Statement on Terms of Reference for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada | Amnesty International Canada

22.7.16

Statement on Terms of Reference for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada | Amnesty International Canada: The TOR provide the framework for the National Inquiry and establish the authority of its Commissioners. In our view, the draft TOR risks a weak National Inquiry that lacks clear authority to delve into some of the most crucial factors in this human rights crisis. Our organizations are particularly concerned that the draft TOR provides no explicit mandate to report on, or make recommendations regarding, policing and justice system failures and inadequacies.

Overall, the TOR describe a process of consultation with families and survivors, with an emphasis on healing and reconciliation. This is important. But the National Inquiry must also be able to take a hard look at the programs, practices and policies of governments, which have contributed to, maintained, or exacerbated the violence.
We wish to see a strong and effective National Inquiry that can deal with the realities of violence against Indigenous women and girls and Canada’s failed responses to it. To that end, we provide the following analysis of the TOR.