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PBI-Guatemala accompanies Chinautla and Retalhuleu communities at anti-Monsanto Law food festival

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Guatemala has posted:

“Yesterday [May 29] #PBIacompanies the Multisectoral of Chinautla and the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) in a gastronomic festival for the second anniversary of the delivery of the initiative 6086 (law of Biodiversity and Ancestral Knowledge) and against the so-called Monsanto law, all celebrated at the door of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala.

The first article of the initiative states: the objective of this law is to guarantee the respect, recognition, conversation and protection of indigenous and peasant ancestral knowledge and practices, as well as the biological diversity in their territories, their ecological balance and convenience with the people, peoples, indigenous and peasant communities.

This festival brought together ancestral authorities and organizations from most of the country, with the REDSAG [the National Network for the Defense of Food Sovereignty in Guatemala] with the objective of exhibiting different typical dishes of the national geography, made free of pesticides, chemicals and GMOs [genetically modified organisms].”

The Ministry of Agriculture in Guatemala (MAGA) approved field trials for genetically modified (GMO) crops in 2004. In 2006, MAGA approved commercial production for export purposes. The Monsanto Law was approved in June 2014 but repealed in September 2014 after ten days of widespread street protests. In September 2023, EFE reported: “Dozens of Guatemalan small farmers protested on Wednesday against the possible approval of a bill they call the ‘Monsanto Law’, an initiative that, according to them, threatens the ‘ancestral heritage of indigenous seeds, corn and other foods.’”

In October 2022, Shado Magazine reported:

“REDSAG’s most recent initiative to defend their biodiversity, as well their ancestral knowledge, is through proposing a new law at a national level called the ‘Initiative 6086, the Biodiversity and Ancestral Knowledge Law. 

As stated in REDSAG’s communique: The proposed law seeks to defend biodiversity and ancestral knowledge from the extractive model, looting, plundering by companies and corrupt politicians; it also states that the use of ancestral knowledge should be for the benefit of indigenous peoples and humanity.

David Paredes, a member of the National Network in Defence of Food Sovereignty in Guatemala (REDSAG), asserts that the approving of this law would not be the end of the struggle but it would definitely be a huge step in the right direction – and would set a precedent for the entire continent. On the 31st May 2022, it was officially handed in to the National Congress of Guatemala and continues to be in process.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Multisectoral of Chinautla since December 2018 and the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) since April 2020.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation at ceremony returning body of Silvio Tulio Romo to his family

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 17, PBI-Colombia posted: “After 32 years of #enforceddisappearance, we accompany @nydia_erika [the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation] in Villavicencio in the handover of victim Silvio Tulio Romo to his family.”

In 2018, Verdad Abierta reported:

“Carmen Mora, since she was a child, learned to defend herself. She left home at the age of eight due to abuse.

In her adolescence, during a party, she met Silvio Tulio Romo, a tractor driver, with whom she moved in after a few years: four children are the fruits of their love. “We were happy, he was a very good husband and father”, writes Carmen in her memory notebook.

They settled for a few years in Aguas Claras, Meta. She remembers the moments of happiness they lived as a family during some holidays.

Silvio lived in several places before arriving in Bogotá, where his tragedy began. On November 5, 1991, while he was spending time with some friends near the 20 de Julio neighborhood, Silvio was taken against his will by armed men identified as members of the B2 Group (Military Intelligence Unit), who said they would take him to the police inspectorate. Carmen went to look for him, but never found him.

After several months, a publication in Vea magazine was the impetus for Carmen to continue her search.In the cover photo she thought she recognized her husband, lying in the middle of several lifeless bodies. The news was related to a massacre that occurred in Bojacá, Cundinamarca, the same day Silvio disappeared.

She immediately traveled more than five hours to that municipality. Arriving at the cemetery, a woman who was also searching for a relative warned her that they should leave as soon as possible because she was being persecuted. Carmen was filled with fear and left in the first car she found. Despite having been intimidated, the intrigue forced Carmen to return eight months later.

