From: First Peoples Human Rights Coalition mailto:firstpeoplesrights@earthlink.net
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008
Legal scholars and experts urge Canada to abandon opposition
May 1, 2008
Press Release
In an Open Letter released today, more than 100 legal scholars and experts assert that there is no sound legal barrier to prevent Canada from moving ahead with implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The current minority Conservative government has strongly opposed the Declaration, claiming that it is incompatible with Canada’s Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Cabinet ministers and government spokespersons have asserted that the Declaration fails to balance the rights of Indigenous with those of non-Indigenous peoples and other state obligations.
The Open Letter signed by 101 lawyers and academics from across Canada, states “No credible legal rationale has been provided to substantiate these extraordinary and erroneous claims.”
In fact, the Open Letter points out that the UN Declaration includes 17 articles affirming individual rights as well as “some of the most comprehensive balancing provisions that exist in any international human rights instrument.”
“The Declaration provides a principled framework that promotes a vision of justice and reconciliation,” the expert letter states. “In our considered opinion, it is consistent with the Canadian Constitution and Charter and is profoundly important for fulfilling their promise. Government claims to the contrary do a grave disservice to the cause of human rights and to the promotion of harmonious and cooperative relations.”
The legal scholars and experts go on to state, “We are concerned that the misleading claims made by the Canadian government continue to be used to justify opposition, as well as impede international cooperation and implementation of this human rights instrument. “
The Declaration was adopted on September 13, 2007 by a vote of the overwhelming majority of UN member states. Canada was one of only four states to vote against the Declaration. The government of Stephen Harper has since claimed that Canada should be exempted from its implementation and not judged by its standards.
On April 8, 2008 the House of Commons adopted a motion endorsing the Declaration and calling on Parliament and the Government of Canada to “fully implement the standards contained therein.”
Coinciding with the release of the Open Letter, a coalition of Indigenous peoples’ organizations and human rights groups in Canada stated, “The UN Declaration is an essential, universal human rights standard that is urgently needed to inspire and guide states and public institutions to address the marginalization and discrimination faced by Indigenous peoples around the world. We hope that with the release of this carefully considered and reasoned interpretation backed by so many Canadian legal scholars and experts, it will be apparent to everyone that the Government of Canada has no excuse to continue to flout world opinion and the will of Parliament by opposing this Declaration.”
For further information, please contact:
Daniel Wilson
Special Advisor / Conseiller spécial
Assembly of First Nations / Assemblée des Premières Nations
T: 613.241.6789 #220
dwilson@afn.ca
Craig Benjamin
Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Amnesty International Canada
T: 613.744.7667 #235
cbenjami@amnesty.ca
Béatrice Vaugrante
Directrice générale et militante
Amnistie Internationale Canada
T: 514.766.9766 #224
bvaugrante@amnistie.ca
Jennifer Preston
Canadian Friends Service Committee
(Quakers)
T : 416.920.5213
Stephen Hendrie
Senior Communications Officer
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Cell: 613-277-3178
hendrie@itk.ca
Ed Bianchi
Indigenous Rights Program Coordinator / Coordonnateur, Programme relatif aux droits des Autochtones
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives / Initiatives canadiennes œcuméniques pour la justice
T: 613.235-9956
ebianchi@kairoscanada.org
Joshua Kirkey,
Team Lead of Communications and Education
Native Women’s Association of Canada/ Association des Femmes Autochtones du Canada
T: 613.722.3033 ext. 231
Cell: 613.290.5680
Rod Jacobs
Media Coordinator,
Native Women’s Association of Canada/ Association des Femmes Autochtones du Canada
T: 613.722.3033, ext. 259C
Text of Open Letter
May 1, 2008
Open Letter
On September 13, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by an overwhelming vote of 144-4. The UN Secretary-General, other prominent international leaders, and human rights experts hailed this historic event as a victory for the human rights of the world’s most disadvantaged and victimized peoples.
There are over 370 million Indigenous people worldwide. Indigenous peoples urgently require international affirmation and protection of their human rights. Their rights are routinely trampled by national governments, even when these rights are entrenched in law.
Canada was one of only four states that opposed the Declaration. Government ministers characterize the Declaration as incompatible with Canada’s Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They state that the Declaration affirms only the collective rights of Indigenous peoples and fails to balance individual and collective rights or the rights of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. No credible legal rationale has been provided to substantiate these extraordinary and erroneous claims.
We, the undersigned, have researched and worked in the fields of Indigenous rights and/or constitutional law in Canada. We are concerned that the misleading claims made by the Canadian government continue to be used to justify opposition, as well as impede international cooperation and implementation of this human rights instrument.
The Declaration contains some of the most comprehensive balancing provisions that exist in any international human rights instrument. Article 46 of the UN Declaration states that every provision must be interpreted “in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith”. These are the core principles and values of not only Canada’s Constitution, but also the international system that Canada has championed.
Further, seventeen provisions in the Declaration address individual rights. The UN Declaration also states that the rights of Indigenous peoples may be limited when strictly necessary “for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others”. This approach allows for both flexibility and balance.
In response to Canada’s position, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, Louise Arbour, publicly expressed her “astonishment” and “profound disappointment”. The Declaration provides a principled framework that promotes a vision of justice and reconciliation. In our considered opinion, it is consistent with the Canadian Constitution and Charter and is profoundly important for fulfilling their promise. Government claims to the contrary do a grave disservice to the cause of human rights and to the promotion of harmonious and cooperative relations.
As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Canada has a duty to “uphold the highest standards” of human rights for all. This mandate is guided by principles of impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity. Elimination of politicization of human rights is a vital objective. For Canada to act otherwise is prejudicial to Indigenous peoples’ human rights. It undermines Canada’s credibility and international role.
September 13, 2007 was a shameful day for Canada but a tremendous achievement for the world’s Indigenous peoples and the international system. It is time for the government of Canada to cease publicizing its misleading claims and, together with Indigenous peoples, actively implement this new human rights instrument.
Signed by: