On November 20, we accompanied four Dene Suline youth to the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre located 66 kilometres down the Morice River Forest Service Road.

The road begins near the town of Houston in northern British Columbia, approximately 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had established an “exclusion zone” at the 29-kilometre mark on the road, said they were “conducting roving patrols” on it, and arrested more than 30 people on November 18 and 19 on the road (including at 44 and 63 kilometres).

The road is also heavily used by Coastal GasLink with trucks regularly seen up and down the narrow gravel road.

The drive to the healing centre was without incident.

The Unist’ot’en built the centre to “fulfill their vision of a culturally-safe healing program, centered on the healing properties of the land.”

Karla Tait, the director of clinical programming at the centre, says: “It is a chance to return to some of our traditional teachings and land-based wellness practices of our ancestors. Our people have been impacted by intergenerational trauma and disconnected from those practices.”

On February 10, 2020, the RCMP arrested seven people, including Tait, while they were in ceremony near the centre.

The Tyee reported: “Police, including tactical squad officers armed with rifles and handlers with dogs, arrived in a convoy of more than 30 vehicles as a helicopter circled overhead. They were greeted by a group of women drumming and singing beside a ceremonial fire.”

The Wet’suwet’en oppose the construction of the TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their territory. It lacks their free, prior and informed consent.

Heavily armed police raids in January 2019, February 2020 and now November 2021 have resulted in the arrests of 68 people peacefully defending this land.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called on Canada to stop construction on the pipeline and remove the RCMP from the territory.

Prior to the November 2021 raid, the RCMP has spent almost $20 million to enable pipeline construction to continue against the wishes of the land defenders.

For more context, please see Canadian police launch third militarized raid against Wet’suwet’en land defenders and Canadian police continue raid on Wet’suwet’en territory as United Nations resolution calling for their removal is ignored.

Gidimt’en Checkpoint video still of RCMP at 44 km on November 19.

On Wednesday November 17, Gidimt’en Checkpoint tweeted: “A charter plane full of RCMP has landed at the Smithers airport, with between 30 and 50 officers… Police loaded onto two buses and unmarked, rental pick-up trucks and headed out towards the yintah.”

The following day, Thursday November 18, the RCMP arrested 15 people on the yintah. The day after, Friday November 19, they arrested another 15 people.

What is the state infrastructure that enabled this repression of a peaceful land defence struggle against the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being built on Wet’suwet’en territory without free, prior and informed consent?

The C-IRG, ERT and CISO

Both the RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) along with green-garbed, heavily-armed Emergency Response Team (ERT) tactical officers were deployed against unarmed Indigenous land defenders and allies.

Gidimt’en camp media coordinator Jennifer Wickham has previously noted: “[The RCMP] have a specific division, who are on the Community Industry Response Group (CIRG), who work out of the Community Industry Safety Office (CISO).”

Wickham adds: “RCMP officers volunteer and request to be on this team – so we get the gung-ho guys, who have specially requested to come out there and harass us.”

That CISO is located at the 29 kilometre-mark on the Morice River Forest Service Road on Wet’suwet’en territory.

Its trailers served as a base for about 20 RCMP officers.

The Guardian has reported: “Since the January 2019 raid, an RCMP detachment known as the Community Industry Safety Office has maintained a large presence in an effort to forestall any resistance to pipeline construction.”

On February 23, 2020, after the second RCMP raid, CBC reported: “RCMP in British Columbia moved its officers out of an outpost on Wet’suwet’en territory to a nearby detachment on Friday [February 21] but won’t stop patrolling the area.”

While the officers were moved, the CISO itself was not dismantled and removed. It remains operational and ready to be used by the police.

The logistics of the RCMP action against the land defenders

Notably, while a generator could be heard and the road had been ploughed, the CISO appeared to be vacant – no cars, no lights on in the trailers – on Sunday November 21.

However, that same day the same make of white school buses photographed transporting police from the Smithers airport on November 17 were seen emerging from the Coastal GasLink man camp at 27 kilometres on the Morice River Forest Service Road.

This also prompts questions about where the RCMP staged their raids and if the CGL camp was used in any way by the police during the two days of arrests.

The Community Industry Safety Office (CISO) on Wet’suwet’en territory, November 21, 2021.

UN calls for RCMP to leave Wet’suwet’en territory

RCMP raids in January 2019, February 2020 and now November 2021 have resulted in the arrests of 68 people peacefully defending this land.

After that first raid, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada to remove the RCMP “and associated security and policing services” from the territory.

That did not happen.

