IAC on Human Rights
Canada fails to respond to Wet’suwet’en Nation’s claims in hearing at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Government of Canada’s remarks to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in response to allegations of serious human rights abuses show an “embarrassing disrespect” towards the rights and experiences of Indigenous Peoples, the Wet’suwet’en Nation and Amnesty International Canada said this week.
On Monday, representatives with the Wet’suwet’en Nation testified virtually to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) about the unjust criminalization of land defenders opposing the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) liquified natural gas pipeline on the Nation’s unceded ancestral territory. They also decried Canada’s and British Columbia’s decision to construct the pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Nation — a violation of the Nation’s rights under Wet’suwet’en law, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Though the Canadian government had advance access to the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s written submission to the IACHR, Hugh Adsett, Canada’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States and the government’s representative at the hearing, failed to respond to the Nation’s claims. “My goal in participating today is primarily to gain a better understanding of the petitioners’ concerns and provide some general and initial context that may help inform the commission’s own analysis,” he said in his introductory remarks.
See full article https://www.amnesty.ca/human-rights-news/wetsuweten-nation-inter-american-commission/
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