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Microsoft technology reportedly used by Israel to surveil Palestinians, select bombing targets in Gaza

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still: “What truly worries me is Microsoft’s complicity in this genocide” – Ibtihal Aboussad.

A “Microsoft AI Tour” that features Matt Milton, the president of Microsoft Canada, is coming to The International Centre in Toronto on Wednesday October 1 and the Rogers Centre in Ottawa on Friday October 3.

The Microsoft promotion highlights: “Join us for the free, one-day Microsoft AI Tour! You’ll have the chance to learn directly from top experts, get hands-on with the latest AI technology, and connect with other leaders who are driving real change.”

This past June, The Guardian reported: “Details of how big tech works with the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces also referred to as the Israeli Occupation Forces or IOF] have long been murky [but] recently, evidence that the tech industry’s products have been used in Israel’s violent campaign in Gaza, which the UN [United Nations] has concluded is consistent with ‘the characteristics of genocide’, has been mounting.”

That article continues: “Leaked documents indicated Microsoft has a ‘footprint in all major military infrastructures’ in Israel. The Associated Press has also reported that Microsoft technology has aided in Israel’s surveillance of Palestinians.”

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has also explained: “Between October 2023 and June 2024, Microsoft agreed to provide the Israeli military with 19,000 hours of engineering support and consultancy services. AI tools that the Israeli military receives through Microsoft Azure include the GPT-4 generative language model, automated translation, and automated document analysis.”

The AFSC further notes: “By March 2024, the military’s consumption of Microsoft Azure AI services was 64 times higher than it was before the genocide.”

“No Azure for Apartheid”

No Azure for Apartheid is a group of “Microsoft workers demanding that Microsoft end all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and govt.”

Their demands of Microsoft include:

1- End Microsoft’s complicity in Israeli genocide and apartheid by terminating all Azure contracts and partnerships with the Israeli military and government.

2- Make all ties to the Israeli military publicly known, including weapons manufacturers and contractors.

3- Conduct a transparent and independent audit of Microsoft’s technology contracts, services, and investments, and ensure Microsoft products and services are not being used to violate the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and their Additional Protocols, and Microsoft’s own Human Rights Statement, in Palestine or elsewhere.

4- Honor the demands of the over 1,000 employees who signed an earlier petition calling on Microsoft’s leadership to publicly endorse an immediate, permanent ceasefire.

5- Ensure the safety of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and allied employees by protecting pro-Palestinian speech, actions, and fundraising initiatives on internal company platforms.

Microsoft workers fired

Ibtihal Aboussad worked at Microsoft’s Canadian headquarters in Toronto.

The Guardian has reported: “Before Ibtihal Aboussad was fired by Microsoft for protesting the company’s work with the Israeli military during a celebration of the firm’s 50th anniversary, she sent two emails.”

That article adds: “The first went to all of her colleagues. She appealed to their universal humanity and urged them to stand against Microsoft’s contracts to provide cloud computing software and artificial intelligence products to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). She sent the second to the ‘Muslims at Microsoft’ email list. Its subject line read: ‘Muslims of Microsoft, Our Code Kills Palestinians’.”

Microsoft AI used to select bombing targets

An investigation by the Associated Press revealed earlier this year that: “AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon.”

In January 2025, The Guardian reported: “The Israeli military’s reliance on Microsoft’s cloud technology and artificial intelligence systems surged during the most intensive phase of its bombardment of Gaza, leaked documents reveal.”

That article further noted: “The leaked documents, which include commercial records from Israel’s defence ministry and files from Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary, suggest Microsoft’s products and services, chiefly its Azure cloud computing platform, were used by units across Israel’s air, ground and naval forces, as well as its intelligence directorate.”

Then in August 2025, The Guardian further reported: “[Former Microsoft worker] Hossam Nasr said [No Azure for Apartheid] had decided to escalate their actions because there had been no adequate response from Microsoft. He felt personally motivated to speak out more vigorously after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out the targeted killing of the high-profile Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of five members of the media who was killed earlier this month in the operation.”

Human rights defenders targeted

Front Line Defenders has stated: “Those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

Front Line Defenders has noted: “People considered to be human rights defenders in the [Occupied Palestinian Territory] include journalists, lawyers, medical workers, fieldworkers, international volunteers who act as independent observers and carry out human rights work and defenders working for economic, social and cultural rights.”

Nearly 200 journalists, a number of lawyers and judges, at least 1,581 health workers, 181 humanitarian workers, and 126 aid workers are among the estimated 200,000 Palestinians killed over the past 23 months.

It is an unaddressed question if Microsoft technology was used in the targeting of these human rights defenders.

Shareholders meeting, December 5

The “Microsoft AI tour” comes before their 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting that will be held virtually on December 5, 2025.

The AFSC has noted: “On July 1, 2025, at least 60 Microsoft shareholders, collectively representing more than $80 million in MSFT shares, filed a shareholder proposal at Microsoft Corporation.”

“The proposal was brought by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary and calls on Microsoft to publish a report assessing the effectiveness of its human rights due diligence processes. Specifically, it requests that Microsoft evaluate whether its AI and cloud technologies are being misused by customers, such as military entities, to commit human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law.”

