Urgent Action: Canada drop charges against Indigenous land defenders

The Indigenous Wet’suwet’en Nation in Canada is protecting its ancestral lands and waterways against the construction of a gas pipeline.

Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters who oppose the construction of the pipeline are experiencing surveillance, harassment and intimidation at the hands of the Canadian police.

The Canadian police have unlawfully arrested Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters.

Seven land defenders are facing trial now.

Authorities must drop the criminal contempt charges against those arrested solely for exercising their Indigenous rights and their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

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Attorney General Niki Sharma Dear Honourable Niki Sharma, I write as a concerned supporter of the global human rights organisation Amnesty International. Wet’suwet’en land defenders and Hereditary Chiefs have never consented to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project on their ancestral and unceded territory. Allowing construction to proceed without their free, prior, and informed consent disregards their right to self-determination and to decide what economic development takes place on their traditional territory, as set out in various international human rights instruments including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was enshrined within BC Law when the provincial government passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act into law in November 2019. The pipeline has already caused environmental destruction and cut the Wet’suwet’en people off from their ancestral territory. They have been unable to perform many of their traditional activities, such as hunting and fishing, because the forest has been damaged by construction sites. The Canadian police (RCMP) have arrested dozens of land defenders during the enforcement of an injunction obtained by the pipeline company. Indigenous People who have engaged in peaceful actions to defend the land should not be criminalised solely for exercising their rights. With trials for several of the land defenders ongoing, now is the time for you to take action. I urge you to immediately drop the charges against the criminalised land defenders who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Yours sincerely,
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Urgent Action: Canada drop charges against Indigenous land defenders

The Indigenous Wet’suwet’en Nation in Canada is protecting its ancestral lands and waterways against the construction of a gas pipeline.

Take action now

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