#criminalizingdissent — Public Fediverse posts

Trump Goes After Anonymous Email Provider in Italy. The Real Target Is Free Speech in the U.S.

Trump designated an Italian web-hosting provider as a foreign “terror” group. It could take #antifascist sites in the U.S. offline.

Matt Sledge
August 28 2026

"In the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s war on the left, the U.S. government’s designation of a popular antifascist webhosting provider as a terror group could shutter a swath of radical websites in the U.S.

"Secretary of State #MarcoRubio and Treasury Secretary #ScottBessent announced Wednesday that they were targeting the Italy-based A/I Collective with terror sanctions. Federal law gives the Treasury Department broad discretion to apply the terror label to foreign groups.

"A wide array of #anarchist, antifascist, and #FarLeft groups in the U.S. and abroad use the privacy-minded collective’s offerings, including an anonymous email service and its popular noblogs.org blogging platform.

"The practice of designating an internet platform and service provider as a terror group — rather than those pursuing violence themselves — has 'huge' implications for the future free speech on the internet, warned Jillian York, the director of international freedom of expression at the #ElectronicFrontierFoundation.

" 'They are going after the messenger,' York said. 'I don’t think that the members of the group would necessarily condone the actions of the people that they hosted. What they do condone is the freedom to host, the ability to be anonymous, the ability to be private.'

"The A/I Collective told The Intercept that it is exploring its legal options to fight the sanctions, which block U.S. citizens and companies from providing the group with financial support.

"In an unsigned statement, the group said that it denies the U.S. government’s allegations.

" '#Antifascism and #anticapitalism are not #terrorism ,' the group said. '#Protesting is not terrorism. And everyone has the right to speak out and to struggle for #humanity.' " [And #MotherEarth ! ]

Source:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/28/trump-antifa-terrorist-websites-free-speech/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/4ETk2

#FreeSpeech #AutisticiInventati #Solidarity #USPol #WorldPol #SolidarityWithAutisticiInventati #FreedomOfExpression #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Three #AntiProtestLaws recently passed in #Arizona, #Kentucky and #Texas

Source: https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/

Arizona
HB 2880: Banning #protest #encampments on #campus

Bars protest encampments on the campuses of state colleges and universities. Under the new law, individuals or groups that establish an “encampment” are no longer lawfully present on campus for the purpose of speech protections under Arizona law; they are criminally liable to prosecution for trespass; and they are liable for any damage they cause, including the "direct and indirect costs" of removing the encampment and "restoring" campus. The new law defines “encampment” as “temporary shelter” installed on campus and used to stay overnight or “for a prolonged period of time.” The law requires colleges and universities to order individuals to dismantle and vacate any encampment; if the individuals refuse to comply, the institution is required to take disciplinary action and report the individuals to local law enforcement for trespassing. The sponsor of the new law said that it was motivated by #ProPalestine protests on college campuses.
Full bill text:
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/83353

Status: enacted

Introduced 12 Feb 2025; Approved by House 3 March 2025; Approved by Senate 30 April 2025; Signed by Governor Hobbs 7 May 2025

Issue(s): #CampusProtests, #Trespass, Camping

Kentucky
HB 399: New penalties for protesters at the capitol

Creates serious new criminal offenses that can cover #PeacefulProtesters at the state capitol, as well as anyone who “conspires” with or otherwise supports them. The first new offense applies to someone who enters the capitol, or impedes access to the capitol by a legislator or legislative staff, with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business—regardless of whether legislative business was in fact “impeded.” “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. It is a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to 3 months in jail) for a first incident, and a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail) for subsequent incident. The law creates a second, more serious offense for someone who engages in “disorderly or disruptive conduct” inside the Capitol with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business, if their conduct in fact “disrupts” or “impedes” the legislature’s business—even momentarily. As written, the offense could cover a demonstrator who shouts a single chant during a legislative hearing. “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in jail) for the first incident, and a Class D felony (up to 5 years in prison) for third and subsequent incident. Prior to passing the bill, lawmakers added an amendment which provides that the law will not be construed "to prohibit... [a]ssembly in traditional public forums, including but not limited to the Capitol rotunda and outdoor areas of the Capitol grounds." While helpful, the amendment does not immunize all peaceful protest activity that the law could potentially punish, including protest organizing. When he vetoed the bill (later overridden), Governor Beshear noted the risks it poses to lawful #FirstAmendment activity.
Full bill text:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb399.html

Status: enacted

Introduced 6 Feb 2025; Approved by House 7 March 2025; Approved by Senate 13 March 2025; Vetoed by Governor Beshear 25 March 2025; Veto overridden 27 March 2025

Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Police Response

Texas
#SB2972: New restrictions on #CampusProtests

Requires public colleges and universities to adopt new limitations on campus protests that among other things would ban protest encampments, limit protesters’ ability to wear a mask, and restrict vigils and other demonstrations at night. Under the law—which revises Texas’s 2019 law on campus speech—all public colleges and universities in the state must have policies that among other things prohibit: a) erecting tents or otherwise “camping” on campus; b) wearing a mask or other disguise while engaging in “expressive activities” on campus with certain intent, including intent to “intimidate others;” c) engaging in “expressive activities” between 10pm and 8am; d) engaging in “expressive activities” in the last two weeks of a school term by inviting speakers or using sound amplification or drums; and e) using sound amplification while engaging in “expressive activities” during class hours if it “intimidate[s] others.” Preexisting provisions of the law define “expressive activities” broadly as “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment,” including but not limited to assemblies, protests, speeches, carrying signs, or distributing written material. As such, colleges and universities would seemingly be required to ban all kinds of expression between 10pm and 8am, from conversations in the dining hall to someone sending a text or wearing expressive clothing. The law repeals a provision in the 2019 law that established all common outdoor areas of campus as traditional public forums where anyone could engage in First Amendment activity, and replaced it with a provision authorizing the governing boards of schools to designate select areas as public forums.
Full bill text: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2972

Status: enacted

Introduced 14 Mar 2025; Approved by Senate 14 May 2025; Approved by House 28 May 2025; Signed by Governor Abbott 20 June 2025

Issue(s): Campus Protests, Face Covering, Camping

#USPol #CriminalizingProtest #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #TexasProtestLaws #KentuckyProtestLaws #ArizonaProtestLaws #ClothingBans #CollegeCampusProtests #MaskBans #EncampmentBans

#German #ClimateActivist faces expulsion from #Austria after ban

AFP Apr 7, 2025, Updated Apr 8, 2025

"Austria has banned a German climate activist for two years, she said on Monday, adding she would fight the decision, which could see her expelled from the Alpine EU member.

"#AnjaWindl, who has been living in Austria for seven years, became known for her #protests against #ClimateChange, including glueing herself on streets to stop #traffic with the #LastGeneration group.

"In a decision Windl received last week, the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum issued the two-year ban, giving her one month to leave the country.
"The ban was issued after the German activist was found to pose a 'danger for the #PublicOrder and security', according to the decision seen by AFP.

" 'This is highly problematic from a democratic perspective,' Windl, a 28-year-old psychology #student, told AFP, adding she would appeal the ban.

" 'We are moving toward civilisational #collapse, and instead of holding those responsible accountable, it is those who have peacefully advocated for the preservation of our livelihoods" who are targeted, she said.

"Her lawyer, Ralf Niederhammer, said he did not know of any other political activist being banned from Austria. Windl faces no criminal charges, he added."

Read more:
https://homenewshere.com/national/news/article_5a9945d1-17ed-57c3-9d7a-9152ee80d9b5.html

#CriminalizingDissent #TrafficInterference #CriminalizingProtest #ClimateActivism #AntiProtestLaws #GermanyPol #GermanAntiProtestLaws #Authoritarianism #Fascism #StudentProtesters #ClimateCatastrophe

#SilencingDissent: The #Crackdown on #PeacefulProtest in #Europe

In our recently published Rule of Law report, Liberties’ members reported an increase in restrictions on the right to peaceful protest in all countries.

by Flore du Teilleul
April 10, 2025

Excerpt:
"The right to peaceful protest is essential to our democracies, allowing people to come together with a unified voice to support or oppose key issues. It serves as a powerful mechanism for individuals to hold their governments to account and is often the last resort when prior messages go unheard. However, politicians often perceive this right as a threat, especially when force of numbers demonstrates support for an issue.

"In our recently published Rule of Law report, Liberties’ members reported an increase in restrictions on the right to peaceful protest in all countries - from bans on individual protests to the disproportionate use of force by the police and legislative changes. A widespread trend emerged of restricted #ProPalestine protests and #EnvironmentalDefenders receiving particularly harsh penalties.

Bans on Protests

"Restrictions on various protest movements justified on public safety grounds were documented in many member states. In #Germany, the Berlin Assembly Authorities implemented a temporary blanket ban targeting pro-Palestine demonstrations. Initially, the ban targeted celebrations of the mass murder and pro-Hamas demonstrations but later extended to all pro-Palestinian protests. Similarly, in #Latvia, an unregistered #FreePalestine movement protest was banned after an assessment by the state security service that the event would, among other risks, harm the country’s international interests.

"The Estonian police banned a protest in support of #Palestinians, which was later declared unlawful by the administrative court. In #Hungary, Prime Minister #ViktorOrbán publicly prejudiced support for Palestinians by linking it with terrorism, equating solidarity with civilians victims to threats to the public order. As the fifteen attempts to organise protests were successively banned, the government and the Prime Minister re-asserted their power by deciding what can be demonstrated for, namely, topics in line with their political interests. Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the Hungarian government has repeatedly declared and extended the state of danger, allowing for the adoption of emergency decrees restricting, among other rights, the freedom to assemble. Both the Hungarian Supreme Court and Constitutional Court upheld the protest bans on the basis of public safety and security, legalising the practice of police-authorised restrictions in times of conflict.

"Further restrictions, including bans on #slogans and #signs during #demonstrations, sought to criminalise protesters. Several individuals were arrested or fined for displaying signs or slogans related to Palestine. In #Belgium, activists faced administrative sanctions for carrying a #PalestinianFlag or the #keffiyeh. Similarly, in the #Netherlands, attendees of an #ExtinctionRebellion demonstration were prohibited from mentioning the conflict in the Middle East. The enforcement of restrictions went as far as arrests, as Croatian activists were charged with misdemeanor after projecting a message in support of Palestine on a building across from the Israeli Embassy in Zagreb.

"In Hungary, a demonstrator faced criminal charges after wearing a gas mask and removing it after being asked by the police. In a worrying trend of criminalising protest activities, several activists were arrested and charged with sedition before an Extinction Rebellion demonstration in the Netherlands.

Disproportionate use of force by the police

"The criminalisation of environmental and pro-Palestine protesters was worsened by the violent repression of the police through excessive use of force. This was particularly notable in Sweden, where student encampments in support of Palestinians were forcibly displaced and participants were charged with criminal offenses. #PainGrips, water guns and #WaterCannons were used against environmental activists, pro-Palestinian and anti-immigration demonstrators in Germany, the #Netherlands and #Ireland.

"Environmental activists faced similar fates, The NGO ‘#FranceNatureEnvironnement’ reported concerns to the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders following the violent repression of protesters during a demonstration against the A69 highway. In #Sweden, a woman was dismissed from her job at the Swedish Energy Agency for participating in an environmental demonstration and a growing number of #EcoActivists were fined for participating in peaceful protests."

Read more:
https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/rule-of-law-2025-protests/45384

#RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #EuropeanLaws #Croatia #ACAB #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #EnvironmentalProtests #EnvironmentalActivists

Looks like the American Association of University Professors agrees with me!

