US human rights record challenged
By Valerie Taliman, Today correspondent
Story Published: Mar 24, 2010
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Rex Lee Jim and
Onondaga Nation Faithkeeper Oren Lyons were among those who
documented the ongoing violations against indigenous peoples as the
United Nations reviews the United States’ compliance with human
rights obligations.
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M. – Where do Indian nations go when United States’ courts have failed
them, and justice is unattainable?
The
Haudenosaunee Confederacy – the oldest continuous democratic
government in North America – has long argued that Indian nations should
not expect to win justice from colonizing governments, and instead must
act as sovereign nations taking their quest for justice to the United
Nations and its human rights mechanisms.
Though it claims to be a defender of human rights around the world, the
United States is among the worst offenders of Native peoples’ rights,
judging by statistics that indicate Indian women are the most raped and
abused in the nation, while rampant poverty, disease, crime and
unemployment are a way of life on reservations.
There’s also the inexplicably high number of Supreme Court cases decided
against tribes that have led to the massive loss of Native lands and
natural resources, most often without compensation.
That negative image was bolstered during the Bush regime when the U.S.
was voted off the
U.N. Human Rights Council, and later was one of only four countries
to oppose the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.
The Declaration was adopted in September 2007 with 144 states in favor,
11 abstentions, and only four votes against – by the United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand – countries with the largest
indigenous populations who own vast amounts of land and natural
resources.
Since its adoption, Australia has reversed its position and endorsed the
Declaration, while Canada, Colombia and Samoa have recently indicated
support.
That leaves the United States and New Zealand standing alone, refusing
to support the basic human rights of the world’s 370 million indigenous
peoples.
Many hope this will change under President Barack Obama, an adopted son
of the Crow Nation of Montana, who has appointed more Native Americans
to his administration than any president in history.
Since his election, the United States has regained a seat on the U.N.
Human Rights Council, and the president has made positive statements to
Indian nations about settling longstanding claims.
Review of human rights record
Against that backdrop, the Human
Rights Council is conducting a year-long
Universal Period Review of the United States’ human rights record,
holding “listening sessions” around the country, with two devoted to
concerns of Native peoples.
A national report will be compiled and presented to the 47-member Human
Rights Council that will make recommendations on how America can improve
its compliance with international human rights obligations.
More than 100 people came to the University of New Mexico Law School to
hear and present testimony from tribes and individuals about
discriminatory and illegal tactics historically used by the federal
government to confiscate land, natural resources, even children, and to
suppress their rights to self-determination.
Among them were at least nine top-level officials from the Obama
administration who were sent from the departments of Justice, Housing,
Health, Education and Agriculture to listen and help formulate solutions
for Indian country.
Doctrine of Discovery denounced
Oren Lyons, a faithkeeper from the
Onondaga Nation
and the Six Nations’ Council of Chiefs, spoke on a panel of leaders
about the right to self-determination and the need to honor treaties
made by Indian nations with the United States.
“We remind the USA that the Haudenosaunee hold some of the earliest
treaties made by your government with European settlers. The Department
of Justice last month re-affirmed the continued validity of the 1794
Treaty of Canandaigua in an amicus brief it filed in support of the
Cayuga Nation. We have faithfully complied with our treaties;
unfortunately the same cannot be said of the USA.”
He traced the roots of 220 years of discriminatory policies designed to
remove Native peoples from their homelands, decimate their populations,
forcibly take children to boarding schools to be cleansed of their
language and culture, and generally perpetrate cultural genocide.
Lyons also denounced discriminatory legal doctrines that underlie United
States law. “Among the most damaging of these is the Doctrine of
Christian Discovery which claims that Europeans acquired rights over
lands used and occupied by indigenous peoples, simply because they were
Christians. They deemed Native peoples as heathens, savages and pagans
with no right to own land.”
Lyons cited a new study by Tonya Gonnella Frichner, Special Rapporteur
for North America to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
which examines the impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery as a foundation
for the violation of human rights.
He called on the United States to endorse the U.N. Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to ensure that all pending federal
legislation (including climate change) contains protections for
indigenous human rights, and to honor the border crossing and passport
rights of the Six Nations Confederacy which straddles the international
border imposed by the U.S. and Canada.
The
Black Hills
Chairwoman Theresa Two Bulls of the
Oglala Sioux, accompanied by Lakota attorney Mario Gonzalez, recounted
the many treaty violations that led up to the “legalized theft” of more
than 48 million acres of their homeland under the Indian Claims
Commission.
She cited one example of how the federal government would not allow the
tribes to fire their attorneys and – without the knowledge or consent of
Sioux tribes – the claims attorneys signed a stipulated settlement to
accept $40 million for more than 48 million acres of land rich in timber
and minerals.
The Lakota leadership of treaty chiefs and elected officials have long
refused to accept money for the Black Hills, a sacred place, and were
appalled when a class action suit, Different Horse v. Salazar, was filed
last year to force the Interior Department to distribute money for
Docket 74-A and 74-B Sioux land claims as per capita payments to tribal
members.
With interest, that amount exceeds more than $1 billion. But if the
money is distributed, Sioux tribes fear the U.S. will argue that they
have relinquished their claims to the land.
“We’ve come to the realization that the courts of the United States are
not designed to protect the Oglala Sioux’s interests in our claims to
ancestral lands and resources. Rather, they are designed to protect the
interests of non-Indians who have settled on tribal lands,” Two Bulls
said. “The only viable remedy we have to settle our land claims is
through negotiating with Congress.”
She was encouraged by President Barack Obama’s statement regarding the
Sioux land claims indicating he did not believe the courts or federal
government should force Sioux tribes to take settlement money for the
Black Hills.
“He said he was open to bringing together all parties through
government-to-government negotiations to explore innovative solutions to
this long-standing issue,” she said, giving her people hope that the
tribe will be able to obtain the return of federally held lands within
their aboriginal territories.
Gonzalez said the
Rosebud
Sioux Tribe has taken the lead intervening in the lawsuit and
requesting a dismissal.
He is encouraging the treaty councils and tribal councils to unite and
seek a realistic settlement plan with the Obama administration that
would include restoration of federally held lands and compensation for
the denial of the “exclusive use and occupation of the Black Hills as
guaranteed by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
Others testified about environmental racism, infringement on Native
spiritual practices, the militarization of the borders, and violence
against Native peoples.
The listening session was co-hosted by the
American Indian Law
Center and the
Navajo Nation
Human Rights Commission, and coordinated by a committee from the All
Indian Pueblo Council,
Native American Rights Fund,
International
Indian Treaty Council, and
National Congress of
American Indians.
Written submissions up to five pages will be accepted until April 19,
2010 by e-mailing to:
UPRsub missions@ohchr.org.
Part two of this story reports on environmental racism, uranium
mining, sacred sites, violations of religious freedom and prisoner’s
rights.
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