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Does Canada have a mechanism like the IHLCAP Cell to track and investigate potential breaches of international humanitarian law?

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from Dispatches-Channel 4 Facebook page.

Channel 4 in the United Kingdom has broadcast a documentary titled: “Britain’s Gaza Secrets Exposed”.

The full documentary can be seen here.

In the Democracy Now! segment on this documentary – “Britain’s Gaza Secrets Exposed”: How U.K. Downplayed Israeli Crimes to Keep Selling Weapons” – Channel 4 producer Ben De Pear says: “Our film focused on the process by which the Foreign Office, our government, assesses Israel’s conduct, its military behavior in Gaza, because not only are they an ally of the United Kingdom, but we also sell them weapons. And we are the signatory of a number of international treaties, including the Genocide Convention, which means if there is even a risk of a genocide taking place, you are meant to take action as a fellow country under that Genocide Convention. You’re meant to stop the genocide, not aid it, not sell weapons. We’re also signatories of the arms treaty, which is that you do not sell arms to a country that may be committing war crimes.”

“And when we got these documents from inside the Foreign Office, they were the assessments written by a team who were watching hundreds of videos, the sort of videos that you and I watched on our phones…”

De Pear adds: “We were looking at how our country, which prides itself on having an ethical foreign policy and as being one of the supporting members of the United Nations on human rights, was able to keep selling arms.”

IHLCAP Cell

The documentary explains: “We’ve obtained assessments produced by the unit the Foreign Office set up [in November 2023] to investigate these alleged violations [of international law by Israel], the International Humanitarian Law Compliance Assessment Cell or IHLCAP Cell. They reviewed evidence of possible war crimes including the hundreds of videos shown here, their assessments inform the Foreign Secretary’s decisions on whether the UK could sell arms to Israel. The UK cannot export weapons to any country that’s breaking international humanitarian law.”

In April 2026, The Guardian reported: “The Foreign Office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and more recently Lebanon has been closed [under the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer] because of cuts within the department, the Guardian can reveal. …The closure of the IHL cell is part of a cut in funding to the conflict and atrocity prevention team, which has been critical in warning the Foreign Office of potential atrocities, including in Sudan.”

Does Canada have an IHLCAP Cell?

The Canadian government does not have a direct parallel to the British IHLCAP Cell but does have the Export Controls Division within Global Affairs Canada, the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program, and the Canadian National Committee on Humanitarian Law (CNCHL).

It was Global Affairs Canada that reviewed the sale of Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia and found no credible evidence linking Canadian exports of military equipment to human rights violations by the government of Saudi Arabia in this report published in November 2019.

And it was the Canadian National Committee on Humanitarian Law (CNCHL) that published the Government of Canada’s first Voluntary Report on the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law at the Domestic Level in 2024.

The 40-page government report includes sections on “Canada’s international humanitarian law (IHL) treaty obligations”, “Prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide”, and “Prohibitions and restrictions” under the broader category of “Means and Methods of Warfare”.

While highlighting that this first voluntary report “represents an important step forward”, Steve Tiwa Fomekong, an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of Université Laval, comments: “It remains silent on essential elements, such as the number of prosecutions initiated for war crimes, extraditions carried out, or the challenges encountered in these processes. Similarly, with regard to arms transfer controls, no information is provided on possible permits refused, thus limiting transparency.”

Significantly, Fomekong also notes in his analysis: “The report overlooks key contemporary IHL issues relevant to Canada, including the regulation of Canadian companies operating in conflict zones.”

The first Canadian IHL report was released on September 20, 2024. A second report was not issued in 2025. To date, a report has not been issued in 2026.

Exports and human rights defenders

Peace Brigades International-Canada, within our commitment to the holistic protective accompaniment of organizations, defenders and communities, continues to monitor, research and analyze the implications of the export of military goods produced in Canada and the regulation of Canadian companies operating abroad on the lives and safety of the human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and workers movements accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Part of this work is understanding the strengths and weaknesses of existing mechanisms and how to access them to be able to credibly advocate for measures that contribute to greater safety for human rights defenders.

PBI-Canada attentive to Wet’suwet’en land defenders responding to the LNG Canada Phase 2 final investment decision

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: On April 14, 2026, PBI-Canada observed Chief Na’Moks, Gwii Lok’im Gibuu and Katisha Paul speaking in Ottawa against LNG Canada Phase 2.

CBC News reports: “The multibillion-dollar LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C., is going forward, Shell Energy Canada says… In a release early Tuesday [September 29], Shell Canada Energy — which holds a 40 per cent interest in the joint venture — confirmed the decision to move forward with Phase 2.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also in British Columbia today and CBC News has confirmed that he will speak about the long-expected final investment decision for Phase 2 of LNG Canada at 11 am PT (2 pm ET).