#AAUP, Allies Sue over #Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport #Students and #Faculty for #LawfulSpeech

"The national AAUP; chapters at #Harvard, #Rutgers, and #NYU; and the #MiddleEastStudies Association today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in #ProPalestinian #protests and other protected #FirstAmendment activities.

"We believe that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with. The policy has created a climate of fear and repression on campuses around the country. We are represented in the case by the #KnightFirstAmendmentInstitute at #ColumbiaUniversity, #AhilanArulanantham, and Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP.

"Following executive orders issued by President Trump in January, the federal agencies that enforce immigration laws have arrested and detained several people associated with U.S. colleges and universities, including a legal permanent resident, on the basis of constitutionally protected speech and association.

"Today’s filing argues that the ideological-deportation policy has created a climate of #repression and intense fear on university #campuses, 'terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.'

"'The Trump administration is going after international #scholars and students who speak their minds about #Palestine, but make no mistake: they won't stop there. They'll come next for those who teach the history of #slavery or who provide #GenderAffirming health care or who research #ClimateChange or who counsel students about their reproductive choices. We all have to draw a line together—as the old labor movement slogan says: an injury to one is an injury to all,' says AAUP President Todd Wolfson.

"'The First Amendment means the government can’t arrest, detain, or deport people for lawful political expression—it’s as simple as that. This practice is one we’d ordinarily associate with the most repressive political regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy,' says #JameelJaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute."

Source:
https://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-allies-sue-over-trump-policy-arresting-and-threatening-deport-students-and-faculty-lawful
#RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
#immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation

Looks like the American Association of University Professors agrees with me!

#AAUP, Allies Sue over #Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport #Students and #Faculty for #LawfulSpeech

"The national AAUP; chapters at #Harvard, #Rutgers, and #NYU; and the #MiddleEastStudies Association today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in #ProPalestinian #protests and other protected #FirstAmendment activities.

"We believe that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with. The policy has created a climate of fear and repression on campuses around the country. We are represented in the case by the #KnightFirstAmendmentInstitute at #ColumbiaUniversity, #AhilanArulanantham, and Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP.

"Following executive orders issued by President Trump in January, the federal agencies that enforce immigration laws have arrested and detained several people associated with U.S. colleges and universities, including a legal permanent resident, on the basis of constitutionally protected speech and association.

"Today’s filing argues that the ideological-deportation policy has created a climate of #repression and intense fear on university #campuses, 'terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.'

"'The Trump administration is going after international #scholars and students who speak their minds about #Palestine, but make no mistake: they won't stop there. They'll come next for those who teach the history of #slavery or who provide #GenderAffirming health care or who research #ClimateChange or who counsel students about their reproductive choices. We all have to draw a line together—as the old labor movement slogan says: an injury to one is an injury to all,' says AAUP President Todd Wolfson.

"'The First Amendment means the government can’t arrest, detain, or deport people for lawful political expression—it’s as simple as that. This practice is one we’d ordinarily associate with the most repressive political regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy,' says #JameelJaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute."

Source:
https://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-allies-sue-over-trump-policy-arresting-and-threatening-deport-students-and-faculty-lawful
#RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
#immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation

Trump allies circulate #MassDeportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘#army’

The group, led by #Blackwater veteran #ErikPrince, has close #Trump ties.

By Dasha Burns and Myah Ward
02/25/2025 05:55 AM EST

"Prince declined to comment, and the other contractors and former immigration officials listed as key personnel in the document also declined to comment or could not be reached.

"The founders of the new special entity called #2USV have a long history with the U.S. government. Blackwater was formed by Prince in 1996 to provide training services to law enforcement, military personnel and other government agencies. It gained widespread attention for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing security services for U.S. officials and military personnel, with critics viewing its rise as a result of the U.S. military’s overextension in the Middle East.

The military contractor came under scrutiny in 2007 following the #NisourSquareMassacre, when #Blackwater contractors opened fire and killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others — raising questions about oversight and accountability of private contractors. Several contractors were charged with manslaughter, and four were convicted in 2014. Trump pardoned them at the end of his first term in December 2020.

"Trump’s pardon was just one example of the influence of Prince’s family during the first Trump administration. #BetsyDeVos, Prince’s sister, served as the president’s #Education secretary, while Prince used his Trump connections as he chased business ventures in the U.S. and abroad.

"In 2018, he reportedly helped raise money for an effort to spy on progressives and Democratic organizations opposed to Trump." [As well as #DAPL #WaterProtectors!]
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/documents-military-contractors-mass-deportations-022648
#Blackwater
#ErikPrinceColonialism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism
#ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism
#Fascism #Trump #ChristoFascist
#CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #Activists #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent
#CrackdownOnProtests #AntiProtestLaws #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

Ahead of Another Summer of Climate Disasters, Let’s Talk about Real Solutions

"#Capitalism has no future on this planet. We will need a far-reaching revolution to address this crisis."

#CrimeThinc, May 8, 2024

"The mainstream climate movement begins from a premise that guarantees failure. Not just failure. Catastrophe. And the more effective it is, the more harm it will cause.

Let’s explore why.

#ClimateReductionism

"When people think of environmentalism these days, they are likely to picture civil disobedience in the streets, media activism, enthusiastic lobbying, and conferences aiming to set global goals for carbon emissions—all under the leadership of non-governmental organizations, academics, and progressive politicians. Ecological struggle, however, has always also included anti-capitalist and anti-colonial currents, and these currents have been getting stronger, more dynamic, and better connected over the past couple decades.

T"hat growth, however, has not been without setbacks, often caused by intense targeted repression that leaves movements exhausted and traumatized, like the #GreenScare that began in 2005 and the repression of #StandingRock and other #Indigenous-led #AntiPipeline movements a decade later.

"Systematically, at precisely the moments when radical currents are licking their wounds, the predominantly white, middle-class vision of environmentalism takes the stage and pushes the entire conversation in reformist directions.

"The actual crisis we are facing is a complex ecological crisis, in which police killings, repressive laws, ongoing histories of #colonialism and #WhiteSupremacy, #HabitatLoss,#LandGrabs, food cultures, human health, #urbanism, borders, and wars are all entangled. The leadership of the environmental movement has made the strategic decision to reduce all of this to a question of climate—the climate crisis—and to recenter the state as the protagonist, as our potential savior. This means centering the #ParisAgreement and the #COP summits as the solution to the problem, and using performative #activism and #CivilDisobedience to demand policy shifts and investment in support of green energy."

Read more:
https://crimethinc.com/2024/05/08/ahead-of-another-summer-of-climate-disasters-lets-talk-about-real-solutions
#ACAB #CriminalizingDissent #CapitalismMustDie #CorporateColonialism #Corporatocracy #ClimateJustice

Why is violence against #EnvironmentalDefenders getting worse? Five things to know

Maxwell Radwin
11 Sep 2024

"In January 2023, two men mysteriously disappear after speaking out against pollution from a controversial iron ore mine in Michoacán, Mexico.

"The following March, climate change protesters in Austria and Germany are beaten and pepper sprayed, and some have their homes raided by law enforcement.

"In September, a pair of youth environmental advocates are abducted by armed men and interrogated for days about their work fighting construction of a new airport in the Philippines.

"All across the world, environmental defenders continue to experience censorship, threats, physical attacks, kidnappings, disappearances and even death because of their work fighting climate change, deforestation, pollution and other environmental issues.

"Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, more than 1,500 environmental defenders have been killed for their work, according to Global Witness, a human rights and environmental NGO. The figures for 2023 look like more of the same. At least 196 people were killed last year defending the environment, up from 177 in 2022. And those figures are considered a low-end estimate."

Read more:
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/why-is-violence-against-environmental-defenders-getting-worse-five-things-to-know/

#EnvironmentalActivists #WaterDefenders #EnvironmentalJustice #GlobalWitness #Mongabay #ReaderSupportedNews
#IACHR #ExtractiveIndustries
#Mining #Logging #LandDefenders #WaterIsLife #HumanRights
#Capitalism #Greed #Corruption
#CorporateColonialism #LatinAmerica #Phillipines #India #Indonesia #Honduras #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo #PublicOrderAct #SilencingDissent #HR9495 #CriminalizingDissent

[#Podcast] #LawAndDisorder, September 9, 2024

#September11, 2001: Lessons Learned And Overlooked

"It has been 23 years ago this week since the attacks on September 11, 2001 in New York City, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring more than 6,000. On that day, the United States had a choice: The #GeorgeWBush administration could have treated the attacks as a violation of US and international law, launched a criminal investigation, and brought the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the rule of law. Instead, President Bush waged #EndlessWars against #Afghanistan and #Iraq, pushed through Congress the USA #PatriotAct, opened the notorious detention center at #GuantanamoBay which remain to this day, rounded up Muslims and South Asians for #IndefiniteDetention, initiated a wave of #CivilLiberties and #HumanRights violations, and committed wholesale torture against detainees and others.

"To assess the legacy of 9/11 and the lessons learned and the lessons overlooked, we’ve invited someone who was at the center of Bush’s #WarOnTerror. John Kiriakou is a journalist, former CIA counterterrorism officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counterterrorism consultant for ABC News.

"In 2007, Kiriakou blew the whistle on the CIA’s torture program, telling ABC News that the #CIA tortured prisoners, that torture was official U.S. government policy, and that the policy had been approved by President George W. Bush. He knew what he was talking about. In 2002, he was responsible for the capture in Pakistan of #AbuZubaydah, then believed to be the third-ranking official in al-Qaeda.

"He became the sixth #whistleblower indicted by the #Obama administration under the #EspionageAct of 1917 — a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his revelations.

"In 2012, the #RalphNader family honored #Kiriakou with the Joe A. Callaway Award for #CivicCourage, an award given to individuals who 'advance truth and justice despite the personal risk it creates.' He won the PEN Center USA’s prestigious First Amendment Award in 2015, the first Blueprint International Whistleblowing Prize for Bravery and Integrity in the Public Interest in 2016, and also in 2016 the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, given by retired CIA, FBI, and NSA officers."

Listen:
https://lawanddisorder.org/category/criminalizing-dissent/

#CIASponsoredTerror #CivilRights, #CriminalizingDissent #ExtraordinaryRendition #FreeSpeech #HumanRights #IraqWar #BushAdministraiton #HumanRights #HumanRightsViolation #TargetingMuslims #Torture #WarResister #Whistleblowers #CivilLiberties #CivilLibertiesRadio #EndlessWar

From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States

Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights

Prepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective

6/24/2019

Introduction

1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.

2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).

3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.

4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.

5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.

Read more:
https://law.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL%20IPLP-WPLC%20Report%20to%20IACHR%20-%206-24-19.pdf

#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred

#HR9495 is a slippery slope. Who will be considered #terrorists? #ClimateActivists, those who speak up against #IsraeliWarCrimes, #WaterDefenders, #NativeAmericans, #DragQueens, #GBLTQ folks, #Librarians, #gynecologists, etc., etc. We need to #StopHR9495 in its tracks!

#ClampDown #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DonTheFascistCon
#CriminalizingDissent #KristiNoem
#Blackwater #ErikPrince #Autocracy
#SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists
#AntiWarActivists #WaterProtectors
#PeaceActivists #ClimateJustice #Protests #StandWithStandingRock
#GazaGenocide #LebanonGenocide #WeDontNeedThatFascistGrooveThing

#Republicans Are Already Trying to Grant #Trump Dangerous Powers

Opinion by #HafizRashid
November 15, 2024

"House Republicans are trying to push through a bill that would give President-Elect #DonaldTrump powers as president to designate #nonprofit organizations as '#TerroristSupporting' even after it was seemingly defeated earlier this week.

