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ICC seeks legal ruling against U.S. on climate change

ICC petition alleges violation of Inuit human rights

JANE GEORGE

ICC president Sheila Watt-Cloutier in Montreal: "I think this is really going to help to change the debate from technology to people." (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

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MONTREAL - Sheila Watt-Cloutier, with the support of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in Canada and Alaska, and a long list of Alaskan and Canadian Inuit, launched a long-awaited petition this week alleging that the United States is violating the human rights of Inuit by refusing to limit its greenhouse gas emissions.

This week, Watt-Cloutier unveiled the petition at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal. The petition will be heard by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an international legal body affiliated with the Organization of American States, but which operates at arms-length from the OAS and its member states.

The Inter-American Commission's rulings are not binding on member states, but the outcome of the ICC's legal action is expected to have great influence on other courts and other jurisdictions.

It's the strongest action to date from Watt-Cloutier's campaign to put a "human face" on climate change and the havoc caused by rising temperatures in the Arctic.

She presented the petition on behalf of "all Inuit of the circumpolar regions of the Arctic regions of the United States and Canada." It includes the names of 62 Inuit who live in communities stretching from Nome to Nain.

Watt-Cloutier said the petition is not intended to be anti-American or "anti-development," but pro-people.

"I think this is really going to help to change the debate from technology to people," Watt-Cloutier said. "This petition is about opening this issue of climate change to humanity and human rights."

The detailed 175-page petition says climate change threatens the rights of Inuit to use and enjoy their traditional lands and personal property, their rights to health and life, to residence and movement and to their livelihood.

The petition asks for "relief from human rights violations resulting from the impacts of global warming and climate change caused by acts and omission of the U.S.," which has not supported any mandatory reduction agreements designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming.

The petition asks the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit the Arctic, conduct a hearing, and issue a report recommending the U.S. adopt mandatory measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions and cooperate on other international efforts.

"We will invite them to come to the Arctic and see for themselves the areas that are more affected, and at the end of the day declare that indeed that the inaction on the U.S. to address this issue is a violation of human rights," Watt-Cloutier said.

The petition, said Watt-Cloutier, is not a lawsuit, but more an effort to get the world to see climate change in "high moral terms." The commission has no power to enforce any action. The goal is more to embarrass the U.S. government and educate the public.

The petition wants the commission to produce plans to protect Inuit culture and resources, which would outline assistance options for adaptation and "any other relief that the commission considers appropriate and just."

The petition mentions no amount of money.

"It was important that it wouldn't be seen as a money issue. People would have grounds to dismiss it. They'd say, 'they just want money. Here they are driving their skidoos and in their heated houses,'" Watt-Cloutier said.

Since 1965, the commission has processed about 12,000 human rights cases, many of them involving allegations of mass murder, torture and arbitrary imprisonment made by victims of state terror in countries like Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala. The body has also dealt with land rights cases brought forward by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

The commission may also refer cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, a sister organization based in San José, Costa Rica.

The Centre for International Environmental Law and the group Earth Justice have provided free services to ICC in launching this petition since ICC first looked at the possibility in 2003.

James Anaya, an aboriginal lawyer who works at the University of Arizona's college of law, helped draft the petition, along with ICC lawyer Paul Crowley, newly-minted Nunavut lawyer Sandra Inutiq, and two graduate students from the U.S.

Lloyd Axworthy, a former foreign affairs minister in Jean Chrétien's government, also provided support.

The ICC branches in Greenland and Russia weren't mentioned in the petition because their nations don't fall within the commission's mandate, but Watt-Cloutier said they have given her "100 per cent support."

Watt-Cloutier said she has received international expressions of support for the effort to bring the "human face" of climate change to the forefront. She said she had more e-mails and letters of support from the U.S. than from anywhere else than the world.

Her efforts are also appreciated by the Indigenous Environmental Network. This community-based environmental group addresses economic and environmental justice issues in North America.

"The Inuit are demonstrating incredible leadership and courage in standing up to the U.S.," said Clayton Thomas from its native energy program.

Watt-Cloutier said ICC's 25 years of international involvement and her personal experience gained from working on the negotiations to ban persistant organic pollutants have helped them tackle climate change.

"Climate change is even tougher," she said. "There are much more staunch opponents and a lot more players than the POPs issue."

Watt-Cloutier said Canada and other countries frustrated by the U.S. stance on climate change should support ICC's petition.

"They should see it as a win for everybody, as a way of keeping the leverage on the U.S.," she said. "It keeps the pressure on everybody, and it keeps Canada and the other countries on their toes."

Watt-Cloutier said she plans to see the petition through its evaluation process - which could take up to three years - even when her term as ICC president ends in July.

The entire text of the petition is posted at www.inuitcircumpolar.com.

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