Peace Brigades International-Canada will be watching this as Wet’suwet’en land and environmental defenders have expressed opposition to the construction of Phase 2 compressor stations on their territory.

LNG Canada is a joint venture company made up of Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and Korea Gas Corp.

CTV News reports this morning: “LNG Canada said it is working with Coastal GasLink to expand the capacity of the existing 670-kilometre pipeline through the construction of five new compressor stations.”

This TC Energy media release published this morning also notes: “CGL Phase 2 will nearly double the existing capacity by adding new compressor stations and upgrading facilities along the existing 670-kilometre route from Dawson Creek to the LNG Canada liquefaction facility in Kitimat, northern British Columbia.”

EnergyNow.ca has previously reported: “TC Energy announced that Coastal GasLink (CGL) has entered into commercial agreements with LNG Canada covering the doubling of natural-gas transmission through the CGL pipeline that feeds LNG Canada. This would mean building six more compressor stations along the pipeline, which would be necessary if LNG Canada is to proceed with Phase Two.”

And two years ago the Canadian Press reported: “[Wet’suwet’en] Hereditary chiefs say two of the proposed compressor stations that would be a part of Coastal GasLink’s Phase 2 would be located on their traditional territory. They said they have concerns about the proximity to important cultural sites, additional years of construction traffic and the long-term climate impact of expanding Canada’s LNG footprint.”

That article further quoted an open letter from them that stated: “Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs oppose and do not give consent to build these compressor stations and will pursue avenues to challenge these permits and construction.”

Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan opposition to Phase 2

Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan leaders have been clear in their opposition to the construction of compressor stations on their territory that would come with the LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion. The Wet’suwet’en experienced militarized raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) in January 2019, February 2020 and November 2021.

Amnesty International has previously noted that it has “determined that the tactics used by the RCMP during the four militarized raids on Wet’suwet’en land defenders were disproportionate to the situation they were responding to, as there are no reports of defenders using violence or representing a threat.”

Amnesty International has documented: “More than 75 Wet’suwet’en and other land defenders were arrested, solely for exercising their Indigenous rights and their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.”

Photo: Heavily-armed RCMP C-IRG officers on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Photo by Michael Toledano.

Peace Brigades International-Canada visited Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan and Gitanyow territories in November 2021, June 2025 and October 2025.

In April 2026, PBI-Canada observed the call in front of Export Development Canada (EDC) in Ottawa made by Chief Na’Moks, Gwii Lok’im Gibuu and Katisha Paul against EDC financing major projects including Phase 2.

We are prepared to return to the territories if the safety of land and environmental defenders is put at risk by the deployment of the RCMP Critical Response Unit-British Columbia (CRU-BC).

We also take note that the release of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) systemic investigation of the RCMP CRU-BC (formerly known as the C-IRG) was delayed last week to an unspecified time after the provincial election in British Columbia on October 24, 2026.

Additional reading

–PBI-Canada observes call from Chief Na’Moks, Gwii Lok’im Gibuu and Katisha Paul against EDC financing of megaprojects (PBI-Canada, April 14, 2026)

–Indigenous leaders and journalist association concerned by the continued delay in the release of the CRCC report on the RCMP C-IRG (PBI-Canada, September 25, 2026)

–Indigenous land defenders Chief Na’Moks and Gwii Lok’im Gibuu reject major projects to be pitched at Canada Investment Summit in Toronto (PBI-Canada, September 15, 2026).

Photo: PBI-Canada, PBI-Colombia and the Forest Peoples Programme visit Wet’suwet’en territory, June 2025. Photo by Nick Gottlieb.

Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders have opposed the construction of CGL Phase 2 compressor stations on their territory in British Columbia

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: The TC Energy Emerson Creek Compressor Station. Wet’suwet’en leaders have stated that the proposed footprint of one compressor station is approximately 20 hectares. Two would be built on Wet’suwet’en territory.

At the official announcement about LNG Canada Phase 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia today, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated: “Canada is building big again. Today’s investment, as you know, over $30 billion in LNG Canada 2 will make LNG Canada the second largest facility of its kind in the world.”

He then noted: “Thanks to LNG Canada’s decision today, TC Energy is moving forward with its own multi-billion-dollar phase two of the coastal gas link pipeline.”

CGL Phase 2

In the TC Energy media release issued earlier in the day, they stated: “CGL [Coastal GasLink pipeline] Phase 2 will nearly double the existing capacity by adding new compressor stations…”

Wet’suwet’en leaders reject Phase 2

In May 2024, Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders Dinï ze’ Na’Moks,Dinï ze’ Woos, and Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat stated: “We are aware that CGL is pursuing Phase 2 of the project alongside LNG Canada, seeking to build additional compressor stations as part of a plan to increase capacity of the pipeline.”

