PBI-Canada says that the RCMP C-IRG that criminalizes and violates the rights of land defenders should be disbanded
Video still: Land defender Shaylynn Sampson arrested on Wet’suwet’en territory by RCMP C-IRG officers, November 2021.
On February 18, CBC reported that British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen ruled that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) breached the Charter rights of three Indigenous land defenders during that unit’s militarized raid on Wet’suwet’en territory in 2021.
Those land defenders are Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan) and Corey Jocko (Kanien’kehá:ka-Mohawk).
Justice Tammen found the three land defenders guilty last year of criminal contempt of court for breaking an injunction against blocking work on the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.
Despite finding that the RCMP C-IRG violated the Section 7 rights – life, liberty and security of person – of the land defenders, Justice Tammen said it would be inappropriate to stay (suspend or stop) court proceedings.
CBC reports: “Tammen said the maximum sentence for criminal contempt is no more than five years imprisonment.”
APTN adds: “The case will be back in court on April 3 to fix a date for sentencing.”
Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham)
Following the ruling by Justice Tammen, Sleydo’ posted on Instagram: “The colonial court system is craaaazy and there’s no way to get out of it feeling any way but oppressed by the colonial state. I don’t have the words to describe the rage i feel at being forced to defend myself in a system where the rule of law allows for the destruction of these lands, my people, and my beloved- wedzinkwa [a sacred river on Wet’suwet’en territory].”
Peace Brigades International
Peace Brigades International-Canada states: “We call on judicial authorities in Canada to not further criminalize Indigenous land defenders upholding their right to free, prior and informed consent as they protect their territories from destructive megaprojects. We also call on the Government of Canada to disband the controversial Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) implicated in the violations of the rights of Indigenous land defenders.”
Photo: RCMP C-IRG officers during the 2021 raid on Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo by Michael Toledano.
Front Line Defenders
Responding to this situation, the Dublin-based Front Line Defenders calls “on the judicial authorities to stay the proceedings against the three Wet’suwet’en HRDs, who are now facing criminalisation due to their human rights work.”
Amnesty International
Amnesty International has further noted: “Should they receive a sentence that arbitrarily deprives them of their liberty, Amnesty will designate the affected land defenders as prisoners of conscience.”
Global Witness
In September 2022, about a year after the third RCMP C-IRG raid on Wet’suwet’en territory in which Sleydo’, Sampson and Jocko were arrested, Washington, DC-based Global Witness stated: “The Canadian government should immediately cease the forcible eviction of Wet’suwet’en people; guarantee that no force will be used against Wet’suwet’en peoples; withdraw security and police forces from Wet’suwet’en territory; and prohibit the use of lethal weapons by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police against Indigenous peoples.”
Video still: Sleydo’, Sampson and others arrested at gunpoint by RCMP C-IRG officers, November 2021.
Global Witness also commented: “The geographic location of the Wet’suwet’en people is isolated and remote, making it difficult for human rights observers and media to monitor. This situation poses a grave danger to Wet’suwet’en people, territories and culture, and is made worse by the arrests of both legal observers and the media.”
UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor
On March 6, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, will present her latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on human rights defenders in isolated, remote and rural contexts.
In the lead-up to that session, Lawlor highlighted three Indigenous land defenders in Canada, including Sleydo’ who faces this sentencing hearing on April 3.
We will be following the presentation by Lawlor on Thursday March 6 on UN Web TV.
We continue to follow this situation closely.
Further reading: RCMP C-IRG snipers repeatedly deployed against Wet’suwet’en land defenders and water protectors (PBI-Canada, February 2025).
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