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PBI-Mexico accompanied Ejido El Bajio challenges Fresnillo PLC at annual shareholders meeting in London, UK

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 2, the Ejido El Bajío posted: “For the fourth year running, we attended the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting of #FresnilloPLC in London to reiterate to shareholders that the company lies in its reports, evades justice, owes us more than 13 billion pesos, and that the board of directors is aware of everything and says nothing to them.”

Fresnillo shareholders meeting

The Annual General Meeting of Fresnillo PLC was held on May 20 at No. 11 Cavendish Square in London, United Kingdom.

On May 28, El Ciudadano reported:

“During its annual shareholders’ meeting in London, the company denied to investors the existence of these sentences and the expert report that accredits the debt, according to the lawyer of the ejido members, Sergio García Camacho.

García Camacho personally attended the meeting and confronted Alejandro Baillères, majority shareholder, denouncing that the company is deceiving its investors. The intervention generated concern among some shareholders, one of whom asked for the return of his capital. Shortly thereafter, Baillères abruptly canceled the meeting

The conflict has escalated internationally. An initiative to criminally sanction companies that violate human rights outside the United Kingdom is being discussed in the British Parliament. In the case of El Bajío, the struggle of the ejidatarios has left a balance of three people murdered, one disappeared, and twelve peasants arbitrarily detained.”

Photo: Lawyer Sergio García Camacho and Jesús Thomas González from the Ejido del Baijo during their visit to London, UK.

“Respect the court rulings”

On May 28, PBI-Mexico had also posted on social media: “PBI is concerned about the obstacles faced by the Ejido El Bajío in obtaining justice through the enforcement of the rulings they have won in their defense of their land and territory. We call on the competent authorities to respect the court rulings.”

On May 29, SourceMaterial, “an award-winning team of experienced reporters using in-depth journalism to uncover stories that hold the powerful to account”, in partnership with the British daily newspaper The Times, explained:

“One of the UK’s largest mining groups has been told it should pay as much as $630 million to a Mexican community whose land it illegally mined for gold, according to documents.

Fresnillo learned of the sum in January [2025] from a court-appointed independent review, which followed a court ruling that it should return gold it mined or pay people in the area the equivalent value.

The London-listed group, worth more than £8 billion and majority-owned by Mexico’s Baillères family, is yet to mention the review in stock market disclosures, prompting concerns that it is withholding market-sensitive information from shareholders.”

Threats to defenders

SourceMaterial also reports:

“Since 2013 it has been blocked from mining gold from the Soledad-Dipolos open-pit mine after a court found that it did not have the legal authorisation. The following year, a Mexican agrarian court ruled that Fresnillo’s local wholly owned subsidiary should return the gold it had extracted or a sum of equal value.

The dispute has taken place against a violent backdrop. El Bajío say that in 2021, one community leader was found dead along with a list of names of other community activists, a message that was interpreted as a hitlist.

In 2018, another opponent of the mining operations in the community, Raul Ibarra de la Paz, was murdered and his wife, Noemi Lopez, disappeared. There is no evidence tying Fresnillo or its subsidiary Penmont to these events. Activists opposing other large-scale multinational mining operations have also been targeted in Mexico.”

UK visit

PBI-UK has noted: “In the week of May 12, 2025, human rights defender Jesús Thomas González came to London to speak out against the environmental destruction and trampling of rights by extractive industries. They called on the UK government to act now and pass a mandatory due diligence law. PBI UK facilitated meetings with civil servants, parliamentarians and civil society organisations so that the defenders could speak directly with decision-makers, catalysing actions to support them and their campaigns.”

PBI-UK highlights: “Jesús visited the UK alongside the community’s lawyer [Sergio García Camacho]. Together they met with parliamentarians and also the Head of the Central America Desk and the Desk Officer for Mexico at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They urged for the UK to support members of the El Bajío community, many of  whom face grave risks due to their opposition to the mine.”

Jesús spoke at a PBI-UK organized public forum on May 15. They add: “The defenders remained in town for the Fresnillo PLC board meeting [on May 20].”

Photo: “PBI UK Advocacy Manager Christina Challis accompanies Jesús and Sergio to a meeting at the FCDO.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has provided security and advocacy support to members of the Ejido El Bajío due to the ongoing threats they face.

For more about the struggle of the Ejido El Bajío, see their website and their Instagram, Facebook and X social media accounts.

Additional reading: PBI-Mexico accompanied Ejido El Bajío stands in solidarity with Ejido Carrizalillo in struggle against Canadian mining company (PBI-Canada, April 20, 2025).

Additional background on Fresnillo PLC

Mexico-based Industrias Peñoles, S.A.B. de C.V. appears to be the largest shareholder of Fresnillo PLC, owning about 75 percent of the shares in the company.

Industrias Peñoles in turn appears to be owned by Grupo BAL. The president of Grupo BAL is Alejandro Baillères.