They added: “This includes the Titanium Peak Compressor Station in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, one of two stations in unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, approximately 85 km southwest of Houston, BC. This station would be near the Unist’ot’en healing centre bordering Gidimt’en territory and on Liksamysu territory.”

Photo: PBI-Canada and PBI-Colombia visit the Unist’ot’en healing centre, June 2025.

Footprint of compressor station = 17 soccer fields

Wet’suwet’en leaders have also stated: “The proposed footprint of one compressor station is approximately 20 hectares, which is equivalent to 17 soccer fields.”

They further noted: “Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs oppose and do not give consent to build these compressor stations and will pursue avenues to challenge these permits and construction.”

RCMP arrest Indigenous land defenders

The Narwhal article on the final investment decision on LNG Canada Phase 2 reminds us: “Coastal GasLink, which was built between 2019 and 2024 by Calgary-based TC Energy, faced widespread opposition in support of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, who argued the company did not receive free, prior and informed consent from the Aboriginal title holders to land intersected by the pipeline. When Indigenous land defenders and their supporters tried to stop construction, a series of infamous RCMP raids led to dozens of arrests and solidarity protests across the country.”

Photo: Heavily-armed RCMP C-IRG officers on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Photo by Michael Toledano.

Amnesty International has documented: “More than 75 Wet’suwet’en and other land defenders were arrested, solely for exercising their Indigenous rights and their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.”

PBI-Canada further notes that the release of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) systemic investigation of RCMP CRU-BC (C-IRG) enforcement actions on Wet’suwet’en territory was delayed last week to an unspecified time after the provincial election in British Columbia.

Construction timeline

The Narwhal also reports: “Construction on the pipeline and at the Kitimat facility will begin immediately, Carney said in his speech. According to the company, around 4,000 workers will be hired to build the expansion at the plant and around 2,000 people will build the pipeline compressor stations.”

OilPrice.com also reports: “Construction is expected to begin in early 2027, with the expanded system targeted to enter service in the early 2030s.”

We continue to follow this.

Filipino human rights defender Cristina Palabay speaks against the “National Action Plan” at the Kapit Bisig conference in Toronto

By
Brent Patterson
-

Cristina Palabay, the Secretary General of KARAPATAN – the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights-Philippines, spoke at the recent Kapit Bisig: Linking Arms Across the World Against the US War of Suppression on the Filipino People conference that was held on September 25-26, 2026, in Toronto.

The KARAPATAN website explains: “KARAPATAN is an alliance of individuals, groups and organizations working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. Its founders and members have been at the forefront of the human rights struggle in the Philippines since the time of Marcos’ martial law regime.”

Palabay addressed the 500+ people assembled at Kapit Bisig on the afternoon of Saturday September 26.

Palabay stated: “Marcos Jr.’s National Action Plan on Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD) which is being implemented by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict [NTF-ELCAC], maintains and implements a ‘whole of nation’ approach, utilizing the civilian bureaucracy and employing psywar tactics to bury the grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.”

What is NAP-UPD?

The National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD) 2025–2028 has also been criticized by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), a voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines.

NUPL comments: “Beneath the rhetoric of peace-building, it revives and reinforces a state apparatus long implicated in red-tagging, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and other forms of politically motivated persecution.”

What is NTF-ELCAC?

NUPL further notes: “The NTF-ELCAC lies at the core of this machinery of repression. Thus, UN Special Rapporteurs Ian Fry and Irene Khan, citing its central role in red-tagging and attacks on civil society, have both called for its abolition.”

In March 2023, the Philippines News Agency reported: “The [NTF-ELCAC] Legal Cooperation Cluster (LCC) … said House Bill (HB) No. 77 or the proposed Human Rights Defenders Protection Act is a threat to the country’s democratic of way life once enacted into law.” Inquirer.net has reported that Bill No. 77 sought to protect rights including the right to promote and protect human rights, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right  to  freedom of movement. It would have also established a Human Rights Defenders Protection Committee (HRDPC).

According to the FOCUS Observatory on Public Policies for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: “Currently the bill waits for an approval by both the House of representatives and the Senate.”

The situation for human rights defenders

Global Witness has documented the killing of 318 defenders in the Philippines since 2012, including 12 defenders killed in 2025.

Global Witness adds: “Indigenous Peoples account for a staggering one-third of land and environmental defender killings in the Philippines in 2012-23. Neary half of these cases were linked to mining. The military was responsible for 64 out of 117 killings of Indigenous defenders between 2012-23.”

Despite this, in November 2025, Canadian defence minister McGuinty commented: “The Philippines has shown true leadership in upholding international law … and for that [it has] Canada’s greatest and deepest respect.”

The situation for political prisoners

In June 2026, KARAPATAN, the organization led by Palabay, documented that there were 685 political prisoners in the Philippines.