Even with the reallocation of officers, but not dismantling and removal of the CISO on Wet’suwet’en territory, the RCMP presence on the yintah has continued.

Karla Tait of the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre has commented: “Moving those officers 20-odd kilometres down the road and at the same time increasing the patrols on our unceded territory is not meeting that demand in the slightest.”

And on the Sunday before the Thursday-Friday raids this year, the RCMP stated they would “conduct roving patrols” in the area.

The costs of occupation

Prior to the November 2021 raid, the RCMP has spent almost $20 million to enable pipeline construction to continue against the wishes of the land defenders.

That figure would be significantly higher now.

Beyond dollar figures, Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’, who is currently in prison in Prince George awaiting trial on Monday November 22 after her arrest this past week, has previously stated: “We want to live free on our lands, without the constant threat of violence by CIRG, who are illegally occupying Gidimt’en territory.”

For the most recent updates, please follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Twitter.

On November 20, the Committee to Protect Journalists tweeted: “CPJ calls on Canadian police to release detained journalists Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano. @BCRCMP arrested and detained the two journalists while they were covering land rights protests in northern B.C.”

Katherine Jacobsen of the CPJ says: “We are alarmed by the overnight detention of two journalists by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The RCMP should immediately release Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano and offer a full explanation as to why they were detained in the first place.”

Additionally, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) has tweeted: “The CAJ demands @BCRCMP immediately release Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano from police custody with their belongings. We also call on @marcomendicino to instruct the RCMP to drop any charges.”

Brent Jolly of the CAJ says: “The RCMP has gone outside the law in its efforts to prevent the press from covering events taking place in the public interest. It is an absolute disgrace. …This militarized police force, and others, continue to arrest journalists despite the fact that doing so is illegal, knowing charges will never stick.”

The CAJ statement notes: “The RCMP stated the reason for arresting the two was because they had ’embedded’ with the protestors, which has never been illegal in Canada.”

It explains: “Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Derek Green affirmed these rights when he found in favour of journalist Justin Brake who faced criminal and civil charges after spending several days inside the Muskrat Falls site covering a protest that shut work down at the project in 2016. The civil charges were dismissed in 2019 by Justice Green. The criminal charges, too, were subsequently dropped.”

Beyond Bracken and Toledano, the RCMP detained independent filmmaker Melissa Cox on Thursday November 18. She was reportedly released without charges.

We are alerting Irene Khan (the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression), Ms. Mary Lawlor (Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders) and Clément Voule (Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association) to this situation.

The criminalization of Indigenous land defenders

About 30 land defenders were arrested by the police on November 18-19. We also call for their unconditional release and the dropping of all charges against them.

Calgary-based TC Energy is building the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia without free, prior and informed consent.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has previously called on the Canadian government to halt construction on the pipeline, seek consent, and remove the RCMP and “associated security and policing services” from Wet’suwet’en lands.

For additional context, please see Canadian police continue raid on Wet’suwet’en territory as United Nations resolution calling for their removal is ignored.

Photo by Gidimt’en Checkpoint; Friday November 19 at 3:25 pm PT.

Just days after the conclusion of the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and calls from international groups to stop the criminalization of Indigenous land defenders, militarized police violence against defenders in Canada has seemingly become normalized while a key deadline set by a UN Committee that urged Canada to stop the Coastal GasLink pipeline has been ignored.

30 people arrested over two day period

On November 19, Gidimt’en Checkpoint tweeted: “Today, militarized #RCMP arrested Gidimt’en Spokesperson Sleydo’, Dinϊ Ze’ Woos’ daughter, & several other unarmed Indigenous land defenders, on behalf #CoastalGasLink pipeline. Media and comms were cut. All eyes on #Wetsuweten!”

Earlier that day, around 12:40 pm PT, Gidimt’en Checkpoint had also tweeted: “Tiny House [at Coyote Camp at 63 kilometres] breached w/ axe and K9 unit by #RCMP on behalf of #CoastalGasLink. Unarmed Indigenous women in both structures. No warrants. Heavy machinery, assault weapons. Media, communications blocked.”

It is believed that 15 people were arrested on November 19. According to the RCMP, those arrested “were transported to the Houston RCMP Detachment for processing and will be held in custody to appear before the BC Supreme Court.”

This follows the arrest of 15 people the previous day.

Nine of the people arrested on November 18 were released with conditions late in the day on November 19, while five who refused to sign conditions were transferred to Prince George where they will have a court appearance on Monday November 22.

Outside the courthouse in Smithers during the court hearing for those arrested on November 18; family members and supporters wait for the release of these defenders from the RCMP Detachment in Smithers.

