United Nations rights experts have called on Canada and the Catholic Church to carry out thorough investigations after the remains of Indigenous children were found at a former residential school, as the Canadian prime minister blasted the church for ignoring its past crimes.
A mass grave of 215 Indigenous children was discovered last month at Kamloops residential school in British Columbia, which operated between 1890 and 1978 under the auspices of the Catholic Church and later the Canadian government.
“We urge the authorities to conduct full-fledged investigations into the circumstances and responsibilities surrounding these deaths, including forensic examinations of the remains found, and to proceed to the identification and registration of the missing children,” nine UN human rights experts said in a statement on Friday.
They called on the Canadian government to conduct similar investigations into all of the country’s former residential schools, which were set up to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children.
According to the statement, criminal investigations should also be launched into all allegations of suspicious deaths, and claims of torture and sexual violence against children at the schools, they said.
Perpetrators and concealers who may still be alive should be prosecuted and sanctioned, the UN experts said, adding that it was “inconceivable” that Canada and the Vatican would leave such “heinous crimes” unaccounted for and without redress.
Trudeau blasts church
On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged the Catholic Church to “take responsibility” and release records on Indigenous residential schools under its direction.
He warned that his government was prepared to take “stronger measures,” possibly including legal action, to obtain the documents demanded by victims’ families if the church failed to comply.
