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Mining resistance member Misael Mata Asencio killed in Guatemala within week of hike to look at mining exploration wells

By
Brent Patterson
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Journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc has shared on Facebook:

“#Alert A member of the anti-mining resistance is murdered, from the 54 communities in Sierra Santa Cruz, jurisdiction of Livingston, Izabal, where the company Rio Nickel S. intends to operate. The name of the person who was part of the resistance was Misael Mata Asencio, originally from Las Flores, Livingston, Izabal. According to community authorities, Mata participated in the demonstrations and was an active member. He also participated in the hike in the Sierra Santa Cruz, in search of the wells for mining exploration recently.”

On May 9, 2025, Choc posted about that hike on Facebook: “#Izabal Locating new mining exploration wells in Sierra Santa Cruz. According to the people of the 54 communities of the Sierra Santa Cruz, in Livingston, Izabal, they have found new mining exploration wells, in the area located of the hill 1,019 in a tour they made on the 8th of May, in the sector of the estates of Santa Anita and Santa Anita ll.”

La Hora now also reports: “Through a statement, the Ancestral Authorities of Iximulew denounced threats and harassment against members of the 54 Q’eqchi’ communities of the Sierra Santa Cruz, in Livingston, Izabal, due to the defense of their rights and territory. In this context, they also condemned the murder of one of the members of the mining resistance, Misael Mata Asencio, who was murdered on May 14 in the community of Las Flores. According to the authorities, Mata had accompanied the process of verification of mining activities during the last weeks.”

On April 14, 2025, IRTF Cleveland had also noted: “On January 28, authorities from Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) were called to a congressional hearing, at which it was disclosed that Rio Nickel, S.A. (a subsidiary of Canada-based Central America Nickel, or CAN) has more than a dozen mining exploration applications for nickel and other minerals, almost all of them located in the Sierra Santa Cruz region.”

The Toronto-based Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) has also posted: “We are deeply troubled to learn about the assassination of Misael Mata Asencio on May 14, 2025. Asencio was a land defender from the Maya Q’eqchi’ village of Las Flores in Livingston, Guatemala. He worked to protect mountain 1019 in Sierra Santa Cruz, where Rio Nickel mining company hopes to operate. Asencio supported an alliance of 54 communities working to identify holes left by Rio Nickel’s exploration drilling. Rio Nickel is a subsidiary of the Canadian-owned company, Central America Nickel, which is headquartered in Montréal, Quebec. Asencio’s assassination comes at a moment where land defenders and Indigenous leaders are facing increased cases of criminalization and government repression in Guatemala.”

MISN has additionally shared this slide on Instagram. The text says: “ALERT: Anti-mining defender murdered. On May 14, Misael Mata Asencio’s lifeless body was identified with firearms projectiles. He fought to defend Cerro 1,019 Sierra Santa Cruz Livingston Izabal, which the Rio Nickel Mining Company intends to operate. Asencio supported the 54 communities to locate mining exploration wells of this subsidiary company of Central American Nickel, based in Montreal, Canada. Misae Mata Asencio is originally from the Mayan Q’eqchi’ indigenous village of Las Flores, Livingston, Izabal. He was buried on May 15.“

Central America Nickel

Central America Nickel describes itself as follows on LinkedIn:

“Central America Nickel Inc. (“CAN”) is a Canadian corporation positioned to become a major global supplier of critical minerals and energy metals, including nickel, lithium and rare earth elements. CAN is focused on sourcing, direct shipping, processing and purification of these minerals using its patented Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAEx) technology and other proprietary processes. CAN controls directly or indirectly, various world-class resource properties including nickel, lithium, and rare earth deposits integral to the transition towards a clean energy and green economy, in Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other regions.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International began accompanying Maya Q’eqchi’ frontline journalist, human rights defender and environmentalist Carlos Ernesto Choc in April 2025.

“#PBI accompanies Carlos Ernesto Choc in his journalistic work.”

We continue to follow this.

The murder of CINEP researchers Mario Calderón and Elsa Alvarado in Colombia showed that “pain transcends borders”

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Mario Calderón and Elsa Alvarado.

On May 19, 2025, Colombia Informa reported: “On a day like today, in 1997, human rights defenders and environmentalists, Mario Calderón and Elsa Alvarado, were murdered in Bogotá. The crime, which continues to go unpunished, involved paramilitaries, the military, the Attorney General’s Office and the DAS [the Administrative Department of Security], as pointed out by former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso.”

That article adds: “The priest Javier Giraldo recalls that Elsa wrote profound articles on the way in which ideology was manipulated in Colombia during election time. She is remembered as a jovial, creative person who is very committed to social causes and human rights.”

Father Javier Giraldo is the person who made the formal request for Peace Brigades International to open a project in Colombia (that began in 1994).

On May 19, 2023, the Colombia Support Network had also noted:

“[Their deaths are among] the thousands of crimes against defenders of the environment, social causes, and the communities that remain relevant after the testimony by the former paramilitary boss, Salvatore Mancuso, before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace [JEP]. Mancuso reported that the human rights organizations created inconvenience by filing complaints about the paramilitaries’ crimes before international agencies. That confirms the theory that CINEP was identified as a military objective, and that the murder of Mario Calderón was because of dislike and revenge against the Center. From Mancuso’s reference to the collaboration between governmental entities like the Attorney General’s Office and the DAS (now-defunct Administrative Department of Security), which furnished intelligence and support for the paramilitaries, we understand why the hired killers carried out the crime while wearing uniforms of the CIT (Technical Investigation Corps) of the Attorney General’s Office.”

