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PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) at #MujeresAchí trial

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“Today #PBI accompanies the Association for Justice and Reconciliation -AJR- at the beginning of the second trial of the #AchíWomen case against three former patrol members accused of sexual violence and crimes against the duties of humanity during the Internal Armed Conflict.

A ceremony was held in the Human Rights Plaza in which representatives of the Achí women read a statement demanding justice and respect for human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples. They have called on the media and civil society to follow the process closely. AJR and other human rights organizations were present to support the Achi women in this judicial process.”

Background

On January 29, LaHora.gt reported: “High Risk Court B began the trial against three former members of the Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PAC) accused of crimes of duty against humanity and rape allegedly committed against women from the Achí community of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, during the Internal Armed Conflict between 1981 and 1982. …In this case, Pedro Sánchez Cortez, Simeón Enríquez Gómez and Feliz Tum Ramírez are being prosecuted, whom the Public Ministry (MP) seeks to convict.”

CRN Noticias has also explained: “high-risk court in Guatemala on Tuesday began the trial of three former members of a paramilitary force. The defendants face charges of sexual violence against more than 30 Mayan women of the Achí people during the 1980s, in the context of the internal armed conflict. The Public Prosecutor’s Office (Prosecutor’s Office) presented evidence to the High Risk Court B indicating that the defendants sexually abused at least five women. These women were detained for more than 25 days in a military barracks in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz.”

FGER further notes: “The ‘Mujeres Achi’ case is emblematic of sexual violence during the internal armed conflict, evidencing the use of rape as a weapon of war by the Army and paramilitary groups to attack women and subjugate indigenous communities. According to the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), in 1999 1,465 cases of rape were documented during the conflict, affecting 89% Mayan women and 35% girls. …The events on trial occurred between 1981 and 1985, during which the Achi women were subjected to extreme sexual violence by the Army, military commissioners and civilian patrolmen, both in their homes and in military installations. Violations in these contexts were particularly degrading, as many victims were abused while in detention, and at times, in front of family members, which intensified their suffering.”

The next court dates are on January 30, February 11 and 12, February 17 and 18.

Accompaniment

The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) is a coalition of survivors from 22 communities in five regions of the country that suffered as a result of the scorched earth policy between 1978 and 1985. PBI-Guatemala began accompanying the AJR Board of Directors in April 2024.

PBI-Canada to follow the human rights implications of RCMP Black Hawk helicopters deployed at US-Canada border

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

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the struggle for migrant rights, notably the Saltillo Migrant Shelter in Mexico.

The Saltillo Migrant Shelter is situated in the state of Coahuila which shares a 512-kilometre border with Texas.

PBI-Mexico has noted: “The Saltillo Migrant Shelter offers daily humanitarian assistance — including clothes, medicines, food, rest, and medical and psychological care — to hundreds of migrants crossing Mexico to reach the United States.”

Video: Saltillo Migrant Shelter director Alberto Xicotencátl Carrasco denouncing federal police attempting an immigration check at the Shelter, July 24, 2019.

In his inaugural speech on January 20, 2025, Trump stated: “I will declare a national emergency at our southern border” and further noted: “I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”

The Washington Post has also reported: “At times, Trump has tied tariffs to border security, citing an ‘invasion’ of migrants and fentanyl from Canada. About 1.5 percent of migrants apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 0.2 percent of fentanyl seized at U.S. borders in the 2024 fiscal year came from Canada.”

To counter Trump’s threat of the US imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada as early as February 1, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty stated: “We have deployed 60 new drones along our border with the United States, and we will be deploying additional surveillance towers. We are acquiring new technology such as x rays, mobile x rays, and handheld chemical analyzers. As of this week, we are deploying new helicopters at the Canada U.S. border.”

On January 22, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began patrolling the Manitoba-US border with Black Hawk helicopters. On January 28, patrols with Black Hawk helicopters began on the Alberta-US border.

The RCMP says: “The helicopter patrols will transverse the Prairie border to search for, and target, all illegal activity along the border region; this includes searching for individuals who illegally enter Canada between official ports of entries and for the human smugglers who facilitate their travel. It will also be used to detect and stop illegal smuggling and trafficking of contraband such as illicit drugs into, and out of, Canada.”

Another Washington Post article notes: “Trump has complained about irregular crossings into the United States from Canada. But after his election in November, officials here have been preparing for a surge in crossings in the opposite direction — a repeat of what happened during his first term.”

