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Peace Brigades International mourns the passing of Rubén Herrera

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 22, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “From PBI we deeply regret the passing of Rubén Herrera, a great person and human rights defender. We send our deepest condolences to all your loved ones, family and friends. His passing is a great loss to people and collectives who fight peacefully for a fairer world.”

Bernardo Caal Xol, an imprisoned defender of the Cahabón River who PBI-Guatemala accompanies, has also posted: “Friend Rubén Herrera your fight will forever remain in our hearts and in our actions. We regret your physical departure. Our solidarity with her life partner Alba Cecilia Merida and other family.”

Several years ago, Sandra Cuffe wrote: “Originally from another part of the department of Huehuetenango, Rubén Herrera arrived in Santa Cruz Barillas with a wave of returning refugees and people who had been internally displaced during Guatemala’s 36-year armed conflict, which ended in 1996.”

“He worked on youth empowerment, leadership training, and other initiatives for 17 years and has been active in local, regional, and national movements to protect lands from mining, hydroelectric dams, and other natural resource projects.”

Cuffe adds that Herrera was the sub-coordinator of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango in Defence of Territory (ADH), a coalition of indigenous and grassroots community groups.

A key struggle Herrera was involved in was stopping a dam that was to be built on the Canbalam River in Santa Cruz Barillas in the department of Huehuetenango by Hidro Santa Cruz, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Hidralia Energía.

That struggle took its toll on Herrera and his family. El Diario has reported: “In 2011, with two arrest warrants on him, Rubén Herrera had to leave the municipality. ‘I gave up everything, my job, my house… until I was arrested.’”

On May 13, 2013, NISGUA posted: “Yesterday, Rubén Herrera, unjustly imprisoned since March 15 for his resistance to the Cambalam hydro-electric project, was released from custody and cleared of all charges in one of two legal processes against him.”

“Throughout the duration of his imprisonment, Herrera, [his life partner Cecilia] Mérida and the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) have continued their struggle in defense of territory in the face of rising repression and criminalization.”

“Rubén declared soon after his release: ‘In prison I learned that it doesn’t matter where you are, you can continue to fight.’”

In December 2019, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported: “The IFC [International Finance Corporation] noted that construction of the Santa Cruz dam was ultimately abandoned following community protests, and said it had strengthened its oversight of its projects’ impact on local communities.”

That article added: “Cecilia Mérida, whose common-law husband Rubén Herrera was among those imprisoned [for opposing the hydroelectric project], said years of repression against community members has taken a serious economic and personal toll that persists long after the project was abandoned in 2016.”

PBI-Canada expresses its condolences to Cecilia, to all those who knew Rubén Herrera, and to all those who carry on his struggle.

Haida Hereditary Chiefs say luxury fishing lodge choosing profit over life by not respecting COVID-19 state of emergency

By
Brent Patterson
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X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay (Haida Gwaii) is an archipelago of 200 islands that includes Kiis Gwaay (Graham Island) and T’aawxii X̱aaydaɢ̠a Gwaay.yaay linaɢ̠waay (Moresby Island) in what was formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.

It is situated about 100 kilometres west of the northern coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Haida people have lived on the islands for thousands of years and exercise their sovereignty over the islands and its surrounding waters through the X̱aaydaG̱a Waadlux̱an Naay (the Council of the Haida Nation).

The Haida Nation has explained: “Our pre-contact population was in the tens of thousands in several dozen towns dispersed throughout the islands. During the time of contact our population fell to about 600, this was due to introduced disease including measles, typhoid and smallpox.”

Presently, Haida people make up half of the 5,000 people living on Haida Gwaii.

The most recent Haida Gwaii state of emergency communication notes: “Non-resident travel to Haida Gwaii is not permitted at this time.”

On July 10, despite the objections of the Council of the Haida Nation, the Queen Charlotte Lodge, a 20-acre luxury fishing resort on Haida Gwaii, reopened.

On July 20, CBC News reported: “Tensions have been rising on Haida Gwaii since the luxury fishing lodge, which is on the northernmost island of the archipelago, reopened despite a state of emergency in the Haida Nation because of COVID-19.”

This follows a group of Haida matriarchs, the Gaandlee Guu Jaalang (Daughters of the Rivers), posting this video on Facebook of five vessels from the lodge passing close to Haida boats fishing in the waters and a tense verbal exchange.