"The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act #HR9495 would allow the secretary of the treasury the ability to revoke any nonprofit organization’s tax-exempt status by branding it with a terrorism label. Earlier this week, the bill failed to receive the necessary two-thirds majority in the House to advance to the Senate.

"But on Monday, the House Rules Committee plans to hold a hearing that could set up a new vote on the bill, which initially had the support of all but one Republican and 52 Democrats. With the GOP only holding a seven seat majority in the chamber, they would need the support of more Democrats to advance the bill, which was introduced to combat #protests against #Israel’s war on #Gaza.

"Under any circumstances, the bill would threaten #FirstAmendment rights to #FreeSpeech, but after Trump’s election last week, there are now fears that the president-elect could use these new powers to crack down on his enemies with little recourse. Many #universities and #NewsOutlets are nonprofit organizations in addition to #activist groups.

"After the bill’s initial failure on Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union [#ACLU] celebrated the rejection of 'new broad and easily abused powers.'

"'The freedom to #dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, and now is not the time to grant the executive branch new powers to investigate and functionally shut down and silence its critics,' said Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel for the ACLU, in a statement.

"Now, the bill could be given a retooling and sent up for a vote again, giving a president who has already threatened to use the #military against his critics even more sweeping powers. The question is if #Democrats will recognize the bill as granting dangerous powers to the presidency, or see it as a chance to clamp down on protesters they have tried to ignore at their peril for the past year.'"

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-already-trying-grant-trump-205802814.html

#ClampDown #WorkingForTheClampDown #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DonTheFascistCon #StopHR9495
#CriminalizingDissent #KristiNoem
#Blackwater #ErikPrince #Autocracy
#SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists
#AntiWarActivists #WaterProtectors
#PeaceActivists #ClimateJustice #Protests #StandWithStandingRock
#GazaGenocide #LebanonGenocide

It's not over yet... A pox on #Harris for not speaking out against #IsraeliWarCrimes and alienating #ArabAmericans!

House #GOP Moves to Ram Through Bill That Gives #Trump Unilateral Power to Kill #Nonprofits

Dozens of #Democrats still support the bill — giving the Republican-controlled House plenty of breathing room to pass it next week.

Noah Hurowitz
November 15 2024

"A controversial '#nonprofit killer' bill is back on track after it was blocked earlier this week.

"A majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives rejected the bill on Tuesday out of fear that it could grant President-Elect Donald Trump legal tools with which to target his ideological foes, but Republicans are swiftly pressing ahead.

"The #StopTerrorFinancing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would empower the secretary of the Treasury to designate any #nonprofit as a '#terrorist supporting organization' and revoke its tax-exempt status, is set to go before the Committee on Rules on Monday for a hearing that could tee up the bill for a new floor vote.

"The hearing was announced Thursday evening, just two days after 144 Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill as part of a fast-track parliamentary procedure that required a two-thirds majority.

"The bill, also known as #HR9495, has come under withering criticism from a broad coalition of organizations that say its sponsors are pushing it as a means of cracking down on free speech — particularly speech in support of #Palestine. In a joint statement earlier this week, a coalition of #ArabAmerican and #MuslimOrganizations pledged to continue to fight the bill.

"'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.’s unconditional support of #Israel’s #genocide of Palestinians and the slaughter of #Lebanese civilians,' read the statement, which was signed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine, and others. 'We will continue to stand firm in protecting all organizations’ freedom to speak and operate without fear of political retribution.'

"Offices for the chair and ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, through which the bill must pass, did not respond to requests for comment.

"With #ProIsrael groups lobbying for the bill, it gained popularity among House Democrats, in part due to a provision providing tax relief to Americans held hostage abroad.

"The reelection of Trump, however, galvanized opponents, including Rep. #LloydDoggett, D-Texas, who led the charge to reject the bill on Tuesday. Doggett doubled down on Thursday after learning of the newly scheduled Rules Committee hearing.

"'In this mislabeled bill, House Republicans are hiding behind hostages,' Doggett said in a statement to The Intercept. 'Their rush to reconsider this bill is solely to offer Trump more and more power, while Trump’s nominees for key #NationalSecurity posts this week indicate how he will be using it.'"

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2024/11/15/nonprofits-trump-bill-gop-republicans/

#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #KristiNoem #Blackwater #ErikPrince #Fascism #Autocracy #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #AntiWarActivists #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #PeaceActivists #ClimateJustice #ClimateActivists #Protests #StandWithStandingRock #GazaGenocide #LebanonGenocide

So, this article outlines what the nominee for director of #HomelandSecurity has planned for #SilencingDissent in the US...

From 2019: South Dakota Governor #KristiNoem Caves on Attempted Efforts to Silence #PipelineProtesters

ACLU, October 24, 2019

"South Dakota’s governor and attorney general today backed down from their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors. In response to a lawsuit we filed alongside the ACLU of South Dakota and the Robins Kaplan law firm, the state has agreed to never enforce the unconstitutional provisions of several state laws that threatened activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the #KeystoneXL [#KXL] pipeline, with fines and criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison.

"The settlement agreement reached today and now headed to the court for approval is an important victory for the right to protest. It comes soon after a federal court temporarily blocked enforcement of the pieces of the laws that infringed on First Amendment protected speech, and makes the court’s temporary block a permanent one.

"The laws include the #RiotBoostingAct, which gave the state the authority to sue individuals and #organizations for 'riot boosting,' a novel and confusing term. The court warned against the laws’ broad reach, noting that the laws could have prohibited:

- Sending a supporting email or a letter to the editor in support of a protest
- Giving a cup of coffee or thumbs up or $10 to protesters
- Holding up a sign in protest on a street corner
- Asking someone to protest

"Under the First Amendment, that is impermissible.

"The court rightly recognized the stakes of this case. And it put these #AntiProtest efforts in perspective, asking 'if these riot boosting statutes were applied to the protests that took place in Birmingham, Alabama, what might be the result?' The answer: 'Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference could have been liable under an identical riot boosting law[.]'

"Indeed, South Dakota’s unconstitutional anti-protest efforts echoed the suppression of past social movements. From the start, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem called on 'shut[ting] down' 'out-of-state people' who come into South Dakota to 'slow and stop construction' of the pipeline. Her harmful calls were reminiscent of government attempts throughout our history to delegitimize and minimize significant #SocialMovements as the work of 'outside agitators,' including Reverend #MartinLutherKingJr.

"South Dakota’s quick and costly retreat (they’ll have to compensate plaintiffs for attorney’s fees under the settlement agreement) should serve as a lesson for other legislatures considering similar efforts to silence dissent.

"In the last few years, we have witnessed a legislative trend of states seeking to criminalize protest, deter political participation, and curtail freedom of association. These bills appear to be a direct reaction from politicians and corporations to some of the most effective tactics of those speaking out today, including water protectors challenging pipeline construction, Black Lives Matter, and those calling for boycotts of Israel. These legislative moves are aimed at suppressing dissent and undercutting marginalized and over-policed groups voicing concerns that disrupt current power dynamics.

"But the First Amendment guarantees people the right to voice their opposition. This includes our clients — four organizations (the #SierraClub, #NDNCollective, #DakotaRuralAction, and the #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork - #IEN) and two individuals (#NickTilsen with NDN Collective and #DallasGoldtooth with Indigenous Environmental Network) — all of whom are protesting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and encouraging others to do the same.

"Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline may be imminent. Pre-construction activities resumed this month, and a hearing on the new Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the pipeline, which will serve as the basis for approval of any future permits, is coming up next Monday.

"With the laws we challenged proclaimed unenforceable, protesters and protectors no longer have to worry about incarceration or fines as they protest against the construction. That is, at a minimum, how democracy should work."

https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/south-dakota-governor-caves-on-attempted-efforts-to-silence-pipeline-protesters

#WaterProtectors #CriminalizingDissent #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #Fascism #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivists #StandWithStandingRock #FirstAmendment

[Thread] The next installment from #KleeBenally 's book, #NoSpiritualSurrender

“The devastation of #NuclearColonialism, which permanently destroys #Indigenous communities throughout the world, is outright ignored by some of the most devout #ClimateJustice advocates. They claim #NuclearEnergy production is also a #GreenSolution to the #ClimateCrisis. More than 15,000 abandoned #UraniumMines are located within the so-called US, mostly in and around Indigenous communities, permanently poisoning #SacredLands and waters with little to no action being taken to clean up their deadly toxic legacy. There are currently 93 operating #NuclearReactors in the so-called US that supply 20% of the country’s electricity. There are 60,000 tons of #HighlyRadioactive spent waste store in concrete dams at #NuclearPowerPlants throughout the country with the waste increasing at a rate of 2,000 tons per year.

“In 1987 the ‘US’ Congress initiated a controversial project to transport and store almost all of the US’s #ToxicWaste at #YuccaMountain located about 100 miles northwest of so-called #LasVegas, #Nevada. Yucca Mountan has been held holy to the #Paiute and #WesternShoshone Nations since time immemorial. In January 2010 the #ObamaAdminstration approved a $54 billion taxpayer loan in a guarantee program for new nuclear reactor construction, three times what Bush previously promised in 2005. In April 2022, the #BidenAdministration government bailout to ‘rescue’ nuclear power plants at risk for closing. A #Colonial government representative stated, ‘US nuclear power contributes more than half of our #CarbonFree electricity, and President Biden is committed to keeping these plants active to reach our #CleanEnergy goals.’

“They, along with Climate Justice activiists, cite nuclear energy as necessary to combat #GlobalWarming, all while ignoring the devastating percent impacts #IndigenousPeoples have faced. There is nothing clean about energy produced from nuclear colonialism. From its weapons (including #DepletedUranium) to its #Mining and its waste; Indigenous bodies, lands, and waters continue to be sacrificed to heat water with radioactive materials which creates steam that moves generators to change batteries made from #Lithium extracted from other Indigenous sacred lands so #Teslas can mo you forward into a ‘just’ climate future.

“A green economy sustains and advances colonial progress, which means mitigated selective and ongoing destruction of #MotherEarth.”

Pages 139-140

#IndigenousAnarchy
#Ecosystem #HaulNo #DefendTheSacred
#CorporateColonialism #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #ClimateDefenders #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #CopperMining #Greenwashng #NuclearWeapons #RestInPowerKleeBenally #RIPKleeBenally #StopCanyonMine

[Thread] The next installment from #KleeBenally 's book, #NoSpiritualSurrender.

“The proposition of unplugging from a ‘dirty’ power source and plugging into a ‘green’ one does nothing to address the underlying power relations. It reinforces them.

“‘#GreenEnergy’ sustaining a Green Economy still demands resource #colonialism. From sacred #OakFlat in so-called Arizona where #SanCarlosApache are resisting a massive mine that is estimated to contain enough #copper ore to produce 275 million electric vehicles [#EVs], to sacred #ThackerPass in so-called Nevada where #Shoshone are resisting #LithiumMining, which is necessary for electric vehicle and ‘green’ energy battery production. A single car #LithiumIon battery pack contains 18 pounds of lithium. To electrify every vehicle throughout the world, an estimated 10.4 billion tons of lithium is needed, that is approximately 13 times the existing lithium reserves. The Thacker Pass lithium one is mismated to produce 60,000 tons annually. The proposed project spans approximately 28 square miles that would hold an #OpenPit and a #sulfuricacid processing plant to extract lithium from mined ore.