On May 16, 2025, Fresnillo stated: “Fresnillo plc has eight operating mines, all of them in Mexico – Fresnillo, Saucito, Juanicipio, Ciénega, Herradura, Soledad-Dipolos1, Noche Buena and San Julián (Veins and Disseminated Ore Body) and four advanced exploration projects – Orisyvo, Rodeo, Guanajuato and Tajitos as well as a number of other long term exploration prospects. Fresnillo plc has mining concessions and exploration projects in Mexico, Peru and Chile. Fresnillo plc’s goal is to maintain the Group’s position as the world’s largest primary silver company and Mexico’s largest gold producer. 1 Operations at Soledad-Dipolos are currently suspended.”

The Maple reports the Canadian Commercial Corporation signs deal for shipment of artillery propellants despite Israeli human rights abuses

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The Maple reports: “The propellants in question are used to fire 155mm artillery shells, a caliber of munition that Israel has used heavily in its attacks on Gaza.” The propellant appears to have been promoted at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 28-29, 2025.

The Maple reports: “A federal government agency that assists Canadian arms exporters prepared a report last year documenting 99 cases of alleged Israeli crimes, but later considered any risks associated with a shipment of artillery components that included goods destined for Israel to be ‘appropriately mitigated’.”

The article by news editor Alex Cosh continues: “The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a Crown corporation that helps Canadian manufacturers secure military contracts with foreign states, did not disclose how it came to that conclusion, which has left arms control advocates baffled and shocked.”

Photo: The Canadian Commercial Corporation at CANSEC 2025. “The CCC is listed as an affiliate of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, whose annual CANSEC event in Ottawa this week was picketed by anti-war protesters demanding a full two-way arms embargo on Israel.”

Cosh explains: “The U.S. Department of Defence named the CCC last September as the signatory of the deal to supply Israel with up to $78.8 million of artillery propellants. CCC signed the deal on behalf of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems – Canada in Valleyfield, Quebec (GD-OTS), the sole source supplier of the product.”

Photo: The display reads: “Large Caliber Ammunition PROPELLING CHARGES For 155mm Artillery Projectiles M231/M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS).”

Cosh highlights: “New documents obtained by The Maple through an access to information request reveal that months before Project Ploughshares brought details about the deal to light, CCC was closely examining Israel’s human rights abuses, including those allegedly committed with 155mm artillery shells, and noting reports about the United States diverting shipments of that type of munition from their originally intended destinations to Israel.”

Human rights defenders

The Maple adds: “In December 2024, CCC’s human rights committee prepared a report concerning ‘indirect transfers’ of Canadian-made military goods to foreign states. …While the vast majority of the report obtained by The Maple was redacted by CCC, almost all of the document’s footnotes remain visible. …The citations included … sources documenting … [Israel’s] killing of … medics, aid workers, journalists…”

The Dublin-based organization Front Line Defenders (the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders) has 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.”

The American Friends Service Committee has also previously noted: “The U.S. is planning to send ‘tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that had been destined for Ukraine’ to Israel. Their use by Israel, according to Oxfam, is ‘virtually assured to be indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.’ On Nov. 13 [2023], more than 30 organizations issued a letter opposing the transfer.”

Along with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (SIBAT) has attended CANSEC.

Tweet from the then-Israeli ambassador to Canada.

We continue to follow this.

To read the full article: Government Export Agency Noted 99 Israeli Crimes, But OK’d Arms Sale (Alex Cosh, The Maple, May 29, 2025).

Additional reading: General Dynamics displays artillery shell implicated in controversial deal, Ottawa Police arrest 13 at protest against CANSEC arms show (Brent Patterson, PBI-Canada, May 29, 2025).

“We still face colonial occupation”: Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham accepts Canadian Screen Award for “Yintah”

By
Brent Patterson
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The film “Yintah” has won the 2025 Canadian Screen Award (CSA) for Best Feature Length Documentary.

The acceptance speech by Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham) can be seen here.

The Canadian Screen Awards description of the film notes: “Yintah, meaning ‘land’ in the Wet’suwet’en language, tells the story of an Indigenous nation asserting sovereignty. It is the story of the Wet’suwet’en people reoccupying their territory and resisting the construction of multiple pipelines. The film follows Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson and Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, along with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and fellow land defenders, as they reoccupy and protect their traditional land in a decade-long battle to keep out the companies that seek to exploit it.”

CBC News reports: “Sunday’s winners did at least occasionally broach big topics. Upon receiving the best feature length documentary trophy, Molly Wickham alluded to the subject of their film Yintah, which follows Wet’suwet’en Nation fighting for its sovereignty in the face of planned pipeline projects. ‘We still face colonial occupation, and we are still fighting to live in peace as on our land,’ Wickham said. ‘The fight continues and we will never give up. Our sovereignty is tied to our collective freedom.’”

And The Hollywood Reporter noted: “Politics also overshadowed the CSAs when Wet’suwet’en leader Molly Wickham, an indigenous activist, came on stage with fellow directors of Yintah, which won for best documentary and follows a decade-long fight to protect indigenous lands from fossil-fuel companies. ‘The fight continues, and we will never give up. Our sovereignty is tied to our collective freedom. Land back. Free Palestine,’ a fist-pumping Wickham declared as the awards show was telecast live on the CBC and CBC Gem networks countrywide.”