“I went to the police inspection, there they had photos of all the bodies, I recognized Silvio. They sold me the photos where he appeared. They had been buried in a common grave since according to the gravedigger nobody had come to claim them and they were declared NN. To dig them up I would have to pay three million pesos,” she recalls.

Carmen searched by her own means for the coroner’s certificate, without success. She was given a death certificate of Silvio, without full recognition, DNA tests or exhumation. She took a long time to file the complaint, since she said she had no knowledge of what to do: she did not know what a Prosecutor’s Office was. An official during his statement changed his version, did not involve the B2, and blamed the guerrillas for the facts. She has never felt supported by the State during this search. “The State has not even given us the exhumation, even though we know that he is buried there, thanks to the great search that I did,” she laments.

She dreams of achieving the exhumation and confirming that he is her husband. To look her children in the eyes and be able to tell them, here is their father.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation since 2007 (occasionally) and 2016 (in full).

PBI-Mexico accompanies the Forum on the Situation of Environmental Defenders on World Environment Day

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico has posted:

“#WorldEnvironmentDay Today [June 5] we accompany the Forum on the Situation of Environmental Defenders: Challenges in the framework of World Environment Day together with @CEMDA [Mexican Centre for Environmental Law], @CDHZL [the “Zeferino Ladrillero” Human Rights Center] and @EspacioOSC [Space of Civil Society Organizations for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists].”

The Spanish news agency EFE reports: “A total of 102 environmental defenders have been killed during the government of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, which began on December 1, 2018, and will end on September 30, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) reported Wednesday [June 5], World Environment Day.”

“In 2018 there were 21 lethal attacks, a figure that dropped to 15 by 2019; in 2020, they rose to 18, and by 2021, the upward trend continued with 25 cases, which dropped to 24 in 2022. Last year alone, a total of 123 attacks against this group were reported, 20 of which were lethal.”

That article continues: “One of the axes of the colloquium organized by the Zeferino Ladrillero Human Rights Center (CDHZL) revolved around the consequences that the megaprojects championed by López Obrador, such as the Mayan Train or the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, have had on the environment and local communities. …he human rights manager of CEMDA, Felipe Romero, placed the majority of cases of stigmatization against environmentalists “concentrated in the southern region of the country,” where the aforementioned projects are being developed.”

The Guardian has also reported: “Almost four out of every 10 journalists covering the climate crisis and environment issues have been threatened as a result of their work, with 11% subjected to physical violence, according to groundbreaking new research.”

That article notes: “The Covering the Planet report includes in-depth interviews with 74 journalists from 31 countries about what help they need to do a better job reporting extreme weather, plastics pollution, water scarcity, and mining as global heating and unchecked corporate greed pushes the planet to its limits.”

Forbes adds: “The Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index now ranks Mexico in 128th place, among the world’s worst countries in terms of press freedom. In total, 44 journalists have been killed in Mexico during Lopez Obrador’s time in office.”

We continue to follow this.

#DíaMundialdelMedioAmbiente

Photo by Espacio OSC.

PBI-Honduras accompanies LGTBI+ march on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Honduras has posted:

“Last Friday [May 17] we accompanied the LGTBI+ march in the framework of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia.

From PBI we show concern for the violence and discrimination that affect the day to day life of LGTBI+ people and we remember the importance of complying with the measures of the IACHR Vicky Hernandez sentence.

Likewise, we applaud the work of Somos-CDC and Asociación LGTB Arcoiris de Honduras for the defense and acquisition of the rights of LGBTI+ people in Honduras.”

The Spanish news agency EFE has reported: “According to the Honduran organization Cattrachas, around 505 members of the LGBTIQ+ community have died violently in Honduras between 2009 and so far in 2024. Of the total number of deaths, 283 were gay men, 149 trans people and 73 lesbian women, and only 123 of the cases have been prosecuted.”

