Matthew Green, MP: “Labelling Indigenous land defenders as terrorists is immoral, risks escalation of violence against Indigenous people and must be called out for what it is.”

The experience of criminalization is a significant and often deadly reality in human rights and Indigenous land defence struggles around the world.

The United Nations has explained: “Despite their role as protectors of biodiversity and nature, indigenous human rights defenders are often presented as obstacles to progress, anti-development or even as enemies of the State or terrorists.”

The UN also recently noted that two human rights defenders were killed in the Philippines last month after they had been labelled terrorists.

This report by Land Rights Now further notes: “The stigmatisation of communities as obstacles to development is often rooted in racist prejudice against Indigenous Peoples, labeling communities with close connections to their territories and nature as ‘backward’, ‘uncivilised’, ‘terrorists’ or ‘enemies of the state’.”

It adds: “Stigmatisation and criminalisation perpetuate stereotypes and have very negative consequences for individuals, communities and civic space more broadly.”

Now, on September 25th, the CBC reports: “A southern Ontario police services board is calling on the Ontario Provincial Police to arrest an NDP MP and take action against what it calls ‘acts of terrorism’ committed by members of Six Nations who halted a housing development in Caledonia, Ont.”

These Six Nations land defenders began a peaceful re-occupation of their territory on July 19 to uphold their right to free, prior and informed consent and in opposition to the construction of the McKenzie Meadows housing development on unceded lands near the city of Caledonia in the province of Ontario in central Canada.

This statement from the Haldimand County Police Services Board asserts: “They have committed acts of aggression and intimidation which by Canadian Criminal Code definition are acts of Terrorism. These aboriginals are not protestors, they are now by legal definition Terrorists.”

The land defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane have replied: “The board is violently racist, viewing Indigenous lives as barriers to corporate profit. Their statements amount to calls for police to target our community and Skyler Williams in particular which is a threat that is intolerable to our community.”

Bernie Corbett, the Chair of the Board, also commented on a recent visit with the land defenders by Matthew Green, a federal Member of Parliament.

Corbett says: “In my estimation he trespassed, he should have been arrested because a judge’s order was issued. Those people should not be there, it’s private property. [Green] is not immune to that type of situation and it concerns me he went out there… He bad-mouthed the community, the OPP and the federal government. That exacerbated the problem.”

In response, Green has commented: “Not only are the comments racism, they are targeted and they are meant to incite violence against Indigenous people… If there was a line to be crossed, it would be the line of human rights and the code of conduct related to both elected officials of the municipality and the police services board.”

This past July, the UK-based human rights organization Global Witness reported on the killings of land and environmental defenders around the world.

They highlighted: “Indigenous peoples are at a disproportionate risk of reprisals. Last year, 40% of murdered defenders belonged to indigenous communities. Between 2015 and 2019 over a third of all fatal attacks have targeted indigenous people – even though indigenous communities make up only 5% of the world’s population.”

Given the reality of this global context, Peace Brigades International-Canada expresses serious concerns about the use of language by the Haldimand Police Services Board and the further risks it poses to Six Nations land defenders.

The land defenders have set up this GoFundMe account to help with their legal costs associated with the criminalization they are experiencing.

On September 23, Peace Brigades International co-sponsored a statement with six other NGOs (Franciscans International, OMCT, Protection International, ICJ, Dominicans for Justice and Peace, Action de Carême) that was presented by Maria Josefina Caal Xol, the sister of Bernardo Caal, during a United Nations panel discussion in Geneva, Switzerland that focused on the situation of Indigenous defenders.

Bernardo is a leader of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón, a collective of 38 Maya Q’eqchi communities. The resistance was formed to oppose the construction of the Oxec and Renace hydroelectric dams on the Cahabón River and its tributaries.

In retribution for his activism, Bernardo was sentenced in November 2018 to 7 years and 4 months in jail.

Maria Josefina told the UN session:

“Many Indigenous defenders who try to oppose megaprojects are persecuted and criminalized when they demand the protection and defense of their territories, their rivers, their life, their environment and its peoples.

Attacks and crimes committed against human rights defenders are have increased dramatically reaching almost 677 incidents in the first six months of 2020, including 14 murders.

