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The integration of Canadian and US military production puts Canada at risk of complicity in violence against human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Indigenous Lenca defender Berta Cáceres was murdered on March 2, 2016 due to her opposition to the construction of the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras. Her organization, COPINH, is accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Our question: Would it be possible to have a Canadian-version of the proposed US “Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act” that, if implemented, would suspend “security assistance” to Honduras until trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, Afro-Indigenous activists, Indigenous activists, small-farmer activists, LGBTI activists and others being attacked are no longer at risk of violence from the Honduran military and police?

Canadian and US military production is deeply integrated. That integration, and the lack of transparency around Canadian military exports to the United States, can lead to risks to the lives of human rights defenders and a lack of accountability within Canada for both preventing and addressing human rights violations.

“Deeply embedded in U.S. supply chains”

Andrew Latham, a Minnesota-based Senior Washington Fellow with the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy in Ottawa, recently noted: “Many Canadian defense firms are deeply embedded in U.S. supply chains, manufacturing critical components for American platforms, including fighter jets, naval vessels, and munitions. The Defense Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA), in place since 1956, was specifically designed to ensure a seamless defense production relationship between the two countries.”

Latham cites the example of: “Magellan Aerospace, a key Canadian supplier, provides crucial parts for the F-35 fighter jet program.” In their article about Canadian suppliers of F-35 parts, The Breach has further specified: “Magellan Aerospace, PCC-Dorval, Apex; Kitchener ON, Dorval QC, Moncton N.B. – Machined parts.”

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability has documented: “Lockheed Martin supplies Israel with F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, which Israel has been using extensively to bomb Gaza.”

Photo: Human rights defender Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal.

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.

Tariffs applied to the “defence trade”

When US President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on March 4, the Canadian “defence” sector was not excluded.

The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the “national industry voice of more than 900 Canadian defence and security companies”, commented: “We are profoundly disappointed by the tariffs imposed today by the Trump Administration on Canadian imports, which will impact defence trade. Canadian-made parts, components, and raw materials make their way into everything from the life-support systems used on injured American soldiers to the jets patrolling U.S. airspace. CADSI will continue working closely with Canadian government officials across multiple departments to seek clarity, provide feedback on responses, and track the effects of these tariffs and the Canadian countermeasures on our sector.”

Questions about F-35s and warships

This tariff war has prompted calls for a reconsideration of Canada’s purchase of US manufactured weapons systems.

Esprit de Corps, “Canada’s only independent monthly defence magazine”, has noted: “Canada’s planned purchase of the Lockheed Martin stealth fighter jet, the F-35, could be headed for some turbulence. Questions are being asked around official Ottawa about why Canadian taxpayers should spend $19 billion on a product from a country whose president has threatened to economically destroy Canada and then annex it as the 51st state.”

Ottawa Citizen journalist David Pugliese has also recently reported: “Having an American-controlled command system running Canada’s new warships [Canadian Surface Combatants] poses a serious risk, particularly at a time when the U.S. is openly hostile to this country, warns the former commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.”

A $1-billion question mark

It does not appear, however, that the tariff war has yet prompted a critical re-evaluation of the Defence Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA).

Both the Project Ploughshares peace research institute and the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries have stated that Canadian military exports to the United States are at least $1 billion a year, perhaps more.

Last year, Project Ploughshares highlighted: “The Government of Canada does not regulate the majority of Canada’s military transfers to the United States.” It has further recommended that Canada should “begin a full reporting of the transfer of military goods, including parts and components, to the United States.”

And yet there are troubling questions about how these exports could be implicated in human rights violations.

US “security assistance” linked to civilian harm

Professor Patricia L. Sullivan at the Department of Public Policy, Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, University of North Carolina, has noted: “Between 2002 and 2019, US$300 billion in US security assistance flowed to foreign governments and at least one million foreign nationals received US military training.”

Professor Sullivan adds in her Sage Journals article: “Does American military aid increase the risk of civilian harm? …Until very recently, there have been few systematic attempts to evaluate the effects of security sector assistance. …The results of this study suggest [there] is strong evidence that ‘lethal’ aid—military equipment, weapons, military training, and combat assistance—increases extrajudicial killings by security forces in states without effective institutions to constrain executive authority.”