Expediente Público adds: “Dany Montesinos, coordinator of the Kukulkán Association, told Expediente Público that one of the demands of the LGTBIQ+ community is that the Honduran government faithfully comply with the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) on a series of reparation measures to Honduras for the murder of trans leader Vicky Hernández. the night of the coup d’état in 2009.”

That article also notes: “The Gender Identity Law continues to be an unfulfilled promise during the government of President Xiomara Castro, according to the organizations gathered on May 17, who in posters demanded the demand for it. Grecia O’Hara, a Honduran trans woman and human rights defender, told Expediente Público that there were expectations that the law would be passed quickly, especially because of Vicky Hernández’s sentencing, but that there was ‘a lot of lack of knowledge and documentation for the state.’”

El Pulso further noted on May 17th: “The report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the situation of human rights in Honduras, published this year and delivered this week to the authorities of the State of Honduras by the IACHR Commissioner Rapporteur for Honduras, Andrea Pochak, and the Secretary General of the IACHR, Tania Reneaum, records a high rate of violence against the LGTBI+ population in the country. with a vast majority of these cases going unpunished.”

The PBI-Honduras Project has accompanied Somos-CDC since January 2022 and Arcoiris since July 2015.

#IDAHOBIT #IDAHOBIT2024

IN PHOTOS: May 29th protest against the CANSEC weapons show in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
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Video.

Prime Minister Trudeau speaks with Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum amidst human rights concerns

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Claudia Sheinbaum.

On Monday June 3, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Claudia Sheinbaum, the President-elect of Mexico.

The read-out from the conversation between Trudeau and Sheinbaum notes: “They underscored the importance of growing our economies and delivering fairness for every generation through the Canada-United States-Mexico [“free trade”] Agreement. They also discussed key priorities like fighting climate change, strengthening international peace and security, and promoting gender equality.”

In response to a tweet by Trudeau, Sheinbaum replied: “I thank the Prime Minister of Canada, @JustinTrudeau for his call to convey congratulations on our victory on behalf of his country. We agreed on the multiple common interests between Mexico and Canada and the great opportunities to strengthen our relationship.”

The Canadian Press adds: “Trudeau’s office said both leaders ‘expressed their desire to meet in person soon’ during their Monday call.”

Sheinbaum was elected on June 2 and will assume office on October 1.

92 human rights defenders killed during AMLO’s term

Prior to her election, the Focus Group on Business and Human Rights in Mexico together a wide range of groups including Espacio OSC called on all presidential candidates, including Sheinbaum, “to promote a robust and coherent regulatory framework that ensures responsible business behavior that respects human rights.”

The groups also called on “the aspirants to govern the country carry out actions such as strengthening protection mechanisms for human rights and environmental defenders, safeguarding labor rights in various industries, establishing sanction mechanisms for companies and financial actors that violate human rights, among others.”

This weekend, Proceso also reported: “On the eve of the largest election day in the country’s history, members of the Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations All Rights for All (Red TDT) warned about the absence of a clear proposal on human rights by the presidential candidates, nor to stop the violence that has prevailed during the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. in which 92 human rights defenders were killed.”

With respect to several key issues:

Mayan Train, Interoceanic Corridor megaprojects, gas pipelines

NACLA has reported: “Sheinbaum has emphasized the government’s plans to build out the [Mayan Train’s] cargo-carrying capacity—including proposals to eventually connect it with the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, another AMLO megaproject, that is being hailed as Mexico’s alternative to the Panama Canal.”

Earlier this month, Sheinbaum commented to Agencia Quadratín media: “There is a gas pipeline for the peninsula and two power generation plants that will power Campeche and the entire Southeast, and one of the great projects is the Mayan Train, which will not only be for passengers, but also for cargo. It’s up to us to develop it, and its link with the Interoceanic greatly enhances regional development.”