"The operation is estimated to release 152,713 tons of #CarbonDioxide [#CO2] annually and 400,000 gallons of #water is required for each ton of lithium meaning it will use 1.7 billion gallons annual. The Thacker Pass sulfuric acid processing plant will convert sulfur to leech lithium from raw ore, turned in from sources such as the #AlbertaTarSands, which are 1,500 miles away. The tar sands, located in so-called Canada, are known as the world’s most destructive oil operation.”

Page 138-139

#IndigenousAnarchy
#Ecosystem #DefendTheSacred
#CorporateColonialism #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #ClimateDefenders #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #CopperMining #Greenwashing

#BigOil’s Plan To #Criminalize #Pipeline #Protests

By ExposedByCMD Editors
| June 18th, 2024
at 12:21 PM (CDT)

"#AnneWhiteHat found herself facing up to 10 years in prison after she was arrested for two counts of felony trespassing in September 2018 under one such law, which had just taken effect in Louisiana following pressure from oil and gas lobbyists.

She was one of four Native women who founded a resistance camp called L’eau Est La Vie, which was organizing nonviolent direct actions in protest of the #BayouBridgePipeline — a now-operating 163-mile pipeline owned by #EnergyTransfer that transports crude oil throughout the state. The protests ranged from a rendition of 'Crawfish the Musical' on the construction site to protesters locking themselves to pipeline equipment to tree sits in the centuries-old cypresses the company planned to tear down.

"The Bayou Bridge pipeline is the tail end of the #DakotaAccess route — White Hat had already joined her relatives to participate in the resistance camp at Standing Rock in North Dakota. 'I felt like it was a righteous cause, not to let them comfortably continue to threaten the waters of Indigenous #FirstNations,' she said. 'I was inspired from the work up North and just couldn’t let them continue down here unanswered and unchecked.'

White Hat had just finished leading a prayer ceremony when she was arrested at a boat ramp miles from the pipeline construction site. She was hauled into a sheriff deputy’s car with two other women and driven through tall sugar cane fields on the way to jail.

'It was terrifying,' said White Hat. 'We’re way out in the middle of nowhere. I was like, ‘Is this the point where I actually disappear?’

Investigative journalist Karen Savage was arrested that day, too — her second arrest under felony trespass charges as she reported on the Bayou Bridge protests. She was one of the only reporters to travel to the Atchafalaya Basin swamp, where the pipeline was being constructed.

By the time the water protectors got to the swamp, Savage said, they 'had done everything — they went to public meetings, they had petitions, they wrote letters, they tried to meet with the governor — they did everything they tell you in school, to participate and use your civil obligation in your community.' Despite their best efforts in one of the most oil- and gas-friendly states in the country, said Savage, 'nobody was listening.'"

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/06/18/big-oils-plan-to-criminalize-pipeline-protests/

#BigOilAndGas #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#DirectAction #CorporateFascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #NoDAPL

Trial of #LandDefenders Fighting the #CoastalGasLink #Pipeline is Put on Hold as Canadian #Police Come Under Scrutiny for Excessive Force

The defense for three activists from #FirstNations argues abuse of process by security forces around the pipeline construction site, as the U.N. and Amnesty International allege excessive force, surveillance and #criminalization of land defenders.

By Keerti Gopal
January 24, 2024

"The trial of three Indigenous land defenders arrested at a pipeline construction site on #unceded #Wetsuweten First Nation land was adjourned until spring on Friday, as the court looks into potential abuses by Canadian police.

"In the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Smithers, B.C., the trial is the latest development in the nearly 12-year fight against the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in the Canadian province.

"Land defenders #Sleydo’ #MollyWickham, #ShayLynnSampson and #CoreyJocko were found guilty of criminal contempt earlier this month, with Justice Michael Tanmen ruling that they broke a court injunction forbidding them from blocking access to construction for the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

"But immediately following the verdict, Tanmen began a week-long hearing to listen to the three individuals’ abuse of process applications, which allege that their Charter rights were violated during their arrests and detentions. During the hearing, the defense argued to stay the charges based on these applications, citing excessive force, aggressive behavior, offensive language and mocking by police.

"In Canada, the abuse of process doctrine allows courts to stay, or postpone, a proceeding on the grounds that some element of the process was unfair, and might undermine the legal system. In this case, the abuse of process application focused on treatment during and after arrests.

"The trial began on Jan. 8 and consisted mainly of witness testimony and evidence gathered in November 2021, during one of four major police raids at the pipeline between 2019 and 2023. The evidence included videos from social media and other videos taken by officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s national police service.

"The videos, and testimony from witnesses, including #RCMP officers, detailed the police using dogs and firearms and wielding chainsaws to cut down the doors of a cabin where Sleydo’ and Sampson were arrested. Jocko was arrested in another small structure close by.

"The activists allege police used excessive force to break down the doors and used offensive language, showing videos in which officers described arrestees as 'orcs' and 'ogres.' The abuse of process hearing will likely restart in June.

"Chief Na’Moks, a Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief and prominent advocate against the pipeline, said that the trial may serve as a template for future legal battles across Canada, where several other pipeline projects are underway.

"'This is going to affect everything else that happens, not only in #BritishColumbia but in #Canada,' Chief Na’Moks said last week. “This is the template that they want to use...and the harassment and constant abuse of #HumanRights has to stop.”

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24012024/first-nations-activists-fighting-coastal-gaslink-pipeline/

#ACAB #HumanRightsViolations #IndigenousActivism #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders
#UncededLand #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists

#Wetsuweten Law Cannot ‘Coexist’ with BC Court Order, Judge Determines
Chief Dsta’hyl has been found guilty of criminal contempt.

by Amanda Follett Hosgood, #TheTyee

21 Feb 2024

"Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders have opposed #pipeline construction through their traditional territory since before the #CoastalGasLink pipeline project was first proposed. In December 2018, the B.C. Supreme Court issued an interim injunction to the company, which prohibited anyone from blocking pipeline access roads or work sites. A year later, on Dec. 31, 2019, the court granted a permanent injunction for the duration of the project.

[...]

"Last month, Tammen determined there was sufficient evidence to convict three #Indigenous #LandDefenders — Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Shaylynn Sampson and Corey Jocko. They were arrested the day after Dennis and later charged with criminal #contempt. Hearings have begun into an application by the defence to stay the charges based on police conduct during the arrests.

"#ChiefDstahyl’s arrest took place in October 2021, after a series of interactions with Coastal GasLink workers and security contractors on the Shea Forest Service Road on Likhts’amisyu Clan territory.

"During those interactions, Dsta’hyl and others blocked access to a work camp and 'seized and rendered inoperable' multiple pieces of machinery belonging to Coastal GasLink contractors by cutting electrical wires and removing batteries, according to evidence presented during the trial.

"When Dsta’hyl was arrested, he had four batteries from heavy machinery in the back of his pickup truck, the judge said.

"'There is little dispute concerning the basic facts,' Tammen said, noting that video evidence documenting the incidents was presented during the trial.

"'Chief Dsta’hyl, acting as an enforcement officer for the Likhts’amisyu Clan, participated in the decommissioning of a piece of heavy equipment owned by a CGL subcontractor on Oct. 17, 2021. That action consisted of removing the battery from the equipment, an excavator, thus rendering it inoperable.'

"Witnesses for the defence included other #Likhtsamisyu Chiefs, who described the Wet’suwet’en traditional clan system and its role in governing the traditional territory. Among the Chiefs’ duties is preservation and protection of the traditional territory, or #yintah, Tammen said.

"Tammen also summarized the Wet’suwet’en law of trespass, something described in detail by defence witnesses, saying permission is required to access territory belonging to a house group 'beyond just passing through it.'

[...]

"Criminal contempt penalties can include fines or imprisonment. Sentencing has been set for 9 a.m. on March 6."

https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/02/21/Wetsuweten-Law-Cannot-Coexist-BC-Court-Order/

#SLAPPs #IndigenousActivism #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousLandDefenders #LandBack #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #EcoActivists #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

Gantry climber, #CressieGethin 22, found guilty

Court & Prison, Press / February 19, 2024

#JustStopOil supporter and gantry climber, Cressie Gethin, has been found guilty. Cressie took action in July 2022, demanding the UK government immediately halts all licensing and consents for new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.

The trial began on the 5th February at Isleworth Crown Court, with Judge Duncan presiding. The jury has found Cressie guilty by a majority of ten to two. Cressie, 22, a music student from Hereford, will be sentenced on the 3rd of May with two others. They face a possible ten year custodial sentence. [2]

During the trial Cressie was prevented from talking about her reasons for taking action and was denied any legal defence by the judge. The court heard a witness testimony from acclaimed naturalist and television presenter, Chris Packham, who commented that those taking action like Cressie “should be commended for sounding a vital alarm”. He added: “I am attending court to support Cressie Gethin because I don’t think she is getting a fair trial. I think, along with the UN, that the UK’s protest laws and sentencing of protesters are unjust, draconian, and in conflict with our basic human rights.”

Cressie climbed a motorway gantry above the M25 on the 20th July 2022, two days after the governments’ net zero strategy was declared unlawful, and one day after the UK recorded its highest ever temperature of 40.3 degrees celsius, a milestone that scientists previously thought was impossible. 61,000 excess deaths were recorded across Europe as a result of the extreme heat that summer, whilst the UK government continued to licence new oil and gas. [5]

Speaking before the action in 2022, Cressie said:

“I am terrified by the extreme heat in the UK this week, knowing that this will only get worse as we continue to extract and burn more and more fossil fuels. This country has the technology and money to begin a just and rapid transition to renewable energy immediately, but our government refuses to do so. I feel it is my duty as a human being to demand change in a way that cannot be ignored.

Thousands of people will die this week as a result of the extreme temperatures we are experiencing in the UK. We are in this situation because of increasing global temperatures caused by the emissions from burning fossil fuels. Against this backdrop, the UK government plans to open new oil and gas fields. I am dumbfounded by their negligence.

I am thinking of the countless people across the country and abroad who are now experiencing illness and death as a result of the climate crisis. People are angry that our government is continuing down the path of destruction, and we will not simply stand by and let this happen.”

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson commented:

“It would be extremely convenient for everyone if the climate crisis could be removed from our lives by the ruling of a Judge. If we could imprison the wildfires, if we could arrest famines, or if we could legislate against the rising sea waters that will leave parts of Britain submerged, that would be a fantastic outcome – but the reality is that we can’t and rapid decarbonisation is the only way of preventing these horrifying outcomes.

However, the judiciary – like the police – is proving to be an effective arm of the oil and gas industry, by silencing and imprisoning members of the public taking nonviolent action against climate collapse. Future generations will be disgusted by rulings such as this.”

As the world passes tipping points that threaten the breakdown of ordered civilization, world leaders, captured by the interests of oil lobbyists and big business, are failing to protect our communities. British citizens are sick of being led by liars and crooks. Until we stop Tory oil, supporters of Just Stop Oil will continue taking proportionate action to demand necessary change. Sign up for action at juststopoil.org.

https://juststopoil.org/2024/02/19/gantry-climber-cressie-gethin-22-found-guilty/

#SLAPPs #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #BigOilAndGas #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

#GretaThunberg cleared after unlawful protest arrest

2nd February 2024, 01:49 EST

"Greta Thunberg and four co-defendants have been found not guilty of breaking the law when they refused to follow police instructions to move on during a #ClimateProtest.