Their report further noted: “Political prisoners come from different walks of life. In the Philippines, they are ordinary people like farmers, workers, fisherfolk, indigenous and Moro peoples, women, youth, activists, human rights defenders, leaders and members of organizations.”

They also highlight: “Political prisoners are not criminals. They are not terrorists. It is their right and mission to advance the interests and rights of the common people.”

And on July 18, 2026, Nelson Mandela International Day, KARAPATAN reiterated their demand to “Free All Political Prisoners!”.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) in Colombia; the Cerezo Committee in Mexico (this started when the co-founders were in prison); Bernardo Caal Xol while he was in prison in Guatemala; and the imprisoned Guapinol River defenders in Honduras.

Canada and the Philippines

On July 20, 2026, Palabay stated: “For years, successive Philippine governments have followed [the US counterterrorism] framework through security agreements, military cooperation, and legislation such as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.”

She further highlighted: “These [US-backed] measures have been used to red-tag, surveil, arbitrarily arrest, detain, and prosecute activists, trade unionists, peasant and indigenous leaders, humanitarian workers, journalists, lawyers, church people, and human rights defenders because of their people’s rights advocacies and dissent.”

On the same day that Palabay was criticizing the US counterterrorism framework, Canadian defence minister David McGuinty told reporters that there’s “really little daylight” between Canada and the United States on military and intelligence affairs.

“Defence cooperation”

Canada continues to deepen its political, economic, and military relationship with the Philippines, including negotiations on a Canada-Philippines Free Trade Agreement that could be finalized by November 2026 along with ongoing efforts to, as National Defence has noted, “Canada and the Philippines take defence cooperation to new heights”.

This past February 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced “Canada’s first Defence Industrial Strategy” that includes the pledge to “increase our defence exports by 50%” and “ramp up Canada’s presence at major global defence and aerospace trade shows”, such as the Asian Defense & Security (ADAS) exhibition held biennially in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

The next ADAS will take place on June 28-30, 2027, at SMXCITE, Metro Manila, that will include a “Canada Partnership Pavilion”.

Just prior to that, a delegation from the Philippines is expected at the annual CANSEC arms fair in Ottawa on June 2-3, 2027. CANSEC is “Canada’s largest defence, security & emerging tech tradeshow where $1B+ in business deals happen every year.”

It is also notable that Canada signed a contract in December 2017 to sell 16 Bell 412 combat utility helicopters, built at the Bell plant near Montreal, Quebec, for $233 million to the Philippines. The deal was canceled by then-president Rodrigo Duterte in February 2018 after public concern about human rights abuses resulted in the Canadian government reviewing the deal.

Accompaniment

In April 2026, Peace Brigades International (PBI) launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This project is focused on the acute exposure to extractive industries, land conflicts, and climate-related violence defenders face.

Additional reading

–Filipino human rights defender Cristina Palabay speaking at the Kapit Bisig conference in Toronto (PBI-Canada, September 21, 2026)

–Hundreds march in Toronto to “Shut Down Pax Silica”, stop the displacement of Indigenous and local communities in the Philippines (PBI-Canada, September 26, 2026).

Filipino human rights defender Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos speaks against Pax Silica agenda at the Kapit Bisig conference in Toronto

By
Brent Patterson
-

Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, the National Chairperson of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), spoke about Pax Silica at the recent Kapit Bisig: Linking Arms Across the World Against the US War of Suppression on the Filipino People conference that was held on September 25-26, 2026, in Toronto.

Ramos leads the KMP, the largest national democratic mass organization of peasants in the Philippines with a membership of more than 2 million peasants, farm workers, and rural people collectively defending their life and lands.

In his address to the 500+ people assembled for Kapit Bisig, Ramos stated: “Where Pax Silica is located the food is now in danger. 70 million Filipinos are living in hunger, poverty, and malnourishment. Our land, water, hills, and mountains will be destroyed and plundered. They want to get us out, so we must fight together.”

What is Pax Silica?

The United States launched Pax Silica as a “flagship effort” to secure their supply chain for the critical minerals and rare earths required for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), high-level technologies, and advanced military equipment.

The Pax Silica website prominently features a quote from Jacob Helberg, the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, who says: “If the 20th century ran on oil and steel, the 21st century runs on compute and the minerals that feed it.”

What could this mean for farming communities?

The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., has committed more than 4,000 acres of land to establish an AI industrial hub under the Pax Silica initiative. This would displace farmers, fisherfolk, workers, and the Indigenous Aeta communities who live and work in the “Luzon Economic Corridor”.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) comments: “Marcos is paving the way for foreign capital while ancestral lands and farming communities are pushed aside in the name of ‘development’.”

They further explain: “The proposed Pax Silica hub in Tarlac [in the Luzon Economic Corridor] could affect around 1,620 hectares of agricultural and ancestral lands. Local groups report that around 20,000 farmers and Indigenous residents face serious risks of land conversion and displacement. For communities, it is losing more than land – it means losing livelihoods, food security, and ancestral territories.”

