- The right way forward
Last week the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Canada released its final inquiry report calling the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women a “Canadian Genocide”. The Chief Commissioner, Marion Buller, along with her team and Indigenous community members presented the report to public in a news conference. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while addressing a closing ceremony of the commission, promised to review and implement the recommendations of the inquiry report. PM Trudeau admitted, “we must continue to decolonize our existing structures, and the racism, sexism and economic inequality that has allowed such violence against indigenous women and girls to prevail must be eradicated.” He vowed that the report “will not be placed on a shelf to collect dust.”
The National Inquiry was commissioned by Government of Canada in August 2016 to “look into and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including sexual violence.” The commission was given the mandate to “examine the underlying social, economic, cultural, institutional, and historical causes that contribute to the ongoing violence and particular vulnerabilities of indigenous women and girls in Canada.”
The commission made sure that all the information, video coverage and official documents on the hearings would be fully accessible to media, academics, legal experts, and community leaders
However, labelling of the issue of disappearance and murder of the thousands of indigenous women and girls as a Canadian genocide triggered a controversial debate over a framing of the issue as genocide. It raised some challenging questions, for instance, if it is genocide then who are responsible for committing genocide? Should the Government of Canada and its responsible officials be taken to the International Criminal Court for committing the genocide? The report, where it calls to action, has instigated a thought process to address the issue on an urgent basis. Similarly, by terming the issue as genocide, a word that carries a strongly negative connotation, the inquiry report succeeded in attracting a great amount of attention and creating the public awareness on the issue all over the world.
The government and state institutions of Pakistan have a lot to learn from the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Inquiry Commission’s experience. For instance, all the four commissioners of the national inquiry belong to the First Nations. The Government of Canada appointed chief commissioner Marion Buller who’s Cree – one of the largest groups of the First Nations in North America – a British Columbia’s indigenous judge, an expert writer, and lecturer on the indigenous issues and rights. The appointment of the indigenous community members against whom the systematic atrocities and crimes are being committed, shows seriousness, impartiality and transparency of the Canadian government to find the truth and reconcile with the Indigenous communities.
Similarly, the national inquiry commission welcomed members of the public from coast-to-coast to attend all three – Community, Knowledge Keeper & Expert, and Institutional – hearings as observers. The commission made sure that all the information, video coverage and official documents on the hearings would be fully accessible to media, academics, legal experts, and community leaders. In short, nothing kept hidden and obscure from the general public throughout the inquiry’s three years process.
Pakistan has its own history of fact-finding inquiry commissions – largely perceived as a shadowy, controlled and obscured exercise. In fact, after every national tragedy – whether it was Justice Hamoodur Rehman Commission on 1971’s fall of Dhaka also known as War Enquiry Commission, or the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (missing persons), or the Abbottabad Commission on the killing of Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, by the U.S. special forces operation in the garrison city near Islamabad and many other such incidents – Government of Pakistan has actively been constituting inquiry commissions. Yet no concerned government official has ever been charged or prosecuted by the Pakistani government. Hence, the government inquiry commissions – judicial or non-judicial- have lost their importance and creditability in the sight of the public.
In order to regain the trust and fully integrate Pashtun, Baloch, Mohajir, Hazara Shias and the other religious minority communities in Pakistan – an independent, fair and transparent – truth and reconciliation commission is much needed to report the state institutions and its functionaries’ systematic discriminatory policies and their failure in preventing atrocities over the past so many years. It’s the responsibility of PM Imran Khan’s political government – elected and representative of the people – to unearth the truth and reconcile with the ethnic and religious communities living in the country. The truth and reconciliation are fundamental in developing a fair, just and well- integrated society. A fully transparent, independent and impartial national inquiry commission will provide the victims, survivors and their families opportunity to vent out their grievances and anguish who have lost their hopes on the state’s institutions and governance systems in the country.
Both individuals and society have the right to know the truth. In order to build a strong foundation for healing, justice, and reconciliation, both the government and institutions must change. The state must create opportunities for the victims and their family members to share their truths. So that all the stakeholders can see the future from a place of experience, strength, and hope. This can help all the state institutions – civilian and military – to look into existing institutional policies and practices to address violence, including those that are effective in reducing violence and increasing safety. This is the right way forward. And it’s still not too late to do so.