"District Judge John Law threw out a public order charge due to 'no evidence' of any offence being committed adding police attempted to impose 'unlawful' conditions.

"The 21-year-old was arrested at a #ClimateCrisis demonstration near the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair on 17 October.

"The judge said that the conditions imposed on protesters were 'so unclear that it is unlawful'.

"He added that it meant that 'anyone failing to comply were actually committing no offence'."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68180317

#DirectAction #ACAB #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife
#WaterProtectors
#ForestDefenders
#ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice
#CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists
#Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations
#Article20
#RightToProtest
#SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs #2023PublicOrderAct

Inside the last-ditch effort to stop the #MountainValleyPipeline

The project is over budget and behind schedule, with a lot of hard work left to do. Its opponents hope that makes #FossilFuel companies think twice about building the next one.

By Katie Myers
Published Jan 16, 2024

"As day broke over the small mountain town of #EllistonVirginia, one Monday in October, masked figures in thick coats emerged from the woods surrounding a construction site. Three of them approached three excavators and, one by one, locked themselves to the machines, bringing the day’s work to a halt. As they did so, several dozen of their fellow protesters gathered around them, unfurling banners and chanting amid the groaning and beeping of construction equipment.

"They made their way across the field, over patches of bare earth, around sections of rusty pipe meant for burial beneath the mountain. Eventually the metal tubes will form yet another section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will soon carry 2 billion cubic feet of #fracked #methane from the #ShaleFields of #WestVirginia to #NorthCarolina each day. Their breath billowed in the crisp air. Beyond them stretched a bright blue sky, and mountains tinged with yellow. The past night’s rain pooled on the muddy and compacted soil beneath their feet.

"Workers in highlighter-yellow vests and hard hats milled around, some looking amused, others frustrated. One or two engaged with the #protesters, only to be told off by an irate site manager. A few miles away at the West Virginia state line, another three dozen or so activists did much the same atop #PetersMountain. One even managed to crawl under an excavator and lock herself in place, despite the cold. The others rallied around, enclosing her in a tight, protective circle.

Some might wonder why they bothered. After all, the project is, by the Mountain Valley Pipeline company’s estimate, 94 percent complete and will be wrapped up before summer. It stalled for several years amid legal fights over various permits, but Senator #JoeManchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia, almost single-handedly revived it in 2022 in exchange for his support of key Democratic priorities. Since then, the Biden administration and the Supreme Court have all but assured its completion. With the approximately 303-mile pipeline approaching the final stretch after almost a decade’s work, it might seem hardly worth fighting at this point.

"A large contingent of steadfast opposition begs to differ — and will enthusiastically explain why. The pipeline is six years behind schedule, about half a billion dollars over budget, and, despite promises that it would be done by the end of last year, delayed once again. The remaining construction is over rugged terrain, with hundreds of water crossings left to bridge. The company recently postponed, shortened, and rerouted its planned extension into North Carolina, a proposal long stymied by permitting problems with the main line. And, just last month, #Equitrans, which owns the #pipeline and many others across the country, was said to be considering selling itself. The road to the pipeline’s completion remains rocky, its opponents argue, with many opportunities to make finishing it as difficult as possible.

"'We cannot let them destroy our land and water,' said a young woman named Ericka. Like many interviewed for this story, she gave only her first name out of fear of reprisal from #MountainValleyPipelineLLC, which has begun suing #protesters in a bid to silence them. She had brought her three children to occupy the land that day. 'What are we going to drink? Where are we going to live? People have to come here and stop this.'"

https://grist.org/protest/inside-the-last-ditch-effort-to-stop-the-mountain-valley-pipeline/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

#SilencingDissent #DirectAction #ClimateCatastrophe #NoFracking #WaterIsLife #SLAPPs #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas

#RussianPoet receives 7-year prison sentence for reciting verses against war in #Ukraine

by AP, December 29, 2023

"A Russian poet was given a 7-year prison sentence Thursday for reciting verses against #Russia’s war in Ukraine, a tough punishment that comes during a relentless Kremlin crackdown on #dissent.

"#Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court convicted #ArtyomKamardin on charges of making calls undermining national security and inciting hatred, which related to him reading his #AntiWar poems during a street performance in downtown Moscow in September 2022.

"#YegorShtovba, who participated in the event and recited Kamardin’s verses, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years on the same charges."

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-opposition-crackdown-1fc715f498827a392058f9338905fc60

#CriminalizingDissent #NoWar #Fascism #PeaceActivists

GLOBAL INDIGENOUS 2023: The Year in Review

Highlights of news from around the world on #Indigenous Issues in 2023

by Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Dec 27, 2023

Highs and lows: The year brought a wave of highs and lows for #IndigenousPeople around the globe on issues of land, #HumanRights, climate and the #environment, education, #CriminalJustice and health.

Recent victories

In #Brazil, a majority of the country's Supreme Court delivered an historic decision in September, rejecting an attempt to curtail the rights of Native peoples concerning protected reservations on their ancestral lands, Voice of America reported. The 9-2 ruling marks a significant triumph for Indigenous activists and advocates for #ClimateAction, VOA reported.

In #Ecuador, after more than 80 years of displacement because of war, the #Siekopai nation, an Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian #Amazon, secured legal victory in a court battle to reclaim ownership of their ancestral homelands. An Ecuadorian appeals court, in a ruling shared with CNN by the nonprofit organization Amazon Frontline, upheld the Siekopai nation's claim to #Pë’këya, a #biodiverse region situated in northeast Ecuador near the Peruvian border. The Siekopai people were originally displaced during the 1940s #PeruEcuadorWar.

In #Malaysia, #IndigenousActivists achieved two significant wins against timber giant #Samling in their longstanding efforts to protect #forests and territories in #Sarawak.

And in Canada, language revitalization got a boost with a decision by the University of Northern #BritishColumbia, which is now offering a groundbreaking bachelor’s degree in #Nisgaa language fluency. The program starts in September 2024.

Ongoing struggles

It has not all been cozy this year with the world’s Indigenous peoples, however. Native people continue to struggle with a host of issues that surface in communities around the globe.

Land rights and displacement

In #Ethiopia, the designation of #BaleMountains National Park as a UNESCO World Heritage Site could lead to the eviction of more than 20,000 people from farming communities on what were once homelands for the #Oromo people.

In Canada, federal prosecutors filed charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, setting up a court fight over constitutional and treaty rights for #FirstNations people that could end up in Canada’s highest court. The move comes just three years after the initiation of a self-regulated lobster fishery by a First Nation in #NovaScotia.

Health issues

A surge in #HIV infections among Indigenous people in #Manitoba, Canada, is being blamed on “systemic anti-Indigenous racism” in the health care system. In #Saskatchewan, another Canadian province, however, disparities prompted the #Ahtahkakoop #Cree Nation to work on building its own 24-hour urgent care center to offer options to residents.

In #Australia, meanwhile, the life expectancy of Indigenous people has increased by about nine years in the last 20 years but still falls short of the wider population. According to the Australian government department of health, Aboriginal communities experience higher rates of chronic diseases and lower life expectancies due to limited access to healthcare services and disparities in health outcomes.

Education

In #Canada, many Indigenous children living in remote reserves lack access to quality education facilities, resulting in lower graduation rates and limited prospects for higher education.

In #China, authorities banned a book on the early #MongolianPeople, invoking "historical nihilism" to suppress divergent historical perspectives.

But there were gains in Australia, where the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the nonprofit Yalari organization launched a three-year partnership to help support educational opportunities for Indigenous children from regional and remote communities.

Climate change and the environment

A coalition of countries agreed to a five-year plan to disburse $1.7 billion to support the land rights of Indigenous and local communities, but those funds are largely bypassing the very communities they are designed to help. The funding expenditures were detailed in a report released at the United Nations’ recent climate conference, known as COP28, held in Dubai.

#Protests emerged throughout the world over various mining projects, which largely targeted Indigenous lands with work that threatened vast environmental damage. In #Panama, for example, mass protests erupted against a government deal with Central America's largest #CopperMine over concerns about sovereignty, environmental damage, and the impact on the #PanamaCanal. And in #Brazil, more than four years after the rupture of a tailings dam in #BrumadinhoValley, #Brazil, the Indigenous #Pataxó and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe people still suffer from the lack of secure land, water, and food.

And in the #Arctic region, The Christian Science Monior reported how tough it is for Indigenous guardians to preserve their culture in a warming world, highlighting the fact that the harsh realities of #ClimateChange are affecting most Indigenous people around the world.

Human rights

#HumanRights violations continue to be problems throughout the world.

In Japan, more than 150 activists, lawmakers and advocates urged leaders to investigate the Chinese government’s human rights abuses against the #Uyghurs in #Xinjiang.

The #Kenyan government has begun widespread destruction of homes and property of Indigenous #Ogiek people living in #MauForest, despite a 2017 legal victor acknowledging ancestral land rights.

Western Australia’s parliament, however, issued an historic apology and agreed to reimburse #Aboriginal and #TorresStraitIslander workers who were exploited between 1936 and 1972 under a system that some leaders compared to “slavery.”

Language, culture preservation

Australia, which once boasted more than 300 Indigenous languages, is now facing one of the planet’s most severe rates of language decline. Fewer than 30 Indigenous languages remain as primary tongues today.

In New Zealand, efforts to revitalize the Māori language and culture is an ongoing struggle, as colonization led to a decline in the use of the Māori language and traditional practices.

Access to justice

The arrest of five environmental activists battling #WaterPollution and #mining in #ElSalvador are believed to have been politically motivated, sparking global condemnation amid controversial court proceedings.

The same issues emerged in Norway, where activists protesting against a [GIANT] #WindFarm that they say obstructs the rights of the #Sami people to raise #reindeer in central and Arctic #Norway were removed from the entrances to two government offices by Norwegian police.

In #NewZealand, a study found that incarcerated Māori people are nearly twice as likely to face housing instability when released from prison as non-#Māori prisoners. The study calls for officials to provide stable housing for individuals re-entering society.

Source:
https://ictnews.org/news/global-indigenous-2023-the-year-in-review
#IndigenousRights #IndigenousActivists #ClimateJustice #IndianCountryToday #ProtectTheForests #LandBack #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife

ICYMI, from 2016: #StandingRock Medics Attacked by Police and Arrested

by Brenda Norrell, #CensoredNews
October 27, 2016

CANNON BALL, North Dakota -- "One of the Standing Rock medics described how police targeted medics, and violently arrested medics, while they were treating people during the violent police attack on Standing Rock water protectors on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016 at Treaty Camp, directly on the path of Dakota Access Pipeline.

"The medic could see silencers on police weapons.

"'If they are here for peace, then why do their weapons have silencers on them?'

"As the medics struggled to treat those who were victims of the police attack, they became victims and were violently arrested.

"'The vehicle we were in had red crosses on it. They knew we were medics.They sprayed me head to toe. They pointed shotguns at my back while I was treating patients."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/10/standing-rock-medics-shot-by-police-and.html

#StandWithStandingRock #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas #ACAB

Demonstrators Decry #SLAPP Lawsuits Targeting Movement Against #MountainValleyPipeline

via @igd December 21, 2023

"Report on recent protest in Abingdon, Virginia against SLAPP lawsuits targeting the movement fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

"Mountain Valley Pipeline is suing dozens of pipeline opponents in multiple jurisdictions for millions of dollars as part of a campaign of ongoing repression. Penn Stuart, the law firm behind the injunctions currently being levied against pipeline fighters in Virginia, and their Lawyer Wade Massie are hired by EQT Midstream, the largest partner in the MVP. Today, people had an office party at the Penn Stuart offices in Abingdon, VA, causing a ruckus."

