#ecoactivists — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ecoactivists, aggregated by home.social.
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CW: CW - Graphic descriptions of police abusing Native American activists
Abuse of process hearing for #Wetsuweten leader, blockade members to resume in June
The Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline would run from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, B.C., through traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en
CBC
19 January 2024"An abuse of process hearing for three people found guilty of criminal #contempt of court for blocking work on the #CoastalGasLink #pipeline in November 2021 is being adjourned until June.
"Two weeks were scheduled this month in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers for a trial and abuse of process application for #Sleydo', also known as #MollyWickham, a Wing Chief of #CasYikh, a house group of the #Gidimten Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation; #ShaylynnSampson, a #Gitxsan woman with Wet'suwet'en family ties and #CoreyJocko, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (#Mohawk) from #Akwesasne, which straddles the Quebec, Ontario and New York state borders.
"The accused were found guilty last Friday by Justice Michael Tammen of criminal contempt of court for breaking a 2019 injunction that impedes anyone from blocking work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
"Tammen then began hearing the abuse of process application that alleges #RCMP used excessive force when they were arrested and that they were treated unfairly while in custody.
"The filing asks if the judge doesn't stay their charges, then it would be appropriate to reduce their sentences based on their treatment by police.
"Several RCMP witnesses have testified so far about the two-day raid in November 2021 enforcing the injunction.
"Const. Mark Freeman and Cpl. Colin Warwick, who were in charge of police dogs on scene, testified on Friday.
"They told the court that the dogs were there to look for people who may be hiding in the area or detect possible booby traps, but they found no people or booby traps.
"During two days of testimony earlier this week, Supt. James Elliott spoke about factors that played a role in deciding the resources used to enforce the injunction.
"Elliott said he was considering information about half-cut trees along the side of the forest service road that had potential to fall, a social media post that indicated weapons were hidden under the snow in the area, the possibility of booby traps along the road and use of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) warrior flag, that police thought indicated heightened #activism.
"Several other police witnesses also mentioned the potential for booby traps but no one said any were found.
"During cross-examination of the RCMP witnesses, defence lawyer Frances Mahon told the court the social media post was referring to the #Haudenosaunee great law of peace, in which five warring nations bury their weapons under a pine tree to unite.
"Mahon also played audio recordings in which officers can be heard referring to people being arrested as 'orcs' and 'ogre.' In another recording, RCMP officers can be heard laughing about an officer beating a person being arrested and grabbing and twisting their testicles.
"When the hearing resumes, the defence is expected to call several witnesses, including the three accused.
"The hearing is expected to resume in Smithers June 17-21."
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/abuse-process-hearing-wetsuweten-leader-215317616.html
#ACAB #SLAPPs #IndigenousActivism
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#IndigenousLandDefenders
#LandBack #2023PublicOrderAct #DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent
#WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors
#ForestDefenders
#ClimateActivists
#ClimateJustice
#EcoActivists #HumanRightsViolations
#Article20 #RightToProtest -
Amnesty International: Five Ways Our #RightToProtest is Being Threatened Around the World
by James Duggan, October 5, 2022
"All around the world, right now, peaceful protestors are being imprisoned, threatened, and face physical violence from authorities. Even at home, in #Australia, our right to stand up and speak out against injustice is being taken away. Now more than ever, it’s essential we continue to fight for our #HumanRights.
"The right to protest is a fundamental human right. #Article20 of the #UniversalDeclarationOfHumanRights states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. The right to protest is a way for people to defend their human rights and the rights of others when they’re threatened by governments and authorities.
"Here are five places where the right to protest is currently at threat:
1. #Australia
"Right here in Australia, governments and authorities are adopting an increasingly punitive attitude towards protestors. In 2020, peaceful protestors at a #BlackLivesMatter rally in #Sydney were met with excessive and unnecessary force from #NewSouthWales Police. Police used pepper spray and chased student protestors on horseback at the University of New South Wales, and pushed them to the ground. Both protestors and bystanders were injured in the process.
