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PBI-Mexico accompanies protest at Profepa as the people of Cholula demand the closure of the Calpan landfill

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico has posted on Facebook:

“Today marks one year since the struggle of the Cholultec peoples in Puebla against the intermunicipal sanitary filling of San Pedro Cholula – Calpan. Yesterday, Thursday, March 20, PBI accompanied Frente De Pueblos Morelos Puebla Tlaxcala in the CDMX, in a peaceful protest demanding compliance with the definitive closure order issued on August 21, 2024 as well as the remediation of the damage caused by the sanitary filling, measures that had not yet been taken implemented.

During the day, acts of remembrance were held for the victims of the recent massive discovery of disappearances in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, and to raise awareness of the impunity that persists in cases of disappearances. From PBI, we continue to stand with those who struggle to find their loved ones, for the enlightenment of truth and for justice.”

E-Consulta also reports: “’The people of Cholula are not a garbage dump’ was the slogan with which activists and residents demonstrated this Thursday [March 20] on Insurgentes Avenue [“one of the most important thoroughfares”] in Mexico City, demanding the permanent closure of the Calpan landfill in San Pedro Cholula.”

“The protest began around 2:00 PM on that road, near Eje 7 Félix Cuevas, right in front of the offices of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa).”

The article adds: “Members of the Union of Peoples and Subdivisions Against the Landfill and in Defense of Water, the National Assembly for Water and Life, Peace Brigades International, the Committee on the Property of the People of Santa María Coapa, and the National Indigenous Congress attended the protest.”

E-Consulta also reports: “The protesters demanded that federal authorities sanction the company Pro-Faj, in charge of managing the landfill, due to its six-month delay in finalizing the closure, despite the closure resolution issued by Profepa (National Commission for the Protection of Public Health) in August of last year.”

“In response, agency personnel met with them to follow up on the necessary actions for the closure of the site, although they did not specify whether sanctions will be applied to the responsible company.”

Poder Noticia adds:

“#Findout Cholultecas demonstrate in front of #PROFEPA in CDMX.

The agency shared that it received the Union of Peoples of Cholula, Peace Brigades International and the Committee of Property of the People of Santa María Coapa, from #Puebla in a meeting led by Deputy Attorney General Gabriela Ortiz.

They reported that they will continue with the work necessary to carry out the closure and decommissioning of the #Cholula landfill.”

And Profepa posted on social media:

“A team from Profepa, headed by Deputy Attorney General Gabriela Ortiz, received the Union of Peoples of Cholula, the Peace Brigades International and the Committee of People’s Assets of Santa María Coapa, in Puebla, to give continuity to the necessary work to carry out the closure and closure of the Cholula landfill.”

Photo by Profepa.

Profepa orders definitive closure must begin within 10 days

Mas Noticias reports: “The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) gave a maximum period of ten days to the company Pro-Faj Hidro Limpieza to begin the definitive closure of the intermunicipal landfill of Cholula. The determination was communicated on Thursday [March 20] afternoon by the Deputy Attorney General for Industrial Inspection of the federal government, Gabriela Ortíz Merino, to a group of residents of the surroundings of the solid waste deposit who held a protest on Insurgentes and Félix Cuevas avenues in the country’s capital.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras observes hearing of Diamond Rock community members criminalized for defending ancestral territory

By
Brent Patterson
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On March 20, PBI-Honduras posted: “Today we are closely following the verdict in the criminalization case against 13 defenders of the English-speaking Black people of the community of Diamond Rock, Roatan. In recent days, we have been observing the trial against the 13 people accused of damages, some also for arson and robbery. We are concerned about the criminalization processes against Afro-Honduran and Garifuna communities for defending their ancestral territories against tourism projects. National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras, Justice for the Peoples Law Firm, OFRANEH-Garifuna/ Honduran Black Fraternal Organization.”

While the community was waiting for the ruling, the Women Defenders Network posted: “Urgent Alert: Increases the presence of police and military in hearing to issue a verdict against 13 defenders of the English-speaking Black people, unjustly criminalized for defending their right to ancestral land-territory.”

The ruling

The Justice for the Peoples Law Firm has now posted: “Alert: With illegal evidence, Judge Hermes Pineda issues an order of formal prosecution against 4 defenders of the English-speaking Black People for defending territorial rights.”

Background and context

On March 19, the day before this ruling, Reportar Sin Miedo (Report Without Fear) noted:

“In an unexpected twist, the Public Ministry of Roatan today expanded the accusation and requested preventive detention for 13 criminalized people and defenders of the English-speaking Black people, ‘despite the total lack of evidence’, denounced today the Law Firm for the Peoples.

