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| Chief Na'Mooks, center, testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Photo Jason Franson/Canadian Press |
Canada fails to respond to Wet’suwet’en Nation’s claims in hearing at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
“Canada’s unwillingness to explain its actions shows an embarrassing disrespect for our Nation’s rights and the rights of all Indigenous Peoples in so-called Canada,” said Chief Na’moks, of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs.
By Amnesty International
Censored News
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.