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Inuit petition
Petition to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights seeking relief for violations
resulting from global warming caused by acts and
omissions of the US
About the Inuit
• Indigenous people in
Arctic regions of Alaska,
Canada, Greenland (Denmark)
and Chukotka in North Eastern Russia
• Approximately 160 000 Inuit
• Common culture characterized by dependence on subsistence
harvesting (marine and terrestrial); now mix of cash-based
and subsistence economies
• The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC): NGO representing the
Inuit across all four countries, founded in 1977
• Petitioners: Inuit from the US and Canada
About the Inuit
• Indigenous people in
Arctic regions of Alaska,
Canada, Greenland (Denmark)
and Chukotka in North Eastern Russia
• Approximately 160 000 Inuit
• Common culture characterized by dependence on subsistence
harvesting (marine and terrestrial); now mix of cash-based
and subsistence economies
• The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC): NGO representing the
Inuit across all four countries, founded in 1977
• Petitioners: Inuit from the US and Canada
Climate change in the Arctic
• Substantial increase in ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet
• Annual mean Arctic sea ice extent down by 3.5 to 4.1 % since 1979;
summer sea ice down by 9.4 to 13.6 %
• Northern Hemisphere early spring snow cover extent decreased 1.6
% per decade since 1967
• Permafrost temperatures up by 3°C in parts of Northern Alaska
• “Very substantial Arctic warming since the mid-20th century”, at
faster rate than elsewhere (the world´s health barometer)
• IPCC projections:
– The Arctic region will continue to warm more rapidly than the global mean
– Arctic sea cover will continue to shrink; almost ice free Arctic Ocean in
September before mid-century?
Source: IPCC, 2013
Impact on Inuit
• Communication and hunting made
difficult due to changes in ice and
snow conditions (access and safety)
• Transfigured landscape (slumping, landslides, erosion);
effects on homes and settlements
• Increase in storms due to loss of sea ice
• Fish stock deterioration due to decreased water levels in rivers
and lakes
• Health of marine species, risk of extinction (Arctic Climate
Impact Assessment, 2004)
• Increased in sun and temperature related illnesses
Fears that subsistence culture may cease to exist altogether
Alleged HR violations
HR
Right to the benefits of culture
Rights to own means of subsistence
Hard to rely on year-round sustenance due to travel
problems, lack of wildlife, quality of harvest.
Subsistence culture damaged; may cease to exist
Right to traditional lands
Large tracks of land are changing or becoming inaccessible
Right to personal and intellectual/
cultural property
Decreased quality of food; damages to/reduced value of
personal effects; traditional knowledge has become
unreliable/inaccurate
Right to health
Right to life, physical protection
and security
Pressure to change diet; more accidents; diminishing
drinking water access and quality; risk of heat and sunrelated illnesses
Rights to residence and movement
Inuit homes and settlements destroyed (storms,
permafrost melt, erosion, slumping, landslides); some
forced relocation
Inter-American Human Rights System
• Organization of American States (OAS) gathers 35 countries
of the Americas – including the US and Canada
• Respect for human rights is one of OAS’s basic principles
• Main human rights instruments are:
– American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948)
– American Convention on Human Rights (1978) – US is not a party
• Two main HR bodies: the Commission and the Court
Inter-American Commission on HR
Mandate:
“to promote the observance and protection of human rights in the
Americas” (art. 106 OAS Charter)
Functions:
1. monitoring of the human rights situation in the Member States
(through visits for example);
2. priority thematic areas;
3. the individual petition system.
The Petition System
 WHO: individuals, groups or organizations
 FOR WHAT: alleged violations of the human rights contained in the
American Declaration, the American Convention, and other interAmerican human rights treaties.
 AGAINST: a State that may be responsible for violating human rights
by:
• action (as a result of an act by the State or its agents),
• acquiescence (as a result of the tacit consent of the State or its
agents), or
• omission (as a result of the State or its agents failing to take action
when they should have done so).
Result: a recommendation (non-binding) to the State OR send the case for further
processing by the Court (when the State has accepted its contentious jurisdiction)
The Inuit Petition
• When: filed in 2004
• Petitioners: ICC chair (Sheila Watt-Cloutier) on behalf of herself, 62
named individuals and all Inuit of the Arctic regions of the US and
Canada
• Responding State: the US – not party to the Convention but yes
member to the OAS, hence the rights and obligations of the
Declaration apply and the Commission can exercise jurisdiction
• Violations alleged: rights contained in the Declaration with strong
emphasis on the rights of the Inuit as indigenous peoples.
Legal outcomes of the Petition
• The Commission did not consider the petition because “the
information it provided was insufficient for making a
determination”
• Rejected an invitation from the ICC to come to the Artic to
gather more information
• The Commission called for a hearing in 2007 in Washington to
“address matters raised by the petition without revisiting
the petition itself”
Legal Issues
Extraterritorial obligations: petitioners from various countries contribute to highlight
the extraterritorial responsibility of the US (or any other country) for human rights
violations
Prohibition of Transboundary harm: states are responsible for acts within their territory
that cause harm to persons outside their territory or jurisdiction.
Attribution: can the alleged violations be attributed to an act or omission of the State?
In 2004, the US was considered to be responsible for 25% of global emissions of GHG
and had failed to reduce them.
Exhaustion of domestic remedies: petitioners claim there are no effective available
remedies in the US and Canada
- principle of sovereign immunity: policy and regulation of GHG emissions is
discretion of government and not subject to tort law ( US Clean Air Act does not
provide an avenue for individual complaints)
- Lack of constitutional protection for the rights that the Inuit are claiming
Political outcomes of the Petition
• Aim of petition to seek dialogue and raise public awareness
• Awareness raising:
– Climate change can result in human rights violations
– Indigenous people are especially affected
– The situation in the Arctic
• Step towards bridging the gap between human rights and
climate/environmental institutions
Links
Petition: http://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/iccfiles/FINALPetitionICC.pdf
Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Earthjustice brief:
http://www.ciel.org/Publications/COP10_Handout_EJCIEL.pdf
CIEL Inuit case website:
http://www.ciel.org/Climate_Change/Climate_Inuit.html
2007 IACHR Hearing on Climate Change and Human Rights (video):
http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/audiencias/Hearings.aspx?Lang=en&Session=
14