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PBI-Canada helps deliver letter to Prime Minister on Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff

On March 1, PBI-Canada helped deliver this letter to the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa expressing concern about Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Canada has approved the export of $14 billion in light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia.

Some of the LAVs are reportedly standard troop carriers, while some are assault vehicles equipped with 105-millimetre cannons, and others are anti-tank vehicles armed with 30-millimetre guns.

The letter was signed by 68 organizations including the Canadian Friends Service Committee, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, and World Beyond War.

It notes that US President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that the US would be freezing all American arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Germany and Italy also recently banned or halted arms exports to Saudi Arabia. The European Parliament also urged member countries to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

The letter also urged the Prime Minister to work with trade unions representing workers in the arms industry to develop a plan that secures the livelihoods of those who would be impacted by the suspension of arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

On March 23, 2020, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.”

In September 2020, this UN expert report stated that weapons provided by Canada and other countries are fuelling the war that has killed 112,000 people. Canada was named in that report because of the notable increase in its arms sales to Saudi Arabia (from $500 million in 2017 to $1.282 billion in 2018 to $2.864 billion in 2019).

#MakingSpaceforPeace

PBI-Canada webinar on the struggle against Fortuna Silver in Oaxaca, the call for the cancellation of mining concessions

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Avispa.

To register for our webinar on Thursday March 11 at 3:30 pm EST featuring Neftali Reyes of Educa Oaxaca and Isela Gonzalez of ASMAC, please click here.

Independent journalist Samantha Demby has reported on opposition to the Cuzcatlán Mining Company, the wholly owned subsidiary of Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines operating in the Zapotec town of San Jose del Progreso, Oaxaca, Mexico:

“Fortuna says it contributes to the economy of the impoverished region. But native Zapotec residents accuse the multinational of inciting violence that has killed five activists. They say, a spill at Fortuna’s San José mining project [in 2018] unleashed toxic waste into the Coyote River, leaving one town without drinking water.

In 2017 alone, Fortuna’s Mexican subsidiary, Compañía Minera Cuzcatlán, reported a net income of $66.3 million. Meanwhile, in San José, the majority of residents lack basic services such as potable water and access to medical care. 88 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, with nearly half living in extreme poverty.

The conflict began in 2006, when representatives of Fortuna started signing usufruct agreements with individual landowners. The company also got permission to explore for minerals through closed-door negotiations with municipal authorities.

Community members, however, were never informed of the company’s intention to exploit their subsoil, as is required by the International Labor Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169.

In March 2009, a group of residents protested this violation of their rights by setting up an encampment at the entrance to the mine. In May, 1,000 state and federal police—acting at the request of the mining company and its local political allies—evicted protesters using helicopters, tear gas, and dogs.

Residents have also denounced violence at the hands of armed groups that are linked to municipal authorities and defend the interests of the mining company. In 2012, pro-mining groups attacked opponents several times using military-grade firearms. By the end of the year, two prominent activists had been killed and eight people had been injured.“

To read the full article by Samantha Demby published by NACLA, please click on Mining Culture Wars Escalate in Oaxaca.

To register for our webinar on Thursday March 11 at 3:30 pm EST featuring Neftali Reyes of Educa Oaxaca who will provide the latest update on this continuing struggle, click here.

Photo: PBI-Mexico accompanied Educa Oaxaca at a ‘Guelaguetza against mining’ in June 2019. The gathering demanded the cancellation of the 322 mining concessions in Oaxaca, including the concession held by Fortuna Silver/Minera Cuzcatlán.

130+ water protectors facing charges for opposing Canadian tar sands pipeline being built on Indigenous territories in Minnesota

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Giniw Collective.

On February 26, Ojibwe land defender Tara Houska tweeted: “There are 130+ Water Protectors facing charges for protecting the land from Line 3 tar sands…”

Commenting on the arrest of land defenders earlier this year, Houska noted: “We saw Minnesota’s police officers protecting a Canadian tar sands pipeline.”

If completed, the Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. owned Line 3 pipeline would move 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta to Wisconsin.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved the construction of the Line 3 pipeline in Canada in November 2016. Enbridge has reported that the Canadian portion of the pipeline is complete and began commercial service in December 2019.

The Rainforest Action Network has documented that the top five financiers of Enbridge are Canadian banks: TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, RBC and CIBC. Collectively they have provided billions of dollars in financing to Enbridge.

RAN has further noted: “The [542 kilometre] Minnesota stretch of the pipeline is all that remains to be built. In November 2020, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved the final permits for the pipeline.”

Work on the pipeline began in Minnesota on December 1 and is expected to take 6 to 9 months to complete. It was recently reported that Enbridge anticipates it will finish the construction of the pipeline by the end of September.