The Justice for the Peoples Law Firm pointed out that the Judiciary continues to be co-opted by the large economic interests in the Bay Islands. Edy Tábora, lawyer for the Firm, reported in a video to the national and international community that the participation of the accused persons in any criminal act has not been proven. He also stated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office is illegally promoting some cases to criminalize the struggle of the peoples.

In its publication, [the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders] detailed that the MP initiated this judicial process against the defenders for defending their right to land and self-determination in a collective property in the community of Diamond Rock, Bay Islands. They added that the Cooper-McNab family intends to usurp this property that has belonged to the community since 1965.

The Mc Laughlin family reported in a statement that on January 5, 2025, they decided to lift the gates, remove the wooden fence, clear the entrance and recover their property. The McLaughlins are members of the Native Black people of these islands, under the tutelage of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (Ofraneh).

They added that they carried out such actions after nearly 20 years of filing usurpation complaints against the powerful Cooper-McNab family. They also indicated that in this way they exercised their self-determination with the support of their ancestral title.”

The full article from Reportar Sin Miedo can be read at Ordenan prisión preventiva contra 13 personas negras en Roatán.

The call to accompany the hearing

To encourage accompaniment of the trial the Justice for the Peoples Law Firm had posted:

“Jakira Lucas McLaughlin, criminalized defender, is grateful for the support provided by Ofraneh and various national and international organizations

Ask for support in the culmination of the initial hearing against 13 people defending the English-speaking Black people, criminalized by the MP for defending their territorial rights

Wednesday, March 19, 8:30 AM, Roatan Letter Court

We demand respect and guarantee for our ancestral territories rights! _

*Close the case permanently now!*”

And the Calan Institute has also highlighted (in both English and Spanish):

“35 national and international human rights organizations send a public letter to the Attorney General of Honduras, Johel Zelaya, regarding the process of criminalization and displacement against the McLaughlin family, members of the Native Black Islander community of Diamond Rock, Roatán.”

We continue to follow this.

BBC investigative reports raises concerns about Ecopetrol links to armed actors and threats against FEDEPESAN

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: PBI-Canada visited with Yuly Velásquez and toured the San Silvestre wetland with FEDEPESAN, CREDHOS and PBI-Colombia in June 2022.

A new BBC Eye Investigations report by Owen Pinnell titled “Oil giant’s leaked data reveals ‘awful’ pollution” raises significant questions about Ecopetrol polluting sources of drinking water in Colombia, their use of private security and possible links with armed groups, and the threats experienced by water protectors.

Ecopetrol pollutes

The BBC reports: “Colombian energy giant Ecopetrol has polluted hundreds of sites with oil, including water sources and biodiverse wetlands.”

“Data leaked by a former employee [and now whistleblower Andrés Olarte] reveals more than 800 records of these sites from 1989 to 2018, and indicates the company had failed to report about a fifth of them. The BBC has also obtained figures showing the company has spilled oil hundreds of times since then.”

The article also highlights: “Ecopetrol’s main refinery stretches along on the banks of the Magdalena River near Barrancabermeja The data from the regulator includes hundreds of spills in the Barrancabermeja area where [Yuly Velásquez, the president of the Federation of Artisanal, Environmentalist, and Touristic Fishermen and Women of Santander (FEDEPESAN) and other fishers] live [and depend on the waters for their livelihoods].”

FEDEPESAN is accompanied by the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS), which is accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Photo of Ecopetrol refinery as seen from the San Silvestre wetland. The bottle contains a sample of oil tainted water taken from the wetland that day. Photo by PBI-Canada.

Threats against Velásquez and FEDEPESAN

The BBC article further reports: “[Velásquez] and her colleagues have been monitoring biodiversity in the area’s wetlands, which feed into the Magdalena River. Ms. Velásquez and seven other people also told the BBC they had received death threats after challenging Ecopetrol. She said an armed group had fired warning shots at her house and spray-painted the word ‘leave’ on the wall.”

The article adds: “Ms. Velásquez remains determined to continue speaking out, despite the threats. ‘If we don’t go fishing, we don’t eat,’ she said. ‘If we speak and report, we are killed… And if we don’t report, we kill ourselves, because all these incidents of heavy pollution are destroying the environment around us.’”

Photo: Velásquez with PBI on June 30, 2022, just days before an armed attack against her and her bodyguard (standing just behind her in the photo) on July 5, 2022.