Either way, migrants detained by Canada and returned to the United States face deportation flights on US military aircraft while handcuffed or even being held at the notorious US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Trump administration says up to 30,000 migrants could be held there.

The Toronto-based Migrant Rights Network has commented: “Seven years ago, when Trump was first elected, Prime Minister Trudeau declared that ‘refugees are welcome’. Now, as Trump returns to power, the Canadian government has allocated $1.3 billion to increase border policing and create a ‘border strike force’.”

For 2025, they are calling on people to “commit to ending wars, genocides, climate collapse, and capitalist extraction that force people to migrate.”

We are following the human rights implications of Canada’s border policies and are seeking to amplify the voices of migrant rights defenders.

Further reading: PBI-Mexico: “The dignity of people is beyond any border” (PBI-Canada, December 18, 2021).

PBI-Colombia accompanies NOMADESC in Cali as mural painters highlight paramilitary and state violence in Medellín

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Colombia has posted on Instagram and X/Twitter:

“We accompanied NOMADESC [the Association for Social Research and Action] in the mural day on January 19 in Cali, in their work to defend #humanrights and fight against #impunity. In the Luna de la Resistencia [Moon of Resistance], emblematic site of the 2021 National Strike, murals were made in support of the search for missing persons in the Comuna [neighbourhood] 13 of Medellín. NOMADESC’s denouncement of an armed man threatening the activist youth who carried out the work is of concern. Urgent investigations and #guarantees for those who defend human rights.”

Video by NOMADESC.

Photo from that day.

NOMADESC has also explained on Instagram: “In response to the constant denial of the right to justice, memory and freedom of expression, artists, human rights defenders and social organizations in #Cali united last January 19, in artistic and cultural expressions in support of the national sentiment of the searching mothers of #Medellín and all of Colombia who have been right to denounce the murders, disappearances and torture of their children at the hands of the public forces.”

Missing persons, the clandestine ‘La Escombrera’ burial ground

Freelance reporter Joshua Collins has provided crucial context in his article Mass Grave in Medellín Tourist Hotspot Sparks War of Words—and Walls  (NACLA, January 21, 2025).

Collins explains that:

“For decades, residents of the working class neighborhood of Comuna 13, in Medellín, Colombia have sworn that a garbage dump near the community also served as a clandestine burial ground for some of the city’s thousands of ‘disappeared’ – victims of gangs, paramilitaries, and Colombian security forces during the country’s more than half-century civil war.

On December 18, Colombia’s Peace Court (JEP for its Spanish initials) finally confirmed these suspicions when investigators uncovered human remains during a search of the grounds. The grim revelation has renewed the debate in the city over paramilitary ‘social cleansings’, which claimed thousands of lives in Medellin and culminated in 2002 in ‘Operation Orion’, a joint armed offensive in Comuna 13 carried out by state forces and their paramilitary allies that left hundreds of victims.

It has also inspired a graffiti war in a city that has become famous for its street art.

On Sunday, January 12, street artists and activists painted a mural on an underpass in the city honoring the victims of conflict in Comuna 13. The mural also depicted a group of mothers of missing children who have spent decades insisting that authorities investigate ‘La Escombrera’, which residents have long claimed is ‘the largest mass grave in the country’.

‘Las cuchas tenían la razón’,  (the old ladies were right), read the mural, using a slang term for ‘mothers’ that can imply affection or serve as a pejorative depending on the context.

The following day Medellin’s right-wing mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, better known as ‘Fico’, ordered the mural removed and sent city workers to repaint the underpass with grey primer. The decision was met with public outcry.

Undeterred, activists and artists returned to the site on January 14 and repainted the mural, this time twice as big, amid impromptu celebrations.”

W Radio Colombia Video (January 14): “Artistic groups from Medellín repaint the mural ‘Las cuchas eran razón’ that had been erased by order of the Mayor’s Office.”

The mural was defaced on Wednesday, January 17, when unknown parties partially erased one of the images, an homage to an iconic photo of paramilitaries directing government forces during Operation Orion.

According to Colombia’s Center for Historical Memory, [Operation Orion] resulted in six hundred direct victims: displaced, wounded, disappeared, and dead. According to Colombia’s Center for Historical Memory, the operation resulted in six hundred direct victims: displaced, wounded, disappeared, and dead. Seventy-five residents of Comuna 13 were killed and 105 disappeared.”

