Indigenous organizations in Canada speak out against "systemic racism" after a young woman was killed by a white police officer. Discrimination against First Nations people is still too common in the country.
Thursday, Chantel Moore, 26, died in Edmundston, New Brunswick, a region of Canada. According to the family of the young woman of indigenous origins, a police officer shot her five times when he came to do a check on his state of health, at the request of a relative, reports AFP.
Canadian Aboriginal organizations on Saturday called for a public and impartial investigation into the death of Chantel Moore, denouncing the discrimination and racism suffered by First Nations people. For their part, Edmunston police say that the woman threatened the policeman, armed with a knife, and that the officer must have defended himself. If an investigation was opened into the circumstances of the police intervention, one of these five organizations, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CPA), demanded "a public inquiry under indigenous supervision" to shed light on this case. As for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), we are also asking for an investigation "impartial to determine why lethal force was used and whether the young woman's race played a role in the police decision".
"The tragic murder of Chantel Moore demonstrates once again that Canada's Aboriginal peoples face very different circumstances when they interact with the police and the justice system", said Robert Bertrand, CPA national head in a statement. "The assassination of members of our peoples by those who have the duty to protect them, must stop", insisted Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the AFN. The latter also points out that several studies "have revealed the existence of systemic racism against First Nations within the police force and the justice system".
The day after Chantel Moore's death, the Prime Minister of Canada took part in a demonstration against racism and police violence, organized in Ottawa following the death of George Floyd in the United States. Justin Trudeau said in his daily press briefing: "In the past few weeks, we have seen that a large number of Canadians have suddenly realized that discrimination is a reality experienced by too many of our fellow citizens, and that it must stop.".
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by Mélodie Capronnier