And the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) has explained:

“The couple had worked for many years as researchers at one of Bogotá’s best known think-tanks and human rights organizations, the Jesuit-run Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP). Both participated in an environmental project in a town neighboring Bogotá and taught in local universities. Their deaths have left many — among them environmental activists, human rights defenders, community leaders, professors, and Jesuits — in mourning, and deeply frightened.”

In this PBI-Colombia video, Yanette Bautista, the founder of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, shares this memory: “When the colleagues of the CINEP were killed we got out of the church and the PBI people were beside us. We bent down and we were crying and when we saw them crying we understood the pain had gone through all borders.”

We continue to remember.

Image: National Center for Historical Memory.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH defenders at hearing following complaint filed by poultry company owner

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 15, PBI-Honduras posted:

“Yesterday, we accompanied human rights defenders Christopher Castillo and Manuel Chinchilla of ARCAH in an attempted conciliation hearing following a personal injury complaint filed by the owner of the poultry company El Cortijo. In recent years, ARCAH has filed several complaints against the company, among others for alleged contamination of the Grande or Choluteca River. From PBI, we recall that it is important to continue with the investigations into the alleged contamination and we emphasize that the criminalization of human rights defenders is a strategy often used to delegitimize and hinder the work of human rights defenders.”

On May 16, Reportar Sin Miedo (Report Without Fear) reported:

“For alleged threats, aggressions, conspiracy on social networks and use of public image, the Justice of the Peace summoned two environmental defenders.

Those summoned by the judge are Christopher Castillo, environmental defender and general coordinator of the Alternative Community Claim (Arcah), and Enmanuel Chinchilla. The owner of the poultry company El Cortijo, Joseph Walter Brenes, is the one who accuses both of the aforementioned crimes.

An exhausting trial

In the face of these accusations, Christopher Castillo said that they have maintained the logic of denouncing the commercial company, the company as such. He added that they have never taken this issue to a personal level, beyond statements where Brenes is pointed out as the owner of the company.

Castillo added that the State and its investigative bodies have been pointed out more for not acting on allegations of pollution and damage that El Cortijo has been causing.

Castillo said that his colleague Emmanuel Chinchilla, a neighbor affected by the pollution, sought conciliation because it is a psychological, economic and physical wear and tear to stay in court.

Criminal threat Libra lawyer of El Cortijo

The lawyer representing the poultry company said that they had no intention of conciliating and that they were looking to go to trial. “We are going to take criminal action against you,” he said.

According to Castillo’s interpretation, what the lawyer said in the background is that they are going to take legal action against him that becomes criminal.

During the hearing at the Justice of the Peace, several human rights organizations provided their accompaniment to Arcah, including the PBI, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Secretariat of Human Rights.

“I am not going to apologize to any businessman”

Christopher Castillo said that the judge asked if they wanted to conciliate. “We cannot reconcile on something that is basically a crime, there is an environmental crime, a crime against the territory that we cannot negotiate,” the defender responded.

The environmental activist maintained his position as he has said in several interviews: “I should not apologize to a businessman, any capital, or the state for the dignity of activism and defense.”

Castillo mentioned that they had a period of two days for both parties to present evidence. For their part, the defenders will present documentation, screenshots and any type of format that shows that they do not have any personal problem with the owner of the company El Cortijo.

Christopher reported that they are called to an oral trial and that evidence that has to do with environmental contamination and contamination of the Choluteca River will not be accepted.

Lack of judicial objectivity

Castillo regretted the lack of objectivity of the court because it has not analyzed the origin of the conflicts, since the complaint is on a personal level. He added that it is necessary to evaluate the origin of the conflict.

Finally, the coordinator of Arcah called on the conscience of citizens because they are in the midst of an environmental death, but they do not react to this reality. He also questioned why obey a system of elites and a system of corruption that ignores us and uses us as a ladder to achieve its capital interests.”

The full article can be read at Defensores ambientales a juicio por denuncia de empresario avícola (Reportar Sin Miedo, mayo 16, 2025).

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied Castillo and the  Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) since September 2022. PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Castillo in October 2024 in Tegucigalpa.

We continue to follow this situation.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH in Loarque as struggle against the pollution of the Choluteca River by El Cortijo company continues (PBI-Canada, May 7, 2025).

Judicial review could implicate Canada acting unlawfully by selling parts for F-35s violating international law

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Rally outside London court as judicial review begins.

The Guardian newspaper reports that a judicial review took place last week (Tuesday May 13 to Friday May 16, 2025) over allegations that the British government “acted unlawfully” by “continuing to sell F-35 parts and components to a global pool, even though some of those components might be used by Israel in Gaza.”

Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, told a rally outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London: “There’s such clear evidence of the use of weapons parts from the UK being used in war crimes, including in genocide. Until this case reaches its judgment, right now as we speak, there are significant human rights violations being delivered by British-made weapons and bombs.”

Lawyer Charlotte Andrews-Briscoe, representing the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, then described in the courtroom the impact of Israeli F-35 airstrikes on Gaza as “catastrophic and continuing”.

The Guardian reports: “F-35s, [Andrews-Briscoe] said, played a critical role, for instance on 18 March, when Israel broke the ceasefire with a wave of airstrikes that killed more than 400, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The dead included 183 children and 94 women, Palestinian officials said.”

Oxfam UK also says it provided to the court “detailed information on the widespread destruction of Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) infrastructure, evidence of attacks on humanitarian aid workers, and restrictions on vital humanitarian aid delivery.”

Clemence Lagourdat, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, notes: “For the court case, we’ve submitted evidence showing that Israeli air strikes have destroyed over 70 percent of Gaza’s water infrastructure.”

