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| Germaine Tremmel, Standing Rock, Lakota testifying from the Oceti Sakowin camp. Screenshot Censored News. |
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| Lakota leaders testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in December of 2016. |
Indigenous Testify on Dakota Access Pipeline Before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Censored News is republishing the testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in December 2016, which describes the brutality of law enforcement, and failures of the U.S. government at Standing Rock. The current case in federal court, North Dakota v. U.S., omits the brutality of excessive force by law enforcement, critical injuries, and destruction of the sacred.
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, December 19, 2016
WASHINGTON -- Lakota leaders testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, describing the excessive force and brutality of law enforcement during attacks on water protectors defending the water from construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in North Dakota. The attacks resulted in critical injuries, the targeting of women, the destruction of cultural sites, and the violation of human rights, and international rights.
"Presently in the United States of America, our people have no civil rights," Cheyenne River Chairman Harold Frazier, Lakota, South Dakota, testified before the commission.
"In 1968, the U.S. passed the Indian Civil Rights Act, it only protects our people from tribal governments."
He described the brutality of law enforcement at Standing Rock in 2016. "That land is our land," he said based on Treaty.
Chairman Frazier described the law enforcement blockade of Highway 1806 on federal land.
"We had a tribal member who was pulled out of a sweatlodge, arrested and charged with a felony, charged with inciting a riot, all he was doing was praying. It is one of our seven sacred rights."
"I was there on that night on the bridge, when our people were shot with rubber bullets, bean bags, tear gas, sprayed with water. I was there. I didn't see none of our people show any kind of aggression. No one tried to cross that barricade."
"The federal government will not listen to us. I thank you guys for listening."
The federal government makes decisions based on police reports from Morton County, and does not listen to Native people.
Germaine Marlo Tremmel transitioned to the stars in her sacred He Sapa at Fort Meade on December 2, 2019, in Sturgis, South Dakota, due to complications following her bone marrow cancer. She was 62. She was a water and land protector, United Nations attorney, Akicita, her people's advocate, women's drum leader, language and traditional knowledge keeper.
"In 1968, the U.S. passed the Indian Civil Rights Act, it only protects our people from tribal governments."
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| Cheyenne Rive Lakota, South Dakota, Chairman Harold Frazier |
Chairman Frazier said the federal government is failing to abide by treaties and their trust responsibility and protect Native people as they practice their First Amendment rights.
He described the brutality of law enforcement at Standing Rock in 2016. "That land is our land," he said based on Treaty.
Chairman Frazier described the law enforcement blockade of Highway 1806 on federal land.
"We had a tribal member who was pulled out of a sweatlodge, arrested and charged with a felony, charged with inciting a riot, all he was doing was praying. It is one of our seven sacred rights."
"I was there on that night on the bridge, when our people were shot with rubber bullets, bean bags, tear gas, sprayed with water. I was there. I didn't see none of our people show any kind of aggression. No one tried to cross that barricade."
"The federal government will not listen to us. I thank you guys for listening."
The federal government makes decisions based on police reports from Morton County, and does not listen to Native people.
"They don't hear our side."
"Our people have been arrested, assaulted, tear-gassed, shot, grenades were thrown at them, but yet they stand there in defiance, for our water, we know how sacred that is. We all need water to live, good clean water, that is why we are there. Not to break laws, not to harm people, but to protect that clean water, which belongs to the Sioux people."
Steve Vance, Cheyenne River Lakota tribal historian preservation officer, testified that his responsibility is the preservation and protection of the cultural historical properties.
"Our people have been arrested, assaulted, tear-gassed, shot, grenades were thrown at them, but yet they stand there in defiance, for our water, we know how sacred that is. We all need water to live, good clean water, that is why we are there. Not to break laws, not to harm people, but to protect that clean water, which belongs to the Sioux people."
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| Steve Vance, Cheyenne River Lakota historical preservation officer in South Dakota |
Steve Vance, Cheyenne River Lakota tribal historian preservation officer, testified that his responsibility is the preservation and protection of the cultural historical properties.
"Our life is sacred, it can't be just an object, human life is sacred, and so is natural life, land, air and water. Our people have been taking care of land, water and air for many years, and since we haven't had that opportunity lately, we have seen the effects of what has happened to life, future life."
"What is going on here is actually a destruction of our history, which is our future."
"We still speak our language, we still do our ceremonies. Our ceremonies have been attacked, our sites have been destroyed, and we are not going to have anything to pass on to the next generation, and we have that right as a people, to preserve our culture."