More about Operation Orion

On December 24, 2024, Colombia One also explained:

“On October 16 and 17, 2002, the military incursion into Comuna 13, one of Medellín’s most dangerous neighborhoods, left residents caught in the crossfire from both ground and air, resulting in forced displacement, disappearances, and numerous deaths.

The operation, which continued throughout November and December, was a joint initiative of the Colombian government and involved the Army, the DAS (intelligence services), the Police, and special military forces equipped with tanks and supported by armed helicopters. A total of 1,500 personnel, some with their faces concealed, participated in the operation.

Fifteen years ago, former paramilitary leader alias Don Berna, who headed the Cacique Nutibara paramilitary group, publicly acknowledged the involvement of paramilitary forces in Operation Orion. He stated that they conducted prior intelligence gathering, accompanied the military, and actively participated in ground operations.”

“They are killing us”, the National Strike in 2021

Infobae has also recently reported:

“The Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, defended the mural that reads ‘The cuchas were right’, alluding to the skeletal remains found in La Escombrera, in the 13th commune of Medellín.

The mural also refers to a broader context: its predecessor, which bore the phrase ‘They are killing us’, had previously been removed. This graffiti recalled the deaths and disappearances that occurred during the 2021 national strike, as well as the crimes against social leaders. Its elimination generated a new wave of protests and culminated in the appearance of the current phrase, reaffirming the cyclical nature of tensions between popular expression and government decisions.”

Accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied NOMADESC since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

Further reading: NOMADESC upholds the right of mural painting in Cali, denounces police violence and genocide (September 16, 2021).

Photo: This is the mural “They are killing us”. In a short statement, they stated that they are demonstrating “against the selective assassinations of social leaders, systematic massacres, femicides and homicides as a result of the brutality of the police in Colombia.” Photo by Graffiti Collectives of Medellín (RCN Radio, September 14, 2020).

PBI-Mexico amplifies Red Solidaria DH concern about disappeared environmental defender José Gabriel Pelayo Zalgado

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Heriberto Paredes/ Pie de Página.

PBI-Mexico has posted on Facebook:

“The Human Rights Solidarity Network draws attention to the situation of insecurity in the community of Coahuayula, community of human rights defender José Gabriel Pelayo Zalgado, missing since March 19, 2024, and whose family is accompanied in the process of accessing justice by the Human Rights Solidarity Network. The population of Coahuayula is at high risk due to violence caused by the presence of criminal groups in the territory. From Peace Brigades International we join this concern to ensure the safety and protection of human rights defenders fighting to defend their territory against mining.”

On January 21, Changoonga.com reported: “Relatives of environmentalist José Gabriel Pelayo Zalgado demand his return alive, pointing out that there is no progress in the investigations. Gabriel Pelayo is a founding activist of the Popular Council of Chinicuila, an organization that defends land dispossession and was last seen in Coacolmán on March 19, 2024. …Yulissa Pelayo confessed that both she and the rest of her relatives feel constantly threatened, after the event with the environmentalist.”

Animal Politico has reported that Pelayo was threatened by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) before being disappeared in Michoacán.

Cambio de Michoacán adds: “Almost a year after his disappearance, the collective Buscando a Pelayo [Searching for Pelayo] held a press conference to demand the location alive of rural teacher and environmentalist José Gabriel Pelayo Salgado… The activists denounced the systematic violence faced by communities in the Sierra Costa region of Michoacán, affected by armed groups that they claim operate with impunity.”

That article further notes: “The acts of insecurity, [the Buscando a Pelayo collective said at the press conference] are taken advantage of by companies for extractivist purposes, such as mining companies that operate in the area, which generates a context of dispossession and forced displacement.”

Canadian mining in Michoacán

In October 2024, El Pais reported: “The indigenous peoples of Michoacán have faced collusion between companies, organized crime and the government, according to the organization Peace Brigades International (PBI), organizer of the meeting in Madrid in which [María Eugenia Gabriel Ruiz is an Indigenous Purhépecha lawyer and member of the Human Rights Solidarity Network] participated.”

Official figures from a report published in 2018 lists addresses in Canada for five of the six foreign mining companies operating in Michoacán. The sixth company listed in that report is also Canadian.

Accompaniment

The Human Rights Solidarity Network (Red Solidaria DH) is accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project.

Further reading: “Chinicuila, asedio de la minería y el crimen Organizado” by Gilbert Gil Yáñez (15dias.com, April 2024).

