An urgent request to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination to intervene in recent human rights violations against Indigenous peoples in BC has been submitted by a coalition of Indigenous rights, human rights, and environmental experts. The submission asks the UN committee to hold Canada
accountable for repeated human rights violations against Indigenous peoples relating to fossil fuel expansion and for flouting a 2019 UN directive to stop work on the Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
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In 2019, the UN committee called for Canada to halt work on the Coastal Gas Link
pipeline, Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, and Site C dam until free, prior,
and informed consent is obtained from Indigenous peoples. The committee also told
Canada to withdraw police and private security forces from Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en territory, and to refrain from forcible removal and lethal force against peaceful land defenders.<\/p>\n\n
The submission outlines serious, recent, and ongoing human rights violations in
Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en territory, including continued pipeline construction without free, prior, and informed consent, forcible removal, arrest and imprisonment of peaceful Indigenous peoples by paramilitary RCMP, and arrest and imprisonment of legal observers and media. The document also points to violent arrest of Gitxsan supporters in Gitxsan territory.
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Today, the submission authors were joined by other Indigenous, human rights, and
environmental leaders, sending a letter that urges Prime Minister Trudeau to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples and the terms of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cCanada\u2019s willful disregard of the UN\u2019s 2019 directive is disturbing, especially in light of the current climate catastrophe in British Columbia and the genocide of Indigenous
women and girls. The relentless pursuit of oil and gas expansion is an existential threat to Indigenous peoples, children, and future generations,\u201d says Zo\u00eb Craig-Sparrow, Director of Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice at Justice for Girls. \u201cIt\u2019s simply a wholesale violation of Indigenous, domestic, and international law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cDespite generations of genocidal laws, policies, and practices by governments and
corporations, Indigenous peoples are still here defending our lands, our sovereignty,
and our peoples. Our job is to call out grave human rights violations against any
Indigenous land defender and push BC, Canada, Coastal GasLink, and the RCMP to
stop breaking the law. The United Nations has called on Canada to stop these human
rights violations and Canada needs to listen,\u201d says Dr. Pam Palmater, Mi\u2019kmaq lawyer,
legal scholar, and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe call on Prime Minister Trudeau to respect the rule of law, including Canada\u2019s
international obligations under human rights treaties. Canada\u2019s pledge to implement the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples appears insincere: the government acts as if reconciliation and decolonization are sham commitments,\u201d says constitutional law expert, Professor Margot Young.<\/p>\n\n
ENDS<\/p>\n\n
To see the letter signed by Indigenous, human rights and environmental organizations, go to: English version: French version: Background: United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination\u2019s
To see the urgent submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination regarding the recent forcible removal of Wet\u2019suwet\u2019en, go to:
http:\/\/www.justiceforgirls.org\/uploads\/2\/4\/5\/0\/24509463\/urgent_submission_to_un_cerd_nov_2021.pdf<\/a>
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http:\/\/www.justiceforgirls.org\/uploads\/2\/4\/5\/0\/24509463\/29_november_2021_coal
ition_letter_to_trudeau.pdf<\/a>
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http:\/\/www.justiceforgirls.org\/uploads\/2\/4\/5\/0\/24509463\/29_november_2021_coal
ition_letter_to_trudeau-french.docx.pdf<\/a>
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(2019) Decision 1 (100) on Canada:
https:\/\/tbinternet.ohchr.org\/Treaties\/CERD\/Shared%20Documents\/CAN\/INT_CERD_EWU_CAN_9026_E.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n