TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) Canadian indigenous group leaders on Tuesday called for UN intervention after authorities cut-off access to a campsite where protesters are blocking construction of a gas pipeline.
On Monday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) set up an "exclusion zone" in the province of British Columbia, cutting-off food supplies to the pipeline protesters who are trying to protect ancestral lands.
"Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs have submitted a formal request to the United Nations to monitor RCMP, government and Coastal GasLink (CGL) actions on our traditional, unceded territory," the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, the Unist'ot'en Camp said via Twitter that the last time the RCMP set up an "exclusion zone" they had authorized lethal force against unarmed people.
In December, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination renewed calls for the Canadian government as well as pipeline owners and operators to halt construction on a number of projects, including the CGL, until proper consultation can occur with all stakeholders.
Wet'suwet'en Nation activists have contested the construction of the gas pipeline on their ancestral land citing international law and a Supreme Court of Canada decision, which reaffirmed Indigenous land claims and recognized hereditary chiefs - a title passed down from generation to generation.
The protesters have refused to give in to the Canadian government's demands citing Article 10 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which stipulates that Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories.
The RCMP issued a statement saying that they are engaging with Wet'suwet'en Nation Hereditary Chiefs, Elected Councils and other stakeholders, but would not elaborate further citing respect for each of the parties involved.