Ecopetrol, private security and armed groups

This BBC article also notes: “Mr. Olarte [the former Ecopetrol employee] has [also] shared internal Ecopetrol emails showing that in 2018, the company paid a total of $65m to more than 2,800 private security companies.”

“Matthew Smith, an oil analyst and financial journalist based in Colombia, says he does not believe Ecopetrol managers are involved in threats by armed groups. But he says there is an ‘immense’ overlap between former paramilitary groups and the private security sector. Private security firms often employ former members of paramilitary groups and compete for lucrative contracts to protect oil facilities, he says.”

The article continues: “‘There is always that risk of some sort of contagion between the private security companies, the types of people they employ, and their desire to continually maintain their contract,’ Mr. Smith says. He says this could potentially even include kidnapping or murdering community leaders or environmental defenders in order to ‘ensure that Ecopetrol’s operations proceed smoothly’.”

“[Felipe Bayón, Chief Executive Officer of Ecopetrol from 2017 to 2023,] said he was ‘convinced that the checks and due diligence were done’ regarding the company’s relationships with private security companies. Ecopetrol says it has never had relationships with illegal armed groups. It says it has a strong due diligence process and carries out human rights impact assessments for its activities.”

Other allegations of paramilitary links

In May 2022, Al Jazeera reported: “Local environmental defenders and a representative of the JEP [Special Jurisdiction for Peace] told Al Jazeera that they suspected a connection between the paramilitary groups intimidating them and the state-owned Ecopetrol, which is behind the fracking project. The company has been accused of having ties with the Gulf Clan [AGC] specifically.”

At that same time, on this PBI-Canada webinar, Carolina Agón, a member of the CREDHOS human rights committee, stated: “This is not a secret. Ecopetrol has ties and is working hand in hand with the illegal armed groups.”

Juan Camilo Delgado of CREDHOS also commented on that webinar: “It’s very concerning when we look at the historic relationship between the oil companies and organized illegal groups, specifically paramilitary structures, which has led to human rights violations and attacks against social leaders and environmental leaders from the municipality of Puerto Wilches [48 kilometres north of Barrancabermeja].”

Photo of participants in the PBI-Canada webinar.

Ecopetrol ownership

The BBC article adds: “Ecopetrol, which is 88% owned by the Colombian state and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.”

The searchable database on the Banking on Climate Chaos website shows that the Canadian bank Scotiabank is the largest source of finance for Ecopetrol.

Amounts are in millions USD.

On that May 2022 PBI-Canada webinar, Bronwen Tucker of Oil Change International also noted: “Since 2012, Export Development Canada has given CAD $1.4 billion in government backed loans to oil and gas in Colombia. This is 44 per cent of all G20 international public finance for energy in Colombia in this period.”

We continue to follow this.

Photo: PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson, Yuly Velásquez, and now PBI-Canada Board member Javier Garate, near Barrancabermeja, June 30, 2022.

PBI-Mexico accompanies the Human Rights Solidarity Network at the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office on Forced Disappearance

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico has posted:

“On the first anniversary of the disappearance of the defender José Gabriel Pelayo, PBI-Mexico accompanies his relatives and the Human Rights Solidarity Network  to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office.

We make a call for a thorough investigation with focus on #humanrights in this case.”

In this statement issued on the one-year anniversary, the Human Rights Solidarity Network further explains: “On March 19, 2024, around 10:30 a.m., [territorial defender José Gabriel Pelayo] was last seen in Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares, while driving a green Ford Explorer truck with sand-colored stripes.”

The El Sol de Morelia newspaper in Michoacán also notes: “He is the founder of the Popular Council of Chinicuila that has sought to denounce, defend and end the invasion of companies, as well as organized crime, which have dedicated themselves to dispossessing people of their lands and natural resources.”

Photo by Canal 13.

Another article by El Sol de Morelia also reports: “A year after the forced disappearance of Chinicuila teacher José Gabriel Pelayo, which occurred on March 19, 2024, his daughter Yulissa Pelayo denounced the omission and lack of action to locate him by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Coalcomán, the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR). …So far, Yulissa Pelayo said, the agencies have not updated the data on where he can be found or who would be responsible for his disappearance, although the family has let them know who it is, even expressing an abandonment of the case.”

Yulissa Pelayo says: “The regional prosecutor’s office of Coalcomán expressed that there are no lines of investigation when they have been given many clues by family, acquaintances and friends about the lines of investigation that they should follow, this regarding different situations and organizations that may be involved, I think this is a clear example of how the authorities do not do their job, how there is no justice for the disappeared.”

