The Indigenous Wet’suwet’en land defenders protecting their territory in northern British Columbia from the construction of the TC Energy Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline are experiencing many of the situations, risks and dynamics that environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) around the world encounter.

Challenging extractivism – EHRDs are commonly at risk for opposing destructive extractive projects such as mining, hydroelectric dams, logging and agribusiness. The Wet’suwet’en oppose a fracked gas pipeline on their territory.

Megaprojects – EHRDs have experienced increased rates of violence when they oppose a megaproject that impacts their community. The $6.6 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline is a 670-kilometre infrastructure project that would lead to a $40 billion liquefied natural gas plant financed by transnational corporations.

Current development model – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michael Forst has commented that the root of environmental conflicts includes an imbalance of power, turning nature into a commodity, impunity and the current development model. The Coastal GasLink pipeline would transport fracked gas to the LNG Canada terminal approved by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office.

Seeking to stop violence – EHRDs often express concern about community tensions and the violence that can come with a megaproject. The Wet’suwet’en are concerned by the violence against Indigenous women that comes with the man camps that house the workers who would build the fracked gas pipeline on their remote territory.

Free, prior and informed consent – Indigenous EHRDs struggle to have their right to free, prior and informed consent (under ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) respected.  The Wet’suwe’ten hereditary chiefs have not given their free, prior and informed consent to the fracked gas pipeline.

Harassment – EHRDs commonly face harassment by police and private security forces. The Unist’ot’en have stated that have faced targeted and sustained harassment and intimidation tactics by police and private security on a daily basis.

Criminalization – Indigenous EHRDs are often criminalized for occupying their own territory (commonly framed as “aggravated usurpation” or illegal occupation). While the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized the Wet’suwet’en as the rightful title holders of the territory, a lower court granted TC Energy an injunction to prevent the Wet’suwet’en from blocking pipeline construction work on their territory.

Impunity – EHRDs are often subject to violence and harassment by state forces. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has argued that the RCMP decision to restrict movement from the 27-kilometre mark to the 4-kilometre mark on the Morice West Forest Service Road lies outside the scope of the B.C. Supreme Court injunction. And yet the police have maintained this exclusion zone and arrested human rights observers within it.

Gender-specific violence – EHRDs are often women (WEHRDs). They face the same risks as other defenders, but they are additionally exposed to gender-based violence and gender-specific risks. Unist’ot’en Matriarchs Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Brenda Michell (Chief Geltiy), and Dr. Karla Taiit were arrested today while holding a ceremony to call on their ancestors and to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

State violence – EHRDs are unarmed and peaceful but face armed force. The RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory has reportedly involved helicopters, assault rifles, snipers, handguns, sound cannons and police dogs against unarmed land defenders.  

Judicialization – EHRDs are often arrested and detained in lengthy criminal justice proceedings that divert from their ability to protect their lands and waters. Twenty-eight land defenders and human rights observers have been arrested over the 5-day police raid. Some of those arrested were charged with contempt despite not violating the injunction.

Prolonged struggle for justice – EHRDs must commonly endure long struggles against ongoing injustices, impunity, incarceration and threats, and rely on international solidarity to sustain their struggle. While the Wet’suwet’en were removed from their land today, they remain resolute in their commitment to protect their land, waters, culture, and sovereignty.

To read more about these situations, risks and dynamics faced by EHRDs, please see Enemies of the State? How governments and businesses silence land and environmental defenders and Global Analysis 2019.

For more on what is happening to the Wet’suwet’en land defenders, you can follow their social media feed at Unist’ot’en Camp and Gidimt’en Checkpoint.

On Thursday February 6, Canadian police began a military-style assault on the unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en nation in northern British Columbia.

The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have not given their free, prior and informed consent to the TC Energy (TransCanada) Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on their territory and had evicted the transnational corporation from their traditional lands.

As noted on the map at the bottom of this article to help situate what has been happening over the past three days, the key sites are the supporters camp/warming centre at 27 kilometres on the Morice West Forest Service Road (just outside the original RCMP exclusion zone), the Wet’suwet’en checkpoint camp at 39 kilometres, the Gidimt’en checkpoint at 44 kilometres, and the Unist’ot’en healing centre at 66 kilometres.