That statement further notes: “According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies are expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure their products and services – including the deployment of such technologies by customers – are not used to violate human rights.”

It also quotes Rewan Haddad, the Campaign Director at Ekō, who says: “Microsoft is no longer just a tech company … it’s now acting as a weapons company, empowering a military state currently under investigation for genocide.”

We continue to follow this.

Attacks against human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico not yet part of the narrative of the upcoming Carney-Sheinbaum visit

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still: Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum confirms that Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will visit Mexico on September 18.

Canada has billions of dollars of mining, gas pipeline and rail assets in Mexico. These investments already have implications for communities, human rights defenders and journalists. As the Canadian government seeks to deepen economic relations with Mexico, attention also needs to be paid to the human rights implications of this agenda. To date, this has not been part of the official narrative.

CTV News reports: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday [September 12] she will host Prime Minister Mark Carney for trade talks next week [on Thursday September 18]  as the pair seek to protect their economies from Donald Trump’s trade war.”

That article notes that beyond Trump’s tariffs, the North American free trade agreement, and Canada-Mexico trade: “the pair will also discuss Canadian investment in sectors such as Mexican mining, gas and rail…”

Mining

According to Natural Resources Canada, there were 120 Canadian mining companies operating in Mexico in 2023 with Canadian mining assets there totalling $11.3 billion (up from CAD $10.6 billion in 2022).

Gas and energy

In Canadian Energy Assets, 2018, Natural Resources Canada also noted: “The top five countries by CEAA [Canadian Energy Assets Abroad] value are the United States ($190 billion), Colombia ($8 billion), Germany ($6 billion), Mexico ($6 billion) and France ($4 billion).”

That report further notes: “In Mexico (+$1 billion, 20%), the growth can be attributed mainly to TC Energy (+$940 million, 19%), which invested in pipeline projects in the country.”

TC Energy pipelines in Mexico include the Encino-Topolobampo pipeline on Raramuri territory, the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline on Otomi, Nahua and Tepehua territories in Puebla and Hidalgo, and the Southeast Gateway (Puerta al Sureste) pipeline from Tuxpan to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz and the refinery in Dos Bocas, Paraiso, Tabasco interconnected with the Trans-Isthmus industrial corridor.

Rail

The Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern (CPKC) is the primary Canadian rail company operating in Mexico.

In May 2025, The Globe and Mail reported: “[In 2023] CPKC became the only rail network to seamlessly connect Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It was a US$27-billion bet that CPKC would reap decades of profits from an increasingly integrated North American market… CPKC has recently begun hauling between the two markets [Canada and Mexico], including aluminum, refined fuels, French fries, furniture and fruit.”

That article further notes: “CPKC has begun carrying liquid petroleum gas (such as propane), refined fuels and plastics from the Edmonton area to Mexico. …[There are also] trainloads full of fruits and vegetables, home appliances and furniture regularly departing Mexico for Canada… In a recent investor presentation, [CPKC chief executive officer Keith Creel] said CPKC had begun moving Mexican produce into Canada for Loblaw Cos. Ltd.”

Business and human rights

Canadian mining, gas and rail projects have been implicated in human rights concerns in Mexico.

Significantly, Mexico is among the countries with the highest number of attacks against human rights defenders and journalists.

More than 203 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico between 2012 (the year the Mechanism was enacted) and 2023, while eight journalists were killed while registered with the Mechanism over the last seven years.

Human rights defenders to visit Ottawa

Next week, two human rights defenders from Mexico will be in Ottawa to meet with Government of Canada officials, Members of Parliament, and social movement and civil society allies, to raise awareness of the situation of human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico and find ways to support them.

Both Hugo and Elizabeth are members of the Civil Society Space of Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC).

Stay tuned for updates about their visit.

Further reading: PBI accompanied Espacio OSC activists to visit Ottawa to seek support to help strengthen Mexico’s Protection mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists (September 1, 2025)

CBC News reports CSIS may have falsely claimed Indigenous land defenders were armed days before Dudley George was killed

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still from Ipperwash Crisis in 5 Minutes (subMedia).

CBC News journalist Brett Forester reports that newly declassified internal documents indicate the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) conducted a secret investigation into “Native extremism” in 1995 and appear to have falsely claimed that Indigenous land defenders in Ipperwash, Ontario were armed.

Those false claims were reportedly made just days prior to an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer shooting land defender Dudley George on September 6, 1995, during a re-occupation of a provincial park.

George was declared dead hours later in the early hours of September 7, 1995.

On September 10, 1995, the Peace Brigades International-North America Project (PBI-NAP) reported that it had received a verbal invitation to “be observers for First Nations people if needed; be present during discussions between the different groups as a nonpartisan witness; do accompaniment for anyone fearing further violence on the part of the police; write nonpartisan reports on what we witness and hear.”

By July/August 1996, PBI-NAP reported: “PBI has made three more visits to the area of Ipperwash.”

