Reframing State Violence Against Indigenous Peoples as Criminal Acts

Reframing State Violence Against Indigenous Peoples as Criminal Acts
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Reframing State Violence Against Indigenous Peoples as Criminal Acts
Introduction
While Canada appears as a country which accommodates diversity, the reality for the Aboriginal people is different. Canada has been on the frontline of marketing itself as a nation that values diversity. To a larger extent, Canada has worked towards creating an enabling environment for people from other countries, making it an attractive place for foreigners. Despite Canada's positive image of diversity, the situation of the Aboriginal people says otherwise. The plight of the Aboriginal people is a testament to systemic injustice and the perpetration of inequalities. The analysis is framed within the parameters of international human rights standards, emphasizing the violation of principles and laws in Canada and internationally. In particular, this essay shows how the non-response of the state when Indigenous people need police help, systemic injustices human rights violations and destabilization of the Aboriginal people constitute acts of criminality on the part of the state. Persistent normalization of state oppression against First Nations peoples obscures the ongoing perpetuation of what are essentially criminal human rights violations according to international standards. To analyze state practices through a decolonizing lens using the case study of government actions against the Cree community, this essay will reframe the narrative of criminality and sovereignty using a case study by Hadley Friedland’s article titled, “Different Stories: Aboriginal People, Order, and the Failure of the Criminal Justice System” published in 2009.
Non-Response of the State
There is a systematic inaction of the state to respond to women experiencing domestic violence. Stewart, Huntly & Blaney 2001, p. 1) did a comparative overview of five Aboriginal communities in British Columbia to establish the possible implications of the initiative Restorative Justice in instances of violence against women and children in particular communities. The study established racism in community responses to violence. In every focus group held, Stewart, Huntly & Blaney (2001, p. 32) women indicated their ordeals with the system, and especially its lack of responses to violence. Social responses to violence against Aboriginal women and children were inadequate. Even worse was that the police discriminate against Aboriginals and frequently fail to respond when they are called (Stewart, Huntly & Blaney, 2001, p. 32). Friedland comes face-to-face with the reluctance of the police to respond to violence against Aboriginal women. In 2003 when Friedland (2009, p. 113) was working in a small Cree community in northern Alberta, she received a call from a woman in the middle of the night. The caller wanted help since her husband had beaten her up and physically thrown her out of the house. The man remained inside the house with her daughters, whom he had threatened to harm. Friedland advised the lady to call the police, but the Aboriginal woman indicated she had...