Truthout has explained: “Most of the Minnesota segment of the pipeline is routed through 1855 and 1863 treaty lands. The city of Palisade and Aitkin County are located within Ojibwe treaty territories belonging to the Leech Lake, Fond du Lac, White Earth and Red Lake bands. According to the 1855 and 1863 treaties, Ojibwe have hunting, gathering and fishing rights on the lands.”

The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, which represents the 11 Native nations within Minnesota, has asked Governor Tim Walz to issue an executive order putting a stay on the construction of the pipeline as lawsuits are heard in court.

For more, you can follow Tara Houska and the Giniw Collective on Twitter.

PBI-Colombia accompanied CREDHOS calls for the dismantling of the ESMAD riot police

By
Brent Patterson
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The Colombian human rights organization Temblores has documented that Colombian public forces have committed 639 homicides between 2017 and 2019.

On February 26, Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) tweeted: “Day against #BrutalidadPolicial [police brutality] in #Barrancabermeja we demand the dismantling of #ESMAD.”

This follows 24-year-old filmmaker Gareth Steven Sella losing 90 per cent of the vision in his left eye after being shot by the police at a protest in Bogotá against police brutality, impunity and state terrorism on February 24.

In Colombia, the National Police are part of the Defence Ministry.

In December 2019, the Colombian NGO Temblores reported that the ESMAD had killed 34 people since its inception in 1999.

This includes 21-year-old Jhonny Silva-Aranguren and 14-year-old Nicolas Neira who were both killed by the ESMAD in 2005.

18-year-old Dilan Cruz was killed by the ESMAD in November 2019.

Most of those killed by the ESMAD have been activists within Indigenous, student, or peasant movements and none have resulted in a conviction.

Temblores has also documented that Colombian public forces have committed 639 homicides between 2017 and 2019. That includes killings by the Armed Forces, the Police, and the intelligence services.

In October 2020, PBI-Canada co-organized a webinar with other PBI entities titled: Police violence has no borders. It included speakers from Colombia, Canada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Kenya speaking on the issue of police violence.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

PBI-Mexico expresses concern about the criminalization of ten water defenders opposed to the Morelos Integral Project

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico accompanied the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water at a march against the PIM on November 28, 2020.

On February 26, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted on its Facebook page: “We express concern about criminalizing human rights defender in the context of extraction of natural resources and mega projects.”

La Jornada reports: “The president of the Association of Users of the Cuautla River (ASURCO), Rogelio Plascencia Barreto denounced to the Attorney General’s Office (FGE) alleged ‘threats’ by 10 opponents of the Morelos Integral Project (PIM).”

The article adds: “The complaint filed by the president of ASURCO against the 10 water defenders in Morelos was interpreted by [lawyer Juan Carlos Flores] as ‘a practice of criminalization’ against opponents of the operation of the thermoelectric plant that is in [the town of] Huexca [in the state of Morelos].”

Those named are: Jorge Zapata González, Mara Aragón Franco, Teresa Castellano Ruíz, Juan Carlos Flores Solís, Hugo Lázaro Pérez, Antonia Nava Martínez, Aida Galicia Aguilar, Vicente Domínguez Campos, Sergio Ortíz Fernández, and Mario Servín Ortíz.

This comes just days after the People’s Front in Defence of the Land and Water of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala (FPDTA-MPT) commemorated the second anniversary of the killing of Indigenous Náhuatl land and water defender Samir Flores Soberanes.

The 30-year-old opponent of the PIM was shot to death on February 20, 2019.

The PIM megaproject consists of a 171-kilometre gas pipeline across the states of Tlaxcala, Puebla and Morelos; a gas-fuelled thermoelectric plant in the town of Huexca, Morelos; and a 12-kilometre aqueduct to divert water from the Cuautla River near Huexca to cool the turbines at the thermoelectric plant.

The megaproject being built by Italian and Spanish companies (including Seville, Spain-based Abengoa) could be operational by the end of this year.

Some have asked that the thermoelectric plant be converted into a solar panel factory.

The FPDTA-MPT has stated: “Lopez Obrador [supporting the PIM] betrays the peasant and the promise of change of his government, to favour transnational corporations [including] Canadian miners like Alamos Gold, among others.”

Last year, Toronto-based Alamos Gold reactivated work on their Esperanza open-pit gold mine near the community of Tetlama (about 60 kilometres due west of Huexca). Mines can be energy-intensive and could use electricity generated by the plant.

PBI-Mexico began to accompany the FPDTA-MPT in early 2020.

#SamirFloresVive

Site C dam on Treaty 8 territory is a “clear human rights violation”: Kukpi7 Judy Wilson

By
Brent Patterson
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The provincial government of British Columbia has decided to continue with the construction of the Site C dam on the Peace River on Treaty 8 territory.

CTV reports: “Site C was initially estimated to cost $6 billion, and the first approved budget, back in 2014, was $8.775 billion. The budget increased to $10.8 billion in 2018. But the latest update suggests it will cost about $16 billion in total.”