The United Nations recognizes water and sanitation as human rights.

Canadian components and the call for an arms embargo

The Canadian government also continues to allow components and parts built for the F-35 to be exported to the US and presumably into the same global pool.

While the keynote speaker for the Day 1 Opening Breakfast (starting at 7:50 am) has not yet been announced, it is expected to be a Canadian cabinet minister, most likely Defence Minister David McGuinty, Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound, or Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. The new Associate Minister of Defence, Jill McKnight, is also likely to be at CANSEC. Many organizations and individuals continue to demand that they implement an arms embargo now that would stop this transfer of F-35 parts.

Photo: Then-Defence Minister Anand at CANSEC 2023.

UK companies and the F-35 supply chain

The Guardian further notes: “Britain supplies 15% of the value of the F-35 jet, including ejector seats, rear fuselage, active interceptor systems, targeting lasers and weapon release cables, mainly through BAE Systems.”

Declassified UK has also reported that “over 100 UK-based companies contributing to the supply chain” of the F-35.

110 Canadian companies supply parts for the F-35

The Globe and Mail has previously reported: “Since the late 1990s, at least 110 Canadian-based suppliers have been awarded contracts valued in excess of $38 billion for the F-35 program, Project Ploughshares said [in its new report Fanning the Flames: The grave risk of Canada’s arms exports to Israel].”

That article by Steven Chase adds: “[The Project Ploughshares report] pointed to a 2018 study commissioned by Lockheed Martin that said there are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 jet.”

That Globe and Mail article also notes: “All across Canada, there are factories and companies that are part of the F-35 supply chain, building elements of the aircraft that have so far been sold to other countries.”

Some of the companies that build parts for the F-35, including Gastops, Magellan Aerospace and Stelia Aerospace, are expected at the CANSEC arms show at the EY Centre in Ottawa this coming May 28-29, 2025.

Image from Breach Media.

F-35 parts made in Canada owned by the Pentagon

Now, CTV News also reports: “From bolts to jet engines, countries that fly the F-35 technically share a pool of spare parts that are managed by contractors but remain Pentagon property until the moment they are installed on another country’s aircraft.”

The Pentagon is the pentagon-shaped building in Virginia that is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.

The article adds: “The first four [F-35] warplanes [purchased by the Canadian government] are expected to be delivered in 2026 along with spare parts at RCAF bases in Cold Lake, Alta. and Bagotville, Que.”

It also notes: “The spare parts issue made headlines in Denmark after the U.S. transferred F-35 components from a Danish base to Israel, which also uses the aircraft. Facing criticism over Israel’s reported use of F-35s in the Gaza War, Denmark’s government has said it has no way to stop such shipments.”

Similarly, Declassified UK reports: “The US Department of Defense (DoD) holds legal ownership over all spare parts in the F-35 supply chain, including those originating in Britain. According to a report published by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) in May 2023, ‘the F-35 program’s executive steering board issued a memorandum [in 2012] declaring the F-35 assets be titled to the U.S. government when they are not installed on an aircraft’.”

That article also notes that even when “Britain’s Labour government suspended direct exports of F-35 parts to Tel Aviv in September [2024] … it created a loophole that allows spare parts to still reach Israel if they go via another country such as the US.”

F-35 program “incompatible with international law”

The Government of Canada has stated: “Canada has been a partner in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program since 1997. Because of this, companies in Canada have been, and continue to be, eligible to bid on the work packages associated with the project.”

In the context of the judicial review in the UK, Elizabeth Rghebi, an advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, has commented that the claims by states that the program itself makes it impossible to stop exporting parts “would make the entire programme incompatible with international law”.

Photo: Canada is part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program.

F-35 new capabilities tested on Palestine

Texas-based Lockheed Martin is the primary company behind the F-35.

On May 13, 2025, The Jerusalem Post reported: “During the Israel-Hamas War, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] Flight Test Center (FTC), in cooperation with Lockheed Martin and the US Pentagon’s F-35 program, developed a new capability to carry external JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] on the aircraft’s wings. ‘The Israeli Adir (F-35I) aircraft is the only one in the world to have carried out operational strikes with an external armament configuration, which increased the attack capabilities,’ the IAF said in March 2025, adding that ‘increasing the Adir’s array is a significant boost to the air force’s lethal capabilities.'”

Verso Books has noted: “Israel’s military industrial complex uses the occupied, Palestinian territories as a testing ground for weaponry and surveillance technology that they then export around the world to despots and democracies.”

Photo: Protest against Lockheed Martin at CANSEC.

Judicial review decision

The Guardian highlights that: “Much of the [judicial review on the UK continuing to export parts for the F-35 warplane] will turn on the extent to which international law places obligations in domestic law.”

It adds: “The hearing before Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn is due to conclude on Friday [May 16], and a decision is expected in writing at a later date.”

Shut Down CANSEC, May 28

For more information about the protest against the CANSEC arms show, you can visit the @shut.down.cansec page on Instagram.

Further reading: Front Line Defenders documents the killing of 31 Palestinian human rights defenders, many by Israeli airstrikes and PBI-Canada to observe the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization in Ottawa, May 28.

Front Line Defenders documents the killing of 31 Palestinian human rights defenders, many by Israeli airstrikes

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad was killed by an Israeli drone airstrike in October 2024. In this photo, the 19-year-old journalist carries the photo of his colleagues Ismael al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi who were killed in July 2024.

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.

The numbers are undoubtedly higher. Front Line Defenders notes: “In some regions and countries, including Palestine, the documentation of cases is highly challenging, if not virtually impossible.” They clearly state, however, 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.”

