Posted by Misskwa gookooko'oo. on January 24, 2004 at 12:27:23:
In Reply to: Dudley George was shot dead by OPP Police sniper at Ipperwash protest. posted by SunDog on January 22, 2004 at 08:25:24:
Ndishnikaaz, Misskwa gookooko'oo. Giminadan Gagiginonshiwan.
For you Sun Dog.
Giga-waabamin,
Misskwa gookooko'oo. Anishinaabe.
Dudley George was shot by police on the night of September 6,1995 when more than forty Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers equipped with riot gear attacked a smaller group of unarmed Indigenous people occupying
Ipperwash Provincial Park. After police withdrew without providing medical assistance to George, his family rushed him to hospital themselves. George died that night.
The officer who fired the fatal shot was convicted of criminal negligence for knowingly shooting an unarmed man.Despite the trial, important questions have not been answered. Was the decision to use force against the protesters politically motivated? Was appropriate consideration given to protecting the lives and safety of the protesters? Did police do everything they could to save George’s life?
Dudley George was one of about thirty people — including elders and children — who occupied Ipperwash Park in September 1995. They were protesting the failure of the federal government to return land adjacent to the park that had been “temporarily” expropriated more than 50 years earlier from the Indigenous people of Stoney Point.
In the 1820s, the Stoney Point people signed treaties with the Crown that set aside land for their use. In 1937 a small portion of that land was sold in a still-disputed land deal that lead to the creation of Ipperwash Park. In 1942 the Canadian government invoked the War Measures Act to expropriate the remaining Stoney Point territory for use as a military base. The Stoney Point people were all moved to the nearby reserve of Kettle Point.
Since the death of Dudley George, the federal government has reached an agreement in principle to return the Stoney Point lands. However, transfer of the lands has not taken place, largely due to unresolved issues regarding the Stoney Point peoples’ right to self-determination and how the Stoney Point people will be
governed once they return home.
On April 28, 1997, Kenneth Deane, the police officer who shot Dudley George, was convicted of criminal negligence causing death. The judge who presided at the trial found that Deane had knowingly
shot an unarmed man and then lied by claiming that Dudley George had a gun.
Deane received a two year suspended sentence, was ordered to perform 180
hours of community service, and was barred from possessing a firearm for two
years.
The Deane trial left many critical questions unanswered, including whether the decision to attack the unarmed protesters was influenced by political concerns. In 1999, the United Nations Human Rights Committee urged the Canadian government to convene "a thorough public inquiry...into all aspects
of this matter, including the role and responsibility of public officials." The provincial government is responsible for the OPP. The federal government is responsible for adherence to international human rights treaties and has constitutional responsibility toward Indigenous peoples in Canada. Neither
government has acted on the Committee's urging.
Amnesty International supports the call for a public inquiry into the death of Dudley George. Amnesty also supports the November 2000 recommendation of the UN Committee Against Torture that the federal government should establish an independent body to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment in
Canada. Decisions about whether an investigation will take place, and what questions will be considered, must be taken out of the hands of governments and police forces that are potentially
implicated in the abuses.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION
The federal government has a clear and unavoidable obligation to ensure that international human rights treaties and standards are upheld in Canada.
International treaties explicitly forbid the government from ignoring its responsibilities just because provincial jurisdiction is also involved.
Send a courteous letter to the Canadian government calling for thorough and independent public investigations into all
allegations of torture and ill-treatment by Canadian police. Write in your own words or use the sample letter below.
WRITE TO:
The Right Honourable Paul Martin
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6