That El Sol de Morelia article adds: “Studies by the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) indicate that Michoacán is the most dangerous state for the exercise of the defense of the environment, human rights and in general. Their activism has led to a series of disappearances and murders.”

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

Canadian mining companies in Michoacán

In October 2024, EL PAÍS América 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.”

That article further highlighted: “14.61% of the state’s surface is exploited by 12 national and six foreign mining companies, according to official figures from 2018.”

That official report from the Mexican Geological Service (SGM), an agency of the Mexican government, lists addresses of 18 “companies exploring in the state – metallics” (see pages 24-25). That chart shows that 5 of the 6 foreign mining companies have addresses in Canada: Catalyst Cooper Corp., Terra Nova Gold Corp., Fischer Watt Gold Company Inc., Rome Resources LTD-IMMSA and Candente Gold Corp. The sixth foreign company listed in that chart, Silver Shield  Resources Corp., is based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada (the chart just does not provide an address for the company).

Accompaniment

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

Photo by José Pelayo Sociodigital Network.

Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets arrive in Israel days before airstrikes on Gaza resume killing 400+ people

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photos: Israel has reportedly deployed Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets in “beast mode” (carrying internal and external weapons weighing up to 22,000 pounds); Palestinian families grieving following airstrikes on Gaza last night.

On March 18, Aljazeera reported: “At least 404 Palestinians have been killed and 562 wounded as Israel launched a massive assault on Gaza, shattering the fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas. Tuesday’s attack took place across Gaza, including in Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, Gaza City in the north, and central areas like Deir el-Balah.”

The airstrikes reportedly began around 2 am Gaza time on Tuesday morning (8 pm Monday night in Ottawa).

New F-35s manufactured by Lockheed Martin

Just two day ago the Israeli Air Force (IAF) posted on X: ‘Three “Adir’ (F-35I) fighter jets, manufactured by @LockheedMartin, landed last week at Nevatim Airbase. The three jets will join the IAF and the 116th Squadron, bearing the IAF insignia. The expansion of the ‘Adir’ fleet significantly enhances the lethal capabilities of the IAF.”

We now see this social media post from a Palestinian journalist and commentator.

“Over 15,000 operational flight hours”

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has previously 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.”

Now, the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayrom reports: “[The arrival of the F-35s last Thursday follows] months of conflict that have seen the Israeli F-35 fleet accumulate over 15,000 operational flight hours across multiple combat theaters. …Originally designed to carry weapons internally to maintain stealth characteristics, the Israeli F-35i’s capabilities have been expanded during the current conflict. The Flight Test Center, working jointly with Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon’s F-35 program, successfully developed the ability to mount external JDAM precision-guided munitions on the aircraft’s wings.”

“Beast mode” includes 2,000-pound bombs

TWZ, “an essential resource for the defense industry”, further reports: “The Israeli Air Force has confirmed that it’s the first F-35 operator to use the ‘beast mode’ in combat. The exact configuration used is unclear, although a photo published … on X shows … four external 2,000-pound class GBU-31 JDAMs [plus] a single AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile can be seen in one of the internal weapons bays…”

Transfers of weapons likely violates international law

On February 23, 2024, thirteen United Nations Special Rapporteurs along with several Independent Experts and Working Group members issued a statement, endorsed by others including the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, that says: “Any transfer of weapons or ammunition to Israel that would be used in Gaza is likely to violate international humanitarian law and must cease immediately.”

Mary Lawlor.

While the statement from UN experts highlights the responsibilities of States, calls for them “to immediately halt arms transfers to Israel”, notes that military exporters to Israel include Canada, it further affirms: “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.”

Human rights defenders killed

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that at least 48,577 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 112,041 wounded since October 2023.

Among the dead are human rights defenders.

In its Global Analysis 2023/24 released in May 2024, Front Line Defenders stated: “Those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

On January 16, 2025, Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and his family were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.

In February 2024, in two separate incidents, two of PCHR’s lawyers, Nour Abu Al-Nour and Dana Yaghi, were also killed along with their families by Israeli airstrikes.

“Aiding and abetting” crimes

Just prior to the DSEI arms show in London, UK in 2019, Amnesty International commented: “Legal concepts of ‘corporate complicity’ in and the ‘aiding and abetting’ of international crimes continue to evolve and could in the future apply to arms companies that continue supplying weapons in the knowledge that they may be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.”