Premier John Horgan said that it would cost $10 billion to scrap the construction of the dam but today added $5.2 billion to its budget.

The news report adds: “In a statement released following the announcement that the project would go ahead, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs suggested the decision violated the premier’s commitment to a UN declaration.”

UBCIC secretary treasurer Kukpi7 Judy Wilson says: “The Site C dam has never had the free, prior and informed consent of all impacted First Nations, and proceeding with the project is a clear infringement of the treaty rights of the West Moberly First Nation.”

Wilson also highlighted that this is a “clear human rights violation” and that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called for the suspension of the project until it has the consent of Indigenous peoples.

Land defenders now in court

In December 2015, Treaty 8 land defenders and allies set up a camp at Rocky Mountain Fort on the south bank of the Peace River to protest against the dam. But by February 2016, the Supreme Court of British Columbia had granted an injunction to BC Hydro ordering the land defenders to be removed from the area.

At that time, land defender Helen Knott of the Prophet River First Nation stated: “We do not wish to be arrested. We wish to see Canada respect the rights of indigenous people in accordance with its international obligations.  We remain strong, united and firm in our opposition to this unnecessary project. We will do everything in our power to ensure Canada lives up to its commitments to indigenous peoples.”

The legal proceedings against the dam began in January 2018.

The Vancouver Sun has reported: “West Moberly [First Nations] will be in court next year, claiming infringement of its treaty rights and damage to its traditional territories from construction of Site C and other BC Hydro dams on the Peace River.”

“The case is set down for 120 days of court time, starting March 14, 2022.”

West Moberly chief Roland Willson said the government’s decision was “disappointing” though “not surprising.” He added “It’s an unlawful project … They’re violating treaty rights” and expressed optimism the dam could be stopped in court.

The reservoir is scheduled to be filled in 2023, though that could be delayed. The completion date for the dam has now been pushed to 2025.

You can find the UBCIC on Twitter, by clicking here.

 

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the National Day of Dignity for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 26, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page: “#PBI accompanies survivors and families of victims on the National Day of Dignity of Victims of Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala.”

Sandra Cuffe reports in Al Jazeera: “Indigenous survivors and relatives of victims marched on Thursday [February 25] in Guatemala City to commemorate the National Day of Dignity for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict, demanding the government uphold its commitments to peace and justice.”

“A civil war between socialist guerrilla forces and the Guatemalan military from 1960 to 1996 left an estimated 200,000 people dead and another 45,000 people disappeared. More than 80 percent of victims were Indigenous Maya civilians.”

“Military forces were responsible for 93 percent of killings, according to a United Nations-backed truth commission.”

“The Commission for Historical Clarification determined state actors committed acts of genocide, and Guatemalan courts have since come to the same conclusion.”

Cuffe adds: “The commission presented its report on February 25, 1999, and the date was later recognised as the annual day of dignity for victims.”

Indigenous Maya K’iche human rights defender Rigoberta Menchu told Cuffe: “This day carries so much meaning. It honours our dead. For many, many years we have struggled for the recognition of victims.”

PBI-Guatemala accompanied Menchu in the late 1980s. Green Left Weekly notes: “Menchu credits PBI with her survival in Guatemala, because of their work in escorting her around under threat of the regime’s death squads.”

PBI-Canada extends its solidarity to the survivors and the families of the victims of the internal armed conflict and genocide in Guatemala. 

Photo: Rigoberta Menchu accompanied by PBI volunteer Liam Mahony (in white shirt) in Guatemala in 1988. Photo by Marlyse Gehret.

PBI-Canada shares report that estimates that the cost of Canada’s fighter jet purchase could total $76.8 billion

By
Brent Patterson
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The No Fighter Jets coalition has released a report that estimates the actual cost of Canada purchasing 88 new fighter jets could total $76.8 billion. That report is at: From Acquisition to Disposal: Uncovering the true cost of 88 new fighter jets.

QMI Agency reports: “While the Trudeau government said the costs would not exceed $19 billion, the coalition questioned that amount based on official department of national defence reports and an investigation by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The key operating costs of jet fuel, training and maintenance would not have been included in the government’s public estimate, the No Fighter Jets Coalition said.”

The National Post also reports: “[The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada] is urging the federal government to prioritize its $19-billion plans to buy a new fleet of stealth fighter jets, saying the massive procurement contract would provide crucial economic stimulus following a year of COVID-19 lockdowns.”

That article adds: “Aerospace companies vying to build Canada’s next generation fighter jets have emphasized in recent months the economic benefits associated with their proposals, touting job creation and GDP bumps.”

And it highlights:

– “Boeing, which makes the Super Hornet fighter jet, said in August that its proposal would inject $16.9 billion into the Canadian economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

– “Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the F-35A, that it would generate $61 billion for the Canadian economy over the 40-year life of the program.”

