Home Blog Page 419

Recalling PBI-Kenya’s meeting with the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association in March 2018

By
Brent Patterson
-

On March 11-17, 2018, the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association visited Kenya. One of its meetings was with the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project.

The delegation included now retired Senator Raynell Andreychuk (Conservative), Senator Jim Munson (Independent) and Members of Parliament Robert Oliphant (Conservative), Greg Fergus (Liberal), Jamie Schmale (Conservative), Pam Damoff (Liberal), Gord Johns (NDP), and Len Webber (Conservative).

They met with PBI-Kenya, Article 19 and Human Rights Watch.

The Report by the parliamentary association noted:

“The issues reported by these groups related to security, terrorism and violence, particularly during and after elections.”

“PBI Kenya works to increase the civic space for the work of human rights defenders, defending those who face challenges to their rights. For example, its workers may provide legal assistance and training, operating mainly in Nairobi’s urban residential areas.”

“After the 2013 and 2014 terrorist attacks, the counterterrorist response was violent. Families that were victims of reprisals were afraid to make complaints, because they had to do so at the police station where the officers about whom they wanted to complain worked.”

“In addition, security companies took liberties in the name of national security, even though the courts had ruled they were not entitled to do so.”

“Police allegedly employ excessive force in demonstrations, even if they are peaceful.”

The delegation concluded:

“Interlocutors talked about the excessive violence reportedly used by police officers in dealing with peaceful demonstrations. In addition, the press and journalists are sometimes pressured or even physically attacked. It is acknowledged that the country continues to contend with threats of terror and regional insecurity which makes the use of force necessary at times, but it is important to strike a balance between security and rights.”

“The Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association supports Kenya in its efforts to protect its citizens, but it encourages Kenya to improve its human rights practices, including with regard to women, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ2 community.”

PBI-Kenya

In Kenya Peace Brigades International supports a range of grassroot defenders across Nairobi’s urban settlements, raising their profile in the national and international contexts. In 2019, defenders took part in advocacy tours to Europe to discuss the challenges they face defending human rights in Kenya.

You can find out more about PBI-Kenya via their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Photo: Members of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association with Speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi, March 12, 2018.

PBI-Mexico interviews director of Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre about PBI accompaniment

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 7, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted, “In December 2003, PBI began to accompany the members of the Tlachinollan Centro de Derechos Humanos de La Montaña in their new office of Ayutla de los Libres.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “Abel Barrera Hernández, anthropologist and director of that organization, tells us about the arrival of PBI to Guerrero and those 17 years of work together.”

In that interview, Abel highlights, “It was a context of state violence that was becoming institutionalized. There was a need for the authorities to understand that they could not use their force like this.”

“The arrival of PBI puzzled state authorities: they did not understand the importance of an international human rights organization in terms of the security situation of human rights defenders. They considered it an intrusion into public life and an uncomfortable presence.”

“PBI has an important role for us in the fight for justice and truth, but also in feeling like a family.”

PBI-Mexico has previously noted, “PBI originally provided accompaniment through its Guerrero team, then from PBI’s Mexico City head office, and currently its situation is monitored by the Oaxaca team.”

For more, please also see these PBI-Canada articles:

Please also see this 90-second PBI video Remarkable Women: Sandra Alarcón, Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountains, Mexico.

Support the UN Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire

By
admin
-

Urgent Action: Support the UN Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

Add your name and email address to this petition that will automatically be sent to Prime Minister Trudeau…

On March 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called “for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.” He highlighted “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world.”

We urge all supporters of Peace Brigades International-Canada to ask the Prime Minister to endorse this call for peacebuilding.

Please take action today by sending this email (that you can personalize) to the Prime Minister!

 

[emailpetition id=”2″]

PBI-Kenya thanks Christopher Omoke for his work to stop the spread of COVID-19

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 5, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project posted about Christopher Omoke, a toolkit organizer from Langata settlement.

The toolkit was developed by PBI-Kenya primarily for women human rights defenders in Kenya and specifically for those in the urban settlements of Nairobi.

