Innu Petition International Tribunal With Respect to Environmental
and Human Rights Abuses
Sheshatshiu
- On behalf of the Innu people, Innu lawyer Armand McKenzie addressed
the First Session of the International Peoples' Tribunal On
Human Rights and the Enviroment. in New York. This Peoples'
tribunal coincided with the World Leaders Summit of the Eight, and
provides a forum through which victims of unsustainable development
practices can address an international audience. In an accompanying
written submission, the Innu Nation outlined a number of international
human rights and environmental violations which pose both immediate and
long-term threats to Innu culture and the environment upon which they
depend. The activities violating these standards within the Innu
territory of Nitassinan include: the continued militarization of Innu
territory through low-level military flight training, proposed
large-scale forestry operations, development of massive hydroelectric
projects, extensive mining and mineral exploration projects including
the proposed Voisey's Bay mine, an upgrade to the Trans-Labrador
highway, and the proposed Ptarmigan (snowmobile) Trail.
The submission named the governments of Canada and other NATO nations
who persist in conducting low-level military flights in
ecologically-sensitive territory which is under land rights
negotiations, and without consultation or consent of the Innu. As
stated in the Rio Declaration, warfare is inherently
destructive of sustainable development and the perpetuation of warfare
throught the military occupation of indigenous lands is equally so.
The government of Newfoundland is also accountable for seeking to
re-introduce large-scale industrial forestry in a region where such
operations have proven to be ecologically destructive and economicaly
unviable, irrespective of Innu rights and concerns. Newfoundland's
scheme to construct a Lower Churchill hydroelectric dam also threatens
a rich and vital portion of the Lower Churchill Valley. The province's
recent granting of more than 280, 000 mining claims within Nitassinan,
as well as its overt support for the proposed Voisey's Bay mine prior
to the completion of an Environmental Assessment, and irrespective of
Innu land rights, further contravenes international human rights and
environmental standards. The proposed Ptarmigan Trail, and upgrade of
the Trans-Labrador are yet other examples of Newfoundland's attempt to
industrialize the north, and insofar as they are being pursued without
regard to Innu concerns and traditional ecological knowlege, also
violate international standards.
Individual and corporate actors whose actions support and contribute to
these violations were also identified, including the Voisey's Bay
Nickel Company, a subsidiary of Inco.
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Larry Innes Visit the Innu Nation WWW site:
Environmental Advisor http://www.web.net/~innu
Innu Nation
P.O. Box 119, Sheshatshiu, Labrador, Canada A0P 1M0
phone: (709) 497-8398 email: innuenv@web.net fax: (709) 497-8396