Read more:
https://itsgoingdown.org/demonstrators-decry-slapp-lawsuits-mvp/

#SLAPPs #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas

Don’t Stop: Continuing the Fight against #CopCity

Six More Months in the Movement to Defend the Forest
2023-12-12 via #CrimeThinc

"Escalating Repression: #RICO and the Furtherance of the Conspiracy

"With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the 'tactics of organized criminals' language Governor Kemp used on July 2 was not just boilerplate copy drafted by an intern, nor was the August 2 press conference simply propaganda to assure backers that the state could still protect their investments. These phrases and statements were shaping operations, carefully crafted interventions designed to position the government for their next operation: the blanket criminalization of the entire movement.

"On August 29, the Attorney General of #Georgia, Christopher M. Carr, filed an indictment with the Fulton County Superior Court, bringing charges against 61 people under Georgia’s version of the Rackeeter-Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4. The indictment became public on September 5. The document, which is over 100 pages long and very poorly written, claims that the 'conspiracy' (which it names 'Defend the Atlanta Forest') was 'founded' on May 25, 2020—the day that #MinneapolisPolice officers murdered #GeorgeFloyd, precipitating a nationwide #uprising.

"This was a serious escalation. It did not catch everyone by surprise: the #AtlantaSolidarityFund has been braced for such charges since February. The authorities and their extreme-right proxies had been demanding a full-scale crackdown on the movement for over a year, spreading a conspiracy theory that the movement was a mafia controlled by a shadowy and well-connected group (a narrative some activists also reproduced, apparently with no sense of irony). According to one version of this conspiracy theory, circulated by far-right trolls, the Network for Stronger Communities (a Georgia-based nonprofit organization) operates a number of financial enterprises, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, that coordinate acts of terrorism in order to accumulate wealth and influence. Of the 61 accused, three were members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. The 42 people already facing #DomesticTerrorism charges were also indicted, as well as a number of other people whose connection to the movement was unclear. The indictment alleged that some people had committed acts in 'overt furtherance of the conspiracy' such as buying #GlueSticks for #SignMaking. [UK is using similar tactics, arresting people for just having #Superglue or #BikeLocks in their possession.]

"The RICO indictment was not a legal procedure but a political act. It was not a judicial intervention to suppress criminal activity but a government measure to crush what the text describes as '#anarchism,' '#collectivism,' '#SocialSolidarity,' '#MutualAid.”

"It is not simply 61 people who are on trial. By dating the case to the murder of George Floyd, the prosecution showed that their real target was the entire population of millions that participated in the consequent revolt. This is not an unusual court case, but a new chapter in the fight between those who seek to preserve the hierarchies of a structurally white supremacist society and those fighting to destroy it root and branch. The indictment does not present a list of crimes. It describes the contours and values of a rival society emerging within the movement to stop Cop City, aspiring to reinvent the world according to a different logic.

"The Fulton County Judge assigned to the RICO case immediately recused himself. Until then, judges had not recused themselves from cases related to the movement even when they possessed obvious ties to the Atlanta Police Foundation."

Full article:
https://crimethinc.com/2023/12/12/dont-stop-continuing-the-fight-against-cop-city-six-more-months-in-the-movement-to-defend-the-forest

#JusticeForTort #StopCopCity #ACAB #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SLAPPs

#Activist, 97, among dozens arrested in #Australia #climate protest

26 November 2023

Sydney, Australia, Nov 26 (EFE).- "Dozens of protesters, including a 97-year-old man, were arrested on Sunday during a #ClimateChange protest off Australia’s east coast that disrupted operations at the country’s biggest coal export port.

"#ClimateActivist group #RisingTide had organized the protest to block the traffic of coal cargo ships in the port of Newcastle since Saturday.

"The group said on its Twitter account that at least 59 people have been arrested so far.

"Since Saturday, groups of 50 to 60 protesters have been taking turns in rostered two-hour shifts getting on canoes and inflatable boats and preventing ships from leaving the port.

"Among the protesters who went out to sea was Alan Stuart, a 97-year-old religious pastor.

"Stuart said he was doing it for his grandchildren and future generations after being pulled out of his boat by the police.

"'I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations because I don’t want to leave them a world full of increasingly severe and frequent #ClimateDisasters,' he said. 'I am so sorry that they will have to suffer the consequences of our inaction. So, I think it is my duty to do what I can and to stand up for what I know is right.'

"Rising Tide claims that the protest prevented more than half a million tonnes of coal from leaving the Newcastle port by the time the demonstration ended.

"Protesters demand that the Australian government stop all new projects that involve the use of fossil energy and confront the #ClimateCrisis more decisively.

"The climate crisis is one of the big issues of political debate in Australia, a country exposed to the effects of #droughts and #ExtremeTemperatures.

"Australia is the world’s second largest exporter of thermal coal and the largest exporter of cooking coal."

https://efe.com/en/other-news/2023-11-26/activist-97-among-dozens-arrested-in-australia-climate-protest/

#DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #BigOilAndGas #BigCoal

Did #AvocadoCartels Kill the Butterfly King?

#HomeroGómezGonzález put himself between a threatened species and #Mexico’s #avocado and #timber industries. Then he disappeared.

by Matthew Bremner
July 23, 2021

"Gómez’s fight to preserve the forests had been tough, he’d told the international press. He said his work had been endangered by criminals, including illegal loggers and the cartel-infiltrated avocado trade. 'Gómez was probably hurting the interests of people illegally logging in the area,' Mayte Cardona, a spokeswoman for the State #HumanRights Commission of #Michoacán, told journalists shortly after his disappearance."

Original article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalez

Internet Archive version:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210731125329/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalez

#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists

More than 300 #HumanRights activists were killed in 2019, report reveals

#Colombia was the bloodiest nation with 103 murders and the #Philippines was second, followed by #Brazil, #Honduras and #Mexico

by Nina Lakhani, 14 Jan, 2020

"More than 300 human rights defenders working to protect the #environment, #FreeSpeech, #LGBTQ+ rights and #IndigenousLand in 31 countries were killed in 2019, a new report reveals.

"Two-thirds of the total killings took place in #LatinAmerica where impunity from prosecution is the norm.

"Colombia, where targeted violence against community leaders opposing environmentally destructive #megaprojects has spiraled since the 2016 peace accords, was the bloodiest nation with 106 murders in 2019. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico.

"2019 was characterized by waves of social uprisings demanding political and economic changes across the globe from Iraq and Lebanon in the Middle East to Hong Kong and India in Asia and Chile in the Americas.

"The report by #FrontLineDefenders (#FLD) details the physical assaults, defamation campaigns, digital security threats, judicial harassment, and gender-based attacks faced by human rights defenders across the world, who were on the frontline of protests against deep seated #inequalities, #corruption and #authoritarianism.

"In the cases for which the data is available, the report found:
• 85% of those killed last year had previously been threatened either individually or as part of the community or group in which they worked.

• 13% of those reported killed were women.

• 40% of those killed worked on land, #IndigenousPeoples and environmental issues.


"In nearly all countries that experienced mass protests last year, human rights defenders – who mobilized #marches, documented police and military abuses, and helped citizens who were injured or arrested – were specifically targeted.

"For instance, in #Chile, in the biggest anti-government protests since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, at least 23 people were killed and 2,300 injured, with scores blinded by non-lethal projectiles.

"In #Iraq, where #Anticorruption protests during October and November left more than 300 people dead, Saba Al Mahdawi was abducted and held for nearly two weeks by unidentified militants. She was most likely targeted as a result of her work providing food, water and medical aid to injured protesters.

"#Honduras, a key geopolitical US ally, has been one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a woman, lawyer, journalist and land or environmental defender since the 2009 military-backed coup unleashed a wave of unchecked violence. Last year, targeted killings in the Central American country increased fourfold compared to 2018, as tens of thousands of people fled a toxic mix of violence, poverty and corruption, and journeyed overland through Mexico to the US southern border in search of security.
Yet despite difficult and frightening circumstances, human rights activists have continued to spearhead positive social changes.

"For instance, #Mexican #reproductiverights defenders celebrated the legalisation of abortion in the state of Oaxaca – following in the footsteps of Mexico City 12 years earlier. While in Jordan, lawmakers withdrew the cybercrime bill, which proposed restrictions to the freedom of speech and the right to privacy, after a high-profile campaign by civil society groups.

"Andrew Anderson, executive director of FLD, said: 'In 2019, we saw human rights defenders on the frontlines defending and advancing rights in Hong Kong, Chile, Iraq, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Spain and many other cities and towns around the world. And despite repression, they continue to advance visions of their societies and the world that put to shame not only their own governments and leaders, but also the international community.'"

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jan/14/300-human-rights-activists-killed-2019-report

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest

Mexico: defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished

- Homero Gómez González was found floating in a well
- Activists say death could be over illegal logging disputes

by David Agren
Thu 30 Jan 2020

A #Mexican #environmental #activist who fought to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch #butterfly has been found dead in the western state of Michoacán, two weeks after he disappeared.

“#HomeroGómezGonzález, a former logger who managed #ElRosarioButterflyReserve, vanished on 13 January. His body was found floating in a well on Wednesday, reportedly showing signs of torture.

“The motive for his murder remains unknown, but some activists speculated that it could have been related to disputes over illegal #logging.

“Last week, authorities called in 53 police officers from the surrounding municipalities for questioning.

“Gómez González’s death comes as the murder rate continues to surge in a country where environmental defenders, human rights workers and community activists are routinely targeted for their work.

“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to halt attacks on environmental defenders, but the killings continue.

“‘This is a very regrettable act, very painful,' López Obrador said at his morning press conference on Thursday. 'It’s part of what makes us apply ourselves more to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.'

“According to Global Witness 14 defenders were murdered in Mexico in 2018.

“Gómez González grew up in #ElRosario, a hamlet in the hills of western Michoacán, where monarch butterflies winter amid dense forests of fir and pine trees.

“Millions of the butterflies make a 2,000-mile (3,220km) journey each year from Canada to pass the winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather. But the forests and the monarchs are threatened by climate change and the incursion of illegal loggers and #AvocadoFarmers.

“A gentle man with a salt-and-pepper hair and thick mustache, Gómez González was born into a logging family according to a profile in the Washington Post.
“‘We were afraid that if we had to stop logging, it would send us all into poverty,' he told the newspaper.

“But he eventually convinced others to abandon logging and protect butterfly habitats instead, figuring tourism would replace the lost income. The sanctuary is now a #UnescoWorldHeritageSite and federal law outlaws logging in the site.

“#GómezGonzález often posted mesmerising videos of fluttering monarchs to social media.

“In one of his last videos, shared on Twitter a day before his disappearance, Homero Gómez González stood amid a cloud of butterflies. 'Come and and see this marvel of nature! [The #butterflies] are lovers of the sun, the souls of the dead,' he said, referring to #IndigenousLegends about the migratory butterflies.

“Speaking to the AP, #HomeroAridjis, an environmentalist and poet who is a longtime defender of the butterfly reserve, said: 'If they can kidnap and kill the people who work for the reserves, who is going to defend the environment in Mexico?’”

Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/mexico-activist-monarch-butterflies-dead-homero-gomez-gonzalez

#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero
#CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #ACAB

#Activists Who Sacrificed Their Lives To Save The #AmazonRainforest

by Jana Gregorio
July 31 2020

"According to reports, on average, one activist has been killed in #Brazil every week since 2002. Most of the killings happened in remote areas of the Amazon.

"#ChicoMendes was a labor leader and activist who fought against the #deforestation of the #AmazonRainforest. In 1988, Mendes was shot and killed in front of his house by a cattle rancher named Darcy Alves.

"#NazildoDosSantosBrito was an anti-#PalmOil campaigner. In 2018, Brito was shot and killed, but none of his possessions were missing. Rights groups say he was killed due to his activism in the Amazon.

"Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was a defender of Brazil’s Indigenous people. In 2019, he was killed execution-style in front of his family members.

"For decades, the Amazon Rainforest has been the target of #CattleRanchers, #farmers, #loggers, and #miners who seek to take the forest’s land and natural resources. Over the past 50 years, about 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed."

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-people-who-died-to-save-the-amazon.html

#DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #ExtractiveMining #IndigenistasAssociados #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousActivists #EarthDefenders #SouthAmerica #LatinAmerica

The right to #protest is under threat in #Britain, undermining a pillar of democracy

By JILL LAWLESS
December 26, 2023

LONDON (AP) — "For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading '#JustStopOil' off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year prison sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested.

"They are among hundreds of #environmental activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations in the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.

"The Conservative government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life. Critics say #CivilRights are being eroded without enough scrutiny from lawmakers or protection by the courts. They say the sweeping arrests of peaceful #demonstrators, along with government officials labeling #EnvironmentalActivists #extremists, mark a worrying departure for a liberal democracy.

"'Legitimate protest is part of what makes any country a safe and civilized place to live',' said Jonathon Porritt, an #ecologist and former director of #FriendsOfTheEarth, who joined a vigil outside London’s Central Criminal Court to protest the treatment of demonstrators.

"'The government has made its intent very clear, which is basically to suppress what is legitimate, lawful protest and to use every conceivable mechanism at their disposal to do that.'"

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/britain-democracy-protest-arrests-unwritten-constitution-616078b918e27d5098890be6f9967b14

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs #AbolishTheMonarchy #2023PublicOrderAct

Wired: How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid

If you’re planning on hitting the streets, here’s what you need to know.

by Louryn Stramp and Lauren Good
June, 2022

"Reproductive rights in America have drastically changed. The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, which opens the doors to states criminalizing abortion and blocking access to information about it. Certain legal experts note that the language used in the current draft from Justice Samuel Alito could further erode protections surrounding birth control, gay marriage, and interracial marriage, which implies additional civil rights are under threat.

"This guide to safe protesting was originally written in 2020 during the nationwide outcry over police brutality, which overwhelmingly targets Black people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade. Whether you’re marching for racial justice, reproductive rights, or climate conservation, our advice applies to most protests.

"If you're thinking about joining a protest near you, there are some crucial factors to consider: Police brutality is an abstract concept for some but a stark reality for others. Similarly, few people think about abortion access until they need it. There are ways you can contribute to police brutality causes or to abortion funds and independent clinics if you don't feel safe protesting or are otherwise unable to physically do so. You can also donate time to community groups, drop off supplies for protests, or contact local legislators.

How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

"That being said, protesting is a right of all Americans under the First Amendment (more on that below). Before you head out, you should know that police across the country have acted with unnecessary force, including driving vehicles through crowds, partially blinding a photojournalist, and macing children. The list goes on and on.

"If you still want to join in, we've gathered some advice, as well as a list of items you may want to bring with you. Be careful, and stay safe.

Table of Contents

- What to Bring (and Not Bring) to a Protest
- Before You Leave
- Know Your Rights
- While You're at the Protest
- What to Avoid
- What to Do If …
- After the Protest

Read more [paywall]:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-gear-tips/

Internet Archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230112051520/https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-gear-tips/

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs

#Toolkit: #Protest #safety tips from #Greenpeace

"Protest is a powerful strategy to demand #justice. Greenpeace has been holding and supporting protests around the world for nearly 50 years. Because of this, we’ve received requests and messages asking for advice on protest tactics, digital, and physical security against #militarized #police forces. While we have compiled this from a US point of view where this Greenpeace team is based, we hope some of what is here is helpful beyond the US.

"We are continuously learning, learning from mistakes, learning from each other. The #activists that make up our Greenpeace community, also come from many protest practices and methods, including #Indigenous-led resistance to #FossilFuel #extraction, the #ImmigrantRights movement, the Movement for Black Lives, [#BLM] and others. We wanted to share some of our learnings so that you can join us in protests that demand systemic changes from fighting for #ClimateJustice to dismantling #WhiteSupremacy. We support you and are fighting with you.

"We want to acknowledge that there are many different types of protest tactics, and that this is not an exhaustive list. We also want to acknowledge that communities of color, especially Black communities and other non-Black Indigenous and communities of color, are policed differently than white communities.

"When we protest we have an opportunity to demand the world we need and to understand how the issues we face are interconnected. As we fight for environmental justice, we show up for racial justice, Indigenous rights, immigrant rights, disability rights and more. While this guide focuses on protests, even if you are not able to join us in the street you can support those who are protesting by providing supplies, donating to bail funds, providing rides, having important conversations with your coworkers, friends, families, and neighbors.

"Also, we want to remind you that we are not your lawyers. This is not legal advice, any tips contained here are only to assist you in thinking through how to engage in protest activity. We urge you to connect with your local organizing and legal community for additional support."

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/toolkits/protest-safety-tips-from-greenpeace/

#DigitalFreeSpeech #ACAB #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #SLAPPs

Protecting #Activists from #AbusiveLitigation

#SLAPPs in the #GlobalSouth and How to Respond

PUBLISHED: JULY 2020

"In #Thailand, an agricultural company files more than a dozen suits against at least 20 #defendants, targeting #workers, #journalists, and #activists who had spoken out against alleged #LaborAbuses at the company’s chicken farm. In #India, an association of #pesticide manufacturers brings a civil defamation suit against #journalists that had reported on the harmful #health and #environmental effects of pesticide use. In the #Philippines, a #mining company files suit against 85 defendants who had conducted a #PeacefulProtest near the company’s mining site, after the company’s own security forces used #lethal violence against the #protesters. In #SouthAfrica, an #Australian mining company files suit against environmental activists who had criticized a company mine during a lecture at a local university.

What do these suits have in common? They are all “#SLAPPs,” or “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation”: suits filed not to secure relief, but to use the risks and costs of litigation to defuse criticism and opposition and discourage the exercise of fundamental freedoms. SLAPPs have long been prevalent in the #Globa North, but SLAPPs are also being used in the Global South to silence activism.

"In Protecting Activists from Abusive Litigation: SLAPPs in the Global South and How to Respond, ICNL presents the first cross-regional survey of SLAPPs in the Global South, along with the first rigorous comparative analysis of anti-SLAPP policy responses undertaken in the Global North and the Global South. Our survey shows that SLAPPs pose a serious threat to the exercise of fundamental freedoms in the Global South, particularly for activists, civil society organizations, journalists, and community members who dare to criticize powerful entities.

"Our survey, which is far from comprehensive, has identified 82 reported SLAPPs filed in Thailand, India, the Philippines, and South Africa – the most fertile fields for Southern SLAPPs – as well as #Indonesia, #Malaysia, #Armenia, #SierraLeone, and #Honduras. Key features of SLAPPs in our sample include:

- Half of the cases in our sample (41 cases) involved criminal proceedings.
- The most frequent SLAPP targets in our sample were activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) (38 cases, or 46%); journalists and publishers (17 cases, or 21%); and leaders and members of local communities (15 cases, or 18%).
- Nearly all of the cases in our sample – 75 cases, or 91% – were brought by private companies or company officials, with 34 of these cases (41%) brought by mining companies and 28 cases (34%) brought by companies associated with agricultural operations.

"Where the cause of action or charge was reported, the suit was based at least in part on a defamation charge, either civil or criminal, in 66 of 75 cases (88%).

"Of the 33 suits in our sample brought as civil actions, claims in 17 cases (52%) exceeded 1 million USD, with the average claim exceeding 10 million USD."

Full article:

https://www.icnl.org/post/report/slapps-in-the-global-south-report

#HumanRights #Whistleblowing #DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas

#SLAPPs In Europe: How The #EU Can Protect Watchdogs From #AbusiveLawsuits

In their new policy paper, #Liberties and other rights and #pressfreedom groups explain why abusive lawsuits (SLAPPs) against watchdogs and journalists threaten #democracies in Europe and what governments and the EU should do tackle it.

by Linda Ravo
January 13, 2022

"The European Commission is set to shortly unveil its proposal for EU-wide measures against SLAPPs. In a new policy paper published today, Liberties and other rights and press freedom groups which form the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (#CASE), explain what SLAPPs are, how big of a threat they are to watchdogs in Europe, and propose what governments and the EU should do tackle the problem.

Censorship by litigation

"Citizens are supposed to be in charge of their democracies. #Watchdogs like #journalists, #rights #defenders and #activist groups are key to enable citizens to get informed, shape their opinions, and keep an eye on people in power to make sure they do what is best for all of us.

"As we explain here, SLAPPs (an acronym which stands for 'strategic lawsuit against public participation'), are a form of abuse of law and justice that #corrupt politicians and powerful #businesses across Europe increasingly make use of to #harass, #bankrupt and intimidate #journalists, activists and other watchdogs into silence. Helped by expensive and unscrupulous law firms, they sue them on grounds of meritless and abusive claims with the purpose of shutting down acts of public participation, including public interest journalism, #PeacefulProtest or #boycotts, #advocacy, #whistleblowing, or simply speaking out against abuse of power."

https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/slapp-case-submission/43948

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas

#Lawsuits Have Become the Weapon of Choice Against #Activists

Legal intimidation suits known as “#SLAPPs” are becoming the norm for private #corporations and #governments trying to silence those who speak out on matters of public interest.

by Katie Redford
July 17, 2023

“On May 31, #Atlanta #SWAT teams with riot gear and battering rams broke down #MarlonKautz’s door. Police dragged Kautz and two colleagues to jail in their pajamas, charging them with #MoneyLaundering and charity fraud.

“Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson, are volunteer board members of the #NetworkForStrongCommunities Inc., which was incorporated in 2020. Through it, they are able to raise funds for the #AtlantaSolidarityFund (#ASF). Since 2016, the fund has bailed out people arrested in #Georgia while exercising their First Amendment right to protest and helped them find legal help.

“Recently, the ASF has supported Atlanta activists who have been protesting a new $90 million police training center known as '#CopCity,' arguing that it will rob Atlanta of a #VitalGreenLung and increase inequality in surrounding neighborhoods. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, has charged dozens with 'domestic terrorism' for participating in largely peaceful protests.

“Georgia authorities claim that the money laundering charge is based on evidence of a fund transfer to another organization, but they haven’t shared any other details about their allegations. Magistrate Judge Altman, who presided over the bail hearing, described the state’s evidence as 'unimpressive,' reinforcing the defendants’ claims that the arrests are politically, not legally, motivated.

“Shortly after the arrest, Governor Brian Kemp announced that the state would go after everyone involved, and Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted that the funders of the bail and legal defense fund were next. As an executive director at a climate philanthropy who made charitable donations to the ASF for legal defense, I had to wonder: Was my door going to be battered down next?