Land and environmental defenders at risk

ICHRP has also cautioned: “Communities have reported experiences of military red-tagging when raising concerns about the project.”

Red-tagging is a practice where individuals or groups (often progressive political activists or land and environmental defenders) are labelled as communists, terrorists or subversives. This can lead to serious consequences, including further harassment, threats, violence and even extrajudicial killings.

Global Witness has documented the killing of 318 defenders in the Philippines since 2012, including 12 defenders killed in 2025.

Global Witness adds: “Indigenous Peoples account for a staggering one-third of land and environmental defender killings in the Philippines in 2012-23. Neary half of these cases were linked to mining. The military was responsible for 64 out of 117 killings of Indigenous defenders between 2012-23.”

Canada deepening its relationship with the Philippines

Canada is an observer, not a member of Pax Silica, but in July 2026 invested $2 million for a future project aligned with the Luzon Economic Corridor. The Manila Standard reports: “[President Marcos] welcomed Canada’s participation in the Luzon Economic Corridor, noting that Ottawa committed an initial C$2 million to support infrastructure, supply chain, and clean energy projects.”

The Manila Standard also reports: “Mr. Marcos said meetings [in Vancouver in July 2026] with Canadian business leaders yielded $2.5 billion in investment commitments covering mining, critical minerals, energy, information technology-business process management (IT-BPM), and the digital economy. Among the companies he met were B2Gold Corp., OceanaGold Corp., TELUS Corp., and NQX.”

The US$2.5 billion in investment commitments made by Canadian companies this past summer represents a significant increase of the $844 million of Canadian investment in the Philippines as of 2024.

Canada and the Philippines are currently negotiating a free trade agreement that could be concluded as early as November 2026; announced a Canada-Philippines Strategic Partnership along with a Joint Declaration of Intent concerning Energy and Natural Resources Cooperation and a Technical Assistance Partnership in July 2026; signed a Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and a Statement of Intent on Strengthening Defence Cooperation in June 2026; and signed a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement in November 2025. A delegation from the Philippines is also expected again at the annual CANSEC arms show in Ottawa on June 2-3, 2027.

Ramos at protest in Toronto on September 25, 2026: “We want land, not Pax Silica. Canadian troops joined the visiting forces in the Philippines from April 20 to May 8 this year. We urge the Canadian government, not only US troops out in the Philippines, but also Canadian troops out in the Philippines.”

Accompaniment

In April 2026, Peace Brigades International (PBI) launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This project is focused on the acute exposure to extractive industries, land conflicts, and climate-related violence defenders face.

Peace Brigades International-Canada is following the opposition to Pax Silica with the awareness that the Philippines is an extremely dangerous country for land and environmental defenders.

Additional reading

–Filipino youth hold protest in Ottawa to denounce the visit of the president of the Philippines to Canada (PBI-Canada, July 2, 2026)

–PBI-Canada observes vígil for the Toboso 19 outside the Embassy of the Philippines, May Day call to shut down CANSEC in Ottawa (PBI-Canada, May 2, 2026)

–PBI-Canada meets with Filipino human rights defender Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos in Ottawa (PBI-Canada, April 29, 2026).

Hundreds march in Toronto to “Shut Down Pax Silica”, stop the displacement of Indigenous and local communities in the Philippines

By
Brent Patterson
-

On September 25, hundreds of people from multiple countries took part in the March United Against U.S.-led War and Plunder: Shut Down Pax Silica! that began across the street from the US Consulate in Toronto.

The march then took University Avenue and headed south to Queen Street West where it concluded with speeches in front of Toronto City Hall.

“Canadian troops out of the Philippines”

In his speech to those gathered for the march, Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, the National Chairperson of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP) stated: “We want land, not Pax Silica. Canadian troops joined the visiting forces in the Philippines from April 20 to May 8 this year. We urge the Canadian government, not only US troops out in the Philippines, but also Canadian troops out in the Philippines.”

The pamphlet handed out at the march highlighted: “Canada and the US both have Visiting Forces Agreements with the Philippines (SoVFA). Those agreements put Canadian boots on the ground in the Philippines to train the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who turn their guns against their own people to facilitate the plunder of their resources for their imperialist masters.”

We also recall that on April 19, the day before Canada participated “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Exercise Balikatan in the Philippines, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) killed the Negros 19, including human rights and environmental defenders, community researchers, and a journalist, in the Toboso Massacre.

“Shut Down Pax Silica”

The United States launched Pax Silica as a “flagship effort” to secure their supply chain for the critical minerals and rare earths required for semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), high-level technologies, and advanced military equipment.

The Pax Silica website prominently features a quote from Jacob Helberg, the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, who says: “If the 20th century ran on oil and steel, the 21st century runs on compute and the minerals that feed it.”

