Friends of the Lubicon
PO Box 444 Stn D,
Etobicoke ON M9A 4X4
Tel: (416) 763-7500
Email: fol (at) tao (dot) ca
www.lubicon.ca
May 3, 2006
URGENT ACTION: PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO SEND THE FOLLOWING LETTER.
Canada is vying for a seat on the new United Nations Human Rights Council. The elections will take place this Tuesday, May 9, 2006. The entire UN General Assembly will vote for 47 seats on the Council, divided regionally. Canada is competing with eight other countries for one of seven regional seats offered to Western European and other states.
As reported yesterday here, European NGOs with consultative status at the UN have asked UN member states to consider Canada’s human rights record on the Lubicon Nation before voting next week. In order to ensure that this is brought to their attention, we urge you to e-mail or fax the following Foreign Affairs representatives for the other eight Western countries vying for a seat on the Council. They should be made aware of Canada’s record and asked to consider the Lubicon case before choosing representatives for the UN Human Rights Council.
A draft letter is attached below, as are the fax and e-mail addresses for each country. Some of the contacts can only be e-mailed through their websites. Please cut and paste the attached letter onto those sites and send it immediately.
* * * * * *
Dear Minister:
Re: First elections to the new United Nations Human Rights Council: 9 May 2006
On May 9, members of the General Assembly of the United Nations will vote for representatives to the new United Nations Human Rights Council. It is crucial that the General Assembly now elects a Council membership with demonstrated commitment to uphold human rights both internationally and domestically. UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/60/251, establishing the Council, requires that all member states, when electing members of the Council, take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto (Operative Paragraph 8).
In that respect, I am writing to make you aware of Canada’s failure to implement key UN Human Rights Committee recommendations.
Canada, in seeking a seat in the UN-Human Rights Council, has pledged "to actively pursue the implementation of human rights domestically, including with respect to racism, indigenous people and the protection of children".
But since 1990, Canada has failed to implement two successive decisions of the UN-Human Rights Committee concerning the indigenous people of the Lubicon Lake Indian Nation in Alberta. In the Final Report of the 85th Session October/November 2005 the UN Human Rights Committee stated:
"The Committee is concerned that land claim negotiations between the Government of Canada and the Lubicon Lake Band are currently at an impasse. It is also concerned about information that the land of the Band continues to be compromised by logging and full-scale oil and gas extraction, and regrets that the State party [Canada] has not provided information on this specific issue. (articles 1 and 27)
"The State party [Canada] should make every effort to resume negotiations with the Lubicon Lake Band, with a view to finding a solution which respects the rights of the Band under the Covenant, as already found by the Committee [in the 1990 Committee decision finding Canada in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights over abuse of the human rights and aboriginal land rights of the Lubicon people, CCPR/C/38/D/167/1984.] It should consult with the Band before granting licences for economic exploitation of the disputed land, and ensure that in no case such exploitation jeopardizes the rights recognized under the Covenant." (CCPR/C/CAN/CO/5)
Not only has the Government of Canada failed to initiate any new negotiations, since the above decision the Province of Alberta has sold oil and gas leases and exploration licenses to over 65,000 hectares of unceded Lubicon Traditional Territory, approved 50 new oil and gas wells and approved almost 50 new pipelines.
Canada’s failure to respect the rights of the Lubicon people has been well-documented by Amnesty International, the World Council of Churches, and the independent Lubicon Settlement Commission of Review. More information is available www.tao.ca/~fol/pa/humanr.htm.
In view of these facts, I humbly ask that you carefully consider the required preconditions of a UN Member State to qualify for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council and vote accordingly.
Yours sincerely,
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Finland:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Tel: Switchboard +358-9-160 05 or 578 15
Fax: +358-9-629 840 or 1605 5799
e-mail: kirjaamo.um@formin.fi
France:
37, Quai d’Orsay - 75351 Paris
Tél. (33) (1) 43 17 53 53
Email via web: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/courrier/agoracourrier.asp?code=actu#top
Germany:
Federal Foreign Office
Auswärtiges Amt
Werderscher Markt 1
10117 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: +49 30 5000 0
Fax: +49 30 5000 3402
email via web: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/Kontakt
Greece
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
email via web: http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/MailForm.aspx?UICulture=en-US
tel: 210.368.1800,
Fax: 210.368.1433
Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Postal Address: PO Box 20061, 2500 EB The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 3486486
Fax: + 31 70 3484848
email via web: http://www.minbuza.nl/default.asp?CMS_ITEM=20F6EFDB12E4405E881FE86C0CAFB57CX1X61299X8
Portugal:
Director-Geral da Política Externa: Embaixador Manuel Tomás Fernandes Pereira
Telefone: (351) 21 394 62 03, 394 66 55
Fax: (351) 21 394 60 52
e-mail: dgpe@sg.mne.gov.pt
Switzerland:
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Political Affairs Division III - United Nations, Int. Organisations, Environment, Culture, Francophonie
Bundesgasse 28
CH-3003 Berne
Tel.: (+41) 031 323 23 46
Fax: (+41) 031 323 21 30
E-mail: PA3A@eda.admin.ch
UN - Coordination
Bundesgasse 28
CH-3003 Berne
Tel.: (+41) 031 325 07 90
Fax: (+41) 031 324 90 65
E-mail: uno@eda.admin.ch
fol-request at masses.tao.ca