This is the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network's solidarity statement with Wet'suwt'en It was made available for use in defence of the Yintah and was sent to the following politicians:

  John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia and President of the Executive Council                                                      Mike Farnworth, BC Minister of Public Safety                                                                                                          Nathan Cullen, BC Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations Stikine                                              Prime Minister Justin Trudeau                                                                                                                                    Marc Miller, Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations

ARSN stands in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en Nation and all Earth Defenders

December 3, 2021 - From the East Coast of Turtle Island, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network - ARSN -  denounces the arbitrary, ruthless and violent actions by militarized BC RCMP to carry out an eviction of unarmed Wet’suwet’en land defenders from their traditional territory. We repudiate the acts of intimidation and brutality by state security forces working on behalf of TC Energy and the Coastal Gaslink Project, including the use of snipers and assault teams against land defenders courageously protecting their inherent rights. We denounce provincial and federal governments for their role in exacerbating the violence perpetrated against the Wet’suwet’en Nation, including torture, the burning of homes, destruction of sacred medicines and criminalization. We fully support the sovereignty of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and the decisions of the clans in the territory to defend and protect their inherent rights.

As a network that has spent four decades monitoring and denouncing state-sponsored terror in the Americas, we are outraged by ongoing Canadian state actions to implement by force a colonial agenda of exploitation of land and water to benefit private economic interests. From our experience, we know that this is a driving factor behind genocide across the Americas and we repudiate these actions against Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island as a continuation of this agenda. For generations, Peoples and Nations across the Americas have been compelled to put their bodies on the front lines to defend the water, culture, and way of life, due to the dispossession of land and destruction as a result of colonial government policies to benefit private corporations with the support of national and international financial institutions. We implore that the Supreme Court Ruling Delgamuukw vs. BC be upheld and also exhort the Canadian State to recognize that Indigenous sovereignty over traditional territory extends beyond the confines of colonial court decisions.

As the world faces its most critical moment for the climate, we honour and give thanks to the defenders who are courageously protecting the sacred, our common home, for today and future generations. ARSN stands in solidarity with the Wet’suwe’ten Nation and all Earth defenders. 

We urge others to learn more and take action: 

• Host a solidarity rally or action in your area.

• Issue a solidarity statement from your organization or group. Email to: yintahaccess@gmail.com

• Pressure the government, banks, and investors, including universities and pension plans, to divest from TC Energy and fossil fuel companies: http://yintahaccess.com/take-action-1

• Donate. http://go.rallyup.com/wetsuwetenstrong

• Come to Camp. yintahaccess.com/

• Spread the word.

#ShutDownCanada #WetsuwetenStrong #AllOutForWedzinKwa #KILLINIT

More information and developing stories:

Website: Yintahaccess.com IG: @yintah_access  Twitter: @Gidimten Facebook: @wetsuwetenstrong Youtube: Gidimten Access Point   TikTok: GidimtenCheckpoint

On November 19th, 2021, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network endorsed this letter from the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones e Indígena de Honduras (COPINH) about the delay in the sentencing of Roberto David Castillo, who was convicted on July 5 for his role in the murder of Berta Cáceres.

On November 12th, 2021 the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network endorsed this organizational sign-on letter from the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability. The letter calls "on the Government of Canada to adopt legislation requiring Canadian companies to undertake human rights and environmental due diligence throughout their global operations and supply chains." It was posted on the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability website and sent to Prime Minister Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly and Labour Minister, Seamus O`Regan.

On November 11th, 2021, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network endorsed this International Solidarity Statement with 2021 Mariano Abarca Environmental Defence Award Recipient La Sociedad Civil las Abejas de Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico from Mining Watch Canada.

In October 2021, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network initiated this urgent action calling for an immediate end to the excessive violence against Maya Q'eqchi' defenders in peaceful resistance against the illegal Fénix-Pronico nickel mining project in El Estor, Izabal. It was endorsed by several organizations. The letter can be viewed in Spanish here. The following is a version in English.

               

       

URGENT ACTION : GUATEMALA: State must immediately stop the excessive violence against defenders of the Maya Q'eqchi' people in peaceful resistance against the illegal nickel project in El Estor.

 

After twenty days of peaceful resistance against the illegal mining of their ancestral territories and the Guatemalan State's failure to enforce the Constitutional Court's ruling to immediately halt the mining, hundreds of State security agents are using excessive force to evict Maya Q'eqchi' fishermen and indigenous authorities in El Estor, Izabal, Guatemala. In addition, journalists and human rights observers on site are being threatened and harassed to silence what is happening in the area, especially related to the lack of compliance with the Constitutional Court's order to immediately stop operations at the mine site due to the lack of consultation with the communities. 

 

October 24, 2021

 

We condemn the excessive use of violence by Guatemalan state security forces against Mayan Q'eqchi' fishermen and authorities who are asserting their legitimate rights to peaceful assembly and protest against the illegal mining operations of the Swiss-Russian Solway Group at the Fénix-Pronico nickel mine in El Estor, Izabal.   

 

Defenders and journalists covering the protest have been tear-gassed, beaten and threatened by the excessive police and military contingent, and reports that more security is on the way to the area raise the alarm of more attacks and more illegal evictions. There are verified reports that the Police are entering the neighborhoods in search of social movement leaders and Maya Q'eqchi' community members who filed a successful writ of amparo against the mine's operations.

 

In June 2020, the Constitutional Court ordered the Guatemalan State to close the operations after ruling that the Ministry of Energy and Mines granted an exploitation license to Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN) - then owned by Canadian Skye Resources - in 2005 without consulting the affected communities. Operations at the mine have continued over the years, first with Hudbay Minerals, also of Canada, and currently through Solway Group, a Swiss-Russian consortium. During the ownership of each company, there have been acts of serious violence and systematic human rights violations against indigenous rights defenders.

 

● We demand that the Guatemalan State immediately cease the brutality against defenders and journalists. 

● We demand immediate compliance with the Constitutional Court's ruling by the State of Guatemala and Solway Group and that operations be halted until a consultation is held, with full participation of the affected communities.

● We demand an end to the use of the State of Siege and other tactics to foment fear and encourage eviction from Q'eqchi ancestral territories.