Commonwealth Aboriginal people are calling for recognition of the “terrible impact” of British colonialism on Aboriginal peoples on the day of the King’s coronation.
Indigenous organizations and leaders from 12 Commonwealth countries have called on King Charles III to apologize for the impact of British colonialism on Indigenous peoples.
“We call on the British King, King Charles III, on his coronation day, 6 May 2023, to recognize the terrible impact and legacy of genocide and the colonization of indigenous and enslaved peoples,” he said on the social network. The Facebook Advertiser Initiative is chaired by Noah Peris, former senator and co-chair of the Australian Republican Movement.
The petition calls for a formal apology, recognition of British genocidal actions against indigenous peoples, and the return of sacred artefacts and relics of indigenous peoples from British museums and institutions.
The letter, titled “Apology, Reparations and Repatriation of Artifacts and Remains”, recalls the words of King Charles III of the United Kingdom at a June 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda. “To admit past mistakes.
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – representatives of which Charles III is Head of State – sign. A letter taken from the original people urging the government to “redistribute the wealth”.
The letter asks Charles III to “immediately” open a dialogue on “the lingering impact of slavery” on Aboriginal peoples during British colonialism and reparations for “oppressed people whose resources have been plundered” and other issues such as its denigrated culture. “.
Another demand is for the monarch to abandon the so-called “doctrine of discoveries,” as the Vatican did in March.
This doctrine, along with the principle of “terra nullius” (no man’s land), created a legal concept that protected colonialism based on the right of indigenous peoples to claim their lands.
The signatories of the letter to Carlos III felt that rejecting this doctrine would allow them to begin a process of consultation and reparations among the natives who suffered genocide in the name of God.
“We hope that this petition will start a justice process”, Noah Peris underlined.
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