The initial seven signatories to the Pax Silica declaration in December 2025 includes the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. The Philippines, the European Union, India, El Salvador, Argentina and other countries joined in 2026. Canada is not a signatory but is an observer and participates in related discussions.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines comments: “The U.S. backed Marcos Jr. regime made the Philippines the only country to commit over 4,000 acres of land to establish an AI industrial hub. The Indigenous Aeta communities, farmers, fisherfolk, and workers will be the ones to suffer the brunt of mining, militarization, land grabbing, violent displacement, human rights violations, and the devastation of the climate crisis accelerated by the AI industry.”

Radio Free Asia has reported that Indigenous Aeta families in the village of Sapang Kawayan, about 75 kilometres north of Manila, have already received a letter from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) informing them they must relocate from the village. Tribal leader Petronila Capiz, 63, told RFA that allowing the government to erect a facility here would be a death knell to their way of life.

Mongabay has also reported: “The Luzon Economic Corridor, or LEC, is an economic initiative focused on the Philippines’ biggest island… In April 2026, Washington and Manila announced plans to build a 1,620-hectare (4,000-acre) high-tech manufacturing hub in the Central Luzon region. …The Pax Silica hub will be built within New Clark City, a government-planned ‘smart’ city inside the greater 32,000-hectare (79,000-acre) Clark area, a former U.S. military complex [established in 1903 on the ancestral territory of the Aetas when the Philippines was under U.S. colonial rule].”

The human rights alliance KARAPATAN, the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP), the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), many other organizations, defenders and communities reject Pax Silica.

Land and environmental defenders at risk

Peace Brigades International-Canada is following the opposition to Pax Silica with the awareness that the Philippines is an extremely dangerous country for land and environmental defenders.

Global Witness has documented the killing of 318 defenders in the Philippines since 2012, including 12 defenders killed in 2025.

Global Witness adds: “Indigenous Peoples account for a staggering one-third of land and environmental defender killings in the Philippines in 2012-23. Neary half of these cases were linked to mining. The military was responsible for 64 out of 117 killings of Indigenous defenders between 2012-23.”

Earlier this year, Peace Brigades International (PBI) launched a Southeast Asia Project to accompany human rights defenders in the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. This project is focused on the acute exposure to extractive industries, land conflicts, and climate-related violence defenders face.

The Kapit Bisig conference

The march against Pax Silica took place on the afternoon of the first day of the Kapit Bisig: Linking Arms Across the World Against the US War of Suppression on the Filipino People conference on September 25-26 in Toronto.

For daily recaps, excerpts from presents and more about the conference and march, visit kapitbisigconference on Instagram.

A short video clip by Radyo Migrante of the march can be seen here.

Indigenous leaders and journalist association concerned by the continued delay in the release of the CRCC report on the RCMP C-IRG

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Heavily-armed RCMP C-IRG officers on Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Photo by Michael Toledano.

The release of the report on the systemic investigation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) has been delayed until after the provincial election in British Columbia that will be held on October 24.

The CRCC says the election would make it difficult for “relevant provincial authorities to fully consider and respond to its findings and recommendations.”

The systemic investigation was launched on March 9, 2023. Around that time, the CRCC told PBI-Canada that the CRCC strives to complete these investigations within 12-18 months. It appears the investigation was completed after 36 months but its release was delayed by the absence of a CRCC chairperson.

If the report comes out on October 26, 2026, the Monday after the provincial election, it will be closer to 41 months since it was announced.

The decision made by the CRCC has been met with disappointment by Indigenous leaders.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale) told CBC News journalist Brett Forester: “With this delay, they’re ignoring all the harms that have been committed. We’re concerned here that they’ve been present at, like, pro-Palestinian encampments, UBC, and continued to expand their agenda. There’s no doubt this will be increased given Carney’s agenda and widespread opposition.”

Carney’s stated agenda includes advancing the LNG Canada Phase 2 as a major project. That would involve the construction of compressor stations on Wet’suwet’en territory that Chief Na’Moks rejects.

And Terry Teegee, regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, told Forester: “Many people, especially those that are affected by this, are disappointed and I think there’s no excuses. It should be released right away considering that it may have implications on issues we’re dealing with in the future.”

Teegee further commented: “The West Coast oil pipeline or any other projects in the near future will be heavily scrutinized and perhaps this issue of protests will come up again. And then how does the RCMP react? Is this going to happen again?”

The West Coast Oil Pipeline would be constructed in part on Secwepemc territory along the path of the Trans Mountain pipeline that was opposed by Secwepemc land defenders and Tiny House Warriors.

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) is disappointed too.