On July 21, the Haida Hereditary Chiefs Council stated: “Since its arrival, Queen Charlotte Lodge has treated this precious part of our homeland as little more than a playground for those who make money spoiling the Earth. In their lust for profit, QCL has expanded far beyond acceptable limits, trespassing with breakwater and mooring overreach in Needan Gawee Naden Harbour, and now, they choose profit over life.”

The Hereditary Chiefs conclude: “If Queen Charlotte Lodge had ever been welcomed, it has lost its welcome on Haida Gwaii.”

In solidarity with the Haida Nation, Member of Parliament Leah Gazan has tweeted: “It is not ok to support human rights when it suits your economic & political agenda & then stay silent when it doesn’t! Human rights should never be up for debate. We must all stay vigilant to uphold & respect #HumanRights for all, at all times! #HumanRightsNow #HaidaGwaii”

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, José Francisco Cali Tzay, a Maya Kaqchikel from Guatemala, has stated: “Now, more than ever, Governments worldwide should support indigenous peoples to implement their own plans to protect their communities and participate in the elaboration of nationwide initiatives to ensure these do not discriminate against them.”

Image via Facebook.

Residents in Piedras, Colombia say no to Calgary-based Parex’s Water for All initiative

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by El Nuevo Dia.

In July 2013, the residents of the municipality of Piedras in the department of Tolima voted in a popular consultation against large-scale mining activities on their territory.

Americas Quarterly has reported that while Colombian law (Law 134 of 1994, Article 8) says it is obligatory for national authorities to respect the results of popular consultations, the Colombian government dismissed the results of the consultation, saying municipalities do not have the right to determine subsoil use.

Then on July 29 last year, RCN Radio reported: “The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) signed two new contracts with the Canadian multinational Parex Resources Colombia Ltd, with the purpose of carrying out exploration and exploitation activities in the departments of Tolima and Meta.”

That article adds: “The National Government assigned the VSM 25 block, located in the Upper Magdalena Valley basin, which includes 27,608 hectares that are distributed in the municipalities of Ibagué, Alvarado, Coello, Piedras and San Luis.”

Now, El Nuevo Dia reports on opposition to Parex Resources in Piedras, Tolima.

That article notes: “In early July, the oil company … installed 230 metres of pipe for the community aqueduct of Doima, without consulting the aqueduct board or the users, an action that was seen as a way to take advantage of the shortcomings and the health crisis through which it currently crosses the territory.”

“Camilo Cifuentes, a resident of Piedras, said that people do not understand why despite the fact that there is a popular consultation that said no to mining and extractive activities Parex insists on operating in a municipality that is supposed to have been protected from this type of activity for about [the last] seven years.”

“Given the marked disagreements, representatives of Parex summoned several inhabitants to explain the reasons for their intervention and indicated that they are currently advancing phase I of the voluntary project ‘Water for all’, an initiative that the oil company develops in all the places in Colombia where it is located developing activities or that are in execution.”

On their website, Parex has previously explained: “Through these projects, Parex has managed to convey to the community that oil projects can contribute to the provision of clean water where the Company operates.”

Ibagué is another municipality in the department of Tolima that would be impacted by Parex’s planned activities in the VSM 25 block.

Last year, the Mayor of Ibagué, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, commented: “The Ibagué plateau has the fourth most important aquifer in the country, it is clean and necessary water for the future of a city since surface water is scarce. What would happen if there is an oil exploitation that contaminates those aquifers for us?”

Almost ten years ago, on July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly voted to explicitly recognize the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights.

Canada was one of the 41 countries to abstain in that vote.

To read the full El Nuevo Dia article, please see In Doima the doors to the Parex oil company were closed once again.

Toronto-based Frontera Energy’s plans challenge ecotourism in Los Kioscos, Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Eliceo Enciso’s sister Sandra and her daughter point to their land where Frontera Energy wants to drill for oil. Photo by Darius Ossami.

On June 30, the Berlin-based Nachrichtenpool Lateinamerika reported: “The municipality of Los Kioscos is located in the Colombian department of Meta, in the middle of the Llanos Orientales… Meta is considered a ‘caliente’, a dangerous area: since the 1980s, the FARC guerrillas have been in power, sometimes various paramilitary associations… [These llanos/plains are also] oil-producing areas.”

