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Roundtable discussion: October 5, 2021

What does the murder of activist Mariano Abarca in Chiapas, México say about Canadian government accountability?

Date: Tuesday, Oct 5, 2021 12 pm PST / 3 pm EST 

This roundtable discussed Canadian practice when it comes to embassies abroad and conflicts over Canadian mining operations, asking whether Mariano’s case is the pattern or an exception. It explored which policies Canadian officials should be expected to follow in such cases, and how Canada’s human rights obligations are fulfilled. It posed the question: do we have any way to hold public officials to account when things go wrong as they did for Mariano? And if not, what needs to change?

Roundtable agenda: 

Moderator: Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute (CFPI)

First hour: economic diplomacy

  • Abarca family members from Chicomuselo, Chiapas, Mexico
  • Miguel Mijangos, Mexican Network of Mining Affected People (REMA) 
  • Charis Kamphuis, Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP)
  • Jen Moore, Associate Fellow with the Global Economy Program at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
  • Nicholas Pope, Lawyer on the case at Hameed Law, Ottawa

Q&A 

Second hour: approaches to enforcement

  • Reflections of expert panel
  • Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary-General, Amnesty International Canada
  • Penelope Simons, representative of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR)
  • David Yazbek, Lawyer, Centre for Freedom of Expression
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6VdIcrZIAw&skip_registered_account_check=true
Watch the Roundtable in English
Watch the Roundtable in Spanish