Could the anti-COP and planned demonstrations in Belém help advance the protection needs of environmental defenders?

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: The anti-COP in Oaxaca, Mexico, 2024.

The United Nations Conference of Parties COP30 climate conference will take place in Belém, Brazil this coming November 10 to 21.

On the first day of his presidency, January 20, Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement reached at COP21.

It will take about a year for the withdrawal to be formalized.

What could the political moment be like when COP30 takes place ten months from now?

Within the first eight days of his presidency, we have already seen Trump clash with Colombian president Gustavo Petro over deportation flights where migrants were shackled on US Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.

In response to these deportations, Honduras President Xiomara Castro has called for a hybrid (virtual and in-person) meeting – to take place on Thursday January 30 at 11 am local time – of the 33 members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), including Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil.

Colombian president Petro will fly to Tegucigalpa for this meeting.

The “environment” will also be on the agenda of this meeting.

Is it possible that the leaders of some states will see COP30 as a moment to mobilize against the assault on the planet?

Increased risks for environmental defenders

Earlier this month, Washington, DC-based Global Witness expressed the concern that “the US is moving backwards in its support of land and environmental defenders who are at-risk from violence, arrest and land invasions.”

Then last week the executive directors of all Amnesty International Americas sections issued a joint statement that further suggested that Trump in the White House “could signal fewer institutional controls or even inspire the arbitrary use of power” with Amnesty International Paraguay stating “Attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, and judicial independence have no ideological distinction and can easily spread throughout the continent if there is no unequivocal support for organized civil society.”

The anti-COP and demonstrations in Belém

In his article Will COP30 Deliver for the Amazon — and the Planet?, Bernardo Jurema, a climate researcher at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, highlighted: “COP30 is anticipated to be a focal point for civil society and grassroots activism. Activists and indigenous leaders plan to use the event to amplify calls for systemic change, including an end to the commercialization of biodiversity and greater protections for ancestral lands.”

“Alternative forums, like the ‘anti-COP’ and the People’s Summit gatherings, will likely draw attention to voices often marginalized in official negotiations, further intensifying the dialogue around justice and equity.”

Jurema then highlights: “Grassroots movements and alternative forums like the Global Meeting for Climate and Life in Oaxaca [in mid-November 2024 have] sought to bridge gaps between climate action and land defense movements, concluding with a roadmap for future activism — including planned demonstrations at COP30 in Belém — aimed at turning the world’s attention to the heart of the rainforest, where the tension between development and conservation will take center stage.”

The demand for safe spaces for activists

At the conclusion of the Global Meeting for Climate and Life: ANTICOP 2024, its 250 participants agreed to a final statement that noted:

“Activism in defense of land, territory, water, and nature is dangerous, and many of our comrades face stigmatization, harassment, repression, criminalization, and even murder. Since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, over 1,500 environmental defenders have been killed around the world—the vast majority in Global South countries. We demand safe spaces for activists, where they can heal and protect themselves physically, emotionally, and legally. We also propose creating networks and support mechanisms for legal, communication, technological, psychological, and physical and digital security for human rights defenders, land defenders, and environmental activists in the most vulnerable territories.”

Among the activities agreed to at this Global Meeting was a “Mesoamerican Caravan for Climate and Life” to take place between October 11 and November 10 (the first day of the COP30 climate conference.

Next steps

Peace Brigades International teams are meeting this week to discuss a strategy for the COP30 climate conference with the aim of advancing the security and protection needs of the land and environmental defenders we accompany.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Further reading: How Trump’s threatened tariffs could push forward the PRGT pipeline and put at risk Indigenous land defenders (PBI-Canada, January 27, 2025)

Photo: At COP15 in Copenhagen, December 2009 and COP16 in Cancun, December 2010.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS at discussion on the Peace Agreements, the worsening humanitarian crisis

By
Brent Patterson
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The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) has posted on Facebook:

“With the discussion ‘Current events and political challenges in the construction of peace and the defense of human rights’, we opened our day of balance and planning.

In this space we talked with Jairo Cala representative to the House of Representatives for Santander, about the progress in the implementation of the Peace Agreements, the challenges to overcome and the current situation in the face of the Humanitarian Crisis that is worsening in the territories.

There, participated the Human Rights Committees of the different municipalities of the Magdalena Medio Region, sister and allied social organizations and members of the Human Rights Network.”