There are several pipelines that Sheinbaum could be referring to in this quote. The Interoceanic Corridor is a megaproject that has been described by a proponent as including “two deep sea ports, railroads, highways, three airports (Minatitlán, Ixtepec and Huatulco), a gas pipeline and a fiber optic network.”

That pipeline is  the Jaltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline Expansion. Calgary-based TC Energy is building the Puerta del Sureste/ Southeast Gateway pipeline that will connect to Jáltipan-Salina Cruz Gas Pipeline to transport gas across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the proposed Salina Cruz LNG export terminal.

Militarization

VOX has noted: “She has also promised to bolster the National Guard, giving it more officers and surveillance capabilities. But that could also increase the militarization of policing and fighting crime, a significant human rights concern.”

Mothers searching for the disappeared

Aljazeera highlights: “Voters like Yolanda Moran Isais, whose son Dan Jeremeel Fernandez Moran went missing in 2008, fear Sheinbaum will continue Lopez Obrador’s habit of downplaying the extent of the disappearances [that now stands at more than 114,000 people]. Moran Isais leads a group of volunteers who search for the missing in the Mexican state of Coahuila. She expressed disappointment that Sheinbaum refused to meet with a nationwide delegation of mothers leading the search effort.”

Open-pit mining and fracking

And WIRED adds: “Like the current Mexican government, [Sheinbaum’s 100-point Nation Project] expresses its position against fracking and open-pit mining concessions and proposes to evaluate whether those that are already active are accepted by the population.”

On this last point, Mongabay also notes: “AMLO reformed the mining industry by increasing profits for local and Indigenous communities and making free and prior consent a requirement for new concessions. But it was criticized for not going far enough. Sheinbaum wants to halt open-pit mining concessions altogether and ban fracking.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Inside Mexico’s Controversial ‘Trans-Isthmus Corridor’ Megaproject (Truthdig, June 3, 2024).

Global Affairs Canada report on military exports deepens concerns about the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa and human rights violations

By
Brent Patterson
-

While hundreds of people protesting the companies at CANSEC that sell weapons and technology that enable genocide, war crimes and repression encountered Ottawa Police Service officers with batons and truncheons, a cursory review of the countries that Canada sells “military goods and technology” to reveals substantial reason for concern on the basis of their publicly-documented human rights records.

What countries are at CANSEC?

The Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), the organizer of the CANSEC arms show, highlights that “the Canadian defence and security industries are an essential service and a critical sector in Canada’s economy with $12.6 billion in “industry sales” and 52% of “total sales from exports”.

CADSI also boasts that its annual CANSEC event that takes place at the EY Centre in Ottawa attracts “50+ international delegations”.

While CADSI no longer makes public the names of the countries that send delegations to CANSEC, it posted in 2015 that there were 17 international delegations present the previous year, namely: Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, United States, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

More recently, Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Hungary and the Philippines have highlighted that they were present at CANSEC.

Global Affairs Canada report with added human rights screen

On May 31, the day after the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, Global Affairs Canada released its 2023 Exports of Military goods and technology report.

List of Human Rights Priority Countries

If one looks at the list on pages 22-24 of that report of the non-US countries that Canada exported these goods and technology to and compared it to the British government’s list of human rights priority countries, Canada exported to 6 countries on that list (Bangladesh, Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, Mali and Saudi Arabia).

Freedom House

Additionally, if one looks at the Washington, D.C.-based Freedom House list of “not free” countries, Canada exported military goods and technology to 13 of these countries (Algeria, Brunei, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam).

Front Line Defenders

Furthermore, if one looks at the list of countries where Front Line Defenders documented the killing of human rights defenders (HRDs), Canada exported military goods and technology to 10 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Thailand and Ukraine) where 232 HRDs were killed in 2023/24.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

In 2023, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) “identified 630 attacks directly affecting an estimated 20,000 people. Over three quarters (78%) of these attacks were against people taking action to protect the climate, environmental and land rights.”

