Civil Liberties Group and Legal Observers Condemn RCMP Actions at Fairy Creek
- BC Civil Liberties Association
-
The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has
written to the provincial government and RCMP
Commissioner condemning the arbitrary and
unlawful RCMP Exclusion Zone in unceded Ditidaht
territory. The RCMP have established two
checkpoints and roadblocks along the McClure
Main and Caycuse Main roads near the Fairy Creek
blockade against old-growth logging.
In an open letter to Solicitor General Mike
Farnworth, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and
Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Strachan, the BCCLA
notes that the RCMP's actions are overbroad in
scope and constitute an inconsistent, arbitrary,
and illegal exercise of police discretion to
block members of the public, including legal
observers and the media, from accessing the
area. The roadblocks also cut off an important
emergency route to the Ditidaht First Nation
reserve near Nitinat Lake.
 According to
BCCLA Staff Counsel Veronica Martisius, "The
BCCLA is deeply disturbed by the RCMP exclusion
zone near the Fairy Creek blockades on unceded
Ditidaht territory. There is nothing in the
injunction that prohibits movement in the area
or peaceful protest. The RCMP, by their actions,
are showing blatant disregard for Indigenous
rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. This situation is alarmingly
reminiscent of what occurred in Wet'suwet'en
territories last year."
Legal Observers Victoria have documented a
number of RCMP practices designed to prevent the
public from witnessing and documenting police
actions. The organization has documented RCMP
officers using tarps and other coverings to
visually conceal arrests from media and legal
observers. Legal Observers Victoria have also
documented RCMP officers attempting to corral
and contain media and legal observers in
designated areas where they are unable to
document RCMP enforcement. Several journalists
and legal observers have been arrested and
forcibly removed from the area for attempting to
document police actions.
The BCCLA and Legal Observers Victoria demand
that the RCMP uphold and respect individuals'
right to engage in peaceful protest and not
criminalize Indigenous people who are exercising
their constitutionally-protected inherent
rights. The organizations call on the provincial
government and RCMP Commissioner to immediately
put an end to RCMP attempts to prohibit Ditidaht
people, media, legal observers, and members of
the public from accessing the area, including
for witnessing and documenting police behavior
and reporting on a story of national public
interest.
Media Statements
Media statements
below represent the views of each individual or
organization.
"The RCMP's repeated attempts to shroud their
enforcement operations at Fairy Creek in secrecy
raised serious public safety concerns from the
very beginning. Now, as arrests become
increasingly violent and physical, we are seeing
exactly why the RCMP is so committed to
preventing the public from witnessing their
activities. This is the reason that Legal
Observers exist -- to create community safety
through police accountability. The RCMP's
continued hostility towards observers and press
is a blatant attempt to avoid taking
accountability for their role in ongoing
colonial violence towards land defenders,
Indigenous communities, and the land itself." -- Keith Cherry,
Organizer with Legal Observers Victoria
"As reporters, we need unmediated access to
situations of public concern. I myself have been
turned away at an RCMP roadblock in
contravention of established precedents in
Canadian law, while my reporter has been
corralled and shepherded around with other media
instead of being allowed free access to the site
of the arrests. This tight control is
unacceptable in a time-sensitive situation where
the safety and respect for the rights of all
participants is at stake. The RCMP is taking
advantage of the remoteness of the location to
discourage real-time efforts to cover what's
happening. Nobody is fooled when public-facing
press releases say one thing while on-the-ground
officers do another." -- Jimmy Thomson, Capital Daily
"Journalism cannot happen when journalists are
excluded from the area of events they are meant
to cover. That should be a simple and
uncontroversial statement. Yet, over eight years
and at least five situations across the country,
police have sought to exclude journalists
through the use of broad exclusion zones. The
courts, in the Brake precedent, and the RCMP's
own oversight body, the Civilian Review and
Complaints Commission, have both found it to be
unlawful to use these restrictions to interfere
with journalists. When, usually under threat of
legal action, the RCMP do allow access, they
impose conditions reminiscent of authoritarian
regimes: media containment zones, chaperones,
and arresting or detaining journalists for the
crime of trying to do their job. This is not
press freedom. We stand with industry groups
like the Canadian Association of Journalists,
and international press freedom groups like the
Committee to Protect Journalists, in denouncing
this overreach of policing power to interfere
with the right of journalists to do their job,
and most importantly, the right of the public to
be well informed on issues of clear public
interest." --
Ethan Cox, Ricochet Media
Media Contacts
Keith Cherry, Legal Observers Victoria:
keithccherry@gmail.com
Noah Ross, Legal counsel for the Rainforest
Flying Squad: noah@noahross.ca
xʷ is xʷ čaa (Kati George Jim):
Kgeorgejim@gmail.com
Veronica Martisius, Staff Counsel (Policy),
BCCLA: veronica@bccla.og
This article was published in
June 2, 2021 - No 52
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08526.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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