Just three weeks ago, El Espectador reported:

“According to the organization, on January 1 in the morning hours they received a text message circulating a pamphlet declaring them a “military target,” along with other social leaders and victims in the region. The message, according to the complaint, was directed not only at the corporation, but also against four members of the human rights collective and social leaders in Barrancabermeja.

In the public complaint, Credhos points out that the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) – also known as the Gulf Clan and self-styled as the Gaitanista Army of Colombia (EGC) – would be behind the harassment.”

Last week, Amnesty International issued this urgent action:

“On November 30, 2024, and again on January 02, 2025, CREDHOS publicly denounced that the armed group Gaitanista Army of Colombia (also known as Clan del Golfo or Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia – AGC) plans to assassinate the president of CREDHOS, Iván Madero. The members of CREDHOS, as well as other civil society organizations and communities of the Middle Magdalena such as FEDEPESAN have been stigmatized and threatened with death for more than a year, as part of the process of territorial, political, economic and social control, expansion and strengthening of this armed group in the region. We call on the Colombian authorities to guarantee the protection of civil society organizations and communities in Magdalena Medio.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

How Trump’s threatened tariffs could push forward the PRGT pipeline and put at risk Indigenous land defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: “Maas Gwitkunuxws Teresa Brown at her camp and dog sanctuary, situated a few dozen metres from the projected right-of-way of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline.” Photo by Mike Graeme, November 27, 2024.

We are following the on-the-ground resistance by Indigenous land defenders to the construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) fracked gas pipeline on Gitanyow, Gitxsan and Nisga’a territories in British Columbia.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose up to 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports, possibly as early as February 1. Trump, as the BBC reports, has also “said the US does not need Canadian energy, vehicles or lumber as he spoke to global business leaders at the World Economic Forum [on January 23].”

This situation has revived in media reports the idea of the Northern Gateway pipeline (a proposed project that would send bitumen from Alberta to the north coast of British Columbia for export overseas) and the Energy East pipeline (a previously proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick).

The Business Council of Canada, an advocacy organization of chief executive officers, also says: “Getting more product to tidewater … would provide Canada with more soft power on the world stage and reduce our economic dependence on the U.S. …Building new export pipelines in Canada will be a complicated business no matter which government is in power, so best to stick with the projects where the initial legwork has largely been completed: Prince Rupert Gas Transmission and Northern Gateway. Get these built by 2030.”

And Canada’s National Observer lead columnist Max Fawcett has commented: “[There is the need for] new energy infrastructure that reduces our dependence on America and increases our access to world markets… Northern Gateway is dead, but what about a different project — built by Ottawa and owned entirely by impacted Indigenous communities — that helped ship Canada’s oil to global markets? What about a similar project heading east to feed refineries in Quebec and the Maritimes?”

The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline

The environment assessment certificate for the PRGT pipeline expired on November 25, 2024, and, as Nick Gottlieb has explained, a decision is pending on whether it will receive a “substantially started determination” that would extend its 10-year-old environmental approval certificate or go through a new environmental assessment process under modern environmental laws.

The Narwhal has reported: “The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline is likely to be the first major project decision facing Tamara Davidson [from Skidegate on Haida Gwaii], B.C.’s new Minister of Environment and Parks.” The Pipeline Technology Journal notes that “a decision is expected by March 2025.”

The “mandate letter” from British Columbia’s premier to Davidson, posted on January 16 of this year, says: “Direct the Environmental Assessment Office to work with key permitting ministries to develop specific measures that will expedite authorizations and permitting for major projects. Bring proposed measures forward for Cabinet review within six months.” This could imply approval of the PRGT project.

PRGT, a pipeline backed by Trump’s allies

On January 22, Kai Nagata, the communications director for Dogwood, wrote: “Last week [the New York City-based investment company] Blackstone revealed its stake in Western LNG, the shell company promoting Ksi Lisims and the PRGT pipeline. …Blackstone’s CEO is Republican mega-donor Steve Schwarzman, who poured $39 million into the 2024 race in support of Trump’s agenda. A close advisor to the president since 2016, Schwarzman is betting big on a continent-wide expansion of LNG exports. Other PRGT investors include the Jefferies Group, run by billionaire CEO Rich Handler, and Apollo Global Management. Apollo’s CEO Marc Rowan was short-listed by Trump for the position of Treasury Secretary, while its board chair Jay Clayton is nominated as the new U.S. Attorney for Manhattan.”

