Chief Dsta’hyl of Witsuwit’en First Nation in northern B.C. was Canada’s first Amnesty International prisoner of conscience
First Peoples Law Report: The Chilliwack Progress – As Chief Dsta’hyl completed his 60-day conditional sentence for criminal contempt Aug. 26, he vowed to fight on for the rights he believes were violated with his arrest in November 2021.
“The federal government and the province have the power to issue a declaration recognizing our [Witsuwit’en Nation] ownership of our 22,000 square kilometres of territory,” he is quoted as saying in a press release by Amnesty International.
“Their unwillingness to do it is beyond me. They went as far as signing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and making other promises, but those are smokescreens to appease the population.”
Dsta’hyl, who also goes by Adam Gagnon, was the first person Amnesty ever declared as a prisoner of conscience in Canada “on the basis that his arrest and conviction violated his constitutional and Indigenous rights.”
In July, B.C. Supreme Court justice Michael Tammen sentenced him to house arrest for his role in leading a blockade of an access road to a Coastal GasLink worksite near Houston.
While Dsta’hl has already served his time, he is currently appealing the conviction.
In a message to supporters around the world, Dsta’hyl said on Aug. 27 he would continue to “raise a strong voice for the rights of his Nation and in support of other land defenders who have been criminalized for their defence of Witsuwit’en territory against the construction of the CGL pipeline.”
He noted, however, that as long as the court injunction he was convicted of violating, Witsuwit’en land defenders find themselves in a “very precarious situation.”
Three of those others, Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), Shaylynn Sampson, and Corey “Jayohcee” Jocko are scheduled to be in court in Smithers next week. In January, they were convicted of criminal contempt for violating the injunction, but sentencing was postponed for the court to hear an abuse-of-process application from the defence.
The application alleges the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) used excessive force and violated their Charter and Indigenous rights during its enforcement of the injunction.
Arguments were originally scheduled for June 17-21, which drew a delegation from Amnesty and Frontline Defenders, another global human rights organization, but the hearing was postponed until Sept. 3.
The press release said a delegation from Amnesty International Canada, Amnesty International Germany and Front Line Defenders would be back in town for the continuation next week.
“Like Chief Dsta’hyl, Sleydo’, Shaylynn Sampson and Corey “Jayohcee” Jocko face the prospect of imprisonment or house arrest because Canada refuses to respect their rights and the rights of the Wet’suwet’en Nation,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director.
“If their cases go to sentencing, Amnesty International will not hesitate to consider new prisoner-of-conscience designations and shine more light into Canada’s failures on Indigenous rights.”
Amnesty will also be hosting a Zoom conference with Dsta’hyl on Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. B.C. time.
“He will open a new window into his Nation’s struggle to defend its rights and take time to answer viewers’ questions,” the release stated.
Registration is required through Zoom.
About the Author: Thom Barker
After graduating with a geology degree from Carleton University and taking a detour through the high tech business, Thom started his journalism career as a fact-checker for a magazine in Ottawa in 2002.Read more