during the Cold War. Investigators said the military has hidden, destroyed, or denied the existence of records of human rights violations and pressured authorities to drop criminal charges against soldiers implicated in abuses.”

Shut Down CANSEC

A wide range of social movements, peace groups, faith communities, non-governmental organizations, and individuals will be mobilizing to protest the CANSEC arms show on Wednesday May 27 and Thursday May 28.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is highlighting the dangers faced by human rights defenders from the arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show as part of our commitment to holistic protection accompaniment.

Additional reading

–PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026)

–PBI-Canada joins Canadian Friends Service Committee webinar that links Quaker responses to the DSEI arms fair with CANSEC in Ottawa (April 17, 2026).

PBI-Canada joins Canadian Friends Service Committee webinar that links Quaker responses to the DSEI arms fair with CANSEC in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 16, Peace Brigades International-Canada joined with Quakers Roots and the Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) for an educational webinar on the DSEI arms show in London and the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa.

The webinar highlighted that many residents in both London, United Kingdom and Ottawa, Canada are unaware that massive arms and technology trade shows take place in their cities featuring the world’s biggest and most profitable weapons companies implicated in widespread human rights violations.

The video of this webinar will be available soon.

The CFSC promotion for the webinar highlighted that Pete Doubtfire from Quaker Roots in Britain would “discuss successes and lessons learned during their activism against DSEI – Britain’s biggest arms fair” and that “Mel Burns from CFSC will discuss our plans for Friendly actions during CANSEC”.

Photo of DSEI protest shared by Doubtfire at the webinar.

Quaker Roots in Britain

Quaker Roots is “a community of Friends building a creative, vibrant and radical Quaker response to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair” that takes place biannually in London, UK.

Quakers in Britain have called for an immediate end to the arms trade and for the UK to stop enabling war profiteers.

In their article about the most recent DSEI that ran from Tuesday September 9 to Friday September 12, 2025 at the ExCel Centre in London’s Docklands, Quakers in Britain noted: “On the eve of the arms fair, Quakers joined the Merchants of Death Walk of Witness past the headquarters of two major arms manufacturers, both linked to weapons used in the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, L3 Harris and Northrop Grumman. And on Wednesday Quakers visited the headquarters of Clarion Events who organise the arms fair, delivering a demand that they drop the DSEI event.”

Silent Vigil/Meeting for Worship at CANSEC, May 27

The webinar was hosted by Sandra Wiens, the CFSC’s Government Relations Representative.

She recently wrote in Quaker Concern (Spring 2026 issue): “CFSC is planning to be present at CANSEC this year, May 27-28 in Ottawa. CANSEC is the largest weapons fair in North America. We believe this is a moment where being present matters. We’re planning a silent vigil/Meeting for Worship on the afternoon of the first day of CANSEC to be a physical presence of unity and nonviolence—showing that strength comes through peace. We invite you to join us that day and show your opposition to the burgeoning war industry—directly and in a Friendly way.”

Wiens adds: “If you are unable to travel to Ottawa, we are also looking at holding an online Meeting in tandem with the actions on the ground.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International-Canada is amplifying the clear pattern of human rights violations against human rights defenders that can be linked to the weapons exports promoted at these trade shows. Our analysis can be read at PBI-Canada highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders from arms exports promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa (April 15, 2026).

More information about plans for May 27 will be posted soon. Updates about the mass protest planned for May 28 can be found here.

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PBI-Canada has a long history of accompanying opposition to arms shows in Ottawa.

Minutes from a January 24, 1993 PBI-Canada Board of Directors meeting state: “Alan Dixon reported that a weapons trade show under the title ‘Peacekeeping ‘93’ is being planned for March 16-17th in Ottawa. Dis-ARMX will be held March 16, 5-9 pm. Alan proposed PBI have a booth. He’ll do the groundwork. Toronto Office will supply materials for display, pamphlets, T-shirts to sell, etc.”

Additionally, Quaker activist Murray Thomson, who helped to found Peace Brigades International as a global human rights organization in 1981, was a regular presence at protests against CANSEC over the years, including the one below in May 2018. He passed away in May 2019 at 96 years of age, just a few weeks after participating in a ‘Say No to NATO’ protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa.

Photo: PBI-Canada was also present at the Stop CANSEC protest in May 2019 led by then-Ottawa Monthly Meeting member Colin Stuart.

Photo: Shut Down CANSEC protest, May 2025.

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