The CANSEC arms show

Lockheed Martin and other weapons companies identified by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as “profiting the Gaza genocide” will be present in Ottawa this coming May 28-29 for the CANSEC arms show.

We note this mobilization being planned to challenge this arms show.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-USA begins “Trump Watch” as rights-violating Executive Orders assault civil and human rights in the United States

By
Brent Patterson
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Image from PBI-USA website.

The e-mail subject line of the most recent Peace Brigades International-USA e-newsletter is “Trump Watch has begun”.

PBI-USA notes: “It has been almost two months since Trump’s inauguration and the beginning of his issuance of a slew of rights-violating Executive Orders and each week we are facing a new assault against civil/human rights and the social safety net in the U.S.”

They add: “As the Trump administration continues its assault against our rights, it’s even more important that we come together in community to strengthen our ability to stand in solidarity when we are needed most.”

Photo: PBI-USA director Amelia Parker.

Implications for PBI accompanied defenders

A new feature article by PBI-USA titled Trump administration targets those lawfully in the U.S. (March 17, 2025) highlights: “The Trump administration’s targeting of those with temporary or even permanent legal status has immediate impacts on PBI-USA as a key part of our work is supporting the visits of human rights defenders to the U.S. for meetings with U.S. and international officials.”

Photo: PBI-USA hosts a visit from PBI-Mexico accompanied defender Mariana Azucena Villarreal Frías of the Network in Defence of Indigenous Territories of Sierra Tarahumara (REDETI), October 24, 2023.

Trump targets protest leader Mahmoud Khalil

The PBI-USA article also cites the example of Mahmoud Khalil.

They note: “On Saturday, March 8, reports began to surface of the arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of a student protest leader at Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, who has legal permanent resident status and is now a graduate of the university.”

Image and video from Democracy Now!

“Epic first amendment battle”

Yesterday, The Guardian reported: “Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who became a leader of pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, was arrested on 8 March by immigration agents. After his arrest, immigration officials said they were seeking to deport him under a provision of federal law that gives the US secretary of state, currently Marco Rubio, the power to deport someone if their presence in the country is deemed to ‘have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States’.”

Monitoring Trump’s policies

The PBI-USA article concludes: “We will continue to monitor Trump’s immigration policies, especially as it relates to our ability to host our partners and the human rights defenders we accompany.”

Implications for Canada

PBI-Canada is also monitoring the implications of Trump’s policies on Canada, including for migrant rights and Indigenous rights.

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

In the context of Trump’s comments about US-Canada border security, threats about the U.S. annexing Canada (as the 51st state) and the imposition of tariffs of Canadian products imported by the U.S. we have posted these articles:

1- Trump’s threats to annex Canada for critical minerals could put Indigenous land defenders at increased risk (March 17, 2025)

2- The integration of Canadian and US military production puts Canada at risk of complicity in violence against human rights defenders (March 5, 2025)

3- The rush to deploy “frontline personnel” to the border to avoid Trump’s tariffs overlooks human rights concerns about militarization (February 4, 2025)

4- Implications of pause and possible closure of USAID on HRDs in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia (February 3, 2025)

5- What implications might the Trump presidency have on PBI’s accompaniment of human rights defenders? (January 20, 2025).

Stay in touch with PBI-USA

You can find the PBI-USA website here and their BlueSky social media here.

To subscribe to the PBI-USA e-newsletter, click here.

Trump’s threats to annex Canada for critical minerals could put Indigenous land defenders at increased risk

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: 6,000 people took part in the Land Defence Alliance “March for the Land” in Toronto, September 27, 2023. The Ojibwe nation of Neskantaga, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI-Big Trout Lake), Ojibways of Onigaming, Muskrat Dam, Asubpeeschoseewagong-Grassy Narrows and Wapekeka First Nations, are part of First Nations Land Defence Alliance.

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

“U.S. President Donald Trump is now eyeing Canada’s rich mineral deposits as America can’t produce enough of its own, said Elizabeth Steyn, an assistant law professor at the University of Calgary.”

“The Ring of Fire contains minerals including nickel, chromium, palladium and platinum, said Steyn, who teaches a course on critical minerals, regulatory frameworks and geopolitics. These minerals are highly appealing to the U.S.”

This CBC article further notes: “Potential development has faced pushback from some First Nations, which have previously said they haven’t been properly consulted and see it as a potential threat to their traditional ways of life.”

