Oppose Criminalization and Persecution of Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Dsta'hyl
Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chief Dsta'hyl, a Wing Chief of the
Likhts'amisyu Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, completed 60 days
of house arrest on September 3. He was sentenced on July 31
after being convicted on February 20 of criminal contempt. He
had been arrested on October 27, 2021 after removing heavy-duty
equipment batteries from Coastal GasLink (CGL) construction
vehicles on Wet'suwet'en territory. He had previously warned CGL
employees that the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, acting to
enforce Wet'suwet'en law, had given them an eviction notice for
trespassing on their territory and that CGL equipment would be
seized and vehicles decommissioned.
The prosecution argued that his actions and those of other land defenders were in violation of a 2019 Supreme Court injunction barring anyone from preventing, impeding or restricting CGL's pipeline construction.
In convicting him, BC Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen said that traditional Wet'suwet'en trespass law cannot "coexist" with injunction orders handed down by the BC Supreme Court. At the time Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Moolaxan, one of many who rallied outside the court, said that "Justice Michael Tammen used 30 years of Canada/BC inertia at negotiating table to contend the law of trespass cannot coexist with the law of injunctions. The court failed in its role to reconcile the two, weaponizing the law of injunction to extinguish Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan wilaloo (way of life) and connection to the lands."
Following his sentencing Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience, the first that it has recognized in Canada, and called for his immediate release from house arrest. The designation was welcomed by Chief Dsta'hyl who told the CBC that "We're looking for international awareness of all the different dastardly tactics that the federal government and the province has used to keep the Wet'suwet'en off of our land, ... It's about time the world becomes aware." With respect to the ongoing fight of the Wet'suwet'en against CGL he said "They've already taken billions of dollars' worth of resources off of our land and it's up to us as Wet'suwet'en people to nurture the land back to life." He condemned the governments for sending in military RCMP units using 'lethal-force overwatch' against unarmed land defenders.
Speaking of his conviction and sentencing, Chief Dsta'hyl said
although it was better that he served his sentence in his home
and not a jail, he was planning on appealing the conviction,
saying "All of us have to start standing up. We must raise our
children to start taking control of their own territories."
Throughout the court case that lasted two-and-a-half years he
defended his actions on the basis that he was enforcing
Wet'suwet'en laws as the company did not have the free, prior
and informed consent of the hereditary chiefs who are
responsible for the territory, to build the pipeline.
Besides his appeal and the ongoing proceedings in Smithers hearing the Abuse of Process application filed by three Indigenous land defenders arrested in November 2021 in an RCMP raid on two camps on Wet'suwet'en territory, there are several other initiatives underway to hold governments and the RCMP to account. The Narwhal is suing the RCMP over the arrest of their photojournalist Amber Bracken. Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Moolaxan also announced on March 6 that they were beginning the process of demanding an independent review by the Canadian Attorney General and Solicitor General of the collective attempts to destroy the Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan wilaloo (way of life) and connection to the Laxlip (lands).
This article was published in
September 30, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/ITN2024/Articles/TI54216.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca