[antiwar-van] gustafsen

Tue Mar 16 15:44:43 PST 2004

Dear Friends:
I have just rec'd the following notice regarding Gustafsen Lake and the call
for a public inquiry into this major assault on Aboriginal rights, title and
jurisdiction. Please read and forward it.
Charles Boylan
www.wakeupwithco-op.org
102.7 FM
Mon-Wed-Fri 7 to 9 a.m.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <noii-van at resist.ca>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 6:29 PM
Subject: [van-announce] rally/endorse: in honour of the Gustafsen
LakeDefenders

>
> PLEASE POST WIDELY*
> >
> ><><><><><><><><><><>
> >ORPHEUM THEATHRE
> >SAT MARCH 20 @ 6:54 PM
> >(Smithe at Seymour)
> >
> >*** INFORMATIONAL PICKET ***
> ><><><><><><><><><><><>
> >
> >It is time for all those opposed to the Canadian colonial system to
> >support, through tangible actions, those struggling for land, life,
> >dignity and soverignty across these lands.
> >
> >The statement below will be presented on March 20 at a NDP fundraiser at
a
> >ticketed event in Vancouver. Several Gustafsen Lake defenders will be
> >converging in Vancouver on that night to speak about the injustices at
> >Gustafsen Lake.
> >
> >
> >WE ARE ALSO URGENTLY SEEKING HUNDREDS OF ENDORSEMENTS FOR THE DEMAND
BELOW.
> >please email your endorsement to noii-van at resist.ca BY Thursday March 18
> >
> >
> >IN HONOUR OF THE GUSTAFSEN LAKE DEFENDERS !!!
> >IN SUPPORT OF INDIGENOUS SOVERIGNTY! !!
> >
> >We are gathered here today to remind everyone about the role of the NDP
> >government in the largest paramilitary operation in Canada. The NDP
> >launched a full assault on indigenous defenders asserting their inherent
> >and legal rights to self-determination on unceded territories of BC.
> >
> >In honour of the Gustafsen Lake Defenders, in memory of Dudley George and
> >the millions who were and continue to be victims of the colonial regime,
> >we aim to expose the hypocrisy of "progressive" politicians.
> >
> >"I am unable to support the call for a public inquiry... my New
Democratic
> >colleagues and I will continue to support the treaty negotiation process
> >in BC, including the recently concluded Nisga'a treaty. This process,
> >while often painstakingly slow and difficult, is certainly preferable to
> >taking up guns and violence, as occurred in the summer of 1995," said
> >Svend Robinson.
> >
> >"And We do further strictly enjoin and require all Persons whatever who
> >have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any Lands
> >within the Countries above described, or upon any other Lands which, not
> >having been ceded to or purchased by Us, are still reserved to the said
> >Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such
> >Settlements." -Royal Proclamation Act, 1763.
> >
> >"Kill this Clark, smear the prick and everyone with him." -Dennis Ryan,
> >RCMP Gustafsen Lake Crisis Management Team, Sept. 1995. Disclosed during
> >the Gustafsen trial.
> >
> >
> >BACKGROUND
> >
> >In 1995, after a long history of peaceful attempts to have Shuswap
> >sovereignty respected, indigenous people from the Shuswap and other
> >nations and a few non-indigenous supporters took a stand on sacred
> >Sundance lands at Ts'Peten, aka Gustafsen Lake. People came to the
> >Sundance grounds after a call for help went out, in response to threats
> >made by a local rancher; one ranch hand  pulled out a bullwhip and said:
> >'This is a good day to string up some red niggers.' " (Defenders' press
> >release, June 19/95) Shortly afterwards the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
> >(RCMP) surrounded the Ts'Peten Defenders and held the people there under
> >siege. On June 19,  Counsel Dr. Bruce Clark confirmed that "as a matter
of
> >strict law, you are acting within your existing legal rights by resisting
> >the invasion." Over the next month police, politicians, and media
> >escalated the situation to make the siege the most expensive domestic
> >military operation in Canada's history. Miraculously, there was only one
> >casualty -- a dog deliberately killed by a police sniper firing at two
> >unarmed people and the animal as they fled from police gunfire and
> >armoured personnel carriers.
> >
> >The state actions there constituted the largest paramilitary operation in
> >Canadian history and included armoured personnel carriers, .50 calibre
> >machine guns, land mines, and massive human rights violations directed
> >against a small number of Shuswap traditionalists who cited
constitutional
> >and international law protections for their resistance to the attempted
> >invasion. The federal and provincial governments both rejected any
> >involvement by an impartial, independent, international adjudication
> >process to settle the conflict at Gustafsen Lake. They even rejected the
> >presence of neutral peacekeepers. Ujjal Dosanjh responded to the
> >possibility of outside observers with the infamous declaration: "There
> >shall be no alien intervention into the affairs of this state." Dosanjh,
> >like all other politicians, knows that in an independent court, the legal
> >arguments of the Indians could not be suppressed.
> >