That article notes: “Campesino and human rights activist Eliceo Enciso Quevedo lives here [in Los Kioscos, about 200 kilometres from Puerto Gaitan].”

It’s also where Toronto-based Frontera Energy is located.

Eliceo says: “As soon as the [ERPAC paramilitary] leaders were expelled from the area, a multinational corporation strangely appears.”

The article continues: “In fact, the oil company Pacific Rubiales began in early 2009, shortly after the expulsion, …with test bores.”

“The Llanos are a water-rich area. To extract the oil, the spring areas are tapped, the rivers threaten to dry out. The water is polluted with chemicals and pumped back into groundwater, which makes the environmental damage even greater.”

“In the Meta department, [Eliceo] says, the prosecutor’s office, army and police often work together with local paramilitaries.”

“But now that the armed groups have left, Eliceo is fighting the government … and the oil company.”

“Law 1274, passed in 2009 by then-President Alvaro Uribe, declared the oil and mining industry a public interest. Landowners are obliged to allow extraction of raw materials and infrastructure measures on their land in return for compensation. In order to protect the facilities, the military is stationed in the territory of the company.”

“The Encisos are complaining about this, and also against the fact that they should cede 80 percent of their land to the oil company, which is now called Frontera Energy. Frontera no longer wants to negotiate with them.”

“Their motto is: ‘Progress is the way’. It sounds like a threat.”

“Probably for this reason the Encisos now dream of ecotourism. Eliceo’s sister Sandra runs the Enciso de Corazin Foundation. It plants organically produced fruit and vegetables and wants to sustainably manage soil and pasture land. She hopes for tourists who want to enjoy an (still) undisturbed wildlife and the incredible expanse.

“But on the horizon you can already see an oil rig.”

To read the full NPLA.de article, please click on The long struggle against paramilitaries, guerrillas and oil companies.

Four Afro-Indigenous Garifuna land defenders kidnapped in Triunfo de la Cruz, Honduras

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Sneider Centeno, one of the Garifuna land defenders kidnapped on July 18.

On the morning of Saturday July 18, Miriam Miranda, the leader of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), tweeted: “We are informed from the community of Triunfo de la Cruz, that the president of the Board of Trustees Sneider Centeno, has been kidnapped from his home by people with DPI [Police Investigation Directorate] vests, and taken to an unknown destination.”

Then Democracy Now reported: “In Honduras, four Garífuna land defenders were kidnapped over the weekend in the northern coastal town of Triunfo de la Cruz.”

That article explains: “Snider Centeno, Milton Martínez, Suany Álvarez and a fourth unidentified Garífuna leader were all taken from their homes by heavily armed men in what local leaders say is the latest attack against the community by the government of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, as Afro-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples continue to fight against mining and other extractive industries on sacred land.”

The InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) has noted: “For generations, the Afro-Honduran Garífuna community has resided along the northern coast of Honduras and in La Mosquitia in the east. Many of the core Garífuna religious and cultural practices are inextricably linked to the land, including their collective claim to certain territories.”

“However, because the Garífuna live on a prime section of coastal territory, the growth of the tourism industry threatens their way of life and encroaches on what they regard as their ancestral lands.”

For example, there have been reports about plans to develop ancestral Garifuna lands by Canadian investors Patrick Daniel Forseth (Carivida Villas) and Randy Jorgensen (Life Vision Developments) that have been opposed by OFRANEH.

The IRTF has further noted: “In October 2015, the Garífuna community of El Triunfo de la Cruz, together with the community of Punta Piedra, obtained a favorable ruling on territorial rights issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIHD).”

“The decision ordered the State of Honduras to carry out reparations in favor of the communities, including actions to return land that is already being occupied by others. To date, the State has ignored the international court ruling. Instead, the government has continued to harass, persecute, and murder members of the Garífuna communities.”

Notably, La Tribuna reports: “Sneider Centeno played an active leadership role during the process and subsequent implementation of the 2015 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling in favor of the Garifuna Triunfo de la Cruz community.”

That article adds: “The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (OHCHR) condemns the forced disappearance” of the four defenders.

Photo: Bertha Zúniga Cáceres, the general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), holds a sign that says: “We demand the appearance of our colleagues alive. #GarifunaLivesMatter”

Has a Canadian-made Stryker been deployed to Portland as concerns about civil rights violations by federal agents grow?