“Colonial occupation” and CANSEC

Just days before the Canadian Screen Awards on June 1 in Toronto, the annual CANSEC arms show took place on May 28-29 in Ottawa.

Exhibitors at CANSEC have included Colt Canada Corp. (one of the biggest suppliers of guns to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) as well as Airbus (notably the AS350 B3 helicopter used by the RCMP) and Teledyne FLIR (the SkyRanger R60 drone was used for surveillance of land defenders on Wet’suwet’en territory).

These are the tools and instruments of the “colonial occupation” by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) that Wickham referred to in her acceptance speech.

CADSI has also promoted the presence of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at CANSEC in its “prospectus” for international delegations.

Watch Yintah

The 88-minute documentary can be watched on CBC Gem here. The 1 hour 49 minute version of the film can be seen on Netflix.

The trailer for the film is here.

PBI-Guatemala observes the final hearing of the Mujeres Achi case in which paramilitary members sentenced to prison

By
Brent Patterson
-

On May 31, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“Yesterday, #PBI observed the final hearing in the Mujeres Achí [Indigenous Achi women] case, in which the sentence was handed down: 40 years in prison for the three former PAC [Civil Self-Defence Patrols] members for crimes against humanity.

The court recognized the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war within the framework of counterinsurgency doctrine, and affirmed that this violence caused not only physical but also psychological harm, damaging the lives of the women who were raped and affecting the fabric of their families and communities.

This ruling marks the end of the long journey undertaken by these brave women in search of justice and paves the way for dignified reparations and the non-repetition of such atrocious crimes.”

Prensa Comunitaria reports: “The criminal process began four months ago, on January 28. But the struggle of the Maya Achi’ women began more than forty years ago, between 1981 and 1983, when the military and paramilitaries arrived in the town of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. There is no word in the Achi’ language to name what the soldiers did. The survivors say that ‘men passed over them, who hurt them, who ruined them.’”

El Pais also reports: “A Guatemalan court on Friday [May 30] sentenced three former paramilitaries to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing six indigenous women during the bloodiest years of the civil war [1981-1983].”

“[One of the women, Pedrina Ixpatá Rodríguez], originally from Rabinal, Alta Verapaz, an indigenous town located in the southeast of the country, was locked up for 25 days in the detachment along with her cousin, Paulina Ixpatá, and other women who were interrogated, tortured and subjected to continuous sexual abuse.”

“Pedro Sánchez Cortez, Simeón Enríquez Gómez and Félix Tum Ramírez are the former paramilitaries sentenced for crimes against the duties of humanity in the form of sexual violence. They will be under house arrest until the sentence is final, according to the court.”

The El Pais article further notes: “At the end of the hearing, the people in the courtroom applauded the verdict. While outside the building, banners demanding justice were placed and members of human rights organizations waited for the women to celebrate the ruling.”

Next hearing, June 4

Prensa Comunitaria adds: “What follows for the Achi’ women is the hearing to establish the measures of dignified reparation, which the survivors demand from the State of Guatemala as compensation for the physical, psychological, economic and cultural damage that sexual violence caused them and their communities. Economic compensation, installation of health posts and actions to protect and teach the historical memory of the internal armed conflict and the Mayan peoples, are some of the requests. The hearing was scheduled for June 4.”

Internal Armed Conflict, genocide

In September 2018, Aljazeera reported: “Guatemalan judges have unanimously ruled that the country’s military carried out genocide and crimes against humanity… Over the course of the war, which began in 1960 and formally ended in 1996, more than 200,000 people were killed and another 43,000 were forcibly disappeared. More than 80 percent of the victims were indigenous Maya people.”

Five years earlier, on May 10, 2013, the former president of Guatemala Rios Montt was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. He was the president from March 23, 1982, to August 8, 1983, a period that overlaps with the convictions issued yesterday by the court in the Mujeres Achi case.

The New York City-based North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) has previously highlighted: “Israeli press reported that 300 Israeli advisors helped execute the [March 1982 military coup that brought Montt to power]… Through the height of la violencia (‘the violence’) or desencarnacíon (‘loss of flesh, loss of being’), between the late 1970s to early 1980s, Israel assisted every facet of attack on the Guatemalan people. [Israel was the] main provider of counterinsurgency training, light and heavy arsenals of weaponry, aircraft, state-of-the-art intelligence technology and infrastructure, and other vital assistance.”

Accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala has been following the process closely and observing the hearings. PBI-Canada documented some of the work of our colleagues in these articles:

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) at #MujeresAchí trial (January 30, 2025).

PBI-Guatemala observes trial of PAC members accused of violations against Indigenous Achi women during the internal armed conflict (February 21, 2025).

PBI-Guatemala observes hearing of former paramilitary members accused of sexual violence against Mayan Achi women (April 17, 2025).

Journalists and photographer face threats and arrests by Ottawa Police during CANSEC arms show protest

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Radio-Canada journalist Claudia Richard reports on the protest at the CANSEC arms show, May 28, 2025. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

The treatment of journalists by the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) during the protest at the CANSEC arms show is raising concerns. The protest took place outside the EY Centre in Ottawa the morning of May 28, 2025.

The United Nations agency UNESCO has contextualized: “Hundreds of journalists around the world trying to cover protests have been harassed, beaten, intimidated, arrested, put under surveillance, abducted, and had their equipment damaged.”

Citizen journalist arrested

The Ottawa Citizen reports: “A volunteer-operated media outlet is decrying the arrest of one of its volunteer journalists at a protest opposing the CANSEC military trade show in Ottawa on May 28. The North Star, an independent media organization, said Ramona Murphy was one of the 13 individuals arrested by the Ottawa Police Service during demonstrations that sought to disrupt the annual major arms show.”

Photo: A handcuffed journalist placed in Ottawa Police Service van outside the CANSEC arms show, May 28, 2025. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

The Ottawa Citizen article adds: “The Ottawa Police Service could not confirm whether or not there was an exclusion zone set up for media during the protests against CANSEC. An exclusion zone is a practice by police to place journalists in a specific area and away from a police operation.”

It is unclear why the police could not confirm there was not an exclusion zone.

A report by the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists and the Thomson Reuters Foundation has noted: “Courts have ruled that police should not set up ‘exclusion zones’ which prevent access to journalists, as journalists should have the ability to decide what is newsworthy and should not be prevented from pursuing stories by police, so long as they are not interfering with police duties.”

Photographer arrested

A photographer documenting the protest was also arrested by Ottawa police and forcefully restrained with a leather gloved officer gripping his neck while his camera lay on the pavement a short distance away.

Photo: Photographer arrested by Ottawa Police Service while documenting the protest at the CANSEC arms show, May 28, 2025. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

Journalist threatened by OPS sergeant

Montreal-based journalist Lital Khaikin, accredited to report from inside CANSEC, was harassed by an Ottawa Police Service officer as she was reporting on the protest on Uplands Drive in front of the EY Centre.

Khaikin says: “I was clearly wearing the CANSEC media badge at the time and may have still had the UNIFOR freelance card clipped to my backpack as well.”

She adds: “He threatened to call inside to get my media pass revoked, gave an ultimatum to either join the protest or leave entirely, and started to radio in to report me. He did not provide rationale or explanation.”

Khaikin also highlights: “The behaviour of the police officer highlights concerns for freelance journalists who may not have accessible and rapid support from media outlets while working, including in response to escalating situations with police and restrictions on reporting.”

The importance and rights of journalists

The United Nations has stated: “Journalism is fundamental for sustainable development, human rights protection and democratic consolidation, but remains a dangerous and too often deadly profession.”

In a guide on the legal rights journalists have when covering protests in Canada, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Thomson Reuters Foundation note: “Canada has strong laws protecting journalists as part of the constitutional right to freedom of expression, including the right to gather news. Law enforcement officers are broadly aware of these rights, but may not always observe them to the fullest in every scenario.”

They highlight: “Unlawful state conduct can be challenged later in court.”

Video still: Radio-Canada video of police arrests outside the CANSEC arms show, Ottawa, May 28, 2025.

There is a growing list of journalists, photo-journalists and filmmakers who have been arrested by Canadian police in protest situations. This includes Justin Brake, Brandi Morin, Jerome Turner, Michael Toledano and Amber Bracken.

Video still (at 12:12): Photojournalist Amber Bracken was arrested by the RCMP on November 19, 2021, as she covered the Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being built on their territory without consent.

PBI and protection mechanism for journalists

In 2020 UNESCO noted: “Since 2015, at least 10 journalists have been killed while  covering protests, according to UNESCO [the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization], whose Director-General has denounced their killings.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the deaths of 124 journalists in 2024, including 82 in Palestine and 5 in Mexico.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) accompanies the work of Espacio OSC to strengthen the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists in Mexico where at least 141 journalists and other media workers have been killed since 2000. The Mechanism was created in 2012, but the killing of eight journalist enrolled in the program points to the urgent need for more to be done.

In Guatemala, PBI now accompanies Maya Q’eqchi’ frontline journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc. He experienced criminalization and threats following his coverage of a protest by Maya Q’eqchi’ communities and artisanal fishermen, where fisherman Carlos Maaz was killed on May 27, 2017. We spoke with Carlos in August 2023.

We continue to follow the situation faced by journalists and media workers.

Canada intends to sign on to the ReArm Europe procurement pact by July 1

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: “Canada out of NATO: fund health care not warfare” banner outside the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 28, 2025, as Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty promises in this speech a “forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy” and “to triple defence spending from 2014 levels by 2030.” Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

CBC News reports: “On Tuesday [May 27], [Canadian prime minister Mark] Carney told CBC’s Power & Politics in an interview that he hopes Canada will be able to join ReArm Europe, a major defence procurement pact, by July 1, in a step to reduce the country’s dependence on the United States for weapons and munitions.”

CBC then notes: “That plan foresees European countries spending $1.25 trillion on defence over the next five years.”

CTV adds: “The European initiative would leverage loans and investments into domestic defence industries.”

More specifically, Global News explains: “The ReArm Europe plan [announced by the European Union in March] includes a loan program worth about $235 billion to be called Security Action For Europe (SAFE), which would allow countries to work with others outside the European Union to jointly buy or build arms.”

From now to July 1

The CTV article further notes: “Speaking to CTV News outside [the] CANSEC [arms show in Ottawa], [Canadian defence minister David] McGuinty said he would be at NATO next week in Brussels [NATO defence ministers will meet on June 5], and the prime minister will meet the consortium at the end of June.”

The “consortium” presumably relates to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit that will be held in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24-25, 2025. On June 21 and 22, the Counter-Summit Coalition for Peace and Justice in The Hague is organizing a protest and counter-summit to challenge this NATO summit.

European opposition to ReArm Europe

On March 26, 2025, Peace Brigade International-Spanish State, along with nearly 850 organizations and 16,000 individuals, signed this letter that opposes the European Commission plan to “ReArm Europe”.

Signatories of the letter also include Greenpeace Spain, Mundubat, ATTAC Spain, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Spain, and the Observatory of Peace and Human Rights-University of Tolima.

The letter asserts: “The rearmament of Europe will not bring peace, it will not contribute to détente, but it will bring us even closer to war. Militaristic contexts are also often accompanied by setbacks in rights, freedoms and social policies, causing fear and social alarm, an ideal scenario for normalising mechanisms of repression and authoritarianism, as we are already beginning to see.”

It also provides this critique: “This Europe which is silent or, worse, supports Israel in its genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and even persecutes those who denounce it, needs to clearly redefine what are those common values whose defense is put forward as a justification for rearmament.”

The letter concludes: “We do not resign ourselves to war, because we do not want the peace of the cemeteries, because history shows us that the only realistic way to achieve peace is not military, but political.”

The full letter signed by our colleagues at PBI-Spanish State can be read at Manifiesto: ‘No nos resignamos al rearme y a la guerra en Europa’.

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading: The Guardian reports: “The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals.”

Photo: Palestinian and Quaker activists hold a “No War, No Warming” banner outside the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 28, 2025. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

Elbit exhibit at CANSEC 2025 highlights Skylark drone implicated in the targeting of human rights defenders, journalists, civilians

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Elbit Systems at CANSEC 2025.

The Elbit Systems exhibit at the CANSEC 2025 arms show at the EY Centre in Ottawa appears to have prominently featured an image of their Skylark drone.

The Jerusalem Post has explained that Elbit-manufactured Skylark drones are operated by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Sky Rider units. In December 2023, the newspaper noted: “Skylarks are used to collect intelligence, soaring over the battlefield from where they can see in front of infantry or tanks. This can help the artillery, or what are called fire brigade units, to coordinate fire against targets.”

Israeli i24NEWS has further noted: “The Skylark unit, established in 2010, is made up of numerous teams, each consisting of four soldiers and a commander. These teams perform functions in both routine missions, as well operational combat scenarios.”

Photo: The Skylark drone.

Photo: “A Skylark drone, one of the several types used by Israel over Gaza.” Drones above Gaza (Shahd Safi, We Are Not Numbers, November 2023).

In March 2025, the Israeli website Ynetnews also reported: “The IDF Sky Rider drone unit, known as ‘Rochev Shamayim,’ has evolved into one of the military’s most lethal forces, responsible for eliminating more than 700 Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists since the start of the war. Once primarily reliant on small surveillance drones, the unit now operates advanced attack and reconnaissance drones, providing real-time support to ground forces.”

ICJ ruling of plausible genocide

In January 2024, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a preliminary ruling in which the court found that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Deployed during almost every major mission

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has noted: “Deployed during ‘almost every major mission’ carried out by the Israeli military, Elbit’s Skylark tactical drones—operational since 2008—are used alongside Hermes 450 and 900 drones to surveil Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

Hundreds of flights in Operation Cast Lead

In the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung report Sleepless in Gaza: Israeli drone war on the Gaza Strip (2014), Dr. Atef Abu Saif, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University [destroyed by Israeli forces in October-November 2023] in Gaza, wrote: “In marketing the Skylark produced by Elbit Systems, the Israeli army refers to its functions in Gaza. It states it as ‘a star [which] was born in the Gaza skies,’ after its ‘hundreds of operation flights’ during Operation Cast Lead [from December 2008 to January 2009].”

Amnesty International documented: “Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including some 300 children, and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, including more than 115 women and some 85 men aged over 50 during the 22-day Operation ‘Cast Lead’. …Israeli forces repeatedly targeted ambulances and medical crews, killing several medical workers while they were attempting to rescue the wounded and recover the dead.”