CBC News now notes that during the public inquiry hearings that began in July 2004 into the death of George, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Staff Sgt. Wade Lacroix testified in May 2006 about a visit from CSIS investigator “Rocky Robart” who “claimed the Anishinaabeg at Ipperwash had guns”.

The article adds: “At least four more witnesses at the inquiry testified CSIS was involved in some way in the tragic events of 1995, yet when Justice Sidney Linden tabled his report, CSIS wasn’t even mentioned.”

Forester writes that the declassified papers indicate that “CSIS viewed the occupation as a possible terror threat.”

“CSIS initially refused to confirm or deny the records even existed, a position the information commissioner endorsed following an investigation in 2022. But after CBC News filed a court challenge three years ago, CSIS backtracked and offered to release some heavily censored records that were delivered this year.”

Forester further notes: “The service declined an interview request for this story and provided a statement instead.” In response to written questions, CSIS states: “As part of the Ipperwash Inquiry, CSIS was not named once in any of the findings nor were any of the recommendations directed toward CSIS.”

Lessons from the Ipperwash Inquiry

CBC News has previously reported that “the biggest bombshell” during the Ipperwash inquiry came from former attorney general Charles Harnick who testified that then premier Mike Harris had stated “I want the f****** Indians out of the park” just hours before George was killed by an OPP sniper.

That same article notes: “In January 2004, CBC News obtained surveillance videotapes taken by police officers in September 1995, one of which contains racist remarks made by police officers the day before George’s death.”

Concerns were raised about history repeating itself in October 2020 when the current Ontario-premier Doug Ford described Six Nations land defenders as “… a couple bad apples causing problems…”.

And in February 2025, CBC News reported: “[Justice Michael Tammen of the Supreme Court of British Columbia] said there were multiple offensive and discriminatory comments made by multiple officers on Nov. 18, 2021 and Nov. 19, 2021. RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group [C-IRG] led the enforcement [against Indigenous land defenders on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia]. ‘That is potentially a sign of systemic attitudinal issue within the C-IRG,’ he said…”

PBI-Canada also recalls that the Ipperwash Inquiry included recommendations on how Indigenous protests and occupations could be addressed to prevent the killing of another land defender

A key recommendation of that report was: “The provincial government should invite the federal government to participate in interministerial ‘blockade’ committees to inform and coordinate governmental responses to Aboriginal occupations and protests when a potential federal interest is engaged.”

As Indigenous land and environmental defenders are likely to oppose the fast-tracking of multiple “national projects” in Canada, the role of CSIS “to investigate activities suspected of constituting threats to the security of Canada” in relation to Indigenous land defence struggles should be clarified, and the death of Dudley George and the findings of the Ipperwash Inquiry must be remembered.

To read the full article by Brett Forester, a reporter with CBC Indigenous in Ottawa, go to CSIS ‘actively’ investigated Ipperwash land dispute before fatal shooting of Dudley George, documents show (CBC News, September 11, 1995).

PBI-Canada observes protests at the DSEI arms fair in London, hears concerns about violations of human rights

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International-Canada observed the protests against the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair held in the United Kingdom at ExCel London from September 9 to September 12.

DSEI involves more than 1,600 companies exhibiting, with 50+ countries invited including Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.

The Oxford, England-based New Internationalist reports: “Chants of ‘Shut DSEI down’ and ‘when they ask you what you did today, what will you tell your kids?’ rang out as over 500 people representing over 130 campaign groups blocked entrances of the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI UK) event.”

“As the event opened, Israel was flagrantly violating international law with a missile strike on negotiators in Qatar. Israeli arms company Elbit was proudly touting its AI-enabled ‘wide-area persistent surveillance system’. Israel has bragged of using AI systems to target Palestinians in Gaza, including many journalists.”

The New Internationalist article also notes: “During the protest on DSEI’s opening day several protesters were thrown to the floor and bruised as London’s Metropolitan police came down hard. The Met confirmed that three people were arrested, while one person was taken to hospital with an ankle injury.”

Common Dreams further reports: “[London-based Campaign Against Arms Trade] CAAT media coordinator Emily Apple said that the UK has ‘reached peak complicity in genocide in allowing 51 Israeli arms companies [including Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries] to exhibit at DSEI.’ ‘It is allowing companies to market their genocide tested weapons to human rights abusing countries around the world,’ Apple added. ‘The people who run these companies are war criminals. They should be investigated for crimes against humanity, not invited to profit from the unspeakable devastation they have caused in Gaza.’”

And The Canary UK highlights: “Mayor of London Sadiq Khan reiterated his opposition to DSEI earlier this year [Mayor ‘appalled’ as London is used as ‘marketplace’ for weapon traders]. He has previously highlighted that London is home to thousands of refugees who have fled the very kinds of weapons now being promoted at the fair.”

Novara Media also produced this 12-minute video report on the protests: Protestors SHAME Arms Fair Attendees in London.

Overall demands

Among the 130+ groups organizing against DSEI were Shut DSEI Down, Stop the Arms Fair, Campaign Against Arms Trade, and Quakers in Britain.