This morning (Sunday February 9) CBC reports, “By Saturday night, police had arrested a total of 21 people. Eleven of those people were arrested on Saturday at a site referred to as the warming centre [at 27 kilometres], after police announced it had become part of an expanded exclusion zone.”

The RCMP exclusion zone, originally at 27 kilometres, now reportedly begins at 4 kilometres on the Morice West Forest Service Road near the junction with Highway 16.

The arrest of human rights observers

Yesterday, Steve Heinrichs tweeted, “My CPT [Christian Peacemaker Team] colleagues Chuck [Charles Wright] and Nan [Natalie Maxon] were illegally arrested in Wet’suwet’en territory. Legal observers were not violating the court injunction. And they were present at the invitation of the Title holders [the Hereditary Chiefs].”

Member of Parliament Leah Gazan also tweeted, “Just found out that my dear friend Charlie Wright from CPT, who was at Wet’suwet’en as a peaceful legal observer was arrested today. This raises deeper concerns for me about the actions being taken on the territory when observers are prevented from observing.”

On Thursday February 6 at 7:53 am, the first day of the RCMP raid, the Unist’ot’en camp had also tweeted, “Everyone at 39 km has been arrested, including peaceful witnesses and observers. This in the pitch black of night as the sun is just rising now in Wet’suwet’en yintah [traditional lands].”

Journalists threatened with arrest

On Thursday February 6, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) tweeted this 20-second video and stated, “The CAJ has verified numerous reports that the #RCMP have threatened to arrest #cdnmedia journalists at #Wetsuweten Territory for taking photos. We remind @BCRCMPMedia that Canada is not a police state. Police do not have the right to control what is published.”

CAJ adds, “We are reaching out to other human rights and media rights groups to protect a free press across Canada. Journalists have the right to keep the public informed.”

Amnesty International has also expressed its concern in this statement: RCMP crackdown on journalists in Wet’suwet’en territory threatens free press.

Day 4: the Unist’ot’en healing village

This Sunday morning, CBC reports, “As the injunction enforcement continues for the fourth day, there remains one main site where police have yet to take action — the Uniost’ot’en healing village.”

The Tyee has reported that two helicopters dropped RCMP officers just outside the gate to the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre around 11 am PST on Saturday February 8. The photo at the top of this article, tweeted by the Unist’ot’en camp, shows one of those helicopters at the bridge near the healing centre.

That article notes, “Freda Huson, the director of the healing centre, donned regalia as the helicopters arrived, including a blanket representing the land. Women from the healing centre headed to the gate to the camp with her and began a ceremony.”

Resource extraction, violence against women

The Tyee adds, “RCMP officers who arrived at the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre were greeted by dozens of red dresses hung along the road under a clear blue sky. Karla Tait, director of clinical services at the healing centre, said the dresses have become a symbol of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada.”

“Coastal GasLink was building a work camp to house up to 400 people when hereditary chiefs closed the West Morice Forest Service Road, Tait said. The camp is about 20 kilometres along the road from the healing centre.”

“The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, released last year, dedicates a chapter to resource extraction projects and their impact on Indigenous women.”

That report states, “This increased rate of violence is largely the result of the migration into the camps of mostly non-Indigenous young men with high salaries and little to no stake in the host Indigenous community.”

The CBC has previously reported, “A 2014 report by the RCMP concluded 1,017 aboriginal women had been slain between 1980 and 2012, and that another 164 were considered missing. Canada’s minister for the status of women suggests the number of missing and murdered indigenous women could be as high as 4,000, but a dearth of hard data means it’s all but impossible to pinpoint an accurate figure.”

Hereditary chiefs seek judicial review

The Narwhal reports that Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs filed a request for a judicial review of the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office decision to extend the environmental certificate for the pipeline “in light of more than 50 instances of non-compliance with the conditions of Coastal GasLink permits and in light of the findings of Canada’s National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.”

That article also highlights, “The inquiry found there is ‘substantial evidence’ that natural resource projects increase violence against Indigenous women and children and two-spirit individuals.”

Unist’ot’en statement

The Unist’ot’en released this statement on Saturday night that reads:

“International public support is called for to ensure the safety of the Healing Centre.”

“We urge Canada to adhere to the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) directives and to halt the Coastal Gaslink project, seek Free, Prior, and Informed Consent from the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, withdraw RCMP from our territories and ensure that no lethal weapons or force be used to forcibly evict Wet’suwet’en people from our lands.”

