Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh | Vancouver, BC — Indigenous youth that were violently arrested on Friday, February 19th during a ceremony outside the Vancouver offices of AIG Insurance will return to the building this Monday to hold a media availability for local reporters and to film international human rights testimonials that they will submit to United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
What: Indigenous youth that were violently arrested, during ceremony outside AIG, will return to hold a media availability and film international human rights testimonials outside of the AIG Insurance building.
When: TODAY, Monday, March 1st 10:30am, PCT
Where: In front of AIG Insurance building, 595 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V7X 1L7, Canada
Background: On February 19, 2021, Indigenous youth with the Braided Warriors were brutalized by police while in ceremony calling on insurance companies to drop coverage of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Today’s video testimonials will be submitted to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and sent to the international human rights community regarding violations of international Indigenous Human Rights at the hands of the Vancouver Police, RCMP, Trans Mountain and the government of Canada.
The UN Human Rights Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has previously cited harm to Indigenous communities from the Trans Mountain expansion project, and filed an Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure.
The UN Human Rights CERD has previously called upon Canada to “immediately cease construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and cancel all permits, until free, prior and informed consent is obtained from all the Secwepemc people, following the full and adequate discharge of the duty to consult.”
The Braided Warriors issued the following statement,
“We call on these insurance giants to drop the toxic Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline. These Human Rights violations are what these insurance companies are covering – this pipeline project that violates our rights, and the criminalization of Indigenous Land Defenders and Human Rights Defenders are being exposed internationally.
“We are not just environmentalists, we are Indigenous Peoples with inherent rights to our lands and waters and responsibilities to uphold our Indigenous laws to defend these lands. Indigenous youth are not trespassing on unceded lands. We are defending this land from the destruction Trans Mountain will cause.”
SUPPORT INDIGENOUS YOUTH WARRIORS @BraidedWarriors violently arrested at #stoptmx #stopinsuringGenocide at AIG Insurance to demand insurance companies stop underwriting #TransMountain pipelines
E transfer
Braidedwarriors@gmail.com
@amnesty @NaomiAKlein pic.twitter.com/Zv3ApTtI72— Kanahus Manuel (@KanahusFreedom) February 20, 2021
Notes to the Editor
A simultaneous action is occurring in New York City calling on the new CEO of AIG, Peter Zaffino, to stop insuring fossil fuels. Monday will be Zaffino’s first day on the job.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
The Braided Warriors are a collective of Indigeous youth from many Indigenous Nations fighting for Indigenous sovereignty. The Braided Warriors oppose all resource extraction and all forces that commit violence against the land and the peoples. According to the Braided Warriors, “we as Indigenous Peoples are the biggest financial liability to these colonial extraction agendas, and as the proper title holders of our own territories, it is our responsibility to protect and defend our land and our people by upholding our natural laws.”