US legislation to protect human rights defenders

The “Human Rights Defenders Protection Act of 2024” introduced by US Senator Benjamin L. Cardin notes in its Section 2:

“(12) The United States has neither a coherent strategy to strengthen protections for human rights defenders, nor adequate measures to prevent and respond to cases in which members of foreign security forces, law enforcement, judicial institutions, criminal groups, or private companies contribute to attacks on human rights defenders. The United States also lacks adequate consular resources and authorities to facilitate temporary evacuation of human rights defenders facing immediate lethal danger.

(13) While the United States possesses multiple tools to hold perpetrators of reprisals accountable, including sanctions, export controls, visa restrictions, and diplomatic pressure, the United States deploys such tools unevenly and without clear connections to a broader strategic framework to strengthen protections for human rights defenders.”

The Berta Cáceres Act

Similarly, the “Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act”, sponsored by US Representative Johnson, Henry C. “Hank,” Jr. in 2021, proposes: “To suspend United States security assistance with Honduras until such time as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought to justice.”

Section 2 of that legislation further states:

“(1) The Honduran military and police are widely established to be deeply corrupt and commit human rights abuses, including torture, rape, illegal detention, and murder, with impunity.

(21) In this context of corruption and human rights abuses, trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, Afro-Indigenous activists, Indigenous activists, small-farmer activists, LGBTI activists, human rights defenders, environmental defenders, and critics of the government remain at severe risk; and previous human rights abuses against them remain largely unpunished.

(23) United States agencies allocated approximately $39 million that Congress appropriated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, to the Honduran police and military for fiscal year 2017.”

Next steps in Canada to protect the lives of defenders

What do we do given this link between Canadian “military goods” exported to the United States and the human rights violations linked to US “security assistance”?

Currently, there is also no coherent strategy within “Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders”, specific mention in the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA) or evident use of the Defense Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) that specifically provides for the protection of human rights defenders from weapons and military components produced in Canada that are either directly or indirectly exported to countries where the rights of human rights defenders are violated.

While there is limited information publicly available about the direct export of Canadian military goods, and some information that has been gained through diligent independent research efforts about specific military exports to the United States, most information about Canadian military exports to the US are not disclosed to the public.

The full disclosure of the export of Canadian “military goods” to the United States would at least enable a measure of transparency, the possibility of some accountability for human rights violations committed using those goods, and perhaps provide for other measures to protect the lives of at-risk human rights defenders.

PBI-Mexico accompanied Espacio OSC condemn the murders of defender Cristino Castro Perea and journalist Kristian Uriel Martínez

By
Brent Patterson
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On March 4, the Civil Society Organizations Space for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists (Espacio OSC) posted:

“The organizations that make up the Espacio OSC express our deep indignation and energetic condemnation of the recent murders of human rights defender Cristino Castro Perea and journalist Kristian Uriel Martínez.

Cristino Castro Perea, who was part of the collective “Environmental Defenders of Barra de la Cruz” in Oaxaca, was murdered on Friday, February 28, in the community of Barra de la Cruz, Santiago Astata, Oaxaca.

Kristian Uriel Martínez Zavala, journalist and director of El Silaoense MX, was murdered on March 2 in Guanajuato.

Both had received protection measures, derived from previous aggressions against them, but these were not effective in preventing the attempts on their lives. The authorities knew the level of risk to which both were exposed, and despite that there was no forceful response. The murders and impunity that persist in the attacks against human rights defenders and journalists must be addressed.

We call on the authorities to carry out an urgent review of the shortcomings presented in the framework of the collective protection plan and to urgently strengthen the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, as well as to improve coordination between the different states through a National Public Policy for Protection.

We demand that the corresponding prosecutors’ offices advance promptly and efficiently in the investigations of these crimes, taking as a primary line of investigation their work in defense of human rights and freedom of expression. It is imperative that international standards are followed in the treatment of these cases and that the necessary efforts are made to bring those responsible for these violent acts to justice.”

Their full statement can be read here.

Espacio OSC is accompanied by Peace Brigades International (PBI) – Mexico Project.

PBI-Honduras present as COPINH marks the 9th anniversary of the murder of Indigenous Lenca defender Berta Cáceres

By
Brent Patterson
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On March 3, PBI-Honduras posted on Facebook (and X and Instagram):

“Yesterday, we supported Copinh Honduras during the ninth anniversary of the planting of Berta Cáceres. The admirable work of environmental defender Lenca continues to be an example in defending land, water and indigenous peoples.