The BHRRC specifies: “The countries which saw the highest numbers of attacks on HRDs challenging corporate harm in 2023 were Brazil (68), India (59), Mexico (55), Honduras (44), the Philippines (36), USA (27), Iran (24), Colombia (22), Indonesia (18), Uganda (18), France (16) and the United Kingdom (15).”

The police were implicated in 233 of the attacks, while the armed forces were implicated in an additional 42 attacks.

Of the 12 countries with the highest number of attacks on HRDs, Canada exported to 9 of those countries (Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, United Kingdom and United States).

Amnesty International

And if one looks at The State of the World’s Human Rights 2023/24 annual report produced by Amnesty International, one will find concerns about some of the countries that received some of the highest-dollar figure exports from Canada:

Saudi Arabia ($904 million): “The authorities targeted individuals for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression or association, and some were sentenced to lengthy prison terms or death following grossly unfair trials. Human rights defenders continued to be arbitrarily detained or subject to travel bans following their conditional release from prison.”

Qatar ($73 million): “The authorities continued to curtail the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including by arbitrarily detaining individuals for exercising their human rights.”

Israel ($30 million): “Israeli authorities maintained their system of apartheid, passing laws that deepened the segregation of Palestinians from Israelis, confined Palestinians to deprived locations, and implementing policies that furthered the systematic dispossession of Palestinians. Wanton destruction, home demolitions, denial of access to livelihoods, and state-backed settler violence, all intensified forced displacement.”

United Arab Emirates ($13 million): “Authorities continued to unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. …Even though 23 out of 26 prisoners of conscience detained solely for exercising their human rights had completed their prison sentences by the end of the year, the authorities kept them in prison under a law authorizing indefinite ‘counter-extremism counselling’.”

CANSEC 2025

The next CANSEC arms show is expected to take place in Ottawa on May 28-29, 2025.

Peace Brigades International-Canada continues to call for greater public disclosure of the countries that attend CANSEC and greater stringency with respect to the human rights violations committed by these countries.

We also call for Global Affairs Canada to amend its annual report on exports so that it engenders real accountability by specifying the “military goods and technology” exported (rather than simply broad categories) and to name the corporations that are selling these weapons, equipment and components.

Further reading: While France and Chile ban Israeli companies from arms shows, Canadian government supports CANSEC (June 2, 2024) and More than 800 human rights defenders killed in Palestine over the past six months (April 26, 2024).

While France and Chile ban Israeli companies from arms shows, Canadian government supports CANSEC

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Riot police responded to the protest at the CANSEC arms show on May 29 in Ottawa against the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems and other companies profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

While the Trudeau government provided unqualified support to the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this past week, the Boric government in Chile and the Macron government in France have taken a different response to Israeli weapons companies participating in the major weapons shows in their countries.

While multiple Israeli weapons companies have been prohibited from taking part in FIDAE in Chile (April 9-14) and Eurosatory in France (June 17-21), Elbit Systems was welcomed at CANSEC in Canada (May 29-30).

Elbit Systems                                                                      

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability has noted: “Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems is one of the primary suppliers of weapons and surveillance systems to the Israeli military, including Skylark and Hermes military UAV drones, which form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively in Gaza.”

The AFSC adds: “On April 1, a Hermes 450 drone attacked three vehicles of the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen near Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in the killing of seven aid workers who were managing food shipments. They were from Palestine, Australia, Poland, the U.K., and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada.”

France

Reuters reports: “France has banned Israeli companies from participating in this year’s annual Eurosatory arms and defence industry exhibition in Villepinte near Paris, the event’s organisers and the French Defence Ministry said on Friday [May 31].”

Eurosatory is one of the largest arms exhibitions in the world.

The French  Defence Ministry told Reuters that: “Conditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah.”