The transnational corporations arming the Israeli military include BAE Systems (artillery cannons and electronic missile launching systems), Boeing (attack helicopters and bombs), Colt (assault rifles), Elbit (drones, bombs and artillery shells), General Dynamics (F-16 fighter jets, bomb casings and artillery shells), Google (cloud services and AI technologies), Lockheed Martin (F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, Hellfire missiles), Rheinmetall (tank ammunition), and RTX/Raytheon (air-to-surface missiles). 

At least 9 Palestinian HRDs killed in 2023

In their Global Analysis 2023/24 report, Front Line Defenders documented the killing of nine Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023.

Of those on this list, journalist Saeed al-Taweel and Mohammed Sobh were killed by Israeli warplanes that struck an area housing several media outlets in Rimal district in western Gaza on October 9, 2023.

Dr. Mahmoud Abu Nujaila, Dr. Ahmad Al Sahar and Dr. Zeyad Tatari were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al Awda Hospital on November 21, 2023.

Journalist Bilal Jadallah was also killed in an airstrike. Journalist Samer Abu Daqqa was killed in what is believed to be an Israeli drone strike. And photojournalist Mohammad Al-Salhi and journalist Ibrahim Mohammad Lafi were shot and killed by soldiers.

At least 22 Palestinian HRDs killed in 2024.

In their Global Analysis 2024/25 report released earlier this month, Front Line Defenders documented the killing of twenty-two more human rights defenders.

Five of the names on this list – paramedic Abdul Majid Abu Al-Eish, pediatrician Dr Ahmad Samour, paramedic Maher Al-Ajrami, hospital maintenance worker Fares Al-Houdali and laboratory specialist Israa Abu Zayda were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza on December 26, 2024.

Journalist Ahmed Al-Louh, camera operator Hamza Murtaja, and photojournalist Mohammed Abu Saada were also killed in airstrikes.

Drone strikes also took the lives of journalists Ismail Al Ghoul, Mohammed Balousha, Hamza al Dahdouh, Hassan Hamad, video journalist Mustafa Thuraya, camera operator Rami Al Refee, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlout.

Fire from Israeli tanks killed journalist Ibrahim Muhareb and orthopedic surgeon Dr Sayeed Joudeh in separate incidents. Dr. Ahmad al-Maqadmeh was shot by soldiers, while Dr. Ziad Mohammed al-Dalou and Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh died in prison.

Non-violent activist and elder Ziad Abu Hlail was reportedly beaten to death, while Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, a volunteer peace activist with the anti-occupation International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was killed by a sniper.

Not included on this list are Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) lawyers Nour Abu Al-Nour and Dana Yaghi who were killed in airstrikes.

Palestinian HRDs killed in 2025

Next year’s list could include Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) who was killed in an airstrike on January 16, 2025. It could also include photojournalist Fatima Hassouna who was killed in an airstrike after “she spent the past 18 months documenting airstrikes, the demolition of her home, the endless displacement and the killing of 11 family members.”

UN Special Rapporteurs

On February 23, 2024, thirteen United Nations 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.”

Shut Down CANSEC, May 28

The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) highlights that CANSEC brings together “12,000 decision-makers”,  “280+ defence, security &  emerging tech exhibitors”, “50+ local and national media”, “37+ MPs, Senators and Cabinet Ministers” and “50+ International delegations”.

The sponsors of CANSEC 2025 include AWS, Boeing, Cisco, Google Cloud, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, and RTX. These transnational corporation are implicated in the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability list of companies profiting from the genocide in Gaza.

Organizations including the International League for Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS), the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) in Ottawa, the Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Labour for Palestine-Ottawa, World Beyond War Canada, Anakbayan Ottawa and Migrante Ottawa are mobilizing to challenge this arms show.  

Image: Shut Down CANSEC.

Peace Brigades International (PBI)

Peace Brigades International-Canada is following this mobilization closely.

In a collective statement from teams in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and numerous other countries around the world, the Brussels, Belgium-based Peace Brigades International has called “on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel and the armed groups involved in the conflict.”

Numerous PBI accompanied organizations, defenders and communities, including the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), have also called for an end to occupation and genocide.

COPINH social media post:
“From Lenca territory in Honduras we raise our voices for life, dignity and freedom for Palestine: Enough of genocide! Enough of occupation! Free Palestine! Through our voices, our actions and our collective organization, we will continue to accompany the Palestinian cause, raising the truth in the face of disinformation and building internationalist solidarity. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! Long live the resistance of the peoples!”

Further reading: Peace Brigades International-Canada to observe the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization in Ottawa, May 28.

Investigative Journalism Foundation reports that Bell Textron wants to sell helicopters to the RCMP

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Bell Helicopters for Public Safety, Firefighting and Police Operations.

Journalist Carly Penrose of the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) reports: “The Mirabel, Que.-based company registered to lobby the federal government for contracts to sell rotary wing aircraft to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and to be part of the Department of National Defence’s (DND’s) plan to revitalize its helicopter fleet.”

That IJF article highlights: “The registration comes after the national police force chartered two Blackhawk helicopters for border monitoring for $5.3 million in January. …The RCMP’s contracts for the Blackhawk helicopters were recently extended until June 30 and the cost was amended to $11.7 million.”

Penrose notes: “[Bell Textron] has never secured a contract with the RCMP before.”

The helicopters currently being leased by the RCMP from an Ottawa-area company for “border security” are Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin (the world’s largest weapons manufacturer that builds the F-16 and F-35 warplanes and Hellfire missiles implicated in the genocide in Gaza).

Photo: Heavily armed RCMP officers onboard a Black Hawk helicopter near the Alberta-Montana border, January 29, 2025.

