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B.C.'s human rights commissioner calls on universities to protect student protesters

A student encampment for Pro-Palestinian protesters is shown at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Chiang A student encampment for Pro-Palestinian protesters is shown at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Chiang
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Amid ongoing protest encampments on university campuses in B.C., the province’s human rights commissioner is calling on institutions to protect free speech.

In a statement Monday, Kasari Govender said she is concerned about students being penalized for protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“Rights and responsibilities do not end at campus gates. Campus communities have the right to peaceful and lawful assembly and free expression,” she wrote.

Her statement comes after pro-Palestinian encampments were erected at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo last week. Similar protests have been taking place at universities across Canada and the United States.

Broadly, the organizers of the camps are calling on universities to cut ties with Israeli institutions, divest from companies they say are complicit in the war in Gaza and condemn Israel’s “genocide and scholasticide” in Gaza.

Thousands of protesters have been arrested on American college campuses, but there have been no major police actions at the encampments in B.C.

“Speaking out about atrocities in Gaza or the actions of the state of Israel must be allowed,” Govender wrote.

She went on to say that there is no place in B.C. for the incitement or promotion of hate toward any group, or antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism or Islamophobia.

“So long as those limits are not violated, universities, colleges and public institutions should stand up for and protect the rights of students, faculty and staff to make their voices heard on campus, including through peaceful encampments,” she wrote.

Govender said the rights to peaceful and lawful protest are “foundational to our democracy” and how decision-makers react to the student protest will be a test of its strength.

Also on Monday, an open letter supporting the encampment at UBC was sent to administration. The publicly available document has been signed by over 1,000 self-identified UBC alumni and current or former staff.

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