From PBI we highlight the importance of achieving comprehensive justice for Berta, Juan and all the defenders who have been killed for their work defending human rights in Honduras.”

On X, PBI-Honduras added:

“From PBI we emphasize the importance of achieving #justicia comprehensive relief for Berta, Juan and all the people #defenders who have been murdered for their work defending human rights in Honduras.”

RadioHouse.hn also reported:

“On Sunday, March 2, the commemoration of the ninth anniversary of the sowing of the national heroine, Berta Cáceres, took place. The event was held at the “Utopia” Meeting and Friendship Center, in La Esperanza, Intibucá, bringing together family, friends, social organizations and human rights defenders who honored her memory and struggle.

During the day, various cultural activities and reflection allowed remembering the legacy of Cáceres, who dedicated her life to the defense of the territory, natural resources and the rights of indigenous peoples. Attendees stressed the importance of continuing his struggle for justice and environmental protection in the face of the threats that persist in the region.”

And on March 2, the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organisations in Honduras (COPINH) also posted this media statement:

“Almost a decade after her murder, the road to justice has been arduous and marked by obstacles created by those working to guarantee impunity for the masterminds of the crime.

In November 2024, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the sentences against seven men convicted of Berta Cáceres’ murder and the attempted murder of Gustavo Castro.

Among them, David Castillo, president of DESA and former military intelligence officer, was named a co-perpetrator. However, the Supreme Court reduced his sentence, exposing the influence of powerful interests over the Honduran judicial system.

This ruling confirmed the existence of the criminal structure that killed Berta, linked to the Atala Zablah family and state security forces. Yet, impunity still protects the masterminds. Members of the Atala Zablah family continue to use their power to obstruct truth and justice.

The persecution and criminalization of social movements and land defenders have not stopped. The same strategies used to silence Berta have been repeated against other activists.

The murder of environmental defender Juan López on September 14, 2024, is proof of this. Like Berta, he was threatened and had precautionary measures from the IACHR. Yet, he was murdered.

Although we have made progress, justice remains incomplete. We demand the identification and prosecution of all those responsible. To those who planned and financed this assassination. Daniel Atala remains a fugitive from justice because evidence has clearly shown his connection to Berta’s murder.”

The full statement from COPINH can be read at Nine Years Without Berta! May There Not Be Ten Without Justice.

COPINH’s coordinators have been accompanied by PBI Honduras since May 2016.

Front line voices highlight concerns about Canadian mining companies as MISN marches against PDAC convention

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by MISN. The banner says: “CANADIAN MINING COLONIZES DESTROYS KILLS”

We are following the Instagram video posts from the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) on the protest today against the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto.

Video still from MISN.

MISN highlights: “From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Sami Indigenous territory in northern Norway, from Sudan to the Philippines, from Cree to Wet’suwet’en territory to Palestine, Canadian mining kills, destroys and colonizes.”

Speakers at today’s protest include Cree and Wet’suwet’en land defenders in Canada, an Indigenous Sámi delegate from Norway, and representatives from the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Sudan Solidarity Collective, the Congolese community, and the Anakbayan collective in the Philippines.

Video still of Wet’suwet’en land defender Eve Saint.

To their voices, we add these concerns expressed about the Canadian mining companies now at the PDAC convention in Toronto and their activities in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras.

NICARAGUA – Calibre Mining Corp.

Wangki, an organization of Indigenous Peoples on Nicaragua’s North Atlantic coast, has highlighted: “Between 2022 and 2024, the Canadian company Calibre Mining Corp and its subsidiary, Desarrollo Mineros de Nicaragua (Desminic S.A.), obtained 13 mining concessions in Nicaragua, covering 369,378.86 hectares. Of these, 7 concessions are located in titled indigenous territories, affecting 169,174.18 hectares. These awards were made without respecting the processes of prior, free and informed consultation, violating the fundamental rights of indigenous communities.”

GUATEMALA – Gold Group Management Inc. (a group of companies that includes Volcanic Gold Mines Inc.)