> >The people inside the encampment were forced to endure the longest
> >criminal trial in Canadian history. After over a year of astonishing
> >testimony by police (including open admissions of a "smear and
> >disinformation campaign" against the Ts'Peten Defenders and lawyer Bruce
> >Clark), thirteen of the Defenders received jail sentences. Three of the
> >Defenders appealed the verdicts on the grounds that the land where the
> >siege took place is native land, and therefore the settler (non-native)
> >courts have no jurisdiction.  During the Gustafsen Lake trial William
> >Ignace, known better by his Shuswap name, Wolverine, cited the Indian
> >Provision of the Royal Proclamation Act of 1763, which clearly states
that
> >until an Indian territory has been purchased by the Crown, non-Indians
> >cannot legally occupy land, never mind subject Indians to the
jurisdiction
> >of the Crown. The BC Court of Appeal maintained: "The Royal Proclamation
> >has never applied to this Province, the appellants cannot rely upon the
> >Royal Proclamation as support for their position." Ironically, on
November
> >11, 1998, the Vancouver Sun reported that Prime Minister Chretien, after
> >promising to quickly implement the Nisga'a Final Agreement, said:
"Nisga'a
> >is an important thing.... I believe in it personally and it is an
> >obligation of the government and it is a constitutional obligation of the
> >Royal Proclamation that the King of England gave us in 1763."
> >
> >
> >Several important facts were revealed during the Gustafsen Lake trials.
> >Only some are outlined below.
> >
> >* A letter from Bruce Clark to his clients inside the Gustafsen Lake
> >encampment was blocked by RCMP, Staff Sgt. Montague stated that "police
> >cut the phone line to the camp 'so that they can't be further influenced
> >by their lawyer, Bruce Clark, which is a problem.'" (Vancouver Sun, Aug.
> >30, 1995).
> >
> >* According to RCMP, people inside the camp shot into the air, allegedly
at
> >a helicopter. Later RCMP disclosures reveal that one of the people in the
> >helicopter heard no shots and saw no evidence of gunshots.
> >
> >* RCMP surveillance footage, taken from six to eight thousand feet in the
> >air by Wescam, reveals the camp truck blown-up by a powerful landmine,
> >then two apparently UNARMED people running from the truck which was
> >moments later struck violently by an APC. The camp dog, seen running away
> >from the truck is shot and killed by RCMP fire. Cst. S.H. Arthur
testified
> >that he saw the two occupants running from the truck and that neither
were
> >carrying weapons. He also testified that he fired upon the unarmed
> >occupants of the truck as they were leaving the lake with their hands in
> >the air, within what was supposed to be the guaranteed safe zone.
> >
> >* On September 6,  Ontario Provincial Police attempted to remove native
> >occupiers of traditional lands at Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario.
When
> >efforts to remove the occupiers were unsuccessful, police responded by
> >sending in police in riot gear, who stormed the gate. Two men were hit.
> >Dudley George died.
> >
> >* Chief Superintendent Johnston makes a note during a phone conversation
> >with Superintendent Len Olfert that "There are 6 hardliners in the camp
> >WHO WILL REQUIRE KILLING." (Source: Crown disclosures)
> >
> >
> >Since the end of the standoff, Defenders have called for an inquiry into
> >the military siege. National and international support for an independent
> >public inquiry into all aspects of the Gustafsen Lake standoff and
> >Ipperwash continues to grow: Alexa McDonough, National Campus/Community
> >Radio Association, Teaching Support Staff Union of Simon Fraser
> >University, the UVic Graduate Students' Society, Victoria's CUPE Local
50,
> >Defensoria Maya (Guatemala); Canadian Alliance in Solidarity with Native
> >Peoples; The Green Group of the European Parliament; The Black Community
> >Collective; The Afrikan Frontline Network; North West Leonard Peltier
> >Support Network; Aboriginal Rights Coalition; Council of Canadians;
> >Building Bridges to Chiapas; The National Green Party of Canada; Ramsey
> >Clark, Former US Attorney General and Council to Leonard Peltier; and
many
> >other groups and individuals, including a resolution by the Assembly of
> >First Nations.
> >
> >WE REITERATE THE CALL FOR A PUBLIC INQUIRY. THE INJUSTICES AT GUSTAFSEN
> >LAKE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN AS STRUGGLES FOR INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY
> >CONTINUE AND PEOPLE FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS AND DIGNITY
> >
> >The undersigned,
> >Native Youth Movement-Secwepemc Chapter, Native Solidarity Network
> >Vancouver, No One is Illegal-Vancouver,
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Noii-l mailing list
> >Noii-l at lists.resist.ca
> >https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/noii-l
> _______________________________________________
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> van-announce at lists.resist.ca
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>
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