Wet’suwet’en Raise Human Rights Violations with UN Special Rapporteur – The Energy Mix

April 28, 2019

Hereditary leaders of the Wet’suwet’en Nation spoke before the special rapporteur for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York last week, alleging ongoing human rights violations in the name of resource development—most immediately, the construction of TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Operating “under the umbrella of the UN Human Rights Commission” with a mandate that “includes addressing specific cases of alleged violations,” CBC reports, the rapporteur heard hereditary Wet’suwet’en chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale) express his nation’s deep concern about the extent to which the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada are subordinated to corporate interests.

Referring directly to the community’s ongoing struggle to keep pipeline contractors out of their territory, Na’Moks “asked the UN to emphasize to Canada the need to fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and that states need to recognize the human right of people to peacefully express dissent to activity in their territories without being criminalized,” the national broadcaster states.

Read More: https://theenergymix.com/2019/04/28/wetsuweten-raise-human-rights-violations-with-un-special-rapporteur/