“The dignity of people is beyond any border”

Further reading: PBI-Canada to follow the human rights implications of RCMP Black Hawk helicopters deployed at US-Canada border (PBI-Canada, January 30, 2025).

RCMP helicopters vs. land defenders

The RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) has used helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and drones to surveil and arrest Indigenous land defenders.

As of February 2023, the RCMP have 35 aircraft, 9 helicopters and 26 fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopters were bought from Aerospatiale, Airbus and Eurocopter, while the fixed-wing aircraft were bought from Cessna, de Havilland, Pilatus and Quest. The RCMP has also flown a FLIR SkyRanger R60 unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) over Wet’suwet’en territory just prior to its February 2020 raid.

In December 2023, Amnesty International Canada highlighted: “Based in part on witness testimony of four violent, large-scale Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) raids on Wet’suwet’en territory, the report finds that Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters were arbitrarily arrested for defending their land and exercising their Indigenous rights and their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.”

Further reading: RCMP use helicopters, airplanes and drones to surveil and arrest Wet’suwet’en land defenders (PBI-Canada, May 21, 2023).

Surveillance of national strike in Colombia

On November 20, 2019, Semana reported that the Bell 407 Halcón (Falcon) helicopter would be used by the National Police to monitor National Strike protests in Bogotá with high resolution cameras with facial recognition technology.

Webinfomil.com further reported that the National Police would “deploy its entire fleet of Bell 407 Halcón surveillance helicopters … in the main cities of the country, where the most important concentrations are expected to occur.”

In March 2020, Human Rights Watch noted: “Since November 21, 2019, a national strike has mobilized thousands of Colombians to the streets to protest issues ranging from tax reform proposals to the killing of human rights defenders. …Then-Attorney General Fabio Espitia told Human Rights Watch on January 22, 2020, that his office was investigating 72 cases of possible abuse by police officers during the protests.”

Further reading: Did the Colombian police use Canadian-made Bell 407 helicopters for surveillance of National Strike protests? (PBI-Canada, April 18, 2022).

Bell and the Philippines

On February 8, 2018, The Guardian reported: “This week it was revealed that … Canada has brokered the sale of 16 combat utility helicopters worth $185m to the Philippine air force. The sale of the Bell helicopters – designed by an American company but manufactured in Canada [at the Bell plant in Mirabel, Quebec] – was facilitated by the [Ottawa-based] Canadian Commercial Corporation, an umbrella organization that sells arms to other countries on behalf of the Canadian government.”

The public attention that resulted from the media coverage and the concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines scuttled this deal.

But on April 30, 2018, the National Post reported: “Just months after a contract to sell military helicopters to the Philippines was cancelled, a Canadian firm is hoping it can revive the controversial deal. … Bell says it is now back in discussions with the Philippines as a potential client for the same helicopters.”

The most recent Amnesty International report (April 2025) highlights that in 2024: “Concern grew as more activists were forcibly disappeared. The practice of ‘red-tagging’ human rights defenders, including young activists, persisted, and the government continued to use counterterrorism measures against humanitarian workers.”

Global Witness has also documented that 298 land and environmental defenders were killed in the Philippines between 2012 to 2023, including 17 in 2023.

Further reading: ICC arrest of Duterte raises questions about CANSEC and the export of “military goods” to the Philippines (PBI-Canada, March 12, 2025).

Shut Down CANSEC, May 28

Bell Textron is expected to be at the CANSEC arms fair that is being held at the EY Centre in Ottawa this coming May 28-29.

Further reading: PBI-Canada to observe the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization in Ottawa, May 28 (PBI-Canada, May 10, 2025).

We also draw your attention to this upcoming event in Toronto.

We continue to follow this.

Land and environmental defenders at risk as Canada, the US and UK pursue critical minerals for weapons

By
Brent Patterson
-

In this joint policy briefing released today, May 15, 2025, seventeen organizations, including Peace Brigades International, warn that the UK government’s drive to secure minerals like cobalt, nickel and lithium could “fuel environmental destruction, human rights abuses and deepen global inequalities.”

Their briefing cautions: “The mining and processing of critical minerals is frequently linked to severe human rights violations including violation of Indigenous rights including the killing of land and environmental defenders.”

Mining is deadly for environmental defenders

In September 2024, Global Witness senior adviser Laura Furones also highlighted: “It’s very difficult to establish direct links between the murder of a defender and a specific corporate sector. However, what we have been able to identify for 2023 is that mining came up as the largest corporate sector linked to defenders. And this is also true for our historical data. Mining sector is number one over the last 12 years.”

The UK “almost wholly dependent on imports”

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has noted: “The UK Critical Minerals List, published in 2021, includes the following: antimony, bismuth, cobalt, gallium, graphite, indium, lithium, magnesium, niobium, palladium, platinum group metals, rare earth elements, silicon, tantalum, tellurium, tin, tungsten and vanadium.”

The BGS then highlight: “The UK and the EU [European Union] are almost wholly dependent on imports of these materials.”

Canada-UK trade talks

Peace Brigades International, the Trade Justice Movement, Global Justice Now, Corporate Justice Coalition and Friends of the Earth say: “A major barrier to corporate accountability is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, which is included in more than 80 UK trade and investment agreements.”

The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA), that came into force in April 2021, includes an investment protection dispute resolution section.

In June 2023, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives commented: “If Canada and the U.K. are determined to allow for ISDS [in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], Canada should restrict its use to the proposed bilateral Canada-U.K. free trade agreement still under negotiation.”