Social media updates

For continuous updates this Sunday, please follow the Unist’ot’en Camp and Gidimt’en Checkpoint on Twitter.

Map for The Tyee by Andrew Walsh.

On February 6, CTV reported, “The new NAFTA implementation bill passed the first legislative stage in the House of Commons on Wednesday [February 5] with the backing of the Conservatives, New Democrats and Greens.”

That article adds, “It is now being sent to the House International Trade Committee for further study. The committee has already begun hearing from witnesses offering stakeholder testimony on the reworked trilateral trade deal and is accepting online submissions.”

Investor rights, Indigenous rights and the risks faced by environmental human rights defenders are key areas that the Standing Committee should study and address.

Investor-state dispute settlement

While it has been argued that Chapter 11 has been removed from the new NAFTA, IISD highlights, “Mexico and the U.S. have negotiated an annex that allows investment arbitration to continue…” Significantly, this applies to the oil and gas sector.

The Sierra Club has noted that the investor-state dispute settlement provision in the USMCA “would allow corporate polluters to sue Mexico in private tribunals if new environmental policies undercut their government contracts for offshore drilling, fracking, oil and gas pipelines, refineries, or other polluting activities.”

That is why 350.org, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Oil Change International, the Sierra Club, and Food and Water Action have rejected the agreement.

Indigenous rights

Article 32.5 in the “Exceptions and General Provisions” chapter of the USMCA states, “Provided that such measures are not used as a means of arbitrary or unjustified discrimination against persons of the other Parties or as a disguised restriction on trade in goods, services, and investment, this Agreement does not preclude a Party from adopting or maintaining a measure it deems necessary to fulfill its legal obligations to indigenous peoples.”

In an article posted on the Yellowhead Institute website, Tina Ngata has commented, “In general, exception clauses are intended to allay concerns around what these agreements might mean for Indigenous Peoples.”

She adds, “Exception clauses amount to little more than tokenism, and short-change our full rights to determine trade relationships on our land and oceanic territories.”

Environmental human rights defenders at risk

Over just the past two years, 71 human rights defenders have been killed in Mexico. Many of them were Indigenous, land rights, and environmental defenders.

Some are impacted by Canadian capital.

Commenting on the TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corp.) Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline and the RCMP raid on Wet’suwet’en territory, Educa Oaxaca (which is accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project), stated:

“It should be remembered that TransCanada was the first private company to build and operate gas pipelines in Mexico, where it currently has more than 1,618 kilometers of gas pipelines. In November 2018, its planned Tuxpan-Tula and Tula-Villa de Reyes gas pipelines were suspended due to the resistance of indigenous peoples in Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo and the State of Mexico.”

Martha Pskowski has noted that the murders of Rarámuri land advocates [Isidro Baldenegro Lóperz, Juan Ontiveros Ramos and Julián Carrillo Martínes] in the Sierra Tarahumara region in Mexico “discouraged some Rarámuri people from speaking out when the energy company TransCanada began building a natural gas pipeline through the area.”

She comments, “Investors and companies in the U.S. and Canada have done little to ensure that their money isn’t driving criminalization and attacks on local advocates. Until the companies take clear steps to prevent the violence, they are complicit in — and benefit from — the weak rule of law in their partner countries.”

This is an important intersection between investor rights, Indigenous rights, and the deadly risks faced by environmental human rights defenders in Mexico that the Trade Committee should consider and remedy.

Photo: Land defender Julián Carrillo Martínes was killed on October 24, 2018. To read more about the Rarámuri leaders who have been killed in the Sierra Tarahumara, please see this PBI-Mexico article: Killings in the Sierra Tarahumara: an open chapter.

The debate on NAFTA/CUSMA/USMCA in the House of Commons on February 6 can be read in Hansard here. The web-page for the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade can be found here.

Indigenous Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en land defenders on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia, Canada have been tweeting these updates:

Thursday February 6

4:59 am  – “URGENT UPDATE: It’s not yet 5am – still totally dark out – and we’ve just heard RCMP made their first arrest at the #Wetsuweten monitoring post at 39KM. Cops are surrounding people there and beginning to clear the road to the @Gidimten checkpoint.”