Their overall demands were to 1) Shut DSEI down permanently, 2) impose a full arms and energy embargo on Israel, 3) cut the military budget, and 4) cancel the British government’s £2 billion deal with Elbit Systems.

Quakers oppose DSEI

Quakers in Britain note: “On [September 8] 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 Northrup Grumman. …[Then on September 9] as people of faith stood in silent protest, arms companies inside continued to strike deals that fuel war, repression, and genocide around the world. …And on [September 10] Quakers visited the headquarters of Clarion Events who organise the arms fair, delivering a demand that they drop the DSEI event.”

The head of witness and worship for Quakers in Britain Oliver Robertson says of the DSEI arms fair: “As Quakers, we worship in silence to listen for the promptings of love and truth in our hearts. That truth is clear: making money from killing people is obscene. Weapons sold here are destroying lives in Gaza and around the world. The real crime is happening inside the arms fair, not outside it.”

Canada at DSEI

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the industry association that organizes the annual CANSEC arms show each May in Ottawa, had promoted “Join Canada at DSEI UK 2025”.

The Government of Canada further highlighted: “The Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), in partnership with the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), invites Canadian companies to participate in DSEI 2025, one of the world’s top defence and security exhibitions. The event brings together over 1,600 exhibitors and attracts over 35,000 visitors from over 50 countries.”

The Canadian participation at DSEI included Canada’s High Commissioner to the UK Ralph Goodale, Member of Parliament Steve Fuhr (who is now the Secretary of State for Defence Procurement), the Ontario Business Delegation Roundtable (supported by Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries), CADSI president Christyn Cianfarani, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Arming attacks against human rights defenders

The Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders (the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders) has also documented the killing of 31 Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024.

They state “those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

Last year, Global Witness (that has offices in London, Brussels and Washington, DC) also signed a statement of concern about “the killing of over 300 Palestinian and international aid workers, and over 1,000 health care workers in Gaza and 95 in Lebanon.”

Whether it be DSEI in London, CANSEC in Ottawa, Eurosatory in Paris, or Land Forces in Australia, there appears to be little attention to or monitoring of the states implicated in human rights violations, repression and war crimes, or the companies that enable these crimes despite international human rights obligations.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoíris and Somos CDC in Europe, highlight LGBTIQ+ rights at UPR talks in Geneva

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International teams are supporting an advocacy tour with LGBTIQ+ activists Esdra Sosa (the Arcoíris LGTB Association of Honduras) and Daniela Mondragón (the Centre for LGTBI Development and Cooperation – SOMOS CDC) in Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland.

UPR discussions in Geneva

PBI-Switzerland played a crucial role in facilitating the participation of defenders in UPR discussions in Geneva.

Criterio.hn now reports: “The Honduran civil society delegation actively participated in the pre-session of the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, presenting a critical overview of the current human rights situation in Honduras before the UN Human Rights Council.”

The article explains: “The UPR is the UN’s international mechanism that regularly reviews the human rights situation of the 193 member countries. Honduras will be officially reviewed in November 2025 and, in this cycle, state representatives and civil society actors present key reports and recommendations to the international community.”

The Criterio.hn article then highlights: “Against this backdrop, LGBTIQ+ organizations have presented a series of urgent recommendations: implement national awareness campaigns in education and the media, pass laws that ensure gender equality and compliance with sentences such as the Vicky Hernández case, and strengthen legal frameworks such as the Penal Code to typify hate crimes and strengthen the investigation of violent deaths. They also demand to reform the Health Code to guarantee access without discrimination, incorporate the differentiated care approach in the health and justice systems, as well as ensure that all protocols are validated by the LGBTIQ+ community. Such actions are considered essential to combat the culture of impunity and lay the foundations for a society that respects diversity and human rights.”

Arcoiris has also posted on Instagram:

“As part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), our director Esdra Sosa @esdrasosa actively participated in Geneva, raising awareness among the international community about the serious human rights violations faced by the LGBTIQ+ population in Honduras.

This work has been made possible thanks to the coordination with Peace Brigades International (PBI), who have accompanied and supported this international advocacy process.

During her intervention, she denounced the systematic violence, impunity, and lack of guarantees for human rights defenders in the country, reaffirming Arcoiris’ commitment to justice, truth, and dignity for our communities.

Participation in this international space is another step in the collective struggle for a diverse Honduras, free from violence and discrimination.”

The Centre for Research and Promotion of Human Rights (CIPRODEH) has also posted on Facebook an 11-minute video (that includes speaking) and notes:

“Presentation and participation by our executive director Javier Acevedo on “The Human Rights Situation in Honduras,” Civil Society in Geneva, during the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Honduras.”

This past June, Daniela Mondragón, legal advisor to SOMOS CDC, called on the State to guarantee the full enjoyment of rights for the LGBTIQ+ population, recalling the +190 violent deaths since 2020 and an impunity rate exceeding 90% “we demand the same rights that the entire Honduran population has”.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Canada comments on human rights in Honduras at its universal periodic review at the United Nations (PBI-Canada, November 5, 2020).