Arbitrary arrests of hundreds in 2014

The American Friends Service Committee also notes: “The Israeli military used the Skylark extensively during its 2014 assault, during which hundreds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank were arbitrarily arrested.”

2023 to present

The AFSC adds: “[Hermes 450, 900 and Skylark] drones form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively for attack and surveillance purposes in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon, including during Israel’s 2023–2024 genocidal attacks, and along the Gaza–Israel border.”

Photo by Government Press Office (GPO): In February 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspected an Elbit Skylark drone at the Zikim IDF base, five kilometres north of Gaza City. On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.”

Human rights defenders targeted

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.

Front Line Defenders notes: “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.”

Drones target journalists

Madrid, Spain-based Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR) highlights: “Skyline International for Human Rights strongly condemns the deliberate targeting of journalists through drone strikes by the Israeli military, a practice that constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law.”

Their article adds: “A recent investigation by Forbidden Stories and a global consortium of journalists have revealed that at least 18 media workers in Gaza have been killed or injured by precision drone strikes since October 7, 2023. Among them, four were clearly identifiable as journalists, wearing press vests at the time of the attacks, further underscoring the deliberate nature of these violations.”

The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) has documented: “More journalists were killed in 2024 than in any other year since the CPJ began collecting data more than three decades ago. At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, nearly two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel.”

The CPJ further specifies that Israeli military drone strikes killed Palestinian journalists Ismail Al Ghoul, Mohammed Balousha, Hamza al Dahdouh, Hassan Hamad, video journalist Mustafa Thuraya, and camera operator Rami Al Refee.

CANSEC 2025

More than 300 people took part in a protest on May 28 in opposition to the CANSEC weapons show taking place at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

Further reading: Protest challenges CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa; thirteen arrested at demonstration upholding international laws (May 29, 2025).

Photos of protest by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

Journalist Ramona Murphy arrested while reporting on CANSEC protest; Ottawa Police Service refuse to comment on exclusion zone

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Handcuffed journalist Ramona Murphy being put into Ottawa Police Service van outside the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.

The North Star, an independent, bilingual media outlet, has condemned the arbitrary arrest of its journalist Ramona Murphy.

The North Star notes: “Murphy was covering the demonstration as a volunteer journalist. She was filming police actions when she [was arrested]. …Eyewitness accounts and live footage confirm her role as an observer. …Arresting a journalist, whether a volunteer or not, is a frontal attack on press freedom.”

The Ottawa Citizen reports: “The North Star said police threatened Murphy with mischief and resisting arrest charges.”

She was released eight hours later without charge.

Photo: Ottawa Police arrest Murphy. Photo by Andy Tran.

82 journalists killed in Gaza in 2024

Approximately 300 people were protesting the CANSEC weapons show at the EY Centre in Ottawa on the morning of May 28. A significant number of those present were members of the Palestinian community protesting the presence of weapons companies that are profiting from the genocide of their people.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) provides this list of companies arming the genocide, many of which were at CANSEC that day.

The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) has documented: “More journalists were killed in 2024 than in any other year since the CPJ began collecting data more than three decades ago. At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, nearly two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel.”

CADSI has denied media access

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the Ottawa-based lobby group for weapons companies that organizes the annual CANSEC arms show, has also previously denied access to media.

On May 31, 2023, The Breach reported: “A CADSI representative told The Breach that the media outlet had its accreditation request refused because it might provide ‘negative coverage.’ ‘We have the right to deny media access, and we looked at your coverage and you do aggressively critical anti-war journalism,’ the representative said on a phone call.”

That article by The Breach adds: “When questioned about whether this would be an infringement on press freedoms, the representative offered access that was conditional on The Breach providing positive coverage. After finally agreeing to allow a Breach journalist into the conference, the CADSI representative called back five minutes later to inform The Breach that her executive team had reconsidered the decision and was again denying access. ‘They weren’t willing to take a risk,’ she said.”

Journalists arrested at protests on Indigenous lands in Canada

There is a growing list of journalists, photo-journalists and filmmakers who have been arrested by police in protest situations. This includes Justin Brake, Brandi Morin, Jerome Turner, Michael Toledano and Amber Bracken.

Toledano and Bracken were arrested while covering Indigenous land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia.

In February 2023, The Narwhal and Bracken filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court of British Columbia against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCMP) for wrongful arrest, wrongful detention and violation of Charter rights.

Video still (at 12:12): Photojournalist Amber Bracken was arrested by the RCMP on November 19, 2021, as she covered the Wet’suwet’en resistance to the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being built on their territory without consent.

Ottawa Police refuse to comment on media exclusion zone

The Ottawa Citizen article further notes: “The Ottawa Police Service could not confirm whether or not there was an exclusion zone set up for media during the protests against CANSEC. An exclusion zone is a practice by police to place journalists in a specific area and away from a police operation.”

In a formal complaint to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) in response to an exclusion zone on Wet’suwet’en territory in 2020, the Vancouver-based British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) commented: “The RCMP implementation and enforcement of the exclusion zone criminalizes and impedes the movement of … media… RCMP interference with individual liberty is significant, arbitrary, and disproportionate to achieving the stated goal of public safety.”