“Some of the accused may have trespassed or destroyed property, but to charge protesters with 'domestic terrorism' and a legal defense fund with money laundering is a cynical political act that bears no relation to the misdemeanors alleged. Any American committed to democracy should be interested in making sure these charges lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.

“These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: We will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is known as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.

“SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit—typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions—discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.

“As a lawyer on the front lines of climate justice activism, I witnessed firsthand how a SLAPP was used to weaponize the law against free speech and association. During the mass protests by Indigenous water protectors and environmentalists campaigning against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, SLAPPs were used widely.

“As #StandingRock became a global cause célèbre, the pipeline’s owners brought a $900 million #racketeering case against individuals and #NGOs like #BankTrack and #Greenpeace, alleging a vast global conspiracy to damage the company’s reputation and bottom line through fraud and #defamation.

“A federal court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. But despite its eventual failure in court, the SLAPP tactic served its intended purpose: intimidation. #KrystalTwoBulls, one of the Standing Rock organizers that my organization represented, said that being sued tangled her up, practically and emotionally, in a legal battle that diverted her attention, taking her away from her work on the climate crisis and #Indigenous #LandRights.

“She began to #censor herself; she withdrew from her community and the movement, fearing that conspiracy allegations might extend to anyone she touched. And that, of course, is the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up or suffer the consequences.

“The case against #Kautz in #Atlanta similarly seeks to spark fear in activists and donors against supporting #FirstAmendment rights and legal defense. There is reason to believe that prosecutors may also be preparing #RICO charges against anti–Cop City activists, another dangerous use of the legal system to quell #grassroots movements.

“Since Standing Rock, over 20 states have passed '#CriticalInfrastructure' laws, which dramatically increase civil and criminal penalties related to protests at or near #FossilFuel projects. #DomesticTerrorism laws like that in Georgia have a similar intention: to weaponize the legal system against critics and stifle #DissentingVoices.

“I have no doubt that the majority of the domestic terrorism charges around Cop City will fail. But in the process, a political point will have been made, at the expense of the constitutional right to free speech. People protesting to protect the #environment and #climate will have been publicly accused of being harmful to America’s security, and they will have been forced to defend themselves—likely at exorbitant cost—against a 30-year jail sentence. Other potential activists will surely remember these charges when they consider whether it’s worth it to attend a concert, sit-in, or protest.

"The best strategy for stopping SLAPP suits in their tracks, whether they emanate from the private sector or are used by the state, is to keep speaking out, to support defamed activists, and to make the litigants pay a price. About 30 states have introduced legislation that protects against SLAPPs. And last year, #Jami Raskin introduced the #SLAPPProtectionAct of 2022 to #Congress. It must be reintroduced.

“My organization, #EquationCampaign, created a fund to provide lawyers and legal support for people who face this kind of legal retaliation for their environmental and climate work. I’m astonished at the wide range of people who need our help: from #farmers and ranchers to #journalists and #IndigenousActivists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.

“Absent federal protections, we all must be vigilant in the face of the egregious proliferation of #antiprotest laws and lawsuits.

“#Democracy and the future of this #planet require people to speak up. The law should serve—not silence—those of us who do."

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/slapp-legal-intimidation-activists/

#ForestDefenders #DefendTheForest #StopCopCity #DirectAction #Fascism #RICO #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #NoDAPL #DakotaAccess #StandingWithStandingRock

How #corporate #SLAPP lawsuits endanger our rights and the #planet

by Chris Greenberg
25 April 2023

"Hope creates the conditions for #ClimateAction. And climate action nurtures hope. Just as hope and action have a reinforcing relationship, so do fear and silence.

"The #polluting #corporations who put #profits over people and the planet know this and they use their resources to intimidate, to instill fear, and ultimately to silence the people directly impacted by their short-sighted, extractive greed.

"#SLAPPs, a type of abusive lawsuit, are a key tool used by corporate power to suppress #FreeSpeech and people power. These cynical lawsuits can force non-profit organizations like #Greenpeace International to divert precious resources away from campaigning for a more just and sustainable society. Perhaps even worse, SLAPPs can intimidate targets from challenging powerful corporations in the future.

"Every SLAPP, regardless of the defendant, is an attack on everyone who believes in the power of free speech and the right to #PeacefulProtest. No one should be bullied for speaking up on behalf of people and the planet.

"But CorporateBullies beware!

"In a massive win for free speech, a US federal court recently dismissed a seven-year lawsuit brought by #ResoluteForestryProducts against a number of Greenpeace staff members and entities, including #GreenpeaceInternational and #GreenpeaceUSA. The #Canadian #logging company sued the Greenpeace defendants for CA $100 million in an attempt to silence and bankrupt them, after criticism of its #unsustainable #forestry practices.

"Let’s take a closer look at SLAPPs so you can recognize them when you see them:

"What does #SLAPP stand for? SLAPP stands for '#StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation '. These lawsuits are used by #corporations attempting to diminish or even stop public participation in civil society. SLAPPs often lack any kind of merit, and don’t need to result in a legal victory to achieve the outcome desired by corporate bullies.

"SLAPPs waste time and cause financial and sometimes #PsychologicalHarm to targeted individuals and organisations who have to hire #lawyers and engage in costly #LegalBattles, sometimes to the point of facing bankruptcy. These lawsuits attempt to silence free speech and limit peaceful #dissent by using litigation as a tool for deterring non-violent protest and even documenting and bearing witness."

Read more:
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/59478/slapp-lawsuits-corporate-bullies-vs-free-speech/

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas

#Greenpeace Stands Up Against #SLAPPs And Wins

By Joe Mullin
April 26, 2023

"The U.S. litigation system is meant to resolve serious disputes. Unfortunately, the high cost of litigation can be weaponized as a means of #harassment and #censorship. That’s become all too common, and the last few decades have seen the rise of what’s known as a #StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation, or #SLAPP.

"At #EFF, as more speech of all types has moved online, we’ve seen SLAPPs proliferate over #DigitalSpeech. SLAPPs get filed against #protesters who oppose #OilPipelines, and regular people doing everyday things like sending #emails to local officials, or even posting an online review.

"Five years ago, together with Greenpeace and other environmental nonprofits, EFF helped create the #ProtectTheProtest coalition, or #PTP. It’s a group of nonprofits that supports its members and others in their fights against SLAPP lawsuits.

"One of the lawsuits that spurred the formation of PTP was #ResoluteForestryProducts v. Greenpeace. In this case, a #logging company claimed that Greenpeace’s advocacy for #CanadianForests amounted to a 'global #fraud' that should be punished under civil #RICO laws—U.S. federal laws that were originally intended to go after organized crime.

"Following a summary judgment hearing last week, the Resolute v. Greenpeace case has finally been put to rest, with a complete victory for Greenpeace. This baseless lawsuit, which lasted seven years, should never have been brought in the first place. We hope Greenpeace’s victory against #Resolute sends a strong message to corporate SLAPP plaintiffs—you won’t win, and your targets won’t stay silent."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/greenpeace-stands-against-slapps-and-wins

#DigitalFreeSpeech #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas

Just Stop Oil activist jailed for six months for taking part in slow march

Stephen Gingell, 57, thought to be first to receive prison sentence under new Public Order Act

by Damien Gayle
Fri 15 Dec 2023

"A #ClimateActivist has been jailed for six months after pleading guilty to taking part in a peaceful #SlowMarch protest on a London road.

"The sentence handed to Stephen Gingell, 57, is thought to be the first jailing under a new law that critics say makes anyone walking in a road liable for prosecution for 'interference with key national infrastructure'.

"#Section7 of the #PublicOrderAct2023 bans any act that prevents newspaper printing presses, power plants, #oil and #gas extraction or distribution sites, #harbours, #airports, #railways or #roads 'from being used or operated to any extent', with a potential penalty of 12 months in jail.

"Gingell, a father of three from #Manchester, was one of about 40 supporters of #JustStopOil who spent about 30 minutes marching on #HollowayRoad in north #London at about 4pm on 12 November, the climate campaign group said.

"He pleaded guilty to breach of section 7 at a hearing that same month at Wimbledon magistrates court. On Thursday, his case was transferred to Manchester magistrates court, where he was sentenced to six months.

"Just Stop Oil has been campaigning since 2022 for the UK government to stop all new fossil fuel production. The campaign’s 'guerrilla tactics' were cited by the Home Office when it introduced the Public Order Act’s tough new #AntiProtest measures to parliament.

"Police began using section 7 to tackle Just Stop Oil’s protests at the end of October, arresting 60 people taking part in a march in Parliament Square. In a campaign of slow march protests carried out by the group between then and 4 December, 470 of the group’s supporters were arrested 630 times, with about half of those arrests under the new law.

"A spokesperson for the campaign said: 'Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023, a law drafted by the #FossilFuel lobby, was introduced in April by Priti Patel, and covers ‘interference with the use or operation of key national infrastructure’. It seems this government has now made walking down the road, walking on the public highway an illegal act that is worthy of imprisonment.

"'How many fathers will be imprisoned before those planning to kill us are stopped? New oil and gas will see millions upon millions lose their homes, livelihoods and lives. Protected by the government, by failed politicians, by the police, those committing genocide continue to walk free, those protesting the killings are banged up. Whose side are you on?'

"The human rights organisation Liberty criticised Gingell’s sentencing. Katy Watts, a lawyer at Liberty, said: “It is shocking to see such harsh sentences handed down to protesters. This is yet another unnecessary and draconian law introduced by a government that is hell-bent on discouraging people from standing up for what they believe in. It is a clear attempt to silence people and for the government to hide from all accountability.

"Protest is a fundamental right, not a gift from the state. Government should be protecting our right to protest, not criminalising it.'"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/15/just-stop-oil-activist-is-first-to-be-jailed-under-new-uk-protest-law?share=jetpack-whatsapp

#BigOilAndGas #WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy #RightToProtest

Crackdowns on peaceful #environmental protests should stop and give way to more social dialogue

02/06/2023

"By way of an example, in recent months peaceful environmental protesters were pepper sprayed by police in #Austria, manhandled and injured by riot police in #France, dispersed in #Georgia, and subjected to arrests and detention in #Finland, the #Netherlands, and #Serbia. Activists who blocked a street in the centre of #Munich were placed in preventive police detention for 30 days, made possible by legislation amended in 2021, and the homes of many climate protesters were searched across #Germany. In several European countries, courts have imposed prison sentences, with and without probation, as well as penalties of community service, on environmental campaigners. Environmental activists were also targeted by vexatious lawsuits – so-called #SLAPPS (strategic lawsuits against public participation), for instance recently in #Bosnia and #Herzegovina. In France, #Spain and the #UnitedKingdom, journalists and media workers were arrested, investigated and, in some cases, criminally charged in the context of environmental protests they were covering."

Read more:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/crackdowns-on-peaceful-environmental-protests-should-stop-and-give-way-to-more-social-dialogue

#Europe #WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest
#EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #Fascism #SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch

Prevent: Rise in #climate activists [in the #UK] referred to anti-terror scheme

Joshua Nevett - BBC News
Fri, December 22, 2023

"In its Prevent report, #AmnestyInternational found some training materials listed environmental causes 'as potential forms of an ill-defined extremism that can lead to a referral'."

Full article:
https://news.yahoo.com/prevent-rise-climate-activists-referred-014912801.html

#WaterProtectors #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent
#DefendTheForest #EnvironmentalActivists
#ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #ACAB #Fascism #SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists #Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #AbolishTheMonarchy
#RightToProtest #SlowMarch