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Sleydo

Here is someobe else that you can help with Amnesty international's Write for Rights Campaign. If you are not familiar with it, click here for an explanation in our previous post.

WET'SUWET'EN, Nation Land Defenders, Canada.
"Our medicines, our berries, our food, the animals, our water, our culture, are
all here since time immemorial. We are obligated to protect our ways of life
for our babies unborn."

These are the words of Sleydo', a member of the Indigenous Wet'suwet'en
Nation, who lives on land inhabited by her ancestors for thousands of years.
In 2019, Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd (CGL) began constructing a fossil fuel
pipeline through the Wet'suwet'en Nation's ancestral territory, without the
consent of the Hereditary Chiefs and their clans. They never agreed to the
pipeline and the Nation has the right to decide what development takes place on its territory.

Committed to protecting their ancestral lands and everyone's right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Sleydo' and other land defenders began taking action to stop the pipeline construction. But
their peaceful actions have been met with intimidation, harassment and
criminalization. In 2018, the British Columbia Supreme Court (BCSC) granted CGL an injunction to prevent any interference with pipeline construction. The police have enforced this injunction with four violent raids on Wet'suwet'en
territory, using weapons, helicopters and dogs. More than 75 land defenders
have been arrested.

In November 2021, Sleydo' was arrested during one of these raids, with nearly
30 other defenders. Along with two other defenders, she was later found
guilty of "criminal contempt" for allegedly disobeying the injunction order to stay away from pipeline construction sites, despite being on her ancestral territory. The land defenders have made an application to the BCSC stating that their human rights were violated by police during the raids. Their future depends on the outcome of the application. If unsuccessful, they face prison.

SEND YOUR MESSAGES OF SUPPORT to show the Wet'suwet'en Nation land
defenders that you support them in their fight to protect
their ancestral lands.
Wet'suwet'en Nation
c/o Amnesty International Canada
312 Laurier Avenue East
Ottawa ON K1N 1H9
Canada