A statement by Carol McBride, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Press Release

“It has been 75 years since the world came together, in the aftermath of the horrors of the Second World War, to condemn the crime of genocide.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Convention) declared that human lives must never again be threatened based on nationality, ethnicity, race, or religious affiliation.

It is a concept that is fundamental to basic human rights and social justice. Yet, throughout history, we have seen it trampled beneath the feet of racism, xenophobia, imperialism, and colonization.

Sadly, the 1948 Convention did not end the act of genocide. A national inquiry has declared that it continues in Canada today in the disproportionate levels of violence being directed at Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender and gender-diverse people.

The Convention gives voice to the international community’s unwillingness to tolerate these mass acts of atrocity. It said that the Contracting Parties will hold perpetrators accountable when people commit acts of genocide , or.

As Indigenous women, we know the importance of human rights-based declarations. It has been three quarters of a century since the nations of Mother Earth came together to enact this critical Convention . We hope, that our future generations will not grow up in a world with senseless brutality and genocide

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Media Contact:

For information, or to arrange an interview, contact:

Roselie LeBlanc
roselie@sparkadvocacy.ca
+1 (604) 928-3233

Pour obtenir plus d’information ou prendre des dispositions pour une interview, contacter:

Roselie LeBlanc
roselie@sparkadvocacy.ca
+1 (604) 928-3233

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