Nomadesc in Colombia expresses solidarity with CUPE and Air Canada flight attendants

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International accompanied Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) in Colombia has expressed its solidarity with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

Nomadesc posted on social media: “From Colombia, we send a message of recognition and solidarity to CUPE SCFP and Air Canada flight attendants for their bravery and strength in defending workers’ rights.”

Photo: PBI-Colombia accompanied Nomadesc at the General Assembly of the Buenaventura Civic Strike Social Movement, August 23, 2025.

Timeline

On August 5, CUPE posted: “The Air Canada Component of CUPE … says its members have voted 99.7% in favour of strike action, if necessary. The vote reflects the deep frustration of flight attendants after months of negotiations without result, due to the airline’s refusal to fairly negotiate on key issues like unpaid work, work rules, and poverty-level wages.”

By August 13, CUPE stated: “The Air Canada Component of CUPE has issued a 72-hour strike notice to Air Canada after the airline refused to recognize that flight attendants should be paid for all their time on the job. Air Canada responded by issuing a 72-hour lockout notice.”

The flight attendant strike began on the morning of August 16.

On that day, CUPE commented: “Air Canada asked the government to crush underpaid flight attendants’ Charter rights, and Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu only waited a few hours to deliver. The Liberal government has invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end a strike by Air Canada flight attendants fighting to end unpaid work and poverty wages.”

On August 17, CUPE indicated its members would remain on strike.

In a decision released the morning of August 18, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) said the union’s defiance of a back-to-work order over the weekend was “unlawful.”

That same day, CUPE president Mark Hancock stated: “We will not be returning to the skies this afternoon. If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. …None of us want to be in defiance of the law. Our members want a solution here. But that solution has to be found at a bargaining table.”

On August 19, a tentative agreement was reached between CUPE members and Air Canada.

On that day, CUPE commented: “Flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge have reached a tentative agreement, achieving transformational change for our industry after a historic fight to affirm our Charter rights. We have reclaimed our voice and our power. When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”

We will find out on September 6 whether Air Canada flight attendants will accept the wage offer portion of the agreement reached on August 19.

CUPE international solidarity

This past week, CUPE president Mark Hancock stated:

“We’re a Canadian union, but we take a lot of interest in what is happening globally. I visited Colombia last year and I’ve been down there twice meeting with workers, meeting with peace activists and different groups, and when it comes to what’s happening in Palestine right now and the genocide in Gaza, it’s our moral obligation to speak out on that and while [Canadian prime minister Mark] Carney has taken some steps, I would say he has been dragged kicking and screaming all the way to take the steps that he has. And governments all across the globe should be demanding that that genocide stop. And part of the reason that we have become so entrenched in our position is that workers have been killed on the ground in Gaza. Workers that we would represent here in Canada. So, folks like health care workers, or power workers, or ambulance paramedics, a variety, and they’ve been targeted. Journalists as well. I know Unifor’s convention is on right now and they’re talking about how they’re supporting journalists on the ground in Gaza and Palestine. So, it’s an important position for us.”

Similarly, Nomadesc recently stated: “From Cali, city of resistance, from the southwestern region of Colombia that has experienced genocide at the hands of Álvaro Uribe Vélez and his subordinate Iván Duque Márquez, we reject the genocide in Palestine and join the voices around the world that are rising up to demand an end to the genocide.”

We additionally highlight that Front Line Defenders (the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders) has documented the killing of at least 31 Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024.

They further note that “those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

Accompaniment

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has documented: “Between 2023 and 2024, 11 trade unionists were assassinated, resulting in Colombia retaining its reputation as the deadliest country in the world for trade unionists.”

Peace Brigades International has accompanied Nomadesc since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

CUPE has also had a longstanding relationship with Nomadesc.

In a November 2018 interview, Celeita told CUPE: “I am convinced that I am alive today because of the actions of solidarity – whether it’s the letter writing and support from Canadian unions, or the accompaniment that we get by the Peace Brigades that come to support us. Without those I would not be alive, and there’s a kind of preventative solidarity that can take place – having that presence keeps bad things from happening – but also a transformative solidarity from being there, when people come to Colombia.”

Further reading

PBI-Colombia accompanied Nomadesc demands an end to the genocide in Palestine (PBI-Canada, August 30, 2025)

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at general assembly held by Buenaventura Civic Strike Committee (PBI-Canada, August 27, 2025)

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at commemorations of the National Strike of 2021 and the demand for a Truth Commission (PBI-Canada, April 29, 2025)

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc as Presidential Advisor for Human Rights visits with threatened union workers (PBI-Canada, April 14, 2025)

Colombia: A long road of solidarity (CUPE, March 7, 2025)

CUPE expresses solidarity with national strike protests in Colombia against tax on drinking water, health care reform (PBI-Canada, May 7, 2021)

Courage and resilience in Colombia (Mark Hancock, November 26, 2019)

Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan land defenders respond to the establishment of the Canadian government’s Major Projects Office

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks, Wet’suwet’en land defender Gaylene Morris, Gitxsan hereditary leader Gwii Lok’im Gibuu, and Dogwood Northern B.C. coordinator Kai Nagata in Gatineau, Quebec, July 17, 2025.