“Volcanic Gold Mines operates in southeastern Guatemala through its subsidiary Minerales Sierra Pacífico S.A. The company continues exploration activities under El Dorado LEXR-813, a license that expired in 2007. Despite lacking a valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Volcanic controls 2,096 km² of land across 30 municipalities, including ecologically fragile areas and indigenous territories of the Ch’orti’, Poqomam, and mestizo peoples. The Holly-Banderas project, a centerpiece of Volcanic’s operations, directly threatens water sources (Río Grande de Zacapa, Río Motagua, and Río Santa Rosa), communal forests, and sacred hills, sparking resistance from local communities. In 2021, Volcanic began drilling without proper permits, and their recently approved Cirilo I license (LEXR-017-10) is tainted by irregularities, having been explored before its legal approval.”

COLOMBIA – Libero Copper

In March 2024, Mongabay reported: “Soraida Chindoy [an Indigenous woman from the Inga community in the Condagua reservation, situated north of Puerto Asis, in Putumayo, Colombia] leads her people’s fight against the Canadian mining company Libero Copper. The company plans to mine the Ingas’ sacred mountains to extract copper… [This territory] was recognized as an Indigenous reservation, a status that implies community ownership and that is characterized as inalienable, indispensable, and non-seizable, with the condition that any project in the territory must have the approval of its ancestral owners. In spite of this, the Colombian state granted four mining titles in 2006, without prior consultation with the Indigenous community. …Since May 2018, [these four mining titles] have belonged to Canadian company Libero Copper, which operates in Colombia under the name Libero Cobre.”

MEXICO – Alamos Gold Inc.

In November 2020, the People’s Front in Defence of Land and Water-Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala commented in a statement in opposition to the Morelos Integral Project (PIM) megaproject: “[Then-Mexican president] Lopez Obrador’s [support for the PIM] betrays the peasant and the promise of change of his government, to favour transnational corporations [including] Canadian miners like Alamos Gold.”

We continue to follow these struggles with particular attention to the risks faced by the land and environmental defenders who oppose extractive megaprojects.

The Toronto-based Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) can be found on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.

Thoughts on the Global Affairs Canada “Voices at Risk” guidelines and the Export and Import Permits Act on “military goods”

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still of Nomadesc president Berenice Celeita speaking on a PBI-Canada webinar about Canadian arms exports, May 2022.

Amnesty International has highlighted: “191 cases of police violence during the first year of President Petro’s government (August 2022 to July 2023), a 59% decrease compared with the previous year. Forty-three cases occurred in the context of protests.” Colombia’s National Police is part of the Ministry of Defense. In 2022–2023, Canada exported almost $1 million of military goods to Colombia. During the CANSEC arms show in 2022, the PBI-Colombia accompanied Nomadesc tweeted: “Colombians do not want more weapons. Don’t send us any more weapons.”

Ottawa-based Quaker peace activist Murray Thomson co-founded Peace Brigades International (PBI) in 1981 and Project Ploughshares in 1976. PBI accompanies human rights defenders at risk of violence, while Ploughshares is a peace research institute with a focus that includes the arms trade and the protection of civilians.

We honour the legacy of Murray (who passed away in May 2019) by identifying shared concerns between PBI and Ploughshares.

Video still of Murray Thomson.

The Government of Canada’s “Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders” was first published in 2016. The guidelines were then updated in June 2019 to “reflect Canada’s feminist foreign policy”.

This article suggests the guidelines could be further updated to reflect Canada joining the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in September 2019 just as it accordingly amended the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA) that same year.

Global Affairs Canada says: “Under the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA), the Minister of Foreign Affairs must deny export permits applications if he or she has determined that there is a substantial risk that the export would result in a serious violation of international humanitarian law or human rights.”

In its singular reference to human rights, the Act states: “7.3 (1) In deciding whether to issue a permit under subsection 7(1) or 7.1(1) in respect of arms, ammunition, implements or munitions of war, the Minister shall take into consideration whether the goods or technology specified in the application for the permit … (b) could be used to commit or facilitate (i) a serious violation of international humanitarian law, (ii) a serious violation of international human rights law…”

Steps the Government of Canada could take include:

1- Make a clear statement in “Voices at Risk” that state violence against human rights defenders is both “a serious violation of international humanitarian law” and “a serious violation of international human rights law”.

2- Develop and maintain a watch-list of countries where human rights defenders are under attack, specifically highlighting the countries where defenders experience violence from state security forces including the police and military.

3- Stop the direct sale of “military goods” to countries where there is evidence of state violence against defenders.