Brent Jolly, the president of the CAJ, told APTN News: “C-IRG has been the subject of intense scrutiny from the public and press freedom advocates for many years due to its repeated use of so-called ‘exclusion zones’ during demonstrations over the development of natural resource projects in Wet’suwet’en territory and Fairy Creek. These tactics have been deemed to have caused ‘serious interference’ with press freedoms. As an independent watchdog, however, it appears the CRCC is making what amounts to a political decision by withholding this report. The public’s right to know is a fundamental principle of a free and democratic society. Transparency matters because accountability depends on the public having access to information about decisions, institutions, and matters of legitimate public concern.”

The CAJ spoke out against the RCMP C-IRG arrests of journalists on Wet’suwet’en territory during a C-IRG enforcement action in November 2021.

PBI-Canada continues to follow this.

At least 16 social, trade union or political activists killed in Colombia since Abelardo de la Espriella sworn-in as president in August

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Trade unionists José Deifer Giraldo and Yerlin Andrés Giraldo (who were father and son) were killed in Colombia in August 2026.

Trade union members are facing an increasingly dangerous situation in Colombia.

Justice for Colombia reports: “At least 16 social, trade union or political activists have been killed since 7 August [the date Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as the 36th President of Colombia], while others have been threatened.”

On September 16, this motion presented to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) representing more than five million workers in the United Kingdom noted: “Three trade unionists were killed in one weekend in August.”

Those trade unionists were José Deifer Giraldo, Yerlin Andrés Giraldo and Yeison Real Delgado. They were members of the National Union of Living Memory, a Colombian union of security guards whose members are mostly signatories to the 2016 Peace Accord, that is affiliated with the Central Federation of Workers (CUT).

Photo: Trade unionist Yeison real Delgado.

On September 1, the Madrid, Spain-based Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) stated: “This tragic event … shows the serious situation of violence that trade union and social organizations continue to suffer in Colombia. The murder of trade unionists cannot go unpunished or be normalized.”

Most recently, Infobae also reported: “Derlin Fabián Chacón Páez, 44, was shot on Friday, September 18 in Bucaramanga, an event that led the Union of United Penitentiary Employees to demand immediate security reinforcements for workers of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec).”

Historical violence against trade unionists in Colombia

The Brussels, Belgium-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report on the killing of trade unionists in the twelve months leading up to March 2024 documented: “22 trade unionists were killed for their activism around the world. Eleven of them were murdered in Colombia.”

In May 2025, Luc Triangle, the general secretary of ITUC, told BBC News: “For many years now already, unfortunately, Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for trade unionists and for trade union work. …It’s not targeting the big bosses of the trade unions or the leaders. They are targeting in small villages people that are doing active trade union work.”

Since the early 1970s to the present day, more than 3,000 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia.

We are mindful of the Spanish Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) stating: “The murder of trade unionists cannot go unpunished or be normalized.” We also highlight the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom passing this motion earlier this month that resolves to “redouble our backing for Colombian trade unions” and to call on the British government and Members of Parliament to speak out for human and labour rights in Colombia.

We continue to follow this situation.

The work of Peace Brigades International in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico is supported by the social justice funds of Unifor and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

Further reading

–Peace Brigades International accompaniments of worker movements in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico in 2025-26 (PBI-Canada, May 31, 2026)

–ITUC report: Trade unionists and workers were killed in Angola, Colombia, Indonesia and Mexico in 2025 (PBI-Canada, June 2, 2026).

PBI-Canada attentive to the Credhos urgent action about the situation in the Middle Magdalena, southern Bolívar and the Cimitarra River Valley

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still from Enlace.

Enlace Television reports: “The Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (Credhos) presented an urgent action to national and territorial authorities for the security situation that, according to the organization, affects peasant, Afro-Colombian, riverside and artisanal fishing communities in the Middle Magdalena, southern Bolívar and the Cimitarra River Valley.”

“The urgent action [presented by Credhos] warns of collective forced displacements, confinements, threats, selective homicides and circulation of pamphlets in different communities. Among the municipalities mentioned are Barrancabermeja, Puerto Wilches, Cantagallo and Yondó.”

“The organization requested the immediate activation of prevention and protection routes for communities that would be exposed to acts of violence. They also asked the Ombudsman’s Office and the municipal attorney’s offices to carry out verifications directly in the territories.”

The article continues: “According to Credhos, the situation would be related to a territorial dispute between armed structures that are present in different areas of the region. The organization mentions the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) and FARC dissident structures.”

Armed actors and community displacement

In the video of the news report, Ivan Madero says: “In this urgent action, we highlight our concern and rejection of the continuous and permanent military action against the civilian population. The serious confrontations that have come since last year due to the territorial dispute exercised by the armed actors that are in the region, such as the AGC, the ELN, and the dissidents of the FARC, of the block in Magdalena Medio, realize not only the forced collective and community displacement that has been taking place since last year in the middle zone of the valley of the Cimitarra River, but that they have presented a series of serious events such as confinements and selective assassinations.”