Land defenders resist the PRGT pipeline

Back on August 29, 2024, CBC reported: “Gitanyow hereditary chiefs and a group of young Indigenous people have blockaded a forest service road in northern B.C. in an attempt to prevent pipeline construction workers from passing through their territory.”

By November 25, 2024, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs posted: “We will continue our on the ground presence with new cabins, a new Indigenous Protected Area, and on-going monitoring conducted by Wilp members and the Lax’yip Guardians.” And Hereditary Chief Deborah Good Watakhayetsxw posted that on January 26 they would be meeting to discuss: “[The] time for restart on the Checkpoint against pipeline and who will do the work.”

Further reading: Gitanyow and Gitxsan resistance to the PRGT pipeline continues as decision on fate of megaproject expected in March 2025 (PBI-Canada, December 3, 2024).

Meanwhile, the Office of the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs released a statement on January 21 that said they would be meeting with the Ministers of Indigenous Relations and Public Safety, as well as with the Attorney General, to call for “an immediate independent review” of the “militarized RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] unit” that “terrorizes land defenders” and to highlight that they “want the militarized RCMP CRU [Critical Response Unit formerly the Community-Industry Response Group/C-IRG] to be dissolved”.

Gitxsan Nation Wilps Gwininitxw member Ankhla Jennifer Zyp has previously commented: “We’re worried, for sure, that we’re going to be met with the same violence [as seen against the Wet’suwet’en]…”

As a result of Trump’s statements about migrants and drugs crossing the US-Canada border, the RCMP has now deployed Black Hawk helicopters on the border. In the event of a militarized raid against land defenders opposed to the PRGT pipeline (as seen against Wet’suwet’en land defenders resisting the Coastal GasLink pipeline in January 2019, February 2020 and November 2021), these helicopters could be made available to the CRU.

March-April decision

As noted above, The Pipeline Technology Journal notes that “a decision [on PRGT] is expected by March 2025.” There is also the suggestion that the decision could come at the end of April. Northern Beat reports more generally that the decision will be made “this spring.”

We will continue to follow this.

Map.

Map of Gitanyow territory.

PBI-Colombia amplifies ASCAMCAT statement about violence by armed groups in Catatumbo

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still: ASCAMCAT is among the organizations calling on the ELN and FARC to respect grassroots organizations in Catatumbo.

The Washington Post reports: “More than 80 people have been killed, and more than 11,000 displaced, in ongoing clashes between armed groups in Colombia, officials say, marking one of the deadliest waves of violence since the country’s 2016 peace accords.”

That article further reports: “The escalated fighting between rival guerrilla groups in Catatumbo, a northeast coca-growing region near the Venezuelan border, delivers a devastating blow to the ‘total peace’ program of the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro. It could also fuel tensions with the administration of President Donald Trump, whose allies have been critical of Petro’s approach to the country’s conflict and his inability to control the surging levels of cocaine production across Colombia.”

El Colombiano notes: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that among the deceased are seven peace signatories, as well as social leader Carmelo Guerrero, who was part of the Association for Peasant Unity of Catatumbo (Asuncat).”

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “For decades Catatumbo has been the epicenter of sociopolitical violence and armed conflict.”

“The 2016 signature of the Peace Agreement brought hope of peace and a dignified life for the communities. However, the lack of its comprehensive implementation has obstructed addressing the armed conflict’s structural causes and has left communities at the mercy of intensifying violence.”

It adds: “The Luis Carlos Pérez Lawyers Collective (CCALCP)—a group of women lawyers and human rights defenders with 22 years of experience defending human rights—is one of the organizations that accompanies the Catatumbo Peasant Association (ASCAMCAT) and the peasant communities of Catatumbo, whom they represent through strategic litigation to demand compliance with the Peace Agreement.”

This week, PBI-Colombia reposted this tweet by ASCAMCAT:

“#ATTENTION: The social organizations of Catatumbo ASCAMCAT, CISCA [the Committee of Social Integration in Catatumbo], MCP and ASUNCAT supported by more than 120 organizations with the accompaniment of @DefensoriaCol [the Ombudsman’s Office] of the country, address a public letter to @DelegacionEln [National Liberation Army] and EMB 33 Farc front of Catatumbo [a dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] to respect the 7 humanitarian minimums and request a public statement of respect to the grassroots organizations and their leaders for their humanitarian social work in the Catatumbo region #SOSCatatumbo.”

“From @ccalcp we support the clamor of the communities of #Catatumbo.”