Seventy-four Israeli firms were set to attend the event from June 17-21 at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport.

Chile

This follows the decision of the Chilean government to prohibit Israeli companies from taking part in the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), Latin America’s biggest aerospace fair, on April 9-14.

BBC reports that FIDAE is “considered one of the most important security, defense and aeronautics exhibitions in Latin America.”

El Pais adds: “Local media have reported that it was President Boric himself who ordered the steps to exclude Israel from FIDAE, a fair that takes place at the II Air Brigade of the FACh, next to the international airport of the Chilean capital [of Santiago], where the specialized and general public attends.”

At a media conference on March 8, Boric stated: “What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable and it would not seem prudent or coherent to me that Israeli companies come to expose weapons to Chile under these conditions.”

It is believed that about 16 Israeli companies would have exhibited at FIDAE this year.

CANSEC, May 29-30 in Ottawa

In sharp contrast, several cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Bill Blair, spoke at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa last week. Global Affairs Canada has also provided $450,352.00 in funding to CADSI, the organizers of CANSEC, over the past two years. Various government bodies, including the Trade Commissioner Service and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, participated in CANSEC this year.

DSEI, September 2025

In the coming months, the international community will be looking at the decisions made in this regard by the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms show that will take place in London, UK from September 9-12, 2025.

In August 2021, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told DSEI organizers to “reconsider” their event and not return to the city.

Khan said London is the “home to many people who have fled conflict and suffered as a consequence” of weapons “like those exhibited at DSEI” and that “for it to be used as a marketplace for those who wish to trade in weapons to some countries that contribute to human rights abuses goes completely against our values.”

We continue to follow this.

Canada exported $30,641,495.83 in “military goods and technology” to Israel in 2023

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Protest against the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa, May 29, 2024.

The 2023 Exports of Military goods and technology report released by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) on May 31 notes that Canada exported $30,641,495.83 in “military goods” to Israel through 348 “utilized permits”.

Of the twelve Export Control List (ECL) categories of “military goods and technology” sold to Israel, the top three were:

2-11      $13,059,723.35 (Electronic equipment, “spacecraft” and components, not specified elsewhere on the Munitions List)

2-4        $10,458,545.34 (Bombs, torpedoes, grenades, smoke canisters, rockets, mines, missiles…)

2-10      $4,368,437.83 (“Aircraft”, “lighter-than-air vehicles”, “unmanned aerial vehicles” (“UAVs”), aero-engines and “aircraft” equipment, related equipment, and components, specially designed or modified for military use.)

Crucial omissions

The Global Affairs Canada crucially does not mention the specific weapons or components that were exported to Israel (it only provides the above citied general categories) nor does it mention the specific corporations based in Canada that exported “military goods” to Israel in 2023.

Non-lethal items?

Page 13 of the Global Affairs Canada report further notes: “Throughout 2023, export permit applications for military goods and technology to Israel were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, including against the ATT [Arms Trade Treaty] criteria, which are enshrined in the EIPA [Export and Import Permits Act]. Following the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent military operations by Israel in Gaza, the only permits issued were for non-lethal items. No permits have been issued since January 8, 2024, and all permits that remain open valid at the time of tabling of this report are for non-lethal items.”

On page 22 (then again on pages 26, 29, 36 and 50), the report repeats: “Following the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent military operations by Israel in Gaza, the only permits issued were for non-lethal items.”

Kelsey Gallagher of Project Ploughshares has commented: “Canada’s export controls make no distinction between lethal and non-lethal military goods and, indeed, do not define either term. …An examination of public statements by Canadian authorities and official export records suggests that the distinction between lethal and non-lethal military equipment is more accurately a distinction between full systems (e.g., tanks or combat aircraft) and parts and components (e.g., fire control computers or circuitry used in aircraft cockpits).”

