WUNRN
CANADA
- CALL FOR INVESTIGATION OF
MISSING INDIGENOUS WOMEN On
International Day of the Disappeared, activists say fate of hundreds of
missing indigenous women must be examined. |
-19 September 2010
|
|
The
Canadian government has not lived up to its responsibilities to stop
disapperances, critics say [GALLO/GETTY] |
As
human rights activists around the world marked the International Day of the
Disappeared by focusing on
The violence, primarily targeting young women from disadvantaged backgrounds
over the past three decades, is "truly appalling" according to
Amnesty International and, say human rights groups, has not been properly
addressed by security forces in one of the world's richest countries.
When framed purely in numerical terms, the disappearances in
But these facts provide little comfort to the families of the missing women.
"The measurement of what is worse is a pointless question," Jessica
Yee, an indigenous youth activist in
'Disappeared'
Disappeared, as a pejorative verb, first entered the popular lexicon in the
1970s, during a series of dirty wars in Latin America, notably Argentina, says
Marieke Van den Berg, a spokesperson for the International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances.
"Since the 1970s hundreds of thousands have disappeared and most have not
resurfaced alive," Van den Berg says.
"Families must be able to retain the remains
to mourn" Nicole Engelbrecht, ICRC |
Enforced
disappearance, in its most basic definition, refers to actions undertaken by a
state, or its proxies, and while there is no systematic campaign by Canadian
security forces to murder indigenous women, Nathan Derejko, a doctoral fellow
in international humanitarian law at the University of Galway, says: "If
there are a specific group of individuals who are going missing, the state has
an obligation to investigate."
"
"Negative obligations [include] refraining from taking certain action
[such as torture or extra-judicial killings].
"For
its positive obligations, the state must take legislative and judicial steps
[to deal with abuses] even if they are committed by non-state actors."
'Starlight tours'
Most of the disappeared indigenous Canadians are thought to have been killed by
sexual predators or serial killers like William Pickton, who was convicted of
murdering six women and is thought to have killed dozens more.
But
there have been isolated cases of security forces actively attacking indigenous
people - hauling them to the outskirts of cities and leaving them to freeze in
a process that has become known as the "starlight tour".
In 1990, 17-year-old Neil Stonechild was
found frozen to death in a remote field outside
His
mother and indigenous leaders believe police drove him out of the city and left
him for dead, in what could be considered an extra-judicial killing.
After years of stalling and bad press, the government called an inquiry into the
teenager's death.
Police admitted to bungling the investigation, and closing his case file
without interviewing the proper witnesses.
The
two officers blamed for driving him out of the city were fired from the force,
but no one was charged over his death.
In 2000, two veteran police officers admitted to picking up Darrell Night, an
indigenous man, and driving him to the outskirts of
A jury found the men guilty of unlawful confinement, not murder, and sentenced
the pair to eight months in jail. They served half that sentence.
Law undermined
These cases do not count as enforced disappearances because the bodies of those
involved were found, but comparisons have been drawn with extra-judicial killings.
However, even if
"We are calling on states to ratify the convention, because it still has
not entered into force," Nicole Engelbrecht, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
says.
|
Women have been holding protests and memorials for their missing
'sisters' [GALLO/GETTY] |
While international treaties on forced disappearance are often not worth the
paper they are printed on, signing conventions at least signals a willingness
to address the issues.
Presently, 19 countries have signed the agreement.
But
it does not come into force until 20 states ratify, meaning that
"As soon as 20 countries have signed on, states that have ratified have to
[follow through with their obligations]," Van den Berg says.
History of colonialism
Spillett believes the current violence must be framed within the history of
colonialism.
"We
have been displaced from out land, so people come to the cities thinking there
might be some opportunities, but there aren't any," she says.
When young women leave their families in search of work or a better life, they
can become vulnerable to predators, addiction and other forms of
marginalisation.
But regardless of the historical roots, not knowing what has happened to their
loved-ones is often the hardest part for family members.
"It is a universal phenomenon and something needs to be done,"
Engelbrecht says. "The families must be able to retain the remains and
mourn."
After military rule in
And
despite the many differences between the plight of missing indigenous women in