By
Brent Patterson
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Instagram photo by portland_resistance.

There is an unverified social media report that an armoured Stryker vehicle has been seen in Portland, Oregon.

Portland has been experiencing ongoing protests against police violence since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th.

The response to those protests has recently escalated. On July 18, MSNBC reported: “Disturbing images out of Portland show unidentified federal agents in camouflage shooting projectiles at peaceful protesters, and grabbing them off the street and into unmarked rental vehicles without telling them why or where they’re being taken.”

A Stryker in Portland?

It is within this context that a Stryker was reportedly seen in Portland.

On July 16, portland_resistance posted on Instagram the photo above and noted: “Spotted in PORTLAND, OR. Across from the bureau of transportation.”

That post then quotes Wikipedia: “The ICV (Infantry Carrier Vehicle) Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III.”

There is also this series of posts on Twitter that say it’s a Stryker.

The Nation has also reported on Stryker vehicles monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border, suggesting they are used by Customs and Border Protection. This may be significant given there are media reports that say CBP agents are now in Portland.

That article in The Nation notes: “I was on a lonely two-lane road in southern New Mexico heading for El Paso, Texas. …When I stopped to take a picture, a soldier wearing a camouflage helmet emerged from the top of the Stryker, a 19-ton, eight-wheeled combat vehicle that was regularly used in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. …With high-tech binoculars, he began to monitor the mountainous desert that stretched toward Mexico, 20 miles away, as if the enemy might appear at any moment.”

And the London Free Press has previously reported: “The Stryker entered service with the U.S. army in 2002. …General Dynamics in London was first awarded the contract in 2000 for 2,131 vehicles. More than 4,800 have been manufactured. Although work is done on the vehicles at other General Dynamics plants in the U.S, when it is converted for other uses, every hull is cast in London and many return here for final assembly.”

Calls for federal agents to leave Portland

USA Today notes: “Gov. Kate Brown demanded that all federal law enforcement officers be removed from Portland streets and accused [Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad] Wolf of putting Oregon’s citizens and law enforcement officers in danger.”

The Washington Post further reports: “Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a lawsuit that accused several agencies of unlawful law enforcement, including the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Protection Service.”

That article adds: “The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon has also filed suit against DHS and the U.S. Marshals Service. The lawsuit seeks to block federal law enforcement from dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, or using physical force against journalists or legal observers, the organization said.”

And Doug Brown of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has commented: “Federal agents, including those from Trump’s Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking protesters demonstrating against police brutality.”

Unanswered questions

It is unclear what this vehicle is reportedly doing in Portland. There are posts like this one that suggest it may be on its way to Fort Lewis (McChord AFB, Joint Base Lewis-McChord) about 135 miles north of Portland.

While the deployment of a Canadian-made Stryker vehicle in Portland has not been confirmed, the high level of concern about the infringement of fundamental civil rights by federal officers raises the need for a clear answer to address this unknown.

Other military goods?

Beyond the Stryker, there is also the question of what other Canadian-manufactured “military goods” might be being used against these protests. 

The Government of Canada’s 2019 Exports of Military Goods report (Table 12) notes that Canada exported $33,975,965.89 to the U.S. of a category of “goods” that includes grenades, smoke canisters, “pyrotechnic” devices and simulators. AFP has reported that federal agents have used flash grenades against protesters.

Last month, the Independent reported: “The Scottish Parliament has called for the immediate suspension of exports of riot gear, tear gas and rubber bullets to the United States, in light of the police response to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.”

That article also noted: “Back at the UK parliament in Westminster 166 MPs from the Labour party, the Conservatives, SNP, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, Alliance, and SDLP signed a letter last week calling for a similar suspension.”

Labour MP Emily Thornberry has stated: “The British public deserve to know how arms exported by this country are being used across the world and the American public deserve the right to protest peacefully without the threat of violent repression.”

There is an additional urgency to answering these question now that CBS reports: “President Trump on Monday said he is considering sending federal officers to cities other than Portland after they did a ‘great job’ there.”

 

PBI-Canada welcomes report on climate change by UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity

By
Brent Patterson
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The Toronto-based United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity, Obiora Chinedu Okafor, recently presented his report on International solidarity and climate change to the UN Human Rights Council.