"The following year, in November 2021, a #ClimateActivist was sentenced to 12 months in jail after he climbed atop a #coal train and stayed on it for five hours to protest Australia’s #climate policies. Twenty-eight other people belonging to the same activist group were also arrested in NSW that month.
"In 2022, the NSW Government announced that disrupting any bridge or tunnel in Greater Sydney as part of a protest would result in individual fines of $22,000. This is a ten-fold increase from the previous penalty of $2,200. The NSW Government also plans to introduce legislation which would mean this $22,000 fine would also apply to protestors disrupting roads and public transport facilities.
2. #HongKong
"In June 2020, a new law came into effect in Hong Kong, referred to as the #NationalSecurityLaw (#NSL). What “national security” refers to in this law isn’t well defined, and the NSL has been applied arbitrarily at the discretion of the government and authorities to suppress #dissent and political opposition.
"In September 2021, a human rights lawyer named #ChowHangTung was arrested under this law and charged with 'inciting subversion.' She faces up to ten years in prison for peacefully commemorating the 1989 #Tiananmen Square protest crackdown. During the 1989 crackdown, an undisclosed number of people, anywhere from hundreds to thousands, were killed by authorities for gathering to protest the government’s censorship laws. At least three other activists were arrested along with Chow Hang-tung in relation to the peaceful memorial of these victims.
3. #Cambodia
"In May 2021, three young activists belonging to a Cambodian environmental campaign group called #MotherNatureCambodia were convicted to between 18 and 20 months in prison. They were arrested after they announced a plan to undertake a two-person march to the #Cambodian prime minister’s house in order to express their concerns regarding plans to privatise and develop the largest remaining #lake in the country’s capital city. They were charged with 'incitement to commit a felony or disturb social order.'
"Mother Nature Cambodia have won several major #environmental victories in Cambodia. In 2016, their efforts to expose widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses linked to the #mining and export of #sand from coastal areas of Cambodia resulted in a total export ban on #CoastalSand from the country. As a result, the group have been targeted with harassment and repression from the Cambodian government. Multiple other activists have been charged with 'incitement,' and the group has been accused of 'causing chaos in society' and labelled 'illegal' because they’re not registered under the country’s restrictive NGO Law.
4. #Russia
"The right to protest in Russia has been severely compromised since 2004, when the Federal Law on Assemblies, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Pickets was passed. The Law on Assemblies restricts who’s allowed to organise a protest and where the protest is allowed to be held, and subjects planned protests to a strict authorisation process that often results in permission being denied.
"Since 2004, legislation has been tightened numerous times. Most recently, the Russian government introduced new, heavy penalties for anyone who protests Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine. Less than three weeks after the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, almost 15,000 peaceful protestors had been arrested. #RussianAuthorities have arrested bystanders of protests and even children. Police have used excessive force against peaceful protestors, including women, subjecting them to beatings and electrocution with stun guns.
5. #India
"In India, draconian laws such as 'the crime of sedition' have been repeatedly used against peaceful protestors, journalists and human rights defenders. The slow investigative processes and strict bail conditions under these laws mean that activists and others who speak out against injustice in their country may spend many years behind bars while their trial is ongoing.
"In 2021, a 22-year-old #EnvironmentalActivist named #DishaRavi was charged with '#sedition' for sharing an online Google document that was originally tweeted by #GretaThunberg. The document was a basic 'toolkit' for #farmers in India who were then in the midst of protests against the Indian government over newly introduced agricultural legislation. The 'toolkit' included information on the protests and how to support the movement, both in person and online. Disha is a leader of India’s #FridaysForFuture movement, an international student environmentalist movement instigated by Greta Thunberg.
Source:
https://www.amnesty.org.au/five-ways-our-right-to-protest-is-being-threatened-around-the-world/#ForestDefenders #WaterProtectors #DirectAction #ACAB #CriminalizingDissent #EnvironmentalActivists
#ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism
#EcoActivists #Censorship
#HumanRightsViolations
#DefendTheDefenders #ActivismIsNotACrime #ClimateJusticeNow #ProtestIsNotACrime