On August 29, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney announced the launch of the new Major Projects Office (MPO) “to get nation-building projects built faster”.

His media release highlights that these projects include “ports, railways, energy corridors, critical mineral developments, and clean energy initiatives.”

More specifically, these projects could include, as the prime minister recently noted: ” reinforcing and building on the Port Of Montreal, Contrecoeur; a new port, effectively, in Churchill, Manitoba, which would open up enormous LNG [liquified natural gas] plus other opportunities; and other East Coast ports for those critical metals and minerals.”

This past June, CBC News reported: “Carney said last week he supports ‘nation-building projects,’ including a possible decarbonized oil pipeline — if he can find consensus among the premiers.” The following month, the Western Standard reported:  “Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday [July 6] said the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline that would transport natural gas from northeastern BC to a proposed LNG facility on Pearse Island near Prince Rupert, BC, is ‘highly, highly likely’.”

The Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan respond

In response to the establishment of the Major Projects Office, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks comments: “When a supposedly democratic country like Canada sets up an office of cherry-picked individuals whose purpose is to generate profits, not protections, it is not only immoral, it fails to uphold Canada’s constitutional duty to consult, and other constitutional protections owed to Indigenous peoples. All Canadians, and all Indigenous Nations, must stand together to oppose this office and refuse to support it.”

Deputy Chief of the Hagwilget Village Council Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler) further comments: “By rushing projects through a fast-track office built for industry, the government is eroding its duty to consult, weakening environmental protections, and silencing the very communities who will bear the consequences.”

And Gidimt’en Checkpoint representative Eve Saint says: “Our Nations will not stand for this. Time and again, these companies cause total destruction to our lands and waters, with no cleanup and no accountability.”

Concerns about “violent and unlawful conduct” by police against land defenders opposed to major projects

It is in the context of the launch of the MPO that we also highlight a recent article titled Controversial B.C. RCMP unit to police opposition to fast-tracked resource projects by Shiri Pasternak and Tia Dafnos (The Breach, August 21, 2025).

Pasternak and Dafnos write: “A RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] unit criticized for violent and unlawful conduct will be involved in enforcing new laws in British Columbia that will fast-track resource and infrastructure projects…”

They explain: “Newly obtained documents show the RCMP’s Community-Industry Resource Group (C-IRG) will work with secretive provincial committees that monitor and respond to opposition to major projects…”

They also caution: “With its policing of pipeline and logging demonstrations having been deemed a ‘national best practice’ by the RCMP, there is potential that this model—and its criminalization of Indigenous and climate protest—could be replicated in other provinces, as resistance heats up against a wave of environmental deregulation being pushed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and several premiers.”

Previous expressions of concern by the United Nations

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination sent three letters to Canada (on December 13, 2019, November 24, 2020, and April 29, 2022) expressing concern about three major projects (the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory, the Trans Mountain pipeline on Secwepec territory, and the Site C hydroelectric dam).

With respect to the December 2019 letter, CBC News reported: “[The committee] said it’s disturbed by law enforcement’s ‘forced removal, disproportionate use of force, harassment and intimidation’ and ‘escalating threat of violence’ against Indigenous people.”

APTN News has also noted that the November 2020 letter stated: “According to the information before the Committee, the Governments of Canada and of the Province of British Columbia have escalated their use of force, surveillance, and criminalization of land defenders and peaceful protesters to intimidate, remove and forcibly evict Secwepemc and Wet’suwet’en Nations from their traditional lands, in particular by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Community-Industry Response Group (CIRG), and private security firms.”

And in 2022, Global News reported: “The April 29 letter [the third letter from the United Nations committee] alleges escalated use of force, surveillance, and ‘criminalization of land defenders’ have been used to ‘intimidate, remove and forcible evict’ Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc peoples from their land’.”

This UN committee that monitors a convention to end racial discrimination, ratified by Canada on October 14, 1970, directly called for the suspension of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

The August 29, 2025, statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says that Dawn Farrell, the new Chief Executive Officer of the MPO, “brings four decades of experience in Canada’s energy sector, including as President, CEO, and Board Chair of Trans Mountain Corporation…” In its biography of Farrell, Trans Mountain notes: “Most recently, she led the completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Canada: International law obligations to suspend construction of pipeline and stop use of force against Wet’suwet’en | Legal Brief (Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, March 17, 2020).

PBI-Canada extends its condolences on the passing of Colombian human rights defender Yanette Bautista

By
Brent Patterson
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The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation has posted on social media:

“With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our director and Woman Seeker, Yanette Bautista.

Her life was a beacon of dignity and resilience. She bravely paved the way for hundreds of Women Seekers to embrace the fight for truth and justice, instilling in each one the strength to never give up.

Yanette dedicated her life to the search for the disappeared and to the tireless defense of the rights of Women Seekers. Her voice, her steps, and her example will forever remain in our memory and in our struggle.

Today we reaffirm our commitment to honor her legacy, to continue demanding truth and justice for all the disappeared, and to protect the women who, like her, have given their lives to the search in Colombia.