Photos: On March 29, 2023, The Narwhal reported: “As incoming Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias and his predecessor, Chief Wayne Moonias, called to [Ontario] Premier Doug Ford from [the Queen’s Park legislature] balcony [in Toronto], Ford stared straight ahead and refused to acknowledge them.” They were then ejected from the legislature by security. Photos by Carlos Osorio/The Narwhal

In late-February, Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated: “As we face down the threat of President Trump’s tariffs, we need to do more, and we need to do it faster. To protect Ontario, we have to get our critical minerals out of the ground, processed and shipped to factory floors. We have to double down on working with First Nations to speed up approvals and get shovels in the ground on critical mineral projects.”

His government has pledged to “unleash the economic potential of the Ring of Fire and Ontario’s critical minerals” by “designating regions where multiple critical mineral deposits are present or likely to be present, including the Ring of Fire, as regions of strategic importance for Ontario’s economy and security…”

And earlier this month, Northern Ontario Business reported: “Premier Doug Ford is ready to shove Ottawa out of the way to make progress in the Ring of Fire. Fresh off last week’s provincial election win and armed with a strong majority, an emboldened Ford appeared at the PDAC mining show in Toronto, March 3, ready to pick a fight with the feds in order to expedite critical minerals production in the face of a looming trade war with the U.S.”

Photo of Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

In response to statements like these, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) has stated: “Premier Ford’s promise to ‘unlock’ the Ring of Fire and fast-track development is a direct attack on the Inherent, Treaty, and Aboriginal rights of First Nations who have governed and stewarded these lands since time immemorial. …These are not ‘Ontario’s minerals; they exist within our territories…”

The Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) represents 49 First Nations with a total population (on and off-reserve) of approximately 45,000 people.

Photo of Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler.

UN Special Rapporteurs on the Ring of Fire

The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, José Francisco Calí Tzay (July 2023) and the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo Aguda (September 2024) following their visits to Canada recommended:

Cali Tzay: “Suspend large-scale mining and other business activities in the Ring of Fire region and cease construction or operation of the Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain and Line 5 pipelines, until the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples affected is secured.”

Arrojo-Aguda: “Suspend large-scale mining and oil and gas pipeline projects, such as mining in the Ring of Fire and the Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain and Line 5 pipelines, until the necessary processes of assessing the impact of long-term risks to human rights, the environment and biodiversity, and guaranteeing the right of the Indigenous Peoples concerned to respect for the principle of free, prior and informed consent, have been completed.”

Indigenous land defenders at risk

While there is no indication at this point of risks to the lives of Indigenous land defenders opposed to the Ring of Fire megaproject, there is a worrisome global context.

Global Witness has reported that 2,106 land and environmental defenders were killed between 2012 and 2023. The Washington, DC-based organization further highlights: “Worldwide, Indigenous Peoples and Afrodescendents continue to be disproportionately targeted, accounting for 49% of total murders.”

Their September 2024 statement also notes: “While establishing a direct relationship between the murder of a defender and specific corporate interests remains difficult, Global Witness identified mining as the biggest industry driver by far, with 25 defenders killed after opposing mining operations in 2023.”

That statement adds: “In total, 23 of the 25 mining-related killings globally last year happened in Latin America. But more than 40% of all mining-related killings between 2012 and 2023 occurred in Asia – home to significant natural reserves of key critical minerals vital for clean energy technologies.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Colombia accompanies the joint work of CIJP and Adispa at Amazon Pearl Campesina Reserve Zone in Putumayo

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Colombia has posted on Instagram:

“On March 8 and 9, the Women’s Assembly and the Youth Assembly of the Amazon Pearl Campesino Reserve Zone (Putumayo, Bajo Cuembí) met. On this occasion, we accompanied the joint work of CIJP [the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission] and Adispa [the Association for the Integral Sustainable Development of the Amazon Pearl] in the framework of the international women’s day and the environmental, social and territorial planning activities of the community. We also met with representatives of CIJP and Adispa to articulate advocacy and accompaniment strategies for this year.”

Jani Silva is the legal representative of the Association for the Integral Sustainable Development of the Amazon Pearl (ADISPA). She is accompanied by the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP) which is accompanied by PBI-Colombia.

Map.

The Amazon Pearl Campesina Reserve Zone says the zone (ZRC) is located “in the township of La Perla Amazónica, municipality of Puerto Asís”, “has an area of close to 22 thousand hectares”, and is made up of “23 villages: Agualongo, Alea, Angostura, Bajo Cuembí, Bajo Mansoyá, Bajo Lorenzó, Baldío, Belén, Bocana del Cuembí, Buen Samaritano, Camios, Comandante, Chufiyá, Guadalupe, Juvenil, La Española, La Frontera, La Piña, La Rosa, Puerto Playa, San Salvador, Sevilla and Toayá.”