4- Sanction any transnational corporation that violates the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by selling weapons used in the commission of violations against defenders.

5- Stop the export of components that put the lives of defenders at risk through indirect weapons sales and transfers through a review of the Defence Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) between Canada and the United States.

The Government of Canada could also provide diplomatic support to legislation that link the impact of “military goods” on defenders, such as the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act that would prohibit “U.S. assistance to the police or military of Honduras” and “instruct U.S. representatives of multilateral development banks to vote against providing loans to the Honduran police or military.”

Arms embargoes

Additionally, Global Affairs Canada says that it can impose an “arms embargo” in order to “prevent weapons and military equipment from leaving or reaching a targeted country.” Currently, “Canada’s sanctions apply an arms and related materials embargo” on thirteen countries, though none explicitly mention attacks on human rights defenders in the “Background” section on the rationale for the embargo.

GAC funding of CADSI

We further express our concern that for at least the past three years, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has provided funding to the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) that describes itself as “the national voice representing” the “leading defence and security companies” in Canada.

In 2024, GAC provided $291,400.00 to CADSI. In 2023 it gave them $208,600.00, and in 2022 another 241,752,00.

CADSI organizes the annual CANSEC arms show in Ottawa that features 300 exhibitors including some of the world’s largest weapons companies, notably the top two: Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX. It is not clear why the “voice” of some of the most profitable weapons companies requires this subsidy.

The countries with questionable records towards human rights defenders that have sent delegations to CANSEC include Indonesia, the Philippines, Hungary, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Colombia, Argentina, Bahrain, and Peru. A condition of public funding could be to make the list of the “50+ international delegations” that attend CANSEC a publicly accessible document.

COP30 on the horizon

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council has affirmed that “human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement [reached at COP21].”

Global Witness has documented on an annual basis the number of defenders killed and that “over 1,500 defenders have been murdered since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change on 12 December 2015.”

COP30 begins on November 10 this year.

While “Voices at Risk” does provide direction to Canadian missions with respect to “Land rights and environmental human rights defenders”, it does not specifically mention the prohibition of military goods to countries whose state forces are implicated in repression and violence against frontline climate defenders.

Conclusion

In July 2024, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, told The Globe and Mail that Canadian embassies, despite “Voices at Risk”, have failed to respond adequately to those raising serious concerns about the impacts of Canadian mining and oil activities abroad.

This critique by Lawlor is backed in reports from the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (December 2022), MiningWatch Canada (June 2024), and Professor Kirsten Francescone and law student Lisa Rankin (February 2025), as well as this statement from Amnesty International (June 2019).

We add to their concerns the impact of “defence and security companies” notably the makers of weapons and military components that may be implicated in the repression and deaths of human rights defenders.

Further reading: Canadian Government Stonewalls Questions About Peru Arms Export Permit (Alex Cosh, The Maple, December 2023).

Nicaragua Side Event: A Systematic Erosion of Rights

By
Brent Patterson
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Written by Yannick Wild, PBI-Switzerland.

At the UN Side event ‘Nicaragua: Contemporary architecture ‘, organized by Peace Brigades International at the Human Rights Council 58, UN experts and human rights defenders provided critical insight on the ongoing human rights crisis in Nicaragua, where systematic repression has intensified since 2018.

Jan-Michael Simon (UN Expert): The government is using “violent suppression, arbitrary detentions, and torture” to maintain control.

The UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, represented by Jan-Michael Simon and Ariela Peralta, documented the government’s intensifying methods of control – including violent suppression of protests, arbitrary detentions, torture, and targeted elimination of political opposition. Since February 2023, the government has further escalated its repression by stripping hundreds of Nicaraguans of their citizenship, rendering them stateless and facilitating asset confiscations. Peralta emphasized that these actions not only silence political opposition but also create significant challenges for international legal accountability and human rights protection.

Andrés Sánchez Thorin (OHCHR): The government has institutionalized repression, “dismantling fundamental guarantees of due process.”

Andrés Sánchez Thorin, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, underscored how recent constitutional reforms have legalized violations, effectively dismantling fundamental guarantees of due process. “These changes are compounded by the elimination of the separation of powers, as these legislative and judicial branches have been redefined as bodies coordinated by the presidency”. Thorin furthered warned that the elimination of the express prohibition of torture and the legalization of paramilitary groups will aggravate the human rights crisis.