The BCCLA complaint to the CRCC also highlighted: “We emphasise that even in areas where injunctions are being enforced, the courts have upheld the constitutionally-protected freedom of the press. In 2019, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal vacated an injunction and contempt court appearance it found improperly applied to a journalist charged with contempt while covering an Indigenous-led movement at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project site in Labrador in October 2016.”

Video still: Justin Brake talks about covering the protests at Muskrat Falls | APTN News.

Citizen journalists

Bruno Le Héritte, a spokesperson for The North Star, tells the Ottawa Citizen that citizen journalists are recognized “as important as any other journalist.” In this respect the Ottawa Citizen references Darnella Frazier.

The Minnesota Star Tribune recently reported: “Frazier was a 17-year-old heading to a corner market on May 25, 2020, when she came upon the scene of [George] Floyd dying under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. She recorded the killing on her cellphone and shared it with the world, an act that was key in four officers being convicted and imprisoned.”

Video still of Darnella Frazier who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for this citizen journalism.

In December 2020, Frazier was awarded the Benenson Courage Award from PEN America that “honors exceptional acts of courage in the exercise of freedom of expression” and the following year a Pulitzer Prize “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: General Dynamics displays artillery shell implicated in controversial deal, Ottawa Police arrest 13 at protest against CANSEC arms show (May 29, 2025).

Protest challenges CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa; thirteen arrested at demonstration upholding international laws

By
Brent Patterson
-

More than 300 people took part in a protest on May 28 in opposition to the CANSEC weapons show taking place at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

Companies that the American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers) has documented as profiting from genocide in Gaza linked to weapons transfers to Israel were among the exhibitors at CANSEC despite the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) preliminary ruling in January 2024 in which the court found that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Photo: Ottawa-area Quakers were present at the demonstration against the CANSEC arms show, May 28, 2025.

Obligations given ICJ ruling

After the ICJ ruling, three Toronto-based law professors commented: “Properly understood, the order should dramatically alter both the foreign and domestic policy decisions of Israel’s allies, including Canada and the United States.”

“The obligation to prevent genocide, combined with the court’s finding of a serious risk of genocide, means that all parties to the Genocide Convention [ratified by Canada in 1952] must refrain from taking steps that would actively frustrate the effective implementation of the court’s order.”

They add: “Because the ICJ found a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, continuing to export arms to Israel would be illegal [under the Export and Import Permits Act where Canada’s ascension to the Arms Trade Treaty is reflected]. It would also be flagrantly inconsistent with Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide, and could expose Canada and Canadian officials to liability for participation in genocide.”

Photo: General Dynamics displays at CANSEC 155mm artillery shell used extensively against Palestinians.

“Aiding and abetting” crimes

Amnesty International has also highlighted that the legal concepts of “corporate complicity” in and the “aiding and abetting” of international crimes could in the future apply to arms companies that continue supplying weapons in the knowledge that they may be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of human rights.

Arms shows have banned companies

The protest against CANSEC – whose exhibitors included the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems and representatives of the Israeli military – also came following the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision in November 2024 that issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli prime minister and defence minister.

While both France and Chile have banned Israeli weapons companies from exhibiting at arms shows, the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the Global Affairs Canada-funded lobby group that organizes CANSEC, took no such action and has not commented on the court rulings or the obligations of weapons companies under Canadian law and the Genocide Convention.

Thirteen arrested

Among the 13 arrested was a medic and a photographer. One protest participant injured by the police was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Questions are now being raised about the aggressive tactics of the police and the arsenal deployed against the protest.

There are also deep concerns that the arrests happened after protest organizers had repeatedly communicated to the police liaison team that the protest was concluding. Despite this, Ottawa Police Service officers began pushing and grabbing protest participants near the end of the planned protest.

The arrests also occurred after mainstream media reporters had left.

We continue to follow this.

News reports: 13 arrested outside CANSEC weapons fair (CBC News), Police arrest 13 protesters opposing CANSEC military trade show (Ottawa Citizen), Ottawa police arrest 13 anti-war protesters demonstrating against arms show (Canadian Press), 13 people arrested following protest of defence industry convention in Ottawa (CTV).

Further reading: General Dynamics displays artillery shell implicated in controversial deal, Ottawa Police arrest 13 at protest against CANSEC arms show (May 29, 2025).

PHOTO-JOURNAL OF PROTEST AGAINST CANSEC, May 28, 2025

Photos by Tony Caldwell published in the Ottawa Citizen (May 28, 2025).

General Dynamics displays artillery shell implicated in controversial deal, Ottawa Police arrest 13 at protest against CANSEC arms show

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: General Dynamics display at CANSEC 2025.

On May 28, the Quebec-based company General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems-Canada posted on LinkedIn: “It’s a start to CANSEC 2025! Join us at booth #1203 to discover our products! #CANSEC2025”

They then posted: “This afternoon, our team is present at booth #1203 to present our products to CANSEC2025! Come and meet us! #CANSEC2025”

In both posts, their “Large Caliber Ammunition Propelling Charges For 155mm Artillery Projectiles” display is clearly visible. That display also notes: “M231/M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS).”