Libero Copper

This past week, Vancouver-based Libero Copper noted: “At the core of Libero Copper’s portfolio is the Mocoa copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in Putumayo, Colombia—a cornerstone asset where the Company is actively drilling.”

The deposit is situated approximately 10 kilometers north of the town of Mocoa, which is located about 75 kilometres north of Puerto Asis. This also places Puerto Asís, which is located on the Putumayo River, downstream from Mocoa.

Impact on Indigenous peoples

Mongabay has reported the Libero Copper mining project in Putumayo has “been framed by proponents as a green project” but that “for many Indigenous people from the surrounding Inga, Kametsa, and Nasa communities, and for environmental activists, the protection of this region from deforestation should be the priority.”

Map.

Gran Tierra

And in a recent feature piece about Silva, Montreal-based journalist Lital Khaikin writes that the Calgary-based oil company Gran Tierra operates in the Putumayo region of Colombia. She further notes that campesina leader Jani Silva is accompanied by “volunteer, unarmed bodyguards with the Peace Brigades.”

In January 2025, Gran Tierra posted in a media release: “The Company plans to drill 5-7 gross development wells in the Cohembi oil field located in the Southern Putumayo Basin of Colombia. …A rig is currently being mobilized to the Cohembi North pad, with first production expected by the end of the first quarter of 2025.”

Map.

Amazon Watch has documented: “The eastern-most hamlets of the Zone overlap the Platanillo oil concession. Much of the rest of the Zone is also covered by the PUT-8 concession.”

Map: GeoPark/Amerisur.

Impact on Indigenous peoples

In April 2022, the CIJP also noted: “The Canadian company Gran Tierra Energy has ignored the territorial autonomy of the Ksxa’w Nasa Cabildo that lives between the municipalities of Puerto Asís and Puerto Caicedo, Putumayo. Operating companies and contractors of Gran Tierra entered the territory of the council without consultation, installing equipment and elements to carry out environmental studies, has carried out tours and examined species of fauna and flora of vital importance for the Nasa people.”

The context of PBI accompaniment

Late last year, Andrew Miller (who is with PBI-USA) noted in this Amazon Watch article: “Jani Silva from Colombia’s Amazon Pearl region denounced the death threats she and others in her organization have received over the years from criminal armed groups that operate in the interests of oil companies in the region.”

In May 2022, Amazon Watch also noted: “’The Border Command has focused on controlling the almost 23 kilometers of the Puerto Vega-Teteyé corridor, a strategic area for the production and trafficking of cocaine to Ecuador. Oil companies also have a presence there, and are forced to pay extortion to the criminal group in order to operate there.’ This would implicate GeoPark in the PUT-8 block and Gran Tierra in the Suroriente bloc.”

Silva says: “The threats we confront as an organization that defends our territory and environmental rights are due to the denunciations we make against pollution and exploitation in our territory. We can’t deny the evident complicity between armed groups and oil companies, through the company’s sub-contractors. The threats continue against peasant, Afro and Indigenous leaders that share the objective of defending their territory.”

We continue to follow this.

Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham speaks to The Breach Show podcast about RCMP C-IRG violence and spying

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from The Breach Show.

Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham, also known as Cas Yikh wing chief Sleydo’, recently met with journalist Desmond Cole in Toronto for an interview about the resistance to the Coastal GasLink pipeline for The Breach Show podcast.

The full interview can be found here.

Key excerpts from this interview include Wickham telling Cole:

Court injunctions do not consider “the risk of police violence or state violence to Indigenous people”

“Within the colonial court system, they work within silos, so the Supreme Court of Canada decision [that the clans of the Wet’suwet’en nation, hold title to 22,000 square kilometers of land] is not being taken into account in this injunction case. That makes injunctions really dangerous to Indigenous people and all people, because the test for it is very narrow. They only look at the economic impact and harm that could be done to a company. They don’t look at our access to our land, our culture, our way of life, the risk of police violence or state violence to Indigenous people, if there is an injunction in place.”