We extend our love and solidarity to her family in this moment of profound grief.”

PBI-Colombia has also posted on social media:

“From Peace Brigades International – Colombia Project, we express our deep sorrow for the passing of Yannette Bautista, a renowned human rights defender who founded the @fundacionnydiaerikabautista (FNEB) in honor of her disappeared sister, and whom PBI-Colombia has the honor of accompanying since 2007.

Yannette dedicated her life to the search for truth, the fight against impunity, and the dignity of victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia. Her tireless struggle, marked by love, resilience, and hope, leaves an indelible mark on the processes of historical memory and the defense of human rights in the country.

Today we join in the grief of her family, her comrades in struggle, and all those who had the privilege of knowing her and walking by her side. Her legacy will continue to be a light and guide for those of us who believe in a more just and humane world.

We stand with the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation in this difficult time, reaffirming our commitment to solidarity and support.

Thank you, Yannette, for your example of dignity and courage. Your voice and your struggle will live on.

Peace in your memory.”

We also note that there are now these articles: Yanette Bautista, tireless woman searcher and human rights defender, died (El Espectador), Yanette Bautista, a symbol of pain and tireless struggle for the disappeared in Colombia, has died (Cambio), Yanette Bautista, a symbol of the fight against forced disappearance in Colombia, has passed away (Vanguardia).

PBI-Canada has posted often on our website about accompaniments of Yanette, but today we highlight these few recent ones:

– PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation at meeting on rights of women searchers with Ombudsman (June 5, 2025)

– PBI-Colombia accompanies the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as implementation of Women Searchers Law faces delays (March 23, 2025)

– “As a collective, we want to turn our pain into rights” – Yanette Bautista of the “Nydia Erika Bautista” Foundation (October 23, 2024)

– PBI-Colombia accompanies the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as Comprehensive Law on the Rights of Women Searchers receives Senate approval (April 5, 2024).

We at Peace Brigades International-Canada extend our condolences to the family, friends and allies of Yanette Bautista.

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PBI accompanied Espacio OSC activists to visit Ottawa to seek support to help strengthen Mexico’s Protection mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists

By
Brent Patterson
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Two human rights defenders from Mexico will be in Ottawa this month to meet with Government of Canada officials, Members of Parliament, and social movement and civil society allies, to raise awareness of the situation of human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico and find ways to support them.

Both Hugo and Elizabeth are members of the Civil Society Space of Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC).

Their includes monitoring and proposing reforms and improvements to Mexico’s Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.

Mexico is among the countries with the highest number of attacks against human rights defenders and journalists.

More than 203 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico between 2012 (the year the Mechanism was enacted) and 2023, while eight journalists were killed while registered with the Mechanism over the last seven years.

Canada’s bilateral relationship with Mexico

Hugo and Elizabeth’s visit to Ottawa comes at a pivotal time.

Last month, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand stated: “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for us to reignite the bilateral relationship [between Canada and Mexico].”

This past June, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum visited Canada for the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.

On August 5-6, Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne participated in meetings with government and business in Mexico. They said they were there “kickstarting” a bilateral economic relationship with Mexico with Anand highlighting the two countries were looking into “port-to-port lines of trade.”

Then on August 10-13, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was in Mexico from to meet with Mexican government officials and business leaders, including representatives of state oil producer Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Carney in Mexico, September 18

And now Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to meet with Sheinbaum in Mexico City on September 18.

Business and human rights

Last month, Toronto Star business columnist David Olive commented: “Under Sheinbaum’s six-year ‘Plan México’ industrial strategy, Mexico aims to attract about $100 billion (U.S.) in additional annual FDI [foreign direct investment].”

Olive further noted: “Discussions [between Canada and Mexico] so far have covered building more resilient supply chains, developing direct port-to-port trade routes between Canada and Mexico, managing the digital economy, and building conventional and renewable energy infrastructure.”

Olive also highlights that Alberta is interested in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Mexico and the refining of Trans Mountain pipeline crude oil into diesel and aviation fuels in Mexico. Talks between the two countries could also lead TC Energy building more pipelines like their recently completed Southeast Gateway gas pipeline in southern Mexico, an expanded Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway network in Mexico, and increased Canadian investment in Mexico (the public pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec already holds $9 billion worth of Mexican assets).

This comes at a time when the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) continues to highlight that Canada does not have a mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law, The Globe and Mail reports that the Future of Canadian corporate watchdog uncertain as top position remains vacant (July 2, 2025), there are ongoing concerns about Canadian mining and pipeline companies in Mexico, the case of Mariano Abarca remains unresolved, and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders says Canada’s ‘Voices at Risk’ guidelines “hasn’t been properly implemented.”

Canada and the Protection Mechanism

Notably though, the Government of Canada expressed concern about the Protection Mechanism during the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico and made recommendations for its strengthening.

At the UN UPR session held on January 24, 2024, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

Prior to this session, Canada had also asked Mexico: “How will the new General law to respect, protect, guarantee, and promote the rights of human rights defenders and journalists address key challenges under the current mechanism, including in achieving results, improving federal-state-municipal cooperation, and promoting prevention of violence against human rights defenders and journalists?”