In March 2022, talks began on a new Canada-United Kingdom free trade agreement (CUKFTA) that stalled in January 2024. Just three days ago, CTV News reported: “Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke on Monday [May 12] and agreed to strengthen trade, commercial, and defence ties, according to a statement from the Canadian prime minister’s office.”

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) also recently announced that Lord George Robertson would be speaking at the CANSEC weapons fair that is taking place on May 28-29 in Ottawa. Starmer appointed Robertson in July 2024 to lead a UK defence policy review due in the first half of 2025.

The US is also pushing for critical minerals

In March 2025, CBC News reported: “The Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario has become a key figure in the battle to control critical minerals, which experts say is the heart of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada.”

The Government of Ontario has highlighted: “The region has long-term potential to produce chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.”

These critical minerals have multiple military applications.

Chromite can be used for aircraft engines, cobalt for munitions, high-temperature aerospace alloys, high-capacity batteries, nickel for armour plating in tanks and anti-aircraft firearms, batteries for propulsion and storage, copper for wiring, guidance systems, ammunition and naval vessels, and platinum is used in the production of missiles, jet engines, and a vast array of military electronics.

CBC journalist Alexander Panetta has also speculated that “a new economic and security arrangement with the United States” to now to be negotiated by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government and the Trump administration could include “ramped-up talk about developing Canada’s critical minerals”.

Along with chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum, critical minerals commonly needed for military production include antimony, arsenic, bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, natural graphite, tantalum and tungsten.

Many critical minerals can be found across Canada.

The US military says it needs critical minerals

In January 2025, US Department of Defense (DOD) News noted: “Secure sourcing of critical minerals is critical to the defense industrial base, which uses them to produce virtually every Defense Department system, from unmanned aerial systems and fighter jets to submarines, said Adam Burstein [technical director for strategic and critical materials in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy].”

That article adds: “Earlier this year, Congress added the United Kingdom and Australia as domestic sources, in addition to Canada, for purposes of the Defense Production Act [DPA]. …Last year, the U.S. issued multiple DPA awards to projects based in Canada, which also received joint funding from the Canadian government. These projects are targeted to increase the secure supply of key materials, including cobalt, graphite and tungsten, [Burstein] said.”

Royal Bank of Canada says critical minerals needed for “military operations”

In April 2025, RBC Wealth Management also stated: “A typical artillery tank requires over 20 different critical minerals across navigation, communications, and combat systems… Batteries and semiconductors are also increasingly important to military operations, along with more traditional needs to strengthen artillery, naval and aerospace (antimony, beryllium, titanium, among others).”

Critical minerals and “border security”

RBC also notes: “[With] border security; tungsten is used in automobile x-rays and germanium within thermal imaging and night vision goggles.”

Rare earth minerals needed for F-35s

Rare earth elements are a subset of critical minerals.

Mining.com has noted: “Each F-35 Lightning II aircraft … requires approximately 920 pounds of rare-earth materials, according to a 2013 report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service. …Other uses are for Stryker armored fighting vehicles, Predator drones and Tomahawk cruise missiles.”

Rare earth elements include scandium, praseodymium, yttrium, samarium, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, erbium and lutetium.

Multiple critical minerals are also needed for the production of F-35s.

Image from UWA Defence & Security.

NATO identifies critical minerals

In December 2024, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) published a list of 12 defence-critical raw materials essential for military production.

NATO chart.

NATO highlights: “Aluminum, for example, is pivotal in producing lightweight yet robust military aircraft and missiles, enhancing their agility and performance. Graphite is crucial for the production of main battle tanks and corvettes due to its high strength and thermal stability. In submarines, graphite is used in the construction of hulls and other structural components, significantly reducing acoustic signatures and enhancing stealth capabilities. Cobalt is another critical material, essential for producing superalloys used in jet engines, missiles, and submarines, which can withstand extreme temperatures and stress.”

As the Secretary General of NATO from 1999-2003, CANSEC speaker Lord George Robertson would presumably be aware of these needs.

Shut Down CANSEC, May 28

PBI-Canada will be observing the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization this coming Wednesday May 28 starting at 7 am at the EY Centre in Ottawa.

CADSI, the national voice of weapons companies in Canada, highlights that CANSEC brings together “280+ defence, security &  emerging tech exhibitors”, “50+ local and national media”, “37+ MPs, Senators and Cabinet Ministers” and “50+ International delegations”.

We are observant of the connections between weapons production and exports, their use in genocide and the repression of popular movements, as well as the mining required for military production and the impacts that extractivism can have particularly on Indigenous land and environmental defenders.

For updates and reports on May 28, the day of the Shut Down CANSEC mobilization, go to PBI-Canada on Bluesky, Instagram, X and Facebook.

Image from Shut Down CANSEC.

PBI-Canada celebrates International Conscientious Objection Day and our founders who went to prison for refusing military service

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Then-22-year-old Gene Keyes (with Jane Gordon) burns his draft card on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1963, in front of a Selective Service System office (that administered the draft during the Vietnam War) in Champaign, Illinois. Keyes would later move to Nova Scotia, Canada and co-found PBI in September 1981.

War Resisters’ International explains: “Every year, 15th May marks International Conscientious Objection Day (CO day) – a day to celebrate those who have, and those who continue, to resist war, especially by refusing to be part of military structures.”

The International Day of Conscientious Objection to Military Service has also described conscientious objection as a human right and organizations have noted the importance “to stand in solidarity with those who refuse to kill and engage in wars and are for this reason persecuted, criminalized and jailed.”

We take this opportunity to highlight three founders of Peace Brigades International – Charles Walker, Gene Keyes and Lee Stern – were conscientious objectors who served time in prison prior to gathering on Grindstone Island (on Algonquin territory) in Ontario, Canada in September 1981 to launch PBI as a global organization.

Charles Walker

The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation notes: “Even as a student, Charles Walker abhorred violence and became a conscientious objector to World War II. He was a Board Member of the Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors to War. He was imprisoned for this activity and detached to hospital service.”

Gene Keyes

On May 15, 1964, Gene Keyes was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. In a telegram to the President and Attorney General, he wrote: “There is no moral validity to any part of any law whose purpose is to train people to kill one another. I hereby reject the order to report for induction.” Keyes was sentenced to six months for contempt and then in 1965 to three years in prison for failing to report for military service.

Lee Stern

And this Swarthmore College Peace Collection biography notes, “Lee Stern was a conscientious objector during World War II. He refused to report to Civilian Public Service as ordered, and was imprisoned as a result, in Milan (Michigan) from December 1942 through January 1946. While in prison, he refused to follow rules on racial segregation and sat with black prisoners during meals. His actions, along with those of other conscientious objectors eventually led to integration in the federal prison system.”

George Willoughby

It is also notable that while George Willoughby was not able to participate at the founding meeting on Grindstone Island, he was one of the signatories to the invitation to that gathering and was involved in PBI for many years afterwards.

War Resisters International provides this short biography: “George Willoughby joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1944 and declared conscientious objector status. He then worked at a Civilian Public Service Camp. In 1966, George and other radical Quakers formed A Quaker Action Group. The organization’s primary purpose was to use nonviolent action campaigns to shorten the Vietnam War.”

PBI founders inspired by Leo Tolstoy

More than 70 years after his death in 1910, Leo Tolstoy’s words reached out to inspire Walker, Stern, Keyes and others at the founding meeting of PBI.

Daniel N. Clark writes: “At the end of the morning [on Tuesday September 1, 1981], 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. Gandhi and King had already been given and are hard to equal. 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.”

Tolstoy believed the state is by nature violent and resisted the coercive functions of state, including compulsory military service.

“Neither Helmet Nor Uniform”

Javier Gárate is one of the first publicly declared conscientious objectors in Chile and a co-founder of the conscientious objection group, Ni Casco Ni Uniforme (Neither Helmet Nor Uniform). He has written:

“We know that there are many different reasons for becoming a CO: as an assertion of my human right to say I don’t believe in killing others, as an opposition to militarism and patriarchy, as a refusal to support a specific military mission, and many more.  In my case was a rejection of all that militarism stands for and in particular a strong critique of the role the military continued to play in Chile after the end of Pinochet’s military dictatorship: even if we no longer lived under a dictatorship, we did live in a military state.”

Gárate further notes:

“There are a few exceptions, whereby people make conscientious objection their main campaigning issue throughout their life but for the majority it is something in which you get involved either when you are directly confronted with military service or you know people who are subject to recruitment in your community.  This means it is often the case that conscientious objection is a phase, but also a springboard in the life of activists: that passing phase tends to be at a young age, an age where a lot of people’s political ideas are formed, meaning that they can have a big impact on people, an impact that goes beyond what you find on the surface: it is an impact of long lasting change.”

After being based in Bogotá with PBI-Colombia, Gárate is now a member of the Board of Directors of PBI-Canada.

Further reading: Conscientious Objection: a springboard for radical social change (Javier Garate, War Resisters’ International, December 2015) and Court victory gives momentum to long struggle against London arms fair (Javier Garate, Waging Nonviolence, April 2016).

PBI-Canada and the War Resisters Support Campaign

In 2004, PBI-Canada endorsed the War Resisters Support Campaign. That campaign was founded to assist US military personnel who refused to participate in the Iraq war and who then came to Canada seeking asylum. It called on the Canadian government to demonstrate its commitment to international law and the treaties to which it is a signatory, by making provision for US war objectors to have sanctuary in this country.

We continue to support the right to resist war and military service.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS in El Guayabo for the socialization of CDG Order recognizing the Magdalena River

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Colombia has posted on Instagram:

“We accompanied Credhos [the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights] in the village of El Guayabo and the peasant community of this territory in the act of recognition of the Magdalena River as a victim in case 08 before the JEP.

CDG Order 08 of May 11, 2025, Not only recognizes the river as a victim, but also as a subject of rights in the framework of Case 08, which investigates crimes committed by members of the security forces, or other State agents, in association with paramilitary groups and/or civilian third parties in the framework of the armed conflict.

The institutions committed to implement the orders demanded by this order, in favor of justice, truth, reparation and non-repetition of the facts that victimized the river and its communities.”

CREDHOS has also posted on Facebook:

“The Magdalena River resounds for Justice and Truth

We were in the corregimiento El Guayabo, accompanying the peasant community of this territory in the act of socialization of Auto CDG 08-111 of May 2025, which recognizes the Magdalena River as a victim and special intervener in case 08, which investigates crimes committed by State agents in collusion with paramilitaries and civilian third parties.

For the community of El Guayabo, this act is a way of vindicating their history and struggle. It also symbolizes the support and accompaniment of the community: “We are not alone, we are still in the struggle.”

For its part, CREDHOS expressed that this act stems from the same participation of the victims in point 5 of the Peace Accords.

Judge Catalina Díaz, vice president of the Truth Recognition Chamber of the JEP [Special Jurisdiction for Peace], stated that in 2018 CREDHOS was the first civil society organization to deliver a report to the JEP: “They were very patient and managed to get the 08 case to include the region.”

Finally, this day culminated with the interventions of the institutions, which committed to implement the orders demanded by this order, in favor of justice, truth, reparation and non-repetition of the facts that victimized the river and its communities.”

