Amnesty International has condemned Canadian authorities for unjustly criminalising an Indigenous leader defending Country.
On April 28, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia ruled that Likhts'amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta'hyl of the Wet'suwet'en Nation cannot cite Indigenous law to overturn his criminal conviction.
This week, Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada's English-speaking section, said the Canadian state has "unjustly criminalized Chief Dsta'hyl for defending the land and rights of the Wet'suwet'en people against the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline".
"According to Amnesty International, he should not have been prosecuted in the first place. Indeed, taking peaceful action to defend unceded ancestral land should not be treated as a crime," she said.
Canada's treatment of Chief Dsta'hyl and other land defenders of the Wet'suwet'en Nation has been criticised by Amnesty International and various United Nations and other international law expert bodies.
The provincial government of British Columbia and the federal government of Canada have denied the Wet'suwet'en their right to free, prior and informed consent - as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - over the construction of gas pipelines on their traditional territory.
Canada, despite being a signatory of the UN Declaration, has violated the Wet'suwet'en Nation's right to freedom of movement across their ancestral territory and threatened their traditional way of life.
In 2024, a British Columbia judge sentenced Chief Dsta'hyl for allegedly violating a court injunction that Amnesty International says infringes his Indigenous and Charter rights.
Chief Dsta'hyl was sentenced to 60 days of house arrest, leading Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience. It was the first time Amnesty International had ever assigned a prisoner-of-conscience designation to a person incarcerated by Canada.
Two years later, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia has ruled that Chief Dsta'hyl cannot cite Indigenous law as part of the judicial proceedings to overturn his criminal conviction. This is a further infringement of the Wet'suwet'en Nation's right to self-determination.
Amnesty described these injustices as "painful echoes of Canada's history of colonial violence against Indigenous Peoples".
The decision arrives as the government of Canada and provincial governments across the country have passed legislation which threaten Indigenous Peoples' right to self-determination by accelerating approvals for major fossil-fuel infrastructure projects.
In British Columbia, Premier David Eby recently had to walk back threats to weaken the province's legislation enshrining the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
As Canada and British Columbia continue making decisions to finance and approve the expansion of fossil-fuel projects, Indigenous leaders like Chief Dsta'hyl are defending natural ecosystems that lessen the impacts of climate change.
Amnesty International urged Canadian and BC authorities to "stop the criminalisation of Wet'suwet'en and other Indigenous defenders during a global climate emergency".
Ms Nivyabandi noted that Indigenous Peoples "face disproportionate harms from the burning of fossil fuels".
"Indigenous human rights defenders like Chief Dsta'hyl are using their Indigenous laws as a roadmap for making decisions about our planetary health that will benefit all Canadians," she said.
"Canada must listen with respect and hold up, not lock up, Indigenous land defenders like Chief Dsta'hyl.
"We call on Canada and the BC government to follow their lead toward a healthier, more sustainable future for all."
