Researchers
and journalists have begun to reveal the extent to which Indigenous
activists and organisations in Canada are subject to surveillance by
police, military, national security intelligence agencies and other
government bodies. While security agencies have long looked beyond
‘traditional’ national security threats and set their sights on
activists – even in the absence of evidence linking these
individuals or organisations to any violent criminal activity –
this reality is increasingly the subject of media and public
scrutiny. As Jeffrey Monaghan and Kevin Walby have written, the
language of “aboriginal and multi-issue extremists” in security
discourse blurs the line between threats to national security,
matters of ordinary law enforcement, and lawful, democratic advocacy.
In
this piece, we summarise some of what is known about the surveillance
practices employed to keep tabs on Indigenous leaders and activists,
and describe their impact on Charter-protected and internationally
recognised human rights and freedoms.
Indigenous
nations and peoples have emerged, worldwide, as vocal defenders of
land and water, organising to protect ancestral territories and ways
of life. In Canada, while aboriginal and treaty rights are
constitutionally recognised and affirmed, the interpretation of those
rights is highly contested and a matter frequently before the
country’s highest court. Indigenous activists and organisations in
Canada have led popular resistance to the development of new oil and
gas pipelines, hydroelectric dams, mining operations, and other
extractive industries that have significant environmental impact and
which frequently encroach on Indigenous territories.
This
resistance – with tactics ranging from peaceful protest and
strategic litigation to the establishment of creative action camps
and blockades – has frequently been met with a forceful police
response. Through diligent research and investigative reporting, a
pattern of extensive surveillance of these activities has also
emerged – implicating law enforcement, intelligence agencies and
numerous other government bodies.
The
pattern of surveillance against Indigenous activists and
organisations… can be characterised as disproportionate and
alienating
Both
freedom of expression and assembly are guaranteed under the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which forms part of the Canadian
constitution. The freedom from unreasonable search and seizure –
which provides constitutional protection for privacy – is also
guaranteed. The law recognises certain limits to these rights,
provided they further a compelling government objective and are
proportionate to that objective. However, the pattern of surveillance
against Indigenous activists and organisations that has emerged in
Canada is one that can clearly be characterised as disproportionate
and alienating, with no evidence that it is necessary. Though these
operations are inherently covert, Indigenous activists, researchers
and human rights advocates have begun – largely through
access-to-information requests – to piece together a clearer
picture of the ways in which this surveillance takes place. Below, we
discuss surveillance of individual leaders, surveillance of
communities and movements, and how the agencies and departments that
gather information use and share it.
Full
report:
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