Salvador Marenco (Colectivo Derechos Humanos Nicaragua Nunca Más): The government’s “illegitimate constitutional reforms have dismantled democracy and enabled systematic repression.”

Salvador Marenco of the ‘Colectivo Derechos Humanos Nicaragua Nunca Más’, reinforced these concerns by highlighting how the de facto state of emergency and illegitimate constitutional reforms have effectively eliminated Nicaragua’s remaining democratic institutions. The legal framework now facilitates impunity, enabling systematic repression, arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances. Marenco urged the international community to denounce these crimes before bodies such as the International Court of Justice, aligning with recent European Parliament resolutions.

Eugenia Valle de Boitano (Wife of victim): “Nicaragua is an all-encompassing prison… my husband disappeared in April 2024, and we still don’t know what happened.”

Providing a powerful personal testimony, Eugenia S. Valle de Boitano described Nicaragua as an “all-encompassing prison” where freedom of expression has been extinguished. She recounted her husband’s enforced disappearance in April 2024, a case emblematic of the widespread repression affecting numerous families. Her plea to the international community was clear: stronger action is needed to prevent further atrocities. “To this day, we don’t know what is happening,” she stated, emphasizing that her family’s ordeal is not unique – dozens of others share the same fate.

Wilmer Gutiérrez Gomez (Advocate for Indigenous Rights): Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities face “forced displacement, assassinations, and repression.”

Wilmer Gutiérrez Gomez, an advocate for Indigenous rights, concluded the event by addressing the ongoing marginalization of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities under Nicaragua’s new constitutional framework. He warned that the militarization of Indigenous lands, the imposition of government-aligned authorities, and the lack of legal protections have led to forced displacements, assassinations, and the silencing of their historical demands. Gutiérrez called for urgent measures to protect these communities, stressing that true constitutional reform must uphold the human rights of all Nicaraguans.

The event painted a stark picture of the worsening human rights crisis in Nicaragua, underscoring the need for sustained international attention and action to hold the government accountable and support those affected by its repressive policies.

The Group of Expert on Nicaragua presents its report to the Human Rights Council on the 28th of February and the council will decide upon renewal of its mandate at the end of the session.

Peace Brigades International has long accompanied the struggle against the Fortuna Silver mine in Oaxaca

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: PBI-Mexico attended Educa Oaxaca’s 25th anniversary colloquium ‘Challenges of the social and popular movement in the times of transformations in Mexico 1994-2019’.

Peace Brigades International, through its previous accompaniment of Services for Alternative Education A.C. (Educa Oaxaca), has long followed the situation of Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver mining operation in San José del Progreso, Mexico.

Jonathan Treat has reported: “In 2009 roughly three hundred opponents to Fortuna Silver’s mining operation participated in a blockade of the entrance to the Trinidad/Cuzcatlán. After 40 days, the blockade was brutally broken when some 700 police stormed into the community in full anti-riot gear, with automatic weapons, tear gas, attack dogs and a helicopter. People were beaten and more than 23 people were arrested; some were detained for three months.”

That blockade began on March 14, 2009, and the police attack against the blockade occurred in May 2009.

As the struggle against the mine continued, Bernardo Méndez was killed on January 18, 2012, and Bernardo Vásquez was killed on March 15, 2012.

In her eulogy for Vásquez, independent journalist Dawn Paley stated: “Bernardo Vasquez was a clear spoken Zapotec activist, a brother, son, and cousin, who dared to stand up against a mining project in the territory of his people. He was well aware that a paramilitary group was operating in San José Progreso, Oaxaca, and that it was organized to snuff out opposition to a gold mine, owned by Vancouver based Fortuna Silver. … One thing is clear: this was a political hit. Bernardo was murdered because he dared to speak out, ignoring the climate of fear imposed upon his people.”

Bernardo Vásquez.

A protest outside the Canadian consulate in Oaxaca days after Bernardo Vásquez, an opponent of the Fortuna mine, was murdered on March 15, 2012.

In November 2012, PBI-Mexico accompanied a “Misión Civil de Observación” that included two future members of the PBI-Canada team (Meera Karunananthan and Brent Patterson). Karunananthan told CBC News: “This is part of an international pattern with Canadian mining companies violating human rights in communities abroad.”