We call on Guatemala to respect and protect Indigenous defenders and to guarantee the investigation and clarification of attacks and crimes against human rights defenders.”

Additionally, on September 24, Peace Brigades International-Switzerland Advocacy Coordinator Kim-Mai Vu presented a statement on the land rights of Indigenous peoples in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Indonesia and Colombia during the dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Kim-Mai highlighted these concerns:

“In Guatemala, the Alta Verapaz Farmers Association has called on the State and the Army to declare States of Site to be able to carry out more evictions of Indigenous communities. This occurs in the context of a strong increased criminalization and murder of Indigenous defenders who defend access to land and the territory.

In Honduras, the Indigenous territory, sometimes an environmental reserve, is the object of 56 mining concessions, 36 hydroelectric and other tourist exploitation. The escalation of conflict is extreme in Triunfo de la Cruz, Garifuna community that defends its ancestral right to the territory recognized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

In Mexico, work on the Mayan Train has begun despite the suspension of the evaluation of the Manifesto of Environmental Impact and the postponement of the Indigenous consultation process. We denounce the recent statements by the President stigmatizing Indigenous defenders opposed to the megaproject.

In Indonesia, we note with concern the progress of the Omnibus Law project, which will promote the deforestation and land grabbing, further displacing Indigenous peoples. We demand that you prioritize and scrutinize the draft law on Indigenous peoples.”

To see the video of Maria Josefina’s statement, please click here. To see Kim-Mai’s presentation, please click here (item #17 at the 34:46 mark).

Peace Brigades International-Switzerland regularly presents statements to the Human Rights Council in collaboration with PBI field projects and has had consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2014.

Facebook photo by Kijatèkwe Wawatè.

On September 23, Christopher Curtis with Ricochet reported: “Police are investigating at least two credible threats made against Anishnaabe land defenders at blockades on their territory over the weekend.”

CBC journalist Ka’nhehsí:io Deer has explained: “Members of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake have been turning away hunters [since September 13, the start of hunting season] at a growing number of checkpoints throughout Quebec’s La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve as the First Nation continues to enforce its own moratorium on moose hunting.”

Algonquins of Barriere Lake and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg councils have called for a complete and immediate moratorium on the sport hunting of moose in La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve over concerns about a decline in the moose population.

Ricochet notes: “A series of helicopter excursions over the reserve confirmed what traditional hunters have been saying for years: the moose are slowly dying out. In the 12 years since the last government study, the population in La Vérendrye dropped by 35 per cent to about 2,100 moose over 12,000 square kilometres.”

But rather than implementing a moratorium, the Quebec provincial government issued 175 moose hunting permits, down from 250 last year.

As of September 21, six Algonquin checkpoints had been set up at Highway 117 to try to block hunters from hunting moose in the park.

APTN has also reported: “People here [in the Outaouais] say since the road blocks went up there have been many acts of intimidation.”

In this Contrepoints transcript, Anishnabe land protector Shanon Chief explains her support for the moratorium and concerns about sport hunting: “When non-native hunters come to our territory, we often find decapitated moose abandoned. Maybe some of them use meat, but they don’t kill for their survival, as we’ve been doing for so long.”

She then highlights: “When we look at how animals eat in the territory, we have to think about deforestation, all the mining projects, and the pipeline projects that run through our territory. All of this is an integral part of our current struggle.”

And Charles Ratt of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake says: “This isn’t an Indigenous cause, it’s about colonialism. We’re saying our way of life is under threat, we’re saying the animals that kept us alive for generations and continue to keep us alive are under threat. Hunters are mad because they don’t get to practise a sport. Think about that.”

Additionally, University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran has stated: “I support the Algonquin blockade. Quebec unconstitutionally refused to consult with them on moose hunting. Quebec unconstitutionally refused to consult with them on moose hunting.”

Moose hunting season officially ends on October 12.

For more on this issue, there will be a webinar and media conference on September 28. The details on that can be found on this Facebook event page. A donations page has also been established for the land defenders, that can be found here.

