[asia-apec 841] Democracy Street - APEC 97: Inquiry Call

[Gatt Watchdog]

Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 00:39:19 -0800
From: "S.I.S.I.S." <SISIS at envirolink.org>
Subject: Democracy Street: Apec Protestors call for Public Inquiries 

DEMOCRACY STREET DEMANDS PUBLIC INQUIRIES NOW

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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 23:53:34 -0800
From: Garth Mullins <garth at tao.ca>
Subject: Re: letter of support

To:     Prime Minister Jean Chretien ("Canada"),
        Premier Glen Clark ("British Columbia"),
        & Premier Mike Harris ("Ontario")

Re:  Demand for a Public Inquiry into events at Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash.

Democracy Street represents many protesters who were subjected to police
violence and political interference from the Prime Minister's Office while
voicing opposition to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in
November, 1997.  While the state's actions during APEC (and later attempts
to obstruct a fair hearing) represent a serious breach of the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms and a denial of basic democratic principles; we
recognise that the events at Gustafsen Lake and Ipperwash were far more
severe and aggressive assaults that, like the APEC demonstration, demand a
full and public inquiry.

Pepperspray, strip-searches, police dogs, brief detentions, and simple
assaults are nothing compared to the intense violence used by the police in
those cases and the ongoing violation of basic civil and political rights
of Indigenous peoples.  Gustafsen Lake was the largest
para-military action in Canadian history and a heinous abuse of force as
77,000 rounds, including hollow point bullets, were fired into a small
group of traditional Sundancers occupying unceded Shuswap territory.
Armored personnel carriers and land mines were deployed. This police action
also violated several international conventions on the use of force,
including the Geneva Convention of 1951, of which the Canadian government
is a signatory.

The unanswered police murder of peaceful native protester, Dudley George at
Ipperwash is a crime which further exposes the uneven application of
justice in this country.

Additionally, the government's misuse of power has been followed up by an
intentional campaign to prevent the public from learning the truth about
these incidents and to smear those involved.  The PR campaign during the
siege of Gustafsen Lake was lead by RCMP Sgt. Montague who was noted at the
time to have said "smear campaigns are our specialty." Montague was also
the head of security for the Indonesian delegation at APEC. The continual
denial of a public inquiry discredits the government and damages the
principles of democracy.

We believe that Indigenous peoples and the public-at-large deserve a fair
inquiry into these events and we demand that the politicians responsible be
held to account for bringing violence upon the people at Gustafsen Lake and
Ipperwash and denying their basic civil rights.  We support Indigenous
peoples' rights to self-determination and stand with them in their struggle
against police violence and political interference.

Finally, we urge the Prime Minister and Premiers Clark and Harris to
publicly respond to these issues immediately with independent public
inquiries.

Democracy Street
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NO TO THE CANADIAN POLICE STATE IN SERVICE OF APEC, COLONIALISM & GENOCIDE

Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien
   mailto:remote-printer.Jean_Chretien at 16139416900.iddd.tpc.int
   mailto:pm at pm.gc.ca
BC Premier Glen Clark
   mailto:premier at gov.bc.ca
Ontario Premier Mike Harris
   mailto:feedback at gov.on.ca
   e-mail page http://www.gov.on.ca/MBS/english/premier/reply.html

To support the calls for inquiries into Gustafsen Lake and into the murder
of Dudley George at Stoney Point (aka Ipperwash), please visit:

   http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html
   http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/Ipperwash/arch01.html

Or write S.I.S.I.S. at mailto:sisis at envirolink.org

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    S.I.S.I.S.   Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
        P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2

        EMAIL: SISIS at envirolink.org
        WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html

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