A company security guard checks a truck entering the San José Mine, November 2012. Photo by Brent Patterson.

Karunananthan speaks at the ‘Misión Civil de Observación’ media conference on the impacts of the Fortuna Silver mine, November 22, 2012.

PBI-Canada continued to monitor this struggle and in November 2018 organized an advocacy tour to Toronto and Ottawa, a virtual meeting with Global Affairs Canada officials in March 2021, then a webinar in collaboration with Amnesty International in November 2021, as well as posting regular updates on our website and social media.

During a PBI organized advocacy tour in Canada in November 2018, Neftalí Reyes Méndez (Educa Oaxaca) and Salvador Martínez Arellanes (an Indigenous leader from Santa Carina Minas) highlighted their concerns about Fortuna Silver.

This meeting with Global Affairs Canada officials in March 2021 was an opportunity for frontline voices to express concerns about Canadian mining operations, including the Fortuna Silver mine.

Our webinar in November 2021 that again featured Neftalí Reyes Méndez from Educa Oaxaca speaking about the Fortuna Silver mine.

Implications of the sale of the mine

On January 15, 2025, Promineria reported: “Fortuna Mining has signed a binding agreement to sell its 100% stake in Minera Cuzcatlán to Mexico’s Minas del Balsas. Minera Cuzcatlán owns the San José silver-gold mine in the state of Oaxaca. Following the sale, Fortuna will cease to participate in that mine, except for a royalty on the net smelter yield.”

That Promineria article further notes that while “the mine was scheduled to begin a phased closure process earlier this year”, Fortuna CEO Jorge Ganoza says “Minera del Balsas is well positioned to continue extracting value” from the mine, suggesting that the mine will continue to operate rather than close.

We have reached out to Educa Oaxaca for their comments on the implications of this sale.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CAHUCOPANA at meeting with Canadian Embassy on self-protection mechanisms in Antioquia

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 24, the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia (CAHUCOPANA) posted:

“Today in the city of #Bogota, in the premises of the Canadian Embassy Cahucopana Nordeste socialized the results of the project Segovia resists, Segovia for Peace! Funded by the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (FCIL), in which we presented the updating of self-protection mechanisms and consolidation of a specific mechanism for the protection of women, youth and girls in rural areas of our region.”

CAHUCOPANA further posted about this: “For the permanence of the Peasant Communities of the territory Yes to peace, no to war!!!!”

On September 17, 2024, the Embassy announced that it had granted CAHUCOPANA funds to “strengthen community protection and self-protection mechanisms in rural areas of the municipality of Segovia, through the strengthening of knowledge in human rights, international humanitarian law, women’s rights and gender equality, and the consolidation of capacities for participation, leadership and enforceability.”

On October 15, 2024, PBI-Colombia accompanied CAHUCOPANA at a community meeting, as CAHUCOPANA explained in a social media post, to “analyze and evaluate our community self-protection mechanisms for the defence and permanence of mining, peasant and ethnic communities in the territories.”

In this social media post, CAHUCOPANA gives “thanks to the international cooperation of the Embassy of Canadá in Colombia.”

Mining in Antioquia

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “The abundance of natural resources in these lands [of northeast Antioquia] and the arrival of multinational companies, such as the Canadian Gran Colombia Gold, has provided the illegal armed groups who are present in the region with an extremely lucrative funding source in mining.”

In December 2024, Lital Khaikin reported in the independent media outlet The Breach: “Gran Colombia Gold merged into Vancouver-based Aris Mining in 2022, and continues to operate the Segovia mine in Antioquia, an underground mine currently being expanded to produce over 300,000 ounces of gold per year.”

She adds: “Canadian multinationals like Aris Mining and Quimbaya Gold have entangled themselves in a community already deeply marked by human right abuses, cartel networks, and sustained armed conflict.”

She also notes: “As The Breach previously reported, Gran Colombia has worked with sub-contractors that are implicated in laundering illegal gold into legal markets and have ties to right-wing paramilitaries.”

Khaikin concludes: “Canadian companies are relying on contract mining amid poor regulation, expanding without community consent into unprotected areas, and continuing to source gold in a murky territory run by Colombia’s most powerful cartel—all amid what the UN Refugee Agency has described as a deteriorating humanitarian situation.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CAHUCOPANA since 2013.

