Tell Canada to stop criminalizing Indigenous people for protecting the environment. 

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Indigenous land defenders in British Columbia continue to be criminalized for protecting the environment. They're intimidated and arrested. Their title rights are ignored. 

On March 29, more than a dozen RCMP officers raided Wet’suwet’en territory. They arrested five land defenders who oppose construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their territory. The raid took place only nine months after prosecutors in B.C. laid criminal-contempt charges against 19 land defenders who also protested the pipeline project.

We must take action now by calling on the federal and provincial government to end the criminalisation of Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs as the traditional authorities of the Nation. They have not consented to the pipeline, yet Canadian authorities have ignored their concerns. All five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nations oppose the pipeline as it cuts their territory into two.

In March, the UN Special rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples visited Canada. Francisco Calí Tzay called out the Canadian government for pursing megaprojects such as pipelines on Indigenous territories with out free, prior and informed consent. He urged Canada to end criminalisation of human rights defenders who resist the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline.

Canada has so far failed to comply with these requests. Meanwhile, leaders say another wave of arrests could result in serious human rights volations.

Call on the Minister of Public Safety, Mark Mendicino, and BC Premier David Eby to comply with the Special Rapporteurs recommendations and respect Wet’suwet’en title and rights.

The abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, such as the approval of the Coastal GasLink pipeline without the consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, also figures prominently in Amnesty International’s recently released 2022/23 Annual Report.

The report named Canada as one of several states that failed to protect Indigenous rights by “[going] ahead with extractive, agricultural and infrastructure projects without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples affected.”

“The RCMP’s latest raid on Wet’suwet’en territory is a flagrant attack on Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada’s English-speaking section.

“The governments of B.C. and Canada are well aware that Indigenous nations have a right to reserve their free, prior and informed consent to infrastructure projects that affect their territories, as stipulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. There is no excuse for the criminalization of Indigenous defenders protecting their lands, waters and rights. This campaign of violence, intimidation and dispossession against Indigenous nations must end, now.”

Eugene, help protect the human rights of Indigenous people in Canada by taking action now.

Together, we can help end the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders in Canada.

In solidarity, 

Melak Mengistab Gebresilassie, Corporate Accountability & Climate Justice Campaigner, Amnesty International Canada

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