CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS - Canada Office 1562 Danforth Ave, Box 72063, Toronto ON M4J 5C1  ph. 416-421-7079, fax 416-467-1508, cptcan@web.ca  For Immediate Release Feb. 25, 2001 Canada’s Abuse of Human Rights at Esgenoôpetitj  (Burnt Church, New Brunswick) On February 28, 2001, at a 10:30 a.m. news conference in the Charles Lynch Room 130S, Centre Block of the Parliament  Buildings in Ottawa, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) will release a comprehensive report documenting Canada’s abuse of  human rights at Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church, New Brunswick). CPT Canada Coordinator Doug Pritchard says, “Our observer team was there. For 6 months last year we witnessed government agents using excessive, even reckless, force against Esgenoôpetitj fishers.” CPT Observer Lena Siegers says, “Almost daily we saw our government waste precious resources to seize a few lobster  traps. They would not engage in a serious dialogue about the Mi’kmaqs’ legal right to fish. Then the government began  ramming and sinking Mi’kmaq fishing boats. Those scenes went around the world. Is that the kind of Canada we want?” The report summarizes specific incidents where the rights of Esgenoôpetitj fishers were violated plus the overarching legal and human rights principles behind the conflict. Pritchard says, “We hope that this report will remind Canadians of the mistakes made last year and encourage them to work out fair and lasting terms for coexistence with all Aboriginal people. This is urgent. Another lobster fishing season is rapidly approaching.”