Caravan for the Climate and Life set to travel from Mexico to Brazil for the UN COP30 climate conference

By
Brent Patterson
-

We are following the updates about the Mesoamerican Caravan for the Climate and Life that will begin in Mexico on October 12 and travel through various countries including Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia before arriving in Belém, Brazil on November 10 for the beginning of the UN COP30 climate summit.

This webpage notes: “Following the Agreements from the Global Meeting for Climate and Life held in November in Oaxaca, Mexico, and as part of the activities, meetings, and actions surrounding the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, we call for the Mesoamerican Caravan for the Climate and Life, to take place between October 12 and November 10, 2025.”

“The Caravan stands against the extractive mega-projects that are destroying our ecosystems and taking away our lands.”

“The violence in our communities is a consequence of armed conflicts between the state, paramilitary groups, and organized crime, operating with the permissiveness of corrupt governments. This violence, both direct and structural, has stripped communities of their dignity, land, and ability to live in peace.”

It concludes: “Let’s unite to mobilize, walk toward a common future where life, water, territory, and dignity are respected. Let’s go to Belém to challenge COP30 and all the powers that dispossess and destroy our lands and peoples. The fight for life, for land, for justice, is in our hands!”

The alternative forum in Belém

In his article Will COP30 Deliver for the Amazon — and the Planet?, Bernardo Jurema, a climate researcher at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam, Germany, further highlighted: “Alternative forums, like the ‘anti-COP’ and the People’s Summit gatherings, will likely draw attention to voices often marginalized in official negotiations, further intensifying the dialogue around justice and equity.”

More than 1,500 environmental defenders killed

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

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

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras observes sit-in at Public Ministry demanding prosecution of criminal structure behind murder of Juan López

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Honduras has posted:

“Today we observed a sit-in by the Municipal Committee in Defence of Public and Common Goods (CMDBCP), demanding justice for Juan López. Before the media present, the CMDBCP highlighted the alleged existence of a criminal structure that would have penetrated state institutions in order to advance the implementation of the mining-energy project Inversiones Los Pinares-Ecotek in the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras National Park. According to the CMDBCP, the murder of defender Juan López took place within the framework of the operation of this criminal structure.”

Intimidating actions by police

Guapinol Resists highlighted: “National Police arrive at press conference to monitor, note and photograph the defenders who demand justice for Juan López and the Carlos Escaleras National Park. …We demand that these arbitrary and intimidating actions by the National Police be investigated and that the State immediately fulfill its responsibilities to protect defenders and the environment.”

The demand to prosecute the “criminal structure”

EFE now reports:

“The Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa, in the Caribbean of Honduras, demanded on Wednesday that the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) investigate and prosecute the “criminal structure” responsible for the murder of environmentalist Juan López, on September 14, 2024.

The demonstrators consider that although so far three people have been arrested, including the alleged perpetrator of the murder of Juan López, the intellectual authors are missing.

The Catholic Church, environmental and human rights organizations, among others, believe that executives of the mining company Pinares Ecotek and the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez, also from the LIBRE party and very close to former President Zelaya, overthrown on June 28, 2009, are involved in the murder of Juan López.”

Edy Tábora speaks at press conference

The EFE article continues:

“Edy Tábora, legal representative of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa and Juan López’s family [says]  the damage that has been caused to natural resources since 2013 in the sector of Tocoa, department of Colón, involves “high-level personalities, former secretaries of state of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Institute of Forest Conservation, deputies and many more people.“

EFE video of Tábora.

Proceso Digital also reports:

“For his part, lawyer Edy Tábora, commented that the Public Ministry notified them that it will not accept any request for an abbreviated procedure from the person who shot and took the life of the environmentalist.

“The process is moving forward, there is a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 4,” said the legal professional and then stressed: “They are anxious for the start of the trial.””

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Canada visited Tocoa and Guapinol, Honduras on October 29-30, 2024, and saw the pelletizing plant associated with the controversial Los Pinares megaproject.

Criterio.hn: “Communities of Tocoa, Colón, organized in the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods, demand from the Public Prosecutor’s Office an impartial investigation that allows those responsible for the murder of environmentalist Juan López to be brought to justice, who was killed on September 14, 2024. López was a beneficiary of precautionary measures granted to him by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). They also requested an investigation into the irregular installation of the Pinares-Ecotek mining-energy megaproject.”

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