More on Case 08

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) is a tribunal that is responsible for administrating justice for crimes committed before December 1, 2016, in the context of the internal armed conflict that began in May 1964.

The PBI-Colombia accompanied José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) has noted: “In this macro-case, crimes committed by members of the security forces and other agents of the State, in collusion with paramilitary groups or civilian third parties in the context of the conflict, are being investigated.”

CAJAR further specifies: “Figures from the JEP indicate that in this macro-case there were 15,710 victims of crimes attributed to members of the security forces, 56,502 to paramilitaries and 280 to other agents of the State. The crimes being investigated in this case are: massacres, homicides, sexual violence, illegal detentions, torture, forced disappearances, dispossession and forced displacement.”

In May 2025, the JEP noted: “The Magdalena River was accredited as a victim and subject of rights in the framework of the Magdalena Medio Subcase of Case 08 that investigates crimes committed by members of the security forces or in association with paramilitary groups, other agents of the State, and/or civilian third parties in the context of the armed conflict.”

Image: Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) website with updates and documents relating to Case O8.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) since 1994.

CREDHOS president Ivan Madero Vergel in 2012: “The political deterrence that PBI creates is fundamental. Receiving the accompaniment of Peace Brigades has been important in the life of CREDHOS. It allows you to move, it allows you to continue doing this work.”

PBI-Honduras observes hearing of three Los Pinares/Ecotek executive accused of illegal exploitation and damage to national park

By
Brent Patterson
-

On May 13, PBI-Honduras posted on Facebook:

“Today, together with other national and international organizations and the diplomatic corps, in solidarity with the Municipal Committee in Defense of the Commons and Public Goods (CMDBC), we observed the hearing of conclusions of the initial hearing against three executives of the company Inversiones los Pinares/Ecotek, accused of illegal exploitation of natural resources and damage to the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escalera Mejía National Park. This case may represent a legal precedent for environmental corruption and the effects of extractive companies in Honduras.

For more information: https://www.guapinolresiste.org/blog

Follow the transmission at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AGQb8quvk/.”

Judge José Abraham Rosa set the preliminary hearing for the defendants for Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at 9:00 am.

Guapinol Resiste also posted on Facebook:

“Hearing of conclusions of the initial hearing of three senior executives of the companies Pinares and Ecotek.

THEIR CRIME

Illegally extracting minerals from Carlos Escaleras National Park without a permit by destroying trees, water and entire ecosystems, causing irreparable damage. According to the ATIC [Technical Agency of Criminal Investigation] agent, all through acts of corruption and influence peddling at the local level.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

This is the first time in Honduras that senior executives of a mining company have been prosecuted for illegally exploiting natural resources and causing damage to a national park. This case may set an important legal precedent for the protection of the environment and natural resources in Honduras and the legal accountability of mining companies that generally use corruption to push their destructive projects.

#Yes To Life #No To The Megaproject”

“Comrade Juan Lopez would still be with us”

On May 13, 2025, Criterio.hn reported: “More than ten years after the continuous destruction of the Carlos Escaleras National Park due to the installation of a mining project in the area, Judge José Abraham Rosa issued a formal indictment against the legal representative and two employees of Inversiones Los Pinares.”

The article also notes: “In his resolution, Judge José Abraham Rosa exposed the accredited facts, pointing out that in Zone ASP2, enabled only for exploration, the experts of the Public Ministry verified the existence of a waste dump within the core area of the park. They also documented the presence of security guards on a road built by the mining company and the chocolate color of the water, attributed to the work carried out.”

It also quotes Rita Romero, legal representative of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa, who says: “If this complaint had been prosecuted years ago, the disaster that is now in the hands of the judge would not be so serious. We would not have more than 40 displaced families, nor so many comrades killed on the road, and we would still have our comrade Juan Antonio López with us.”

Contra Corriente also posted on X: “Attorney Rita Romero, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Common Goods of Tocoa (CDBCT), stated that the prosecution of Los Pinares executives for environmental damage and disruptions to community life has been lengthy, and that they hope to achieve justice in what will now be the trial of these three individuals.”

Photo of lawyer Rita Romero by PBI-Honduras.

Background on the megaproject

The Municipal Committee for the Defence of Public and Common Goods has long opposed the Inversiones Los Pinares open-pit iron oxide mine in the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park, and the associated Ecotek processing plant for iron oxide pellets that is located about one hundred meters from the Guapinol River.

Criterio.hn notes that Inversiones Los Pinares and Inversiones Ecotek are both subsidiaries of the Emco Holding Group.

The Pinares-Ecotek megaproject has seven components including: the ASP and ASP2 concessions to dig for iron oxide, a thermoelectric plant that would burn petroleum coke (pet coke) to power the operations, an iron oxide pelletizing plant that could produce 800,000 tons of iron oxide pellets in its first year of operation, generating US$190 million in foreign exchange, and the Guapinol River and Ceibita stream concessions that would extract one hundred gallons of water per minute for the pelletizing plant.

Photos from Guapinol Resiste. “Destruction of water sources and deforestation of Carlos Escaleras National Park.”

Photo: “A mining company operating at the ‘Botaderos’ National Park, ‘Carlos Escaleras Mejía’, near Guapinol, Honduras. ©OHCHR/Vincent Tremeau.”

Photo: The mining project and pelletizing plant.

Photo: On October 30, 2024, PBI-Canada visited Guapinol and saw the pelletizing plant associated with the Los Pinares megaproject.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019. At PBI-Canada, we join with PBI-Honduras in remaining attentive to this situation and the safety of Guapinol River defenders.

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