State of siege declared

The City Paper Bogota now reports: “President Gustavo Petro has declared a state of siege in Colombia, responding to the intensifying violence in the Catatumbo region, where clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and FARC dissidents have displaced over 11,000 people and left an estimated 100 dead. Petro’s declaration marks the first time in 17 years that a Colombian president has invoked emergency powers, underscoring the gravity of the internal security situation.”

That article adds: “The state of siege, formally known as a state of internal disturbance, grants the government extraordinary powers to restore public order. These include suspending laws, restricting citizens’ movement, imposing curfews, and other measures deemed necessary. The decree is initially valid for 90 days but can be extended twice, with the second extension requiring congressional approval.”

We continue to follow this situation.

What implications might the Trump presidency have on PBI’s accompaniment of human rights defenders?

By
Brent Patterson
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Still from video of US president Donald Trump’s inauguration speech.

In his inaugural speech today, US president Donald Trump promised that he would sign series of “executive orders” including declaring “a national emergency at our southern border”, beginning “the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came” (in other words, mass deportations from the US) and “designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations”.

MEXICO The Guardian reports that [the United States government] designating Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) “could be the first step towards US military strikes in Mexican territory”. That article adds: “While the designation of cartels as FTOs itself will not authorise US military action in Mexico, some fear it would be the first step towards it. Trump has already suggested bombing drug labs, and has reportedly discussed sending special forces to kill cartel leaders.” PBI-Mexico has previously commented: “The ‘War on Drugs’ [launched in 2006] has resulted in a drastic increase in violence in the country with horrific numbers of human rights violations.”

COLOMBIA Americas Quarterly reports: “Trump is likely to pressure Colombia over an increase in cocaine production and [Colombian president Gustavo] Petro’s Total Peace strategy, leading to increased tension in the relationship between Washington and Bogotá, a possible reduction in military aid and even the threat of economic sanctions.” WOLA adds: “Returning to harmful, ineffective policies that characterized the first years of ‘Plan Colombia,’ like a hardline security approach to combat drugs—which often leads to [human rights] abuses—will not solve the problem of illicit economies.”

GUATEMALA Al Jazeera reports: “Adam Isacson, director for defence oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research organisation [says the Biden Administration] stood firm on [Guatemalan president Bernardo] Arevalo’s election [but now] Trump’s return to power could shift momentum in the other direction. …Some politicians with histories of election denialism, like [Guatemalan special prosecutor Rafael] Curruchiche in Guatemala are cheering someone they perceive to be a kindred spirit. ‘The far right in Guatemala is sharpening its knives right now, because they know they’re going to have friends in the White House,’ Isacson said.”

HONDURAS WOLA has also commented: “We are likely to see ongoing pressure from Republicans in Congress and the administration on President Xiomara Castro in Honduras, given concerns about policies that are impacting U.S. businesses and her ties with Venezuela, Cuba, China, Nicaragua, and other U.S. adversaries.”

Global Witness comments: “The US should have a strong international voice in support of human rights defenders, yet its actions have often fallen short of ensuring their safety.  During his previous term, Trump pursued a policy of isolation from international collaboration, including withdrawing from the UN’s Human Rights Council. A return to this approach would send a deeply concerning message that the US is moving backwards in its support of land and environmental defenders who are at-risk from violence, arrest and land invasions.”

For more, read Latin America: War on drugs should not induce war on defenders (Peace Brigades International, the International Service for Human Rights, September 2015).

Other statements with foreign policy implications

The climate crisis: In his inaugural speech, Trump also said he would declare “a national energy emergency.” He added: “We will drill, baby, drill.” Reuters further notes: “Trump will once again withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal, the White House said on Monday [January 20], removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.”

LGBTQI+ rights: Trump also stated: “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”  Human Rights Watch comments: “Trump’s past unwillingness to discuss human rights issues with foreign leaders could prove very harmful to LGBT people abroad.”

Other concerns

The safety of journalists: Article 19 comments: “Trump’s well-documented hostility towards the media is a direct attack on the public’s right to know. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump openly endorsed violence towards journalists and threatened retribution against media outlets that cover him negatively, including revocation of broadcasting licenses and even jailing reporters. His nominee for the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has previously called for the prosecution of journalists.”

