#indigenousactivism — Public Fediverse posts

Coast #Salish Water Warriors: Voices for the Water at the #SalishSea Assembly in #Seattle

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews at #Indybay, Nov. 8, 2024

"The defenders are battling the dirty energy #corporations poisoning the land, water and air in western #Canada and #WashingtonState, and the waters of the Salish Sea. The rivers from British Columbia in Canada and Washington State come together in the Salish Sea on their journey to the #PacificOcean.

"The dead birds floating in the Alberta tar sands #TailingPonds, the #ManCamps linked to missing and murdered Indigenous girls, and the increased oil tankers in the Salish Sea -- are all parts of the dirty oil business of the Trans Mountain pipeline pouring out of Alberta's dirty tar sands in Canada, bound for #OilTankers in the Salish Sea.

"The destruction, and theft of land, is a continuation of the #genocidal residential school system. Native children were kidnapped, ripped from their families, and incarcerated in the abusive schools operated by Canada and the churches.

"'We can't drink water from there any more,' said Jean, who lives close to the Alberta tar sands in her homeland. 'I was born into this destruction.

"'Thousands of birds are dead in the tailing ponds.'"

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/coast-salish-water-warriors-voices-for.html

#WaterDefenders #LandBack #DefendTheSacred
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#ReaderSupportedNews #IndigenousActivists #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousNews #Resistance #MotherEarth #PacificNorthwest #WaterIsLife #PetrolState #PetroState #Oiligarchy #ResidentialSchools #StolenChildren #CulturalGenocide #MMIW #MMIWG

Coast #Salish #FreedomFighters: From Alberta #TarSands to the #SalishSea

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews Nov. 7, 2024

SEATTLE -- "The dead birds floating in the #AlbertATarSands #TailingPonds, the #ManCamps linked to missing and murdered Indigenous girls, and the increased #OilTankers in the Salish Sea -- are all parts of the dirty oil of the #TransMountainPipeline pouring out of Alberta's dirty tar sands, bound for oil tankers in the Salish Sea.

"'We are not just #activists, we are #revolutionaries and we're radical and militant and we want to keep it that way, we don't want to get soft in our older years,' said #KanahusManuel, #Secwepemc and #Ktunaxa, describing her family's struggle to protect their land and stop the Trans Mountain pipeline.

"Speaking at the State of Emergency for The Salish Sea in #SeattleWashington on Thursday, Kanahus said, 'We are the title holders to the land.'"

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/coast-salish-freedom-fighters-from.html

#LandBack #DefendTheSacred #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #IndigenousActivists #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousNews #Resistance #MotherEarth #PacificNorthwest

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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

Advocates demand halt to #uranium #mine near the #GrandCanyon

#EnergyFuels says #nuclear power is necessary to fight #ClimateChange, but #Indigenous tribes fear losing their homes

By Matthew Rozsa
January 31, 2024

"The Grand Canyon truly lives up to its name, being the largest canyon on Earth and one of the most popular national parks in America. But due to #UraniumMining in the area, some advocates are warning it could become the site of a future #EnvironmentalDisaster, which threatens to make one Indigenous village 'extinct.'

"More than 80 groups signed onto a statement on Monday — representing Indigenous communities, scientists and environmental nonprofits such as the #SierraClub and the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity — directed at President #JoeBiden and #Arizona Gov. #KatieHobbs, demanding they close the #PinyonPlain uranium mine, which is located near the Grand Canyon.

"'We have a choice in front of us. Allowing the Pinyon Plain mine to proceed is subjecting this landscape and its interconnected waters to a legacy of devastation and disregarding the rights of the #IndigenousPeoples on the land,' Sanober Mirza, Arizona program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in the statement. 'Or we can choose a different path — one that holds a promise of protecting the Grand Canyon’s cultural sanctity, its people and natural resources.'

"To understand why the mine's opponents feel so strongly, one can turn to #AmberReimondo, who work as energy director at a conservationist non-profit called the #GrandCanyonTrust. Reimondo explained to Salon by email that, on the one hand, #Biden permanently banned mining operations on nearly 1 million acres of federal managed lands by creating the #BaajNwaavjo I'tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in August 2023. Yet the Pinyon Plain mine was #exempt from this prohibition, and Reimondo argues that the impact on the region has been 'several fold.'

"'What they've created here is a long-term, slow motion #EnvironmentalDisaster."

"'The Grand Canyon region as a whole and especially the location of the mine, is deeply significant to Indigenous cultures and is a place where tribal members have conducted #ceremonies, collected medicine, hunted, and more, for centuries,' Reimondo said. 'The mine also overlies critical and complex [and] not well understood groundwater systems. One #aquifer in particular — the #RedWallMuavAquifer — is the sole source of water for the remote #HavasupaiVillage of #Supai inside the Grand Canyon. The mine poses a #contamination threat to these #groundwater resources not just today, but importantly, after the mine's mere 28-month operational lifespan has concluded and the mining operator 'cleans up' and moves on.'

"Supai is so remote, it's only accessible only by helicopter or an 8-mile mule ride or hike, Reimondo explained, noting that if the newly-oxygenated groundwater comes into contact with nearby rocks, minerals like #arsenic and #uranium will be dissolved by the groundwater and enter aquifers used by the local community and essential to local ecology, including #HavasuFalls. Taylor McKinnon, Southwest Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed similar concerns.

