Real Truth and Reconciliation

For Immediate Release:
Eyewitness to Murder at Indian Residential School to go Public and Name Killer at Press Conference this Wednesday

Breaking News: May 24, 2009
Vancouver, Canada

The sister of a nine year old girl who was murdered at an Indian Residential School in Alberta will go public this Wednesday with an eyewitness account of her sister's death at the hands of a staff member, who will be publicly named.

Charlotte, an aboriginal woman living in Vancouver, will hold a press conference this Wednesday, May 27 at 10:00 am in classroom no. 2, third floor of the Carnegie Centre at Main and Hastings st. in downtown Vancouver.

Charlotte will share evidence at this event, including a recorded statement from another sister, who lives in Terrace, B.C. and who witnessed the killing and knows the identity of the perpetrator.

The sisters and their family will be issuing a letter to the church that employed the perpetrator and that has allegedly concealed the murder since it happened. Their evidence will be submitted to international human rights agencies.

This event is sponsored by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared, and will be monitored by The International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada and its overseas affiliates.

For more information -
email: hiddenfromhistory@ yahoo.ca
ph: 1-888-265-1007
www.hiddenfromhistory.org


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My thoughts and best wishes are with this brave woman. I have known the identity of the accused for about a year now, and it has been difficult for me to sit on that information until she and/or the other eyewitness was ready to come forward - so I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for these women to suffer in silence for so many years.

Naming names is the only way for Canada's First Nations residential school survivors to move forward. The Truth and Reconciliation committee that has been set up does not offer that opportunity; its mandate specifically states that the names of alleged abusers are not to be mentioned by survivors who give their testimony.

Those who are named can defend themselves and clear their names, or (if there is any actual justice in our justice system) face prosecution for their alleged crimes. Many survivors are reluctant to report abuse they suffered to the RCMP or other authorities, because law enforcement was a vital part of the residential school system. Going public with their stories is the only option left to them.

It's time for real truth and reconciliation in Canada.