$28.5 million in October-November

On February 10, 2024, Alex Cosh of The Maple reported: “The Trudeau government authorized at least $28.5 million of new permits for military exports to Israel during the first two months of the state’s brutal war on Gaza, data supplied to The Maple by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) shows.”

Arms Embargo Now

Peace Brigades International-Canada has signed this statement in support of an arms embargo that states in part:

“Canadian companies export weapons, components, and military technology to Israel, including via the United States. These military exports, whether directly or by way of intermediaries, put Canada at risk of complicity in Israel’s grave human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

While the Minister of Foreign Affairs has verbally committed to pausing approvals of future arms export permits to Israel, Canada must go further. It must cancel existing export permits, close all export loopholes, and implement an Arms Embargo under Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, which recognizes the necessity of a two-way prohibition.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire in Gaza (February 28, 2024).

People’s University UBC rejects RCMP C-IRG/CRU-BC at student Palestine solidarity encampment

By
Brent Patterson
-

The People’s University UBC [University of British Columbia] has posted on Instagram: “The administration would rather bring paramilitary police to surveillance and intimidate students- putting Indigenous and marginalized students, faculty, staff, and community members at risk- rather than meeting our demands.”

Their post adds: “WE CALL ON THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA TO DISBAND CRU-BC AND WE CALL ON UBC TO GET COPS OFF OUR CAMPUS.”

The People’s University for Gaza at UBC is “a student-led movement for Palestinian liberation & ending UBC’s complicity in Israeli occupation and apartheid.”

UBC investments

The UBC Social Justice Centre has noted: “This May 2024, seven months into Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza, UBC finally disclosed its 2023 endowment investments, thanks to pressure from students across UBC campuses.”

Among the 88 companies “complicit in Israeli apartheid” with investments totalling $113.8 million are “16 military companies directly profiting from and enabling the ongoing genocide of Palestinians (around $16 million).”

Those companies include BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Safran, RTX (formerly Raytheon) and Elbit Systems.

RCMP has spun protests as “pro-Hamas”

After the student encampment was set up in late-April, Matthew Ramsey, acting senior director for media relations at the University of British Columbia, told City News we “will liaise with RCMP on this matter.”

Back in February, Tyee reporter Amanda Follett Hosgood quoted RCMP senior media relations officer Staff Sgt. Kris Clark saying: “More recently, C-IRG has deployed to pro-Hamas demonstrations to support the police of jurisdiction with public safety and enforcement at these politically and emotionally charged events.”

Countering Clark, Follett Hosgood quotes Michael Bueckert of Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (CPJME) saying: “The RCMP is making an outrageous, racist and inflammatory conflation by labelling pro-Palestinian demonstrations as ‘pro-Hamas’. This is classic anti-Palestinian racism.”

Rebranding C-IRG

This is also in the context of the C-IRG rebranding as Critical Response Unit in British Columbia (CRU-BC) and expanding its scope and mandate.

On April 5, 2024, CBC journalist Brett Forester reported: “Dogged for years by complaints, lawsuits, alleged civil and Indigenous rights violations and now an ongoing federal investigation, the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) officially has a new name and mandate.”

Systemic investigation

On March 9, 2023, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) launched a systemic investigation into the C-IRG.

Just prior to that, the CBC had reported: “The RCMP’s federal watchdog agency is weighing its options after receiving nearly 500 formal complaints about a unit tasked with policing resistance to major resource extraction projects in British Columbia. More than 100 grievances accepted for investigation contain allegations of excessive force, illegal tactics, unprofessional behaviour, racism, discrimination and charter violations by the force’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).”

Now, 15 months after the launch of the systemic investigation, there is no word as to when their investigation will be concluded and released.

An abuse of process hearing is also about to resume this coming June 17-21 in Smithers focused on C-IRG actions on Wet’suwet’en territory. This follows the revelations about the C-IRG – including officers laughing about police brutality – that surfaced in the first hearings that took place in mid-January

We continue to follow this.

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