Organized by the Global Affairs Canada-funded Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), CANSEC is an annual arms show that takes place at the EY Centre in Ottawa. This year, the Day 1 Breakfast Keynote Speaker was Defence Minister David McGuinty. The Canadian Commercial Corporation, BAE Systems and representatives of the Israeli military are among the other 280+ exhibitors at CANSEC.

“155mm caliber artillery shells used extensively to attack Gaza”

The American Friends Service Committee has documented: “General Dynamics is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to attack Gaza. One source reported that, by Nov. 25, one Israeli brigade fired some 10,000 such shells using BAE’s M109 howitzer.”

They add: “155mm shells have been part of the U.S.’s recent weapons shipments to Israel. The U.S. is planning to send ‘tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that had been destined for Ukraine’ to Israel. Their use by Israel, according to Oxfam, is ‘virtually assured to be indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.’ On Nov. 13, more than 30 organizations issued a letter opposing the transfer.”

Canadian Commercial Corporation signs contract

On March 26, 2025, Kelsey Gallagher of the Waterloo, Ontario-based Project Ploughshares also noted: “According to publicly available US Department of Defense (DOD) procurement records, in September 2024 a Canadian Crown corporation signed a contract to provide the US DOD with artillery propellants that will be supplied to Israel. This agreement was finalized while the intensive bombardment of Gaza continued, months before the signing of a ceasefire that ultimately collapsed in March 2025.”

Photo: The Canadian Commercial Corporation at CANSEC 2025.

Gallagher adds: “This agreement was signed after Canada announced that it was suspending arms exports to Israel, which authorities stated would explicitly include weapons transfers through the United States.”

And he further explains: “The September 2024 contract concerns the supply of M31A2 Triple Base propellant, a type of explosive fuel used to launch artillery shells. M31A2 propellant is specifically required in the 155mm M232A1 propelling charge, which is one of two charges used in the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). These charges are loaded into the breech of artillery systems prior to firing. GD-OTS-Canada’s Valleyfield plant is the sole source of this type of propellant for the US Army, which is responsible for supplying most munitions to US military aid recipients, including Israel.”

Canada a signatory to the International Arms Trade Treaty

Then on April 4, 2025, Alex Cosh of The Maple reported: “Mark Carney’s Liberal Party is avoiding questions about a Canadian company receiving a contract to supply the Israeli military with up to $78.8 million of artillery propellants, despite the Liberal government’s promise to block military exports to Israel last year.”

That article notes: “Canada is a signatory to the international Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits the sale of military goods if there is a substantial risk of the goods being used to violate human rights or other international laws. However, the Canadian government does not apply those regulations to military exports to the U.S., a fact that critics have long flagged as a major loophole in Canada’s export control regime.”

International Court of Justice ruling

In January 2024, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a preliminary ruling in which the court found that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

After that ICJ ruling, Toronto-based law professors Heidi Matthews (Osgoode Hall Law School), Faisal A. Bhabha (York University) and Mohammad Fadel (University of Toronto) have commented: “The Export and Import Permits Act forbids arms permits to be issued if there’s a ‘substantial risk’ that the goods could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law. Because the ICJ found a serious risk of genocide in Gaza, continuing to export arms to Israel would be illegal. It would also be flagrantly inconsistent with Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide, and could expose Canada and Canadian officials to liability for participation in genocide.”

Any transfer of ammunition to Israel likely to violate the law

And in February 2024, thirteen UN Special Rapporteurs along with several Independent Experts and Working Group members issued a statement, endorsed by others including the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, that says: “Any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”

Ottawa Police Service arrests 13 people at protest against CANSEC

An Ottawa Police media release presenting their view on the arrest of 13 people, including a medic and photo-journalist, outside CANSEC says: “At approximately 7:30 a.m., a group of 75–100 demonstrators gathered outside the EY Centre to protest an ongoing conference. The group moved into active traffic lanes, prompting the closure of Uplands Drive. …We remain committed to ensuring Ottawa is a safe, respectful, and inclusive city for all. Acts of hate or violence have no place in our community.”

Photo: “Participants were seen wearing identity-concealing clothing and masks, dumping paint on the roadway.”

Photo: “Despite several attempts by Police Liaison Teams to engage the group peacefully, officers on scene encountered assaultive behaviour.”

Mike Pompeo, US President Donald Trump’s former Secretary of State, was also a keynote speaker at CANSEC on the afternoon of May 28.

In June 2020, the Washington, DC-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) should investigate whether Pompeo had criminally obstructed investigations into his own potential ethics violations when State Department Inspector General Steve Linick was removed from his post while Linick’s office was investigating Pompeo for allegedly fast-tracking $8 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates without consulting the U.S. Congress.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Front Line Defenders documents the killing of 31 Palestinian human rights defenders, many by Israeli airstrikes (May 18, 2025).

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