We know that “the police don’t care about Indigenous women”

“We just know that the police don’t care about Indigenous women. They talked about us like monsters, like animals. That’s how they see us. I think the fact that nothing is happening to them is just indicative of the situation that we find ourselves in. Through colonialism and colonization, they had to undermine the authority of the women. They had to dehumanize us so that they would only deal with the men, and they did that in really violent ways. Through the priests, through the RCMP, throughout our whole history.“

C-IRG force against civilians “should be alarming to people”

“[John] Brewer, who is the gold commander of C-IRG, which is now—they’ve changed their name to the Critical Response Unit—he’s the gold commander of that special industry unit of police. The fact that they have to use that kind of force, that they’re using that kind of force against civilians in so-called Canada, I think this should be alarming to people. I think that it indicates that, one, we’re a real threat, but also that we are a police state, and that nobody’s going to be free from the kinds of violence and repression that are coming if we don’t fall in line with the status quo and extract every little last resource on this planet.”

C-IRG spying and harassment is “a tactic to try to drive us off the land completely”

“Since the police have started coming around, they’ve really honed in on a few individuals, and really looked at and followed what the hereditary chiefs are doing.  We’ve even had spies in our feast halls, police officers who’ve worked in the community that have been actually spying for the government on our people. We know that that’s been an ongoing thing for years, and then with C-IRG coming into play, it’s just been exponential, to the point where it’s actually just a tactic to try to drive us off the land completely. We’re threatened, followed around everywhere, threatened with arrest all of the time.”

For the full interview, go to ‘Inherently racist’: Wet’suwet’en leader on the crime of defending her land (The Breach Show, March 14, 2025).

Filipino human rights defenders hold rally at Philippines Embassy in Canada as Duterte faces crimes against humanity charges

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Ikulong translates as Imprison.

Filipino human rights groups held an emergency rally outside the Embassy of the Philippines in Canada in downtown Ottawa this evening.

ICC arrest warrant

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has explained: “On 10 February 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC applied for an arrest warrant against Mr Duterte for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape.”

“The Chamber assessed the material submitted by the Prosecution and found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Duterte is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines between 1 November 2011 and 16 March 2019.”

The ICC continues: “The warrant of arrest against Mr Duterte was issued by the Chamber as ‘Secret’ on 7 March 2025 and reclassified as ‘Public’ on 11 March 2025. On 12 March 2025, Mr Duterte was surrendered to the International Criminal Court after being arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with the warrant of arrest. He is currently in ICC custody.”

A police presence was visible during the rally.

30,000 killed in the so-called “War on Drugs”

The Guardian has reported: “Since [Duterte’s] election [in 2016], between 12,000 and 30,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in connection with anti-drugs operations, according to data cited by the ICC.”

That article adds: “The ICC’s investigation into the anti-drugs killings covers alleged crimes committed from November 2011 to June 2016, including extrajudicial killings in Davao City [when Duterte was the mayor], as well as across the country during his presidency up until 16 March 2019, when the Philippines withdrew from the court.”

Human rights defenders killed

In February 2019, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) noted: “The number of land and environmental defenders, as well as journalists, killed in the Philippines has increased dramatically during Duterte’s presidency. From July 2016 to November 2018, at least 76 land and environmental rights defenders and 12 journalists were killed in connection with their work. Labour rights activists have also been the target of attacks and at least eight of them have been killed on Duterte’s watch.”

Human rights violations continue

Duterte’s presidency ended on June 30, 2022.

The Amnesty International Annual Report 2023-2024 notes: “Unlawful killings under the ‘war on drugs’ continued and impunity for thousands of past killings remained entrenched. …The practice of ‘red-tagging’ human rights defenders and others persisted, and counterterrorism legislation was increasingly used against humanitarian workers. Freedom of expression continued to be restricted. Enforced disappearances of environmental activists and Indigenous persons were reported.”

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

During the rally an official car entered the Embassy.

The export of Canadian “military goods” to the Philippines

During Duterte’s presidency, Canada exported about $7 million in military goods to the Philippines ($6,050,640.67 in 2016, $3,219.78 in 2017, $175,497.00 in 2018, $458.00 in 2019, $18,100.00 in 2020, $399.95 in 2021, and $385,000.00 in 2022).

Despite these ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines, Canada exported $514,604.48 of military goods to the Philippines in 2023. The figures for 2024 will be made public by Global Affairs Canada around the time of the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this coming May 28-29.

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

Image from Shut Down CANSEC on Instagram.

Pretrial hearing on September 23

Deutsche Welle further notes: “The court has scheduled a pretrial hearing for September 23rd, when they will determine if there is enough evidence to continue with a full trial. If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.”

We continue to follow this.

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