Updates direct from the blockades can be found from @Pidabin and @Shadyhfz on Twitter. The hashtag #moosemoratorium is being used. And there is the Facebook group: Anishinabe Call for a Moose Hunting Moratorium in La Verendrye Park.

Peace Brigades International is planning a webinar on Friday October 30 at 10 am ET that will focus on the issue of police violence featuring defenders from Kenya, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia and Canada sharing their experiences and analysis.

To register for the webinar, please click here.

The webinar will raise issues of the disproportionate levels of police violence against Black, Indigenous and poor peoples, the role that the police play in facilitating the construction of extractive projects that lack Indigenous free, prior and informed consent, and the violence that comes with the militarization of their operations and the lack of credible oversight and accountability, among other concerns.

In brief, some of the information that will likely emerge includes:

Kenya: The Kenyan newspaper The Star has reported: “Missing Voices reports that 712 people have been killed by the police or reported missing since 2007 with only 26 having been charged with a crime for these cases which include enforced disappearances. These cases are more rampant in poorer neighbourhoods.”

Guatemala: The Institute for Policy Studies and Earthworks have noted: “Under the leadership of a retired Lieutenant Colonel that served during the genocidal dictatorship of Efraín Ríos Montt, the police drew up counter-insurgency-style security plans aimed at breaking up the opposition movement, known as the Peaceful Resistance La Puya. …On May 23, 2014, with an excess of tear gas and force, the police broke the blockade and ushered in the [mining] company’s heavy equipment to start operations.”

Nicaragua: In 2019, Human Rights Watch reported: “A crackdown by national police and armed pro-government groups in 2018 left 300 dead, over 2,000 injured, and hundreds arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted. …National Police subjected protesters to abuses that at times amounted to torture, including beatings, waterboarding, electric shocks, and rape. Many [said] that they were forced to record self-incriminating videos.”

Colombia: The public radio program The World recently reported: “Colombian police officers killed 639 people from 2017 to 2019, according to the study to be published next month by Temblores, a human rights NGO. Last week, 14 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the capital, Bogotá, and the neighboring municipality of Soacha, as protesters responded to a viral video showing two uniformed officers kneeling on an unarmed person and repeatedly shocking him as he begged them to stop. The man, Javier Ordoñez, a father of two, died while in police custody.”

Canada: In 2019, The Guardian reported: “Canadian police were prepared to shoot Indigenous land defenders blockading construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia, according to documents seen by the Guardian. …RCMP commanders also instructed officers to ‘use as much violence toward the gate as you want’ ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock which had been erected by Wet’suwet’en people.”

To register for the webinar, please click here.

Photo: The PBI team in 1986: Left to right: American woman, French diplomat & wife, French man, Barb MacQuarrie, Padre Alain, Alice Norton (Canada).

As Peace Brigades International approaches its 40th anniversary in 2021, we are sharing the reflections of past volunteers from Canada who accompanied at-risk defenders in various PBI project countries over the years.

Barb MacQuarrie in London, Ontario writes:

In 1985 I was working in the office of the Union des Pacifistes du Québec, a tiny room on the east side of Montreal where snow blew through the cracks in winter and fleas moved in each summer, when I opened an appeal from PBI for volunteers to accompany members of the Mutual Support Group (GAM) in Guatemala. Members of the group had been assassinated and Padre Alain, a Franciscan priest leading the work of PBI in Guatemala, was looking for volunteers to lend their privileged status as foreign nationals to help shield family members of the disappeared and politically assassinated from a similar fate. Friends rallied to organize a fundraiser and three days later I had a plane ticket to Guatemala City.  

PBI’s philosophy of not engaging in political organizing or undertaking activities that Guatemalans themselves could do made immediate sense to me. Likewise, the insistence of being nonpartisan in a deeply divided and very partisan environment appealed to me. Our goal was to protect lives and to let those struggling for justice find solutions. We were not to be crusaders, riding in to save the day. Activists and leaders from more privileged parts of the world standing down to allow Guatemalans take leadership roles felt like an appropriate balancing of power.

I welcomed the opportunity to put principles of nonviolence into action. In practice that meant spending hours in the workspaces, the travel spaces and sometimes in the intimate home spaces of Guatemalan activists seeking justice and peace.