PBI-Kenya highlights, “Christopher has taken it upon him to sensitize members of his community on measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19. He demonstrates how to wash hands with soap and water in the correct way and gives one-on-one information on how to take hygiene measures.”

Access to water is a challenge in many parts of Nairobi, including Langata.

In February 2019, The Star reported, “The acute water shortage in Langata estate has been blamed on cartels. City Hall officials say the county government can only meet 30 per cent of the total water requirements of Lang’ata residents due to cartels who cut supply lines [to divert water].”

The Guardian has explained, “For a long time, the growing demand for water services in urban informal settlements has been met by ruthless cartels who make a killing from disrupting the existing water supply and selling water off at very high rates.”

“And as their access to the supply had been cut off, many slum residents have been forced to rely on these private vendors for their daily water needs.”

A recent article in the Daily Nation highlighted that the Social Justice Centres Working Group is demanding that “the government restore the water supply to all slums and crack down on the water cartels that extort Kenyans.”

PBI-Canada joins PBI-Kenya in saying, “Kudos Christopher for the good work.”

To read more about Christopher in his own words, please click here.

A look back at PBI-Canada’s endorsement of the War Resisters Support Campaign

By
Brent Patterson
-

This coming May 15th is International Conscientious Objector Day.

In Canada, the War Resisters Support Campaign was founded in 2004 to assist US military personnel who refused to participate in the Iraq war and came here seeking asylum.

Peace Brigades International-Canada endorsed this campaign that called on the Canadian government to demonstrate its commitment to international law and the treaties to which it is a signatory, by making provision for US war objectors to have sanctuary in this country.

The Iraq War began on March 20, 2003, when the United States joined by the United Kingdom and several coalition allies, launched a “shock and awe” bombing campaign.

Then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stated that Canada would only participate in the military intervention if it were sanctioned by the United Nations.

The BBC has reported, “By 31 August 2010, when the last US combat troops left, 4,421 [American soldiers] had been killed, of which 3,492 were killed in action. Almost 32,000 had been wounded in action. According to IBC there have been between 97,461 and 106,348 [Iraqi] civilian deaths up to July 2010.”

In July 2016, the Chilcot inquiry delivered its verdict on the decision by former prime minister Tony Blair to commit British troops to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The report stated, “We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort.”

In August 2016, The Guardian reported, “Unlike [the Vietnam War draft resisters] who poured into Canada in the 1960s and 70s, the estimated 200 Iraq war resisters who arrived decades later found little government support in their bid to stay in Canada.”

“Years after crossing the border, the 15 or so known resisters who remain in Canada live lives coloured with uncertainty, the threat of being deported home to face potential jail time for desertion looming constantly over their new lives.”

That article adds, “Polls suggest most Canadians support the idea of allowing war resisters to stay in the country, with 63% saying in June that they should be allowed to become permanent residents.”

In June 2019, Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Sean Rehaag wrote in The Conversation, “Dozens of U.S. soldiers who had voluntarily enlisted in the military and served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sought asylum in Canada to avoid jail time when they deserted because they came to object to those wars.”

“The Canadian government denied most of their refugee claims, saying that they could have possibly qualified for conscientious objector status back home.”

For more on the War Resisters Support Campaign, please click here. To learn more about International Conscientious Objectors Day, click here.

PBI-Kenya celebrates Grace Papa for her work related to the right to water and ending gender-based violence

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 3, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project highlighted on their Facebook page the work of Grace Papa, a WHRD Toolkit Organizer and a Community Health Worker from the Mukuru settlement in Nairobi.

“Grace has been sensitizing the community on the how to wash their hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and how to practice respiratory hygiene.”

PBI-Kenya adds, “She also works with children, making them aware that they too are at risk of getting infected if they don’t frequently wash their hands and keep social distance, especially when playing or swimming.”

The Ruben Centre has explained, “[The Mukuru community] was born in Nairobi’s Industrial district approximately 35 years ago when people began to build make-shift homes near the factories they worked in. The area now has a population of over 600,000 and many families live in corrugated iron shacks measuring 10 x 10 feet.”