More about the visit

For updates about the visit of Hugo and Elizabeth to Ottawa, please see our website and on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook and X.

Peace Brigades International-Canada notes the 44th anniversary of its founding, hopes to broaden its work

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The house on Grindstone Island where PBI was founded in 1981.

Forty-four years ago, on August 31, 1981, eleven people came together at a former Quaker centre 100 kilometres south-west of Ottawa to form Peace Brigades International, a global organization now present and active in multiple countries.

The founding meeting

In his overview of the founding meeting, Daniel N. Clark notes that Hans Sinn chaired the first session of the consultation on the evening of Monday August 31, 1981.

On the morning of Tuesday September 1, Charlie Walker began the session with a reading from Martin Luther King, Jr. The discussion turned to the possible deployment of peace brigades in Guatemala and Mexico.

On Wednesday September 2, the discussion moved to the mission, characteristics, size, leadership style, discipline, partisanship, and roles of the organization. Clark notes: “During a coffee break, ‘Peace Brigades International’ was first voiced by Narayan [Desai], seized on by Charlie [Walker], and on reconvening accepted by everyone.”

On the final day at Grindstone, the Founding Declaration was adopted.

That Declaration, which is dated Friday September 4, 1981, states: “We are forming an organization with the capability to mobilize and provide trained units of volunteers. These units may be assigned to areas of high tension to avert violent outbreaks.”

PBI on-the-ground

We also recall the contributions of Swiss activist Ueli Wildberger who in 1982 initiated the proposal to start a pilot project in Central America.

Photo: PBI opened its first Central America Project Office at 345 Adelaide Street West, Suite 606, in Toronto.

PBI’s first exploratory team arrived in Guatemala in March 1983.

By September 1983, PBI was in Jalapa, Nicaragua close to the Honduran border where US-backed Contra forces were launching attacks against the Sandinistas. A Quaker observer recalls that PBI was present at a vigil near the border “as tracer bullets lit up the sky and automatic rifles sounded off in the distance”.

45 years

In just over four months from now, it will be the 45th anniversary of the spark that initiated this founding meeting.

It was on January 12, 1981, that a letter was sent to several organizations inviting them to attend this meeting to explore the idea of an international organization committed to unarmed third party interventions in conflict situations.

The five signatories of that invitation letter included Narayan Desai (left) and K.S. Radhakrishana (right).

“A potential broadening area”

When we spoke with Dan Clark on the 40th anniversary, he shared: “I’m very impressed where PBI has gone over the years. PBI is quite amazing to me thinking about our original time when $5,000 was a lot and back when we didn’t even have internet or email. I’m very pleased and a little bit proud where this has all gone.”

And looking ahead to the coming years, Clark highlighted: “I would like us to see us move from adopting treaties on human rights and the environment to enforcing them. I would like to see if there is capacity for PBI to have a presence when there are governmental leaders violating international law. That is a potential broadening area.”

Photo: Dan Clark speaks with Brent Patterson, September 2021.

We are also deeply moved by the encouraging words from Hans Sinn just weeks before he passed away at 94 years of age on June 29, 2023.

Looking back, looking ahead: Tolstoy and Turtle Island

Clark has also  noted about the founding meeting: “At the end of the morning [on Tuesday September 1], I was asked to give the reading at the next session to begin just after lunch and was at a loss as to what read. …A few minutes before the session was to begin, I went into the library and, not having found anything relevant, I finally just closed my eyes, put my hand out to a bookcase, and opened a book. What appeared was an amazingly appropriate passage by Tolstoy. Just as at that point we were all feeling inadequate for such a demanding task, Tolstoy was admonishing his readers that while many would say that we had no business launching a major enterprise for peace and justice given our poverty of resources and the formidable nature of the challenge, we had no choice but to do so, and that destiny demanded it.”

The Peace Brigades International-North America Project was established following the July-September 1990 armed confrontation (known as the Oka Crisis) between Mohawk of Kanesatake land defenders who opposed the expansion of a golf course onto Indigenous burial grounds and the Quebec police and Canadian army.

Photo: A Peace Brigades International-North America Project training in 1992 near the town of Hope in the Sunshine Valley on Stó:lō territory in British Columbia.

Photo: A PBI-Canada newsletter from April 1993 notes a PBI-North America Project accompaniment in Nitassinan, the Innu word for their ancestral territory, which covers the sub-arctic forest and barren lands of the Quebec-Labrador peninsula in Canada.

Thirty-five years after the formation of the PBI-North America Project, and keeping in mind the words of Tolstoy that were read at the founding meeting of PBI forty-four years ago, PBI-Canada is now in the process of mustering our modest resources to formulate and launch Peace Brigade International-Turtle Island.

Stay tuned for more about PBI-Turtle Island and for the ways in which PBI-Canada will mark the 45th anniversary of PBI starting in January 2026!

Photo: PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson points toward Grindstone Island, a small 11-acre island on Big Rideau Lake about 500 metres from shore, where PBI was founded.

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