Just before the 1986 election that would bring a democratically elected president to power, the PBI team was expelled. Our small team of three, led by Padre Alain, retreated to Costa Rica to wait out the election and to return to the country when Vincio Cerezo was installed in office. In Costa Rica we worked to define the work of PBI and came up with the concept of “Making Space for Peace.” It encapsulated perfectly what volunteers from around the world came to Guatemala to do and I’m really gratified to see that it is what PBI continues to do around the world.

During my six months in the country, I learned about Guatemalan history and culture and I met many people who made a profound impression on me. One man, whose daughter had been ‘disappeared’ summed it up just before I left Guatemala, “You have left a piece of your heart with us and we have left a piece of our hearts with you.” 

I returned to PBI in 1987 as the sole woman on a three-person team to explore the possibility of working in El Salvador. Before we could complete our work, one member of the team was captured (arrested) and had to leave the country. A second member became very ill and had to go home. An advisor based in Costa Rica called and asked what I was going to do. I replied that I was going to buy a stove for the PBI house. New recruits arrived and the mission continued.

A large network of groups not involved in the armed struggle, were working for justice. They included trade unions, churches, refugee organizations, human rights organizations and a group of family members of prisoners, the disappeared and the politically assassinated. As PBI volunteers, we accompanied all of them at various times. Unable to provide individual accompaniment except in the highest risk situations, we set up a presence in their offices.

As in Guatemala, we worked on tourist visas and our legal status was always precarious. Sometimes our explicit mission to provide a visible international presence conflicted with the need to avoid coming to the attention of the authorities in a way that would be threatening to them. Our strict adherence to the principles of nonviolence was our only bargaining chip. I was able to use that effectively when I was captured (arrested) and held in a Salvadoran prison without charges for 72 hours. Throughout the constant questioning, I maintained an insistence that PBI is a nonviolent organization and I am a pacifist. The military officials at the prison were able to verify that by reading a diary I had with me when I was captured. After my release they told the Canadian Consular General in El Salvador that I could stay in the country because I was nonviolent.

Left: Barb MacQuarrie cautiously looks out of bombed union headquarters in El Salvador. Top right: PBI volunteers provided accompaniment to demonstrators of the Permanent Committee on the National Debate for Peace. Bottom right: Barb MacQuarrie in the office of the CoMadres, a group representing family members of political prisoners, the disappeared and the politically assassinated.

Although the Guatemalan regime was brutal with its own citizens and particularly with the Indigenous population, they were generally more careful about foreign nationals than the Salvadoran authorities, who famously murdered four American Maryknoll sisters and five Spanish Jesuit Priests, their cook and her teenaged daughter. Fortunately, PBI volunteers avoided being killed, but several us of were jailed for short periods of time. And I was in the office of the National Federation of Salvadorian Workers when it was bombed in February of 1989. No lives were lost during that incident or in a subsequent bombing in September. In October of the same year, a more powerful bomb killed forty unionists and wounded nine others in the same building.

Top: Procession in 1988 to commemorate the 1983 massacre of Las Hojas, El Salvador. Bottom: Barb MacQuarrie with people from the community of Las Hojas.

In El Salvador I was particularly drawn to the struggles of a small population of Indigenous people in the Western part of the country. Despite horrific historical violence and repression, they maintained a connection to their Indigenous identity and were trying to strengthen and reclaim their cultural roots. In 1983 this violence was revisited upon them when 74 people were massacred at the Indigenous cooperative of Las Hojas. I spent many days at Las Hojas, providing accompaniment to the people who remained in the community. 

My time with PBI helped me to understand what it means to fight for justice and equality, not from the perspective of a relatively protected foreign national, but from people who put their lives on the line everyday and who often paid the ultimate price for demanding freedom, justice and equality. I have an enduring respect for the spirit and the tenacity of those who participated in the struggle for justice and who are still trying to lead their people out of grinding poverty and a legacy of violence from the civil wars.

Please consider making an online donation to PBI-Canada to help us with our continuing outreach efforts to find volunteers to accompany defenders. Accompaniment continues to be critically needed in helping to make space for peace.