Canadian Human Rights

So... I am going to start out my international human rights blog with a posting that is not international.  But it is on a topic that is of frequent international concern and relates to a situation which has drawn international attention, including from such organizations as the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.  The topic is that of the treatment of marginalized groups, and the demographic in this case is that of Canadians of Aboriginal descent.  The specific situation of concern in this posting is that of the safety of Canadian Aboriginal women.  My motivation for posting on this situation at this time comes from two recent publications, one by the United Nations, "UN Human Rights Council: HRW's Submission for Canada's Universal Periodic Review", the other "AFN calls for investigation of murdered and missing women" by The Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper.

The submission by Human Rights Watch brings forth the concern that Canada is not truly committed to addressing the issue of widespread violence against indigenous women and girls.  Actions that are highlighted include withdrawal of funding for monitoring of the status of violence against this demographic, selective mistreatment of the demographic by police forces, and a lack of investigation into disappearances and deaths among the demographic.  The article by the Globe and Mail highlights the struggle of the Assembly of First Nations (AFC) to have the federal government establish an independent commission to investigate the disappearances of aboriginal women, a process which according to the article is proving to be a struggle.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) states that all have the right to life, liberty, and security of person.  If the information contained in the above two publications is accurate, through a lack of concern and investigation into disappearances and killings, Canadian aboriginal women are potentially being selectively deprived of the right to life and security of person.  Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all are equal before the law and entitled withut any discrimination to equal protection of the law.  The above two articles outrightly state that this is not occurring.

In recent history Aboriginal Canadians of both genders have suffered from human rights abuses ranging from removal of their children to prohibition of cultural practices to restricted access to basic services such as health care.  Although progress is being made it is nonetheless distressing that basic human rights are still being selectively accorded to citizens in a country such as Canada, and that Aboriginal Canadians in particular continue to be singled out.  One can only hope that continued attention in this area will encourage those in positions to do so to ensure that progress continues to be made so that, soon, hopefully, the basic human rights espoused in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be accorded to all Canadians.