Arms sales to repressive regimes: William Hartung, a Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, writes: “The case that makes a mockery of [Biden] administration rhetoric about supporting human rights and a ‘rules-based international order’ is the continued supply of weaponry to Israel… Could a Trump administration be any worse at handing out weapons to repressive regimes and into war zones? …A Trump presidency is good news for weapons contractors who are already awash in funding from the the Pentagon and scores of foreign clients. But to the extent that aggressive arms dealing fuels wars and bolsters dictators, it is terrible news for the rest of us.”

RCMP Black Hawk border patrol helicopters CBC has previously reported: “With U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just days away, the [Canadian] government announced it is sending a slew of drones and two leased Black Hawk helicopters to the shared border to begin beefed-up patrols.” These Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky built helicopters are being used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and conceivably could also be deployed by the controversial Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) in a militarized action against land and environmental defenders.

We continue to follow this.

Photo: Black Hawk helicopters have now been leased and deployed on the border by the RCMP as a direct result of Trump’s statements.

RCMP to deploy Sikorsky-Lockheed Martin Black Hawk helicopters on border as early as January 17

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: A Black Hawk helicopter on display at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa. Photo: Le Droit, Patrick Duquette/Le Droit, Patrick Duquette.

CBC reports: “With U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration just days away, the federal government announced it is sending [60 new] drones and two leased Black Hawk helicopters to the shared border to begin beefed-up patrols. …Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin said the RCMP leased two Black Hawks from an aviation company, and they will be in use starting Friday for enhanced surveillance.”

Global News adds: “The RCMP confirmed that two of the Black Hawk models will be operational as soon as Friday [January 17].”

Vertical Magazine further notes: “The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said it has procured two Black Hawks on lease from Helicopter Transport Services in Ottawa, Ont., the nation’s capital. They will join nine existing helicopters in the RCMP fleet…”

It’s unclear if the RCMP intends to eventually buy Black Hawk helicopters.

Last year, The Rio Times reported: “In the U.S., the Army intends to retire 51 Black Hawks by 2025 to make room for newer models. Programs like Foreign Military Sales and Excess Defense Articles will sell these helicopters, each valued at approximately $2 million.”

About the Black Hawk helicopter

The Lockheed Martin website says: “When the mission is on the line, there’s one helicopter that’s consistently called upon to deliver.  The rugged, versatile BLACK HAWK and its family of variants are trusted around the world for critical missions from air assault to emergency response. Sikorsky has built more than 5,000 HAWK aircraft for 36 nations worldwide.”

Lockheed Martin further boasts: “Carries up to 12 troops and their gear – or 9,000 pounds of supplies and ammo – into contested environments for rapid deployment.”

Lockheed Martin bought Sikorsky Aircraft, the builder of the Black Hawk helicopter, in November 2015.

Lockheed Martin and the genocide in Palestine

JFeed has reported: “The Israeli Air Force has extensively used Black Hawk helicopters, locally designated as ‘Yanshuf’ (Hebrew for ‘owl’), since the 1990s. These aircraft have played critical roles in numerous operations, including rescue missions, deployment of special forces, border patrol and disaster relief efforts.”

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has also noted: “The world’s largest weapons manufacturer, Lockheed Martin supplies Israel with F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, which Israel has been using extensively to bomb Gaza.”

The AFSC adds that Israel has deployed against Palestinians Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport planes, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, Hellfire R9X missiles (“a version of the Hellfire that was developed by the CIA for carrying out assassinations”), the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopters (manufactured by its subsidiary Sikorsky).

In February 2024, thirteen United Nations Special Rapporteurs, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, stated that “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.”

The UN Special Rapporteurs also notes: “Arms companies contributing to the production and transfer of arms to Israel and businesses investing in those companies bear their own responsibility to respect human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. They have not publicly demonstrated the heightened human rights due diligence required of them and accordingly risk complicity in violations.”

Lawlor has also written: “Palestinian human rights defenders have emphasized to me the importance of a ban being placed on such sales, given that Israel has demonstrated time and again that it will use such weapons indiscriminately against Palestinians.”

It is possible that more than 1,422 human rights defenders have been killed in Palestine over the last 15 months.

Helicopters and drones deployed against 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.

On March 9, 2023, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launched a systemic investigation into the RCMP C-IRG unit. As that investigation approaches the two-year point, the only Investigation Update was posted more than thirteen months ago on November 23, 2023.

We will be monitoring the use by the RCMP of its Black Hawk helicopters notably with respect to the human rights of migrants as well as their potential use against land defence struggles against extractivist megaprojects.

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