Armed actors use drones against civilians

And Ramon Abril notes: “A multiple number of violations of international humanitarian law in municipalities such as Norosí, Río Viejo, San Pablo, Cimití, and Morales, in which, through confrontation and the use of drones, specifically by these structures, the civilian population and its assets are being affected.”

Accompaniment

The Enlace Television report also highlights: “In March 2026, a mission accompanied by Peace Brigades International and organizations in the region verified impacts of armed clashes and mass displacement in Puerto Matilde, Yondó jurisdiction, according to the report published by the international organization.”

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS on Verification Commission in the communities of Puerto Matilde and Tamar Bajo (PBI-Canada, March 12, 2026).

The PBI-Colombia Project also highlighted this verification mission on Instagram here (March 18, 2026).

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

At PBI-Canada we continue to follow updates from Credhos and PBI-Colombia via social media and news articles.

PBI-Nicaragua accompanied Indigenous Mayangna leader Lusben Taylor speaks at the UN in Geneva about the impacts of mining on territories

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Nicaragua Project has posted on social media:

“During the 63rd session of the [United Nations] Human Rights Council [in Geneva, Switzerland] this week, Indigenous defender Lusben Taylor presented a statement regarding the situation facing the Mayangna people in Nicaragua and called for urgent attention from the international community.

‘From Mayangna territories, we call upon this Council not to allow our tragedy to be normalized, nor for our territories to be turned into sacrifice zones.’

Lusben is a leader of the Mayangna Association for Social Development (AMDES) and was accompanied during his participation in the Council by Fundación del Río and Peace Brigades International.”

EFE also reports: “With the support of the organizations Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the Nicaraguan Fundación del Río, Taylor exposed, during the session held in Geneva, the displacements, violence, arbitrary detentions, the murder of community leaders and the advance of extractivist activities faced by indigenous peoples.”

Taylor stated:

“President and Council Members, I am Lusben Taylor, an indigenous Mayanga leader, and I am here to denounce the very serious situation facing the Mayanga people in Nicaragua and to ask for the international community’s urgent attention.

Our ancestral land is not just the geographic space, it is our home, our collective memory, our identity, and the multidimensional crisis that is threatening our physical, cultural, and political and territorial survival. We have been forcibly displaced due to the occupation of our land, violence, and the killing of community leaders.

Eight Mayanga forest guards and four indigenous leaders remain arbitrarily detained. The Wiru and Kitanga community remains under siege, and this is just one example of the violence endured and the lack of protection from the state. To this, you have the expansion of mining licences and extractive activities in indigenous land without consultation or free prior informed consent.

There are currently 63 mining sites that are located on indigenous land and land of people of African descent. The Mayanga territories call on this Council to not allow that our tragedy become normal, nor that our territories be converted into sacrifice areas. Thank you.”

His full presentation can be seen here (starting at 1:49:53).

Vancouver-based Equinox Gold on Mayanga territory

Natural Resources Canada notes that there are three Canadian mining companies operating in Nicaragua.

In January 2025, Mongabay reported: “International sanctions against the industry have done little to slow it down, with companies from China, Canada, the U.K. and Colombia setting up operations in ecologically sensitive areas — often near national parks and on Indigenous territory.”

That article adds: “Since 2022, seven concessions covering nearly 170,000 hectares (420,000 acres) were granted within titled Indigenous territory in the Caribbean coast autonomous regions, which have belonged to Indigenous peoples since the 1980s. Canadian company Calibre Mining has 151,921 hectares (375,405 acres) in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast, while a collection of Chinese companies have 212,727 hectares (525,660 acres) between them, according to Land Matrix.”

The Mayangna peoples of Nicaragua mainly live in villages along the rivers of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACN).

In November 2024, the digital newspaper El Faro also reported: “In recent years, gold has become Nicaragua’s top export commodity, surpassing coffee and beef in 2020 thanks to lax government regulations, substantial tax incentives, and what the former CEO of Canada’s Calibre Mining —the largest mining company operating in Nicaragua, with concessions covering nine percent of the country’s total land mass— described as the ‘rule of law and order.’”

That article further notes: “Canada’s Calibre Mining is the greatest beneficiary by far, with nearly 1,130,000 hectares under concession, record production every year (Calibre’s annual gold output has more than doubled since 2020), and expected exponential growth thanks in part to the recent purchase of the Eastern Borosi open-pit complex, located in the heart of the North Caribbean Autonomous Region.”

In June 2025, Vancouver-based Equinox Gold completed its acquisition of Calibre Mining “with an implied transaction value of approximately $2.56 billion”.

In March 2026, Equinox Gold Chief Operating Officer David Chester Schummer met with Nicaraguan government authorities “to review the status of its operations in the country and discuss plans for expansion and new investment”. The meeting was led by Laureano Ortega, son of co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

We continue to follow this.

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