His 20-page report notes:

“An important goal of the report is to better illuminate the role of human rights-based international solidarity in responding to climate change, which is a common concern of humanity.

There is troubling evidence that environmental defenders face criminalization, which exacerbates oppression on the basis of race, given that many are racialized and indigenous peoples.

In the spirit of fellowship, however, “defenders” of these defenders are organizing to assist those on the frontlines.

Therefore, environmental defenders, and their defenders, are demonstrating the utmost solidarity with communities and everyone who faces the negative effects of climate change-related projects by upholding human rights through their direct actions.”

The report also makes mention of State responsibilities:

“[The Escazú Agreement] specifically guarantees the rights to life, personal integrity and peaceful assembly in solidarity with environmental defenders.

States have duties to regulate corporations to protect the international human rights of people living at home and abroad, including environmental rights.

The Supreme Court of Canada has recently found that it is not plain and obvious that corporations enjoy a blanket exclusion under customary international law from liability for violating the human rights of individuals in another State.”

And among the conclusions in the report:

“States, corporations and financial institutions, particularly the highest emitting States, in historical and contemporary terms, should consider ceasing to pursue the exploration of and new investments in fossil fuels as a matter of human rights-based international solidarity, since the shared carbon budget will be exceeded if already existing and proposed fossil fuel developments proceed;

States and corporations should cooperate to reform basic transnational norms of corporate governance to ensure that corporate decision-making prioritizes the protection of international human rights threatened by climate change over profits and other financial interests;”

To read the full report, please click here.

For a 13-minute video of the presentation of this report, please click here.

March for Dignity against the killing of social leaders and exploitation by transnational corporations approaches Bogota

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 18, Contagio Radio reported that the two routes of the March for Dignity will arrive in Bogota on July 20, National Independence Day.

“The so-called ‘Ruta Libertadora’ started from Gibraltar, municipality of Toledo, Norte de Santander [500 kilometres north of Bogota], while the ‘Ruta Comunera’ did it from Barrancabermeja, Santander [425 kilometres north of Bogota].”

That article also explained: “[This is in addition to] the initial March for Dignity that started on June 25 from Popayán, Cauca in which the walkers traveled more than 590 kilometers arriving at Bogotá on Friday, July 10.”

Telesur has noted: “[The department of Cauca] has been one of the most affected by the violence that has increased since the beginning of the quarantine in the country.”

On July 13, Tercera Informacion reported: “The walkers urge citizens to unite around a group of demands directed at the national government, among them, that guarantees be provided to the life and dignity of all Colombians and, in particular, to social leaders.”

That article highlights: “The previous week, Senator Iván Cepeda Castro announced that since the signing of the Peace Accords in November 2016, at least 450 social leaders and 215 ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army have been assassinated (FARC-EP).”

“They also demand the protection of the territories from the exploitation of multinational companies that appropriate the wealth for their own benefit and contaminate the soil, water and air, thereby endangering the existence of future generations.”

Las2Orillas adds that the marches have been peaceful and have practiced “all the necessary biosecurity measures.”

Asociación Nomadesc has been tweeting frequently about this march, including this tweet that states: “Let the drums resound for the lives of our leaders, Indigenous, Afros, Peasants, Students and murdered women.”

Photo – On July 13, Asociación Nomadesc tweeted: “Day 13. Today our walkers say goodbye to the beautiful Ibagué in the Department of Tolima and will face a long Day of Walking. The goal is getting closer! With a firm step for the Rights of Peoples!”

PBI-Guatemala accompanied UVOC rejects state of siege in the departments of Izabal and Alta Verapaz

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: PBI accompanied UVOC at a hearing for a community defender in February of this year.

Emisoras Unidas reports: “This Sunday [July 19], the Government declared a State of Siege in five municipalities in the departments of Izabal and Alta Verapaz.”

This state of siege applies to the municipalities of El Estor, Morales and Livingston in the department of Izabal and the municipalities of Santa Catalina La Tinta and Panzós in the department of Alta Verapaz.

Measures in a previous state of siege imposed a curfew, prohibited demonstrations and made it easier for the armed forces to detain people.

The Verapaz Union of Campesino Organizations (UVOC) has 367 affiliated communities (about 50,000 families); 98% of which are indigenous maya Q’eqchi ‘, Poqomchi’ and Achi.

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has been providing accompaniment to UVOC since 2005.