ActionAid has noted, “Many homes have no running water. For cooking and cleaning, women and girls collect water from taps in the street. These taps are expensive to use and for many families in Mukuru, water is a necessity they can barely afford.”

The World Health Organization says each person should have 50 to 100 litres of water per day to ensure that their most basic needs are met and that few health concerns arise. The United Nations says that the cost of water should not exceed 3 percent of household income.

In February 2018, Africa Check reported that a reloadable smart card for a water dispenser in an informal settlement in Nairobi means 20 litres of water would cost about 0.50 shillings. But given that water may only be available two to three times a week, a resident more likely needs to pay 2 shillings for a 20 litre jerrycan of water.

As such, even a basic allocation of 100 litres of water a day could cost about 10 shillings, roughly 10 percent of the income for many in the informal settlements earning less than 100 shillings (about US $1) a day. Keep in mind that an average bathtub in North America would take about 300 litres of water to fill.

PBI-Kenya works with the Social Justice Centres Working Group, a collective voice for the social justice movement, which is demanding that “the government restore the water supply to all slums and crack down on the water cartels that extort Kenyans.”

Furthermore, ActionAid has noted the relationship between access to sanitation and gender-based violence: “With no toilet facilities at home, young girls have to walk through streets of the slum to reach the nearest public toilet. Without access to basic amenities, even simple tasks like washing and managing periods are fraught with anxiety.”

The Guardian has also reported, “Private ownership of the land [in Mukuru] has precluded the building of adequate sanitation facilities, forcing female slum dwellers to walk long distances to use toilets, risking sexual violence.”

PBI-Kenya has previously noted, “Grace has been involved in creating awareness on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), particularly by monitoring and documenting SGBV cases, reporting them, and referring SGBV victims to health centers. She has also been key for her community on sexual and reproductive health matters, including family planning and HIV infection prevention and management.”

PBI-Kenya also highlights, “Human rights defenders are playing fundamental roles in ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to healthcare and information about the virus and its impacts in the absence of adequate State protections.”

The human right to water and sanitation was recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2010 and the realization of that human right by States is especially critical at this time given the coronavirus pandemic. 

PBI-Mexico shares Tlachinollan alert on security risk to defenders Manuel Olivares Hernández and Teodomira Rosales Sierra

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 3, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted an alert from the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre, which PBI has accompanied since 2003.

The Tlachinollan alert notes:

In recent days, on 22 and 26 March, extremely serious information was published, which puts the life of defender Manuel Olivares Hernández at risk. The publication that circulated on social networks points to comrade Manuel as “defender of drug trafficking.” It disqualifies his work for accompanying the victims of internal forced displacement in the municipality of Leonardo Bravo.

Since November 13, 2018, more than 1,800 people from five communities in this municipality have been forced to leave their homes due to the violence caused by groups of armed civilians. …Unfortunately, the agreements they signed with the Ministry of the Interior have not been able to guarantee the return of displaced families to their communities.

For a year, the struggle has been arduous due to the situation of violence in the mountain region and the climate of animosity that has been generated against comrade Manuel Olivares and comrade Teodomira Rosales Sierra.

At the end of December, comrade Teodomira was the victim of a sexual assault by an elite group of the state police, commanded by the secretary of public security David Portillo Menchaca. The comrade Teodomira, in addition to throwing her to the ground and submitting her, a police woman put her charge weapon on her chest.

During the month of March this year, several acts of violence have been registered in the communities of Carrizal de Bravo, Balzamar and Tepozonalco in the municipality of Leonardo Bravo, registering several dozen people killed and some homes burned down.

As companions of civil human rights organizations, we demand from federal and state authorities security guarantees for comrades Manuel Olivares and Teodomira Rosales, as well as all members of the Morelos Center, who accompany victims of forced internal displacement.

We demand that the federal authorities, both the Secretary of the Interior and Public Security, comply with the commitments assumed to guarantee the return to their communities of the displaced families, as well as to restore order and security in the region.

