Indigenous organizations and leaders from twelve countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations (Commonwealth) demand that King Carlos III apologize for the impact of British colonization on native peoples, who denounce “genocide”, “slavery” and “looting”.
“We ask the British monarch, King Charles III, that on coronation day, May 6, 2023, he recognizes the horrible impact and legacy of genocide and the colonization of indigenous and enslaved peoples,” the promoter claims on Facebook. of the initiative, Nova Peris, former senator and co-chair of the Australian Republican Movement.
The petition, published on the Change portal, urges the monarch to issue a formal apology, recognize the British acts of genocide against indigenous people and repatriate the sacred objects and mortal remains of the original peoples that are preserved by British museums and institutions.
The letter, titled: “Apologies, Repair and Repatriation of Artifacts and Remains”, also reminds King Charles III of the United Kingdom of his words during a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in June 2022 in Rwanda, where he said that the “time” had already come to acknowledge the mistakes of the past.
Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, -who have Carlos III as head of State- sign this letter where they urge the Crown to “redistribute the wealth” taken from the original peoples.
The letter requests Carlos III to begin “immediately” the dialogue around the “lasting impact of slavery” on the indigenous people during British colonization, as well as other issues such as reparations to the “oppressed” peoples who were “plundered their resources and denigrated their culture.”
Another of the demands is that the monarch renounces the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery”, as the Vatican did in March.
This doctrine, along with the principle “Terra nullius” (no man’s land), generated a legal concept that supported colonization based on the right to requisition the lands of indigenous populations.
The signatories of the letter to Carlos III consider that denying this doctrine would thus allow the process of consultations and reparations to begin among the original peoples who were victims of the genocide in the name of God.
“We hope that this petition begins a process towards justice,” stressed Nova Peris.
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