– “Saab, which makes the Gripen E jet, has laid out plans to build a new research and development facility in Montreal focused on artificial intelligence and other areas, as well as a sensor facility in British Columbia.”

And yet dollar for dollar, spending on the military generates less for the economy than other expenditures of public funds.

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, has written: “$1 billion in military spending creates approximately 11,200 jobs — but the same amount of money would create 26,700 jobs if invested in education, about two-and-a-half times as many. Or 16,800 jobs in clean energy, or 17,200 in health care.”

Similarly, research by the Costs of War Project based at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs found that while $1 million spent on “defence” creates 6.9 direct and indirect jobs, the same amount invested in solar power creates 9.5 jobs, in health care 14.3 jobs, and in elementary and secondary education 19.2 jobs.

The Parliamentary Budget Office does not plan to cost the new fighter jet until the Canadian government chooses among the three contenders: the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet; the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II; and the Saab Gripen.

The timeline on that is not specific. It would appear that the government could shortlist two fighter jets this spring, finalize the choice of one fighter jet late this year, and sign a contract with one of the three transnationals early in 2022.

We hope that these contrasting views prompt fuller debate in the House of Commons and in-depth studies by the appropriate parliamentary committees.

PBI-Honduras awaits the hearing on evidence against the alleged intellectual co-author of the murder of Berta Caceres

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 24, PBI-Honduras posted: “We are awaiting the resolution of the hearing to propose evidence against #DavidCastillo, the alleged intellectual co-author of the murder of #BertaCáceres and we recall the need for this resolution to adhere to international standards.”

Castillo is a US trained ex-intelligence officer and former executive at DESA, the company behind the building of the Agua Zarca dam that Caceres opposed.

COPINH had posted: “This Thursday February 25th Court will release its resolution on evidence used in the trial against David Castillo coauthor of crime #BertaCáceres. We keep demanding #JusticeForBerta.”

This evening (February 25), COPINH updates: “Reschedule hearing that the evidence to be used in the trial against David Castillo, co-author of crime of #BertaCáceres for March 1 at 2:00 pm. The evidence against him is forceful and cannot be dismissed for justice. The Court proposed that it be continued tomorrow Friday, the Public Ministry and private accusations agreed, but the defense insisted that it be done next week.”

Bertha Zúñiga, Berta’s daughter and the general coordinator of COPINH, has commented: “We hope that the court will admit the evidence proposed by the legal representation of the victims, which together with those of the MP [Public Ministry] add up to 88 means of evidence.”

She adds: “It is not only about seeing the events of March 2, 2016, when my mother was murdered, but to contextualize them in the situation of systematic attacks, persecution and harassment experienced by her.”

Along with determining what evidence can be admitted, this hearing is expected to set the date for the beginning of the trial for Castillo.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project began accompanying the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) in May 2016, three months after the murder of COPINH co-founder Berta Cáceres.

#5AñosJuntoABerta

Video: On March 8, 2016, people gathered in front of the Embassy of Honduras in Canada to demand justice days after the murder of Cáceres.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Inter-Church Commission on Justice and Peace at meeting between Swedish ambassador and Jani Silva

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 25, Helena Storm, the Swedish ambassador to Colombia, tweeted: “I met with Jani Silva, defender of human rights and the environment of the Putumayo communities. We admire Jani who despite so many challenges works hard for her people. From Sweden we continue to support their work.”

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project was present at the meeting.

Afterwards, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Thanks to Ambassador Helena Storm from @SwedeninCOL for meeting with leader Jani Silva today and @Justiciaypazcol to talk about the threats that Jani and other members of the ADISPA org receive for defending the territory and the environment in #Putumayo.”

Silva is the president of the Association for the Integral Sustainable Development of the Perla Amazónica (ADISPA), the association that manages the Perla Amazónica Peasant Reserve Zone (ZRCPA).

She is accompanied by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, which in turn has been accompanied by PBI-Colombia since 1994.

The ZRCPA is located near Puerto Asis in the department of Putumayo, which is situated in south-west Colombia near the border with Ecuador.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International issued this Urgent Action that highlights: “On 10 February, a civil society organization received a verified report of an ongoing plan to kill or displace Association for the Integral and Sustainable Development of the Amazonian Pearl (ADISPA) members, an organization protecting the rights of hundreds of peasants (campesinos) in the Putumayo region (South West).”

“The plan would entail the deployment of the armed group called ‘Border Command’ that are threatening the communities in the area to undermine their activities to the armed group’s will or leave their territories if they refuse.”

Amnesty International then highlights: “We demand authorities provide ADISPA with collective protection measures in consultation with them.”

For additional context on the concerns being expressed, please see our article: PBI-Colombia accompanied Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission warns of new threat against Perla Amazónica Peasant Reserve Zone.

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