PBI-Guatemala posted on their Facebook page this statement by UVOC in response to this situation in which UVOC says:

“On the pretext that organized crime and terrorism operate in the region, which threatens national security and private interests, President Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei Falla decreed this state of siege to guarantee that there are no protests against companies that destroy our mother earth. Among them, the monoculture oil palm company NATURACEITE, the CGN-PRONICO mine and the Fénix project; and so that they can continue operating in both departments contaminating the Polochic river and Lake Izabal.”

In this tweet in which UVOC has tagged PBI-Canada, they add:

“URGENT. From the peasant sector we do not agree with the state of siege in the municipalities of Panzós, Santa Catalina la Tinta, El Estor, Morales and Livingston. We believe that it is an inadequate measure to face the problems of the Q’eqchi territory.”

UVOC also tweeted its statement with demands which includes:

-To the government, the immediate cessation of the repression, criminalization, and persecution exerted against leaders of the territorial resistance.

-To the international community maintain full observance and the pertinent actions to guarantee respect for the Human Rights of the Q’eqchi ‘community and organized indigenous peoples for the defense of life and territory.

In its recently posted Monthly Information Package for June, PBI-Guatemala noted: “As part of our accompaniment of UVOC, this month we maintained contact with their members over the telephone as well as a number of virtual meetings.”

For more, please visit the UVOC website, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Mohawk land defenders arrested for Wet’suwet’en solidarity action face August 11 court hearing

By
Brent Patterson
-

Kanyenkehaka (Mohawk) land defender Kanenhariyo and Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Woos.

Solidarity actions were organized across the country when heavily armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers raided unceded Wet’suwet’en territory in February to remove unarmed land defenders opposed to the construction without consent of the TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their lands.

Twenty-eight land defenders were arrested on Wet’suwet’en lands despite this resolution from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination weeks earlier that called for construction on the pipeline to be stopped and the RCMP to be withdrawn. Twenty-two of those defenders faced charges.

Months later, on June 5, CBC reported: “The [British Columbia] Prosecution Service announced it will not be laying criminal charges against any of the people arrested by the RCMP during enforcement of the Coastal GasLink injunction in northern B.C. in February.”

That article noted though that: “The Unist’ot’en Camp statement said there are many other people who were arrested at solidarity actions across the country who still face charges that aren’t related to the Coastal GasLink injunction. More than 100 people were arrested at blockades and other sites of protest across Canada.”

Notably, Global News reported on February 25: “Ontario Provincial Police [OPP] arrested ‘several’ people at a railway blockade in Tyendinaga, which was set up nearly three weeks ago in solidarity with anti-pipeline protests in northern British Columbia.”

CTV reported at that time: “Ontario Provincial Police have announced the charges laid against ten people who were arrested at the rail blockade in Tyendinaga, Ont.”

That article adds: “All ten people were charged with mischief over $5000 and disobeying a court order, as well as a Railway Safety Act charge of entering land where line work is situated. Three people are additionally charged with resisting arrest. One person is also facing a charge of obstructing police.”

Significantly, CBC journalist Jorge Barrera has reported: “The tracks run just outside the reserve boundary of Tyendinaga, but are within its claimed territory.”

Now, Real People’s Media reports: “On Thursday July 9th, the OPP arrested Kanenhariyo, a vocal supporter of the Wet’suwet’en and the main Mohawk liaison with the police during the Tyendinaga rail shutdown in February of 2020.”

That article notes: “OPP Detective Karin Richer, who arrested Kanenhariyo, informed him that the OPP was looking to charge another ‘9 or 10’ people that they hadn’t yet reached because of Covid-19.”

According to this report, all those charged will have a hearing on August 11 at 9:30 am at the Ontario Superior Court at 41 Dundas St. West in Napanee.

The Unist’ot’en have stated: “We acknowledge that many still face charges for courageously standing in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en, and that this fight is far from over. We are forever grateful for the solidarity and support from our relatives and allies.”

Unist’ot’en land defender Freda Huson is quoted in that statement saying: “Protecting my territory is not criminal. Industry and government is criminal for breaking all the environmental laws. They’re the ones that should be charged.”

Peace Brigades International accompanies Indigenous land defenders in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. We see that Indigenous leaders continue to be criminalized and reaffirm that defending rights is not a crime.

Banner at solidarity action on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

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