Three journalists arrested

The National Observer reports: “Independent journalist Melissa Cox, who was arrested Thursday, described police throwing people to the ground, punching and, in one instance, using a baton while making arrests.”

Two more journalists were arrested on Friday.

The Star reports: “Photographer Amber Bracken was on assignment for The Narwhal when she was arrested. Filmmaker and photographer Michael Toledano, a freelance reporter who has been living in Wet’suwet’en territory in order to create a documentary about what Indigenous people face in the region, was also arrested.”

Bracken and Toledano are reportedly being detained in Smithers and are scheduled to be transported for a bail hearing on Monday.

Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, says: “It’s completely and utterly shocking the extent to which the RCMP are going to prevent journalists from covering events that are happening in the public interest.”

International groups call for an end to the criminalization of defenders

Just prior to COP26, more than 120 organizations signed the Call to Action from the Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice that states: “We call on all governments to respect the right of freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and to immediately halt the criminalization of land defenders, whose efforts are central to a climate-just world.”

That statement calling for an end to the criminalization of land defenders was echoed by Global Witness, Fridays for Future and others.

The UN Human Rights Council also passed a resolution in March 2019 that affirms defenders “must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

Third RCMP raid; Canada ignores UN resolution

The RCMP raid on November 18-19 is the third RCMP assault on Wet’suwet’en territory in support of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline being constructed on their territory without free, prior and informed consent.

On January 8, 2019, the RCMP arrested 14 Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

Notes from a RCMP strategy session prior to that raid show that RCMP commanders stated that “lethal overwatch is req’d” and that officers were instructed to “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock established by Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

In December 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory and to remove the RCMP from those lands.

Ignoring that resolution, a second RCMP raid was launched just weeks later on February 6, 2020. Twenty-two land defenders were arrested at that time.

This week Amnesty International Canada called on the governments of Canada and British Columbia, as well as the RCMP, to: “comply without delay with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s 2019 recommendation that Canada withdraw security and policing services from Wet’suwet’en traditional lands.”

Canada was required to submit a report to the UN Committee on Monday November 15 on its compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Instead, Canada delayed that until an unspecified date in 2022.

For updates, follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Twitter.

Gidimt’en video of the arrests on Thursday November 18.

Photo by Dan Loan.

The RCMP arrested 15 people on Thursday November 18 as the land defence struggle against the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia continues.

Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’ says: “[The RCMP] came with intent and the ability to kill people and seriously harm people.”

Photos by Dan Loan.

Those arrested included two Elders, a journalist and three legal observers.

Gidimt’en Checkpoint tweeted at 12:39 pm PT: “Legal Observers arrested by RCMP at 44KM on Gidimt’en territory. Legal observers act as legal witnesses, documenting incidents of police misconduct or violations of the rights of protesters.”

According to an RCMP statement, those arrested are being held at the RCMP detachment in Houston. Gidimt’en Checkpoint notes: “They will be brought to Smithers for bail hearings tomorrow [Friday November 19].”

PBI-Canada will be travelling to Smithers for this.

Coyote Camp protecting river remains

CBC reports: “One resistance camp — dubbed Coyote camp — still remains, occupying a site slated to be used by CGL crews to drill the pipeline beneath the Wedzin Kwa river.”

Sleydo’ told CBC that the remaining group plans to stay and protect the river. She adds: “Drilling under the headwaters would be disastrous for our drinking water. We currently drink right out of the river. Protecting the river is critical to our livelihood.”

An RCMP statement says: “Moving forward, police resources will be in the area to ensure that the roads remain accessible and unobstructed.”

An “exclusion zone” set up by the RCMP that prohibits travel past the 29-kilometre point of the Morice River Forest Service Road remains in place.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Likhts’amisyu Tse’besa at the RCMP roadblock at 29 kilometres. Photo by Lee Wilson/APTN.

On January 8, 2019, the RCMP launched its first raid arresting 14 Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

Notes from a RCMP strategy session prior to that raid show that RCMP commanders stated that “lethal overwatch is req’d” and that officers were instructed to “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” ahead of the operation to remove a roadblock established by Wet’suwet’en land defenders.

In December 2019, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Canada to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory and to remove the RCMP from those lands.

Ignoring that resolution, a second RCMP raid was launched just weeks later on February 6, 2020. Twenty-two land defenders were arrested at that time.

Canada was required to submit a report this past Monday November 15 to the UN Committee on its compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, but Canada has now delayed that until an unspecified date in 2022.

For updates, follow Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Twitter.

Video update from Gidimt’en land defender Sleydo’.