To the state authorities, we reiterate our position not to criminalize or disqualify the work of human rights defenders from the Morelos Center. Police officers who sexually assaulted comrade Teodomira and those who beat comrade Manuel have to be investigated.

They also have to investigate the origin of these smear campaigns, which emanate from the state security organs and which aim to discredit their work and encourage violent action against the defenders of the Morelos Center.

This alert has been signed by 86 groups including the Saltillo Migrant Shelter, the Juan Gerardi Human Rights Centre, the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre, the Fray Juan de Larios Centre for Human Rights, the Cerezo Committee, and the Gobixha Committee for the Comprehensive Defence of Human Rights all of which are accompanied by PBI-Mexico.

The full statement can be read here.

How does the Nepal Monitor virtually map human rights and security incidents?

By
Brent Patterson
-

As noted on its website, “NepalMonitor.org is a system designed to alert local organizations to human rights and security incidents happening in their area, as well allow anyone to easily share incidents they see with local, national, and international organizations.”

It adds, “This should help these organizations to better respond to what happens around them, and keep themselves safe. NepalMonitor.org maps reports from media, collected by large reputable organizations, or sent directly by individuals. You can see these reports or send in your own in multiple ways.”

To report an incident, one can text +977.9808975502, email alert@nepalmonitor.org or fill in this form on their website.

Peace Brigades International provided physical accompaniment to human rights defenders in Nepal starting in 2005-06. PBI-Nepal closed its field office on January 1, 2014.

PBI-Germany then explains, “In 2014, pbi Germany started the NepalMonitor Project in partnership with the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) to contribute to securing (Women) Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) space in Nepal.”

In July 2014, PBI further noted, “PBI has developed the new innovative tool, Nepal Monitor, which serves as an online protection tool to alert local organizations in Nepal to human rights and security incidents in their area.”

“Nepal Monitor allows anyone to easily share incidents with local, national and international organizations. Contributors and users create a community and engage in cooperative action to protect themselves from human rights abuses and other security threats.”

Our 2014 Annual Review additionally explains, “PBI worked in collaboration with a coalition of 43 Nepali human rights organisations to maintain and develop NepalMonitor, an online and SMS platform sharing information about human rights and security incidents across the country. NepalMonitor mapped 1,772 incidents in 2014, enabling national and international organisations to better respond to human rights violations and improving the safety of human rights defenders.”

Our 2015 Annual Review notes, “NepalMonitor.org was officially launched as a COCAP protection and conflict prevention initiative, supported by PBI in February 2015. Since the end of 2014, 3,342 reports about security and human rights incidents have been mapped in total. One international volunteer, based in Kathmandu, works on this project.”

In 2016, the Nepal Monitor mapped 3,086 security and human rights incidents.

In March 2018, PBI-Germany advertised for an International Peace Worker to manage “the 2,5 year handover process to COCAP and support the organisation in creating a community that effectively engages in joint activities to protect and promote human rights crossing societal divisions.”

As noted in our 2018 Annual Review, “Two international and five Nepali staff members based in Kathmandu coordinate the Nepal Monitor, an initiative established to provide protection and to prevent conflict by mapping security incidents and human rights violations in the country.”

And our to-be-released 2019 Annual Review highlights, “The Nepal Monitor is the most comprehensive violence monitoring and mapping system in Nepal. Five national staff and one international peace worker work to keep the database up to date and accurate as well as performing outreach, capacity building and protection activities with human rights defenders nationwide.”

To learn more about the work of the Nepal Monitor and its innovative online mapping tool, please visit NepalMonitor.org.

You can also read the PBI-Canada articles PBI supports women human rights defenders in Nepal (September 2019) and Nepal Monitor provides two-day digital security training to human rights organizations (March 2020).

Photos from the days of PBI-Nepal accompaniment:

Coronavirus pandemic delays crucial United Nations COP26 climate conference until October 2021

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 2, the United Nations announced, “With no end in sight to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the UN climate change talks which were due to take place in Scotland later in the year, have been postponed until October 2021.”

Notably, there are plans to use the SEC Centre (in the photo above), where the climate summit was to take place, as a field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. 

Significantly, Reuters has previously reported, “The [Paris] agreement enters a crucial implementation phase in 2020, when countries are supposed to ratchet up their ambitions ahead of the next major round of talks in Glasgow.”

The Guardian now highlights, “Current commitments under the Paris agreement are insufficient to meet its aims of holding the world to no more than 2C – and preferably no more than 1.5C – of heating, beyond which the impacts of climate breakdown are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.”

And the Associated Press has cautioned, “So far, the world is on course for a 3- to 4-degree Celsius rise, with potentially dramatic consequences for many countries.”

The UN media release announcing the delay adds, “[Secretary-General António Guterres] maintained that efforts to increase ambition and action on climate change must continue, ‘especially as countries take measures to recover from this crisis’.”

There is a concern on this front. The Guardian reports, “Several prominent climate experts had feared that delaying the talks would mean governments eased off on pursuing stronger commitments to fulfil the Paris goals.”

Furthermore, the BBC reports, “Governments are set to spend huge amounts to boost their economies once the pandemic is over. There’s a view that when the summit is eventually held, it could be an important forum for ensuring that money is spent on sustainable and renewable projects.”

But in Canada, The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Canadian government is now considering a $15 billion bailout for the oil and gas sector, while the Alberta government has just announced a $7 billion investment package to support the construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to the United States.

This is a situation not unique to Canada. The G20 recently met by video conference given the health emergency of the coronavirus pandemic and the statement that emerged from that summit highlighted $5 trillion of spending on economic stimulus, though it made no mention of a Green New Deal transition to a renewable energy future based on the principles of climate justice and human rights.

And yet human rights are a crucial element in the climate crisis. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has previously commented, “We call on leaders and governments to recognise that climate change and environmental degradation severely undermine the human rights of their people.”

And Katharine Rall of Human Rights Watch has stated, “The frequent attacks and threats against environmental rights defenders throughout the world are an example of why governments need to include protecting rights in their climate policies.”

To read the Peace Brigades International-Canada fact sheet ‘5 things to know about human rights and climate change’, please click here.

PBI-Canada welcomes cancellation of CANSEC arms show, seeks peace and health for all

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International-Canada welcomes the announcement by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) that it has cancelled its CANSEC arms show that was to take place on May 27-28 in Ottawa.

The decision by CADSI comes almost 19 days after the World Health Organization had declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

There are still questions why it took so many days for CADSI to make its decision to cancel an arms show that it had boasted would assemble 12,000 people from 55 countries inside the EY Centre convention hall.

Today’s announcement states, “We have made the difficult decision not to host CANSEC in 2020. As a result, we are now working hard to make CANSEC 2021 – which will take place June 2 and 3 at Ottawa’s EY Centre – the best CANSEC ever.”

This cancellation was sought by many.

Thank you to the 7,700 people who sent a letter via this World Beyond War petition to CADSI president Christyn Cianfarani, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and others with the demand to cancel CANSEC.

At this time, we also keep in mind the words of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres who stated, “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.”

We also recall that total world military expenditures rose to $1.8 trillion in 2018, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

It is our hope that we collectively learn that those expenditures redirected towards public health care and the fulfilment of the human right to water and sanitation for everyone will in the end result in greater peace and security in times such as these.

It’s not possible to bomb a pandemic.

PBI-Canada has always been deeply committed to the task of building peace and promoting nonviolence through peace education.

We are equally committed to continuing to work with allies to highlight alternatives to war and the need to transition from arms production to renewable energy. As such, we will also share in the efforts to cancel CANSEC 2021.

Murray Thomson, who helped to found Peace Brigades International in 1981, was a regular presence at protests against CANSEC, including the one in this May 2018 photo. Murray passed away in May 2019 at 96 years of age.

1...418419420...475Page 419 of 475