Photo courtesy of Organization of American States
Professor Robert A. Williams, Jr., with the assistance of IPLP students and staff, represented the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group (which consists of six First Nations in British Columbia, Canada) on a Petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The petition was filed in May 2007 and includes a request for precautionary measures to avoid immediate and irreparable harm to Hul'qumi'num traditional lands and resources caused by the Canadian government's ongoing violation of the Hul'qumi'num peoples' rights to property, culture, and equality of the law, as protected by the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man. The petition on behalf of the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group pointed to systematic denial of First Nations' rights to their traditional territories and the resulting environmental degradation and deforestation caused by widespread clear-cutting.
In 2009 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to rule on the merits of the petition and IPLP is awaiting a ruling on the merits of the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group’s claim.
In order to promote our mission to protect and promote Indigenous peoples’ human rights, IPLP provides case archives of our advocacy projects to assist legal practitioners and advocates.
Here are resources related to our petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to protect and promote the human rights of the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group.
Petitions to the IACHR
Rulings by IACHR