"'Ultimately, this mine is going to require political leadership,' McKinnon told Salon in an interview, referring to both the Biden and #Hobbs administrations. 'Those administration's agencies have the authority to fix this problem if they so choose, and that's what they should do.'

"We have detailed strenuously for years that neither regulators nor industry can ensure against the permanent and irretrievable damage to Grand Canyon's aquifers and springs," McKinnon added. "This mine was approved originally in 1986, under a record of decision from the US Forest Service under a presumption that it was highly unlikely that the mine would encounter groundwater, and further unlikely that if it did, it had the potential to contaminate deeper aquifers in the springs that they feed. Subsequent state permitting from the #ArizonaDepartment OfEnvironmentalQuality has basically parroted those same assumptions.'

"Yet McKinnon alleges that in 2016 the mine punctured a perched aquifer, causing roughly 10 million gallons of water per year to drain into the mine workings. From there he asserts that a surface pond formed with water that has concentrations of uranium and arsenic far in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency (#EPA)'s water quality standards. Not only does this threaten the local endangered and endemic species, but it also impacts the nearby Havasupai tribe.

"Havasupai means 'people of the blue-green water,' McKinnon said. "It's their longstanding cultural identity, and it is the water they drink, they farm with and that provides for all of their tourism economy because it is this just a beautiful series of massive verdant waterfalls that flow through the village and down into a series of waterfalls and pools where people camp and they derive tourism dollars.'

"In a 2022 letter of opposition, the Havasupai Tribal Council, laid out what is at stake in the uranium mining controversy.

"'Our identity as a people is intrinsically intertwined with the health of #HavasuCreek and the environment to which it gives life,' the tribe’s letter explained. 'We use this water for drinking, #gardening and irrigating, municipal uses, and #cultural and #religious uses. If the water source becomes contaminated like we have seen in other areas of Arizona due to uranium mining, we will no longer be able to live in our homes and Supai Village will become extinct.'

"These fears are based on precedent. The nearby #NavajoNation is scattered with old uranium mines — over 500, in fact — awaiting cleanup, exposing locals to risk of '#LungCancer from inhalation of #radioactive particles, as well as #BoneCancer and impaired kidney function from exposure to #radionuclides in drinking water,' according to the EPA. Likewise, members of the #UteMountain #Ute tribe in #WhiteMesa, Utah have protested against uranium mines they say have contaminated local groundwater, air and even wildlife."

https://www.salon.com/2024/01/31/advocates-demand-halt-to-uranium-mine-near-the-grand-canyon/

#NoNukes #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #NoMining #UraniumMining #NuclearPowerNoThanks #IndigenousActivism

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

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

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

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

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

#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

#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

#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

#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

#Sami activist sets up camp outside #Norway parliament to protest #WindTurbines

By Gwladys Fouche

September 11, 2023

OSLO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - “An Indigenous Sami activist set up camp outside the Norwegian parliament on Monday to protest against wind turbines built on land traditionally used by Sami #reindeer herders, saying he will stay there as long as the turbines remain in place.

“Norway's supreme court in October 2021 ruled that two wind farms built at Fosen in central Norway, part of Europe's largest onshore wind farm, violated Sami rights under international conventions. But the turbines remain in operation today.

“The Fosen case is one of many conflicts that Norway has yet to resolve, with #ClimateChange and technology enabling #MineralExtraction, #EnergyProduction and #tourism while also threatening #TraditionalWays of life.

“The government has said that the supreme court, while ruling that the licenses of the two farms were illegal, did not give instructions on what to do next and that the conflict should be resolved through talks.

“‘It has been 700 days of human rights abuse and the Norwegian state has not done anything to stop it. So I have chosen to come here and set up camp until the human rights abuse stops,' Sami activist #MihkkalHaetta, 22, told Reuters, dressed in a traditional gakti outfit worn inside out as a sign of protest.

“‘I believe that there is only one solution and that is to tear down the wind turbines at Fosen.'

“In February #IndigenousProtesters including Haetta occupied the lobby of the #oil and energy ministry before police removed them.

“They later occupied the entrances of 10 ministries and were joined by #Greta Thunberg, who said #HumanRights had to go hand-in-hand with #ClimateProtection and #ClimateAction.

“Since the protests, the government and the reindeer-herding families affected by the #FosenWindFarm have been involved in mediation to resolve the conflict but no concrete measures have been announced yet.

“The reindeer herders have said the only solution to the conflict is that the turbines be torn down.

'We still hope that the mediation process will be able to lead to an amicable solution to the matter. It would be the best for all parties,' Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland told Reuters in an emailed statement.

“’It is too early to say anything concrete about when a solution might be in place, but I am focused that the mediation track can be followed as long as there is hope for a solution.'

“About Monday's protest, Aasland said 'the right to free expression is a founding democratic right I have great respect for’.”

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/sami-activist-sets-up-camp-outside-norway-parliament-protest-wind-turbines-2023-09-11/

#CulturalGenocide #IndigenousActivism #EnvironmentalRacism #SamiPeople #TraditionalLifestyle #EndangeredSpecies #BigEnergy #ClimateJustice