And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.I.S.I.S.) writes: :-:-:S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty:-:-: Apr. 3, 1999 No Copyright; Reproduce Freely CANADA'S NDP MP ROBINSON SAYS YES TO NATO AND NO TO GUSTAFSEN INQUIRY! The reputation of one of Canada's supposedly "progressive" members of Parliament took another hit when it was revealed he supports Nato actions in the Balkans. A front page story in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, March 27, quotes New Democratic MP Svend Robinson, External Affairs "critic" for the NDP as saying: "we in the New Democratic Party accept that the use of force is sometimes necessary in grave humanitarian crises, when all efforts at diplomatic settlements have failed. We believe this meets that test." Even a Conservative MP quoted in the same article, noted that Canada may be in breach of international law. David Rose said that "we have done this without a declaration of war and without the support of the United Nations. We as a country and as an alliance may have broken the codes of international law. Canadian historian Michael Bliss observed that: We're going against a sovereign country... this is a huge step back. We are going against everything we stand for." But indeed, Mr. Robinson and the governments of Canada and the province of British Columbia had no problems whatsoever breaking international and constitutional law when they sent a heavily armed strike force of RCMP and later Canadian Forces in "Bison" Armoured Personnel Carriers to surround and besiege a tiny group of Indigenous traditionalist Shuswap at their Ts'peten Sundance camp near 100 Mile House in the summer of 1995. Over 77,000 rounds of ammunition were fired at the 18 women, children, men and elders in the Gustafsen Lake camp. A land mine was used to blow up a native vehicle going for water. And the NDP Attorney General amidst shocking and bellicose demonization of the campers as "terrorists", refused to expedite their request for third party international adjudication, stating: "there shall be no alien intervention in the affairs of this state." The BC Attorney General and Human Rights minister was described as "out for blood" by one of the native negotiators, lawyer Gordon Sebastian. Indeed BC's policies towards the indigenous peoples were aptly termed "ethnic cleansing" by Saul Terry of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs. Although worldwide support ranging from ex-US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the Green Group of the European Parliament, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Assembly of First Nations and Indigenous groups and organizations globally have urged an inquiry, both provincial and federal governments have refused. NDP MP Svend Robinson has also refused to support an inquiry, despite the outrageous and well documented abuses and human rights violations which occurred, not to mention a "smear and disinformation campaign" mounted against the camp's occupants and their counsel Dr. Bruce Clark. Clark has demonstrated that Canada's treatment of Indigenous nations is "fraudulent, treasonous, and genocidal". Attempts by BC to have him disbarred failed when the Upper Canada law society found that: "the genocide of which Clark speaks is real... wsympathetic moreover to his contention that the courts are unwilling to hear his arguments." Mr. Robinson supports the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, just as he supported the armed invasion of sovereign unceded Shuswap territory by the NDP government of BC and the RCMP and Canadian Forces of Canada. He refuses even to support an inquiry into the latter. Perhaps its time that Robinson's phony "progressive" role is unmasked for what it really is. Demand that he reverse his outrageous support not only of Nato's bombing of the people of Yugoslavia, but also of the vicious attack and subsequent coverup by Canada of the largest paramilitary operation in the country's history, mounted against the Indigenous people at Gustafsen Lake. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: "The current actions of the BC government and the RCMP toward the Ts'peten Defenders, as well as the negligence of the Canadian national government to intervene and put a halt to these actions, unambiguously qualify as genocide." -- Belgian Human Rights group KOLA, letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, April 25, 1997 "The political terrorism waged against Indigenous Peoples and the manipulation of the crisis by the Canadian authorities continue to remain as root causes of the conflict which erupted at Ts'peten. From the beginning, the Canadian Government and the provincial authorities of British Columbia attempted to criminalize the Sundance camp defenders without addressing the underlying issues of sovereign rights on unceded indigenous territories." -- Tonatierra letter to UNHCR. Sept. 16, 1995 "I have carefully reviewed this issue. While I certainly understand and respect the position you and others have taken, calling for an independent commission of inquiry to look into the events at Gustafsen Lake, I am unable to support this call." -- Svend Robinson MP, February 16, 1999 Email reply to Apecalert's Jaggi Singh :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: NO TO SVEND'S SUPPORT OF NATO BOMBING AND CANADA'S COLONIALIST COVERUP! Svend Robinson NDP Member of Parliament -- mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] please cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information on Canada's ongoing indigenous genocide and to support the international call for a public inquiry into Gustafsen Lake, please visit: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/gustmain.html http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