5:06 am – “We’ve heard 13 RCMP vehicles headed up the road earlier this morning. We’re hearing up to 4 arrests have happened now, and RCMP are taking down tents.”

5:12 am – “Our understanding is these tents at 39KM were NOT blocking the road and are NOT in violation of the injunction area. Police are now fully blocking the road.”

5:31 am – “UPDATE – Hearing reports some RCMP had their guns out – not pointed at people – but guns in hand. We’re told that even with more than a dozen vehicles out on the territory, the Houston community hall is still full of cops waiting to invade #Wetsuweten lands.”

around 6 am – This 4-minute video was posted on Facebook by land defender Eve Saint from the camp at 44 km.

6:01 am – “We have just heard that RCMP denied access to a reporter headed out to the camps this morning. Media exclusion zone is in full effect.”

6:21 am – “We have lost all communication with the Gidimt’en watch post at 39KM after RCMP smashed the window of the radio vehicle. It’s still pitch black out.”

6:59 am – “We have reports RCMP have headed up from town in an approximately 20+ vehicle convoy.”

7:47 am – “Now hearing 36 vehicles including and heavy machinery went up the road, including multiple bulldozers. Everyone at 39KM was arrested except media. Media that were at 39km are being driven out in a police van.”

7:53 am – “Everyone at 39 km has been arrested, including peaceful witnesses and observers. This in the pitch black of night as the sun is just rising now in Wet’suwet’en yintah. Prayers up and light your fires. 44 km is next.”

7:59 am – The first photos of the RCMP raid were posted on Twitter by journalist Jesse Winter.

around 8 am –This 7-minute video was posted to Facebook by land defender Cody Wedlidi Merriman.

9:40 am – “We are asking supporters to go to 27 km and bring sleeping bags (extras to donate) and food as a place to gather and show support for those on the frontlines. The roads are open for now, although we don’t know for how much longer.”

10:55 am – “Full blown exclusion zone now in place. RCMP turning #Wetsuweten territory into a police state.”

around 11 am – This Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs media release quotes Chief Don Tom who states, “Using armed force to take Indigenous peoples off their unceded and traditional territories against their will is not reconciliation, it is colonialism in all of its ugliness and hypocrisy.”

12:53 pm – This 51-second video was posted on Twitter by journalist Jerome Turner noting an RCMP helicopter flying over the Gidimt’en camp at 44 km.

3:02 pm – “UPDATE: We have just learned that heavy machinery has been heard approaching the Gidimt’en checkpoint at 44km. They do not have a visual yet. A RCMP helicopter is now flying over the Gidimt’en camp.”

5:08 pm – “People at @Gidimten checkpoint report seeing tactical team members walk into the bush, and someone behind a snowbank crouched in sniper position. They heard machine noise and what sounded like snowmobiles. Likely RCMP are waiting for dark.”

Friday February 7

3:04 am – “The rcmp have also told matriarchs they’re moving in to 44 (Gidimt’en checkpoint) tomorrow.”

6:30 am – “RCMP militarized convoy engines are running and lining up in Houston now. Their extremist force is hardly a peaceful action against our unarmed, peaceful protestors.”

For continued updates via Twitter: Unist’ot’en Camp – @UnistotenCamp; Gidimt’en Checkpoint – @Gidimten; Ricochet – @ricochet_en; Michael Toledano – @M_Tol

Additionally, Educa Oaxaca, which is accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project, has now posted about this situation in an article titled Canadian police attack indigenous resistance against TransCanada gas pipeline.

Coastal GasLink is a wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., now rebranded as TC Energy.

Educa Oaxaca highlights, “It should be remembered that TransCanada was the first private company to build and operate gas pipelines in Mexico, where it currently has more than 1,618 kilometers of gas pipelines. In November 2018, its planned Tuxpan-Tula and Tula-Villa de Reyes gas pipelines were suspended due to the resistance of indigenous peoples in Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo and the State of Mexico.”

For additional context, please see our posts: PBI-Canada watches with great concern the expected RCMP action on Wet’suwet’en territory today and Canada, the RCMP, and Human Rights Obligations to the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

The map at the top of this article is from Mi’kmaq lawyer, professor and activist Pam Palmater’s ‘RCMP Off Wet’suwet’en Lands’ video here. The nearest city to where this is happening is Houston, British Columbia. The Google map below shows where that is located in relation to Vancouver and other cities.