"As this country here, we criticize other countries for making similar attacks on other people, and other lands, of historical sites being destroyed, and yet here, on this continent, the same thing is happening."
"The question is, 'Who protects our human rights,' when we've been pleading and pleading for years."
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| Yankton Chairman Robert Flying Hawk. Screenshot by Censored News. |
Yankton Lakota Chairman Robert Flying Hawk, said he is here with the other leaders of the Seven Council Fires.
"We are here to have you hear our concerns. We ask you to look at our rights as human beings." Flying Hawk said there are treaties, and human rights granted naturally, to live the life the people live.
"This, that is happening with that pipeline is taking away that life."
"What we believe in is that water of life."
He asked why the pipeline route was moved away from the city of Bismarck and moved close to their land.
"It is not if, it is when this pipeline breaks -- it is going to contaminate that water."
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| Faith Spotted Eagle testifying, with Standing Rock Councilman Chad Harrison. Screenshot by Censored News. |
Faith Spotted Eagle, Yankton, said the government sacrificed the sacred and cultural sites, and failed to safeguard Indigenous rights, which has resulted in an escalation of historical trauma.
"The U.S. laws are weaponized by government officials to distort them for corporate interests and to injure particularly our women, and our children."
"We have faced this for the last 500 years," said Spotted Eagle, and chair of the Ihanktonwan Treaty Steering Committee.
Spotted Eagle pointed out that women were critically injured at Standing Rock by law enforcement. A pregnant woman was shot with rubber bullets, a rubber bullet took out of the eye of a young girl, and there was a canister that destroyed a young girl's arm.
She said this is a result of the rape culture that patriarchal systems abide by.
"The rape of Mother Earth is the rape of women."
She said women are at the heart of their culture, and called the backbone, and this trauma has been repeated over the last 500 years.
There was a child born at Oceti Sakowin, which was a major miracle in the middle of winter, born at a site of danger, and this birth gives hope to our people.
She said the tipi represents the woman and it represents the skirt. The thirteenth pole is the women's pole, and when it is put up, the tipi flows out like a skirt, a skirt that symbolizes protection of the family. The tipi belongs to the women and children.
"That is being targeted."
Spotted Eagle remembered the words of Sitting Bull, who said he worried most of all about the women and children, because he knew that these patriarchal systems would target the women.
She pointed out that the United Nations Declaration includes the right to their own cultural resources and Indigenous rights.
"We are under siege from a government that has weaponized their laws for their capitalistic interests," she said, asking for the commission's support.
"When you think about the tipi, think of the women, children and the unborn."
Chairman Frazier responded after the U.S. representative responded.
Frazier, in a heated response, said that the U.S. was failing the Lakota people, and had only called on one tribe, Standing Rock, for consultation, when it has the duty to consult all of the Lakota tribes.
"When you deal with the Missouri River -- that is all of us, the Sioux Nation."
"We are one nation."
"They don't talk to all of us, they talk to one."
He said in the job duties of the colonel of the Corps of Engineers he is supposed to interface with all Sioux tribes along the river, but he is failing."
"Where is the Department of Interior, why aren't they at this table?"
"The Interior has the responsibility to protect us and our resources."
"And yet they are the black sheep in the federal government -- because that is how they view Indian people."
Chairman Frazier said he met with President Obama and told him about the excessive force and civil rights violations. Obama said he had federal monitors there.
"I've been at that camp personally, I haven't seen any federal monitors."
He said there was no discussion with the Cheyenne River Lakota of what would be done when the pipeline breaks.
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| Germaine Tremmel, Standing Rock, testifying. Screenshot by Censored News |
Representing the traditional Oceti Sakowin government, Lakota grandmother Germaine Tremmel described the attack on her people at Standing Rock at the camp, where she was, and on the land.
"There's poisons in that water, that was used on us, sprayed on us," said Tremmel, who passed to the Spirit World three years after this testimony
"I lost two horses that were killed."
"My granddaughter was hit, they put shrapnel in those bullets, metal shrapnel, and she got hit in the leg.
"We've got trauma, physical trauma out there, that's happening to our young people because they believe in something, they're defending the water, their land, their people, so they can live."
"This is very serious, they are unarmed, why do we have the military out there, with LRad instruments knocking our phones out, we don't have any communications whatsover once we get into that camp, our phones are down, we have no communications, and we have to go up on a hill, and then they're flying over."
"It's like a war zone, the planes are flying over 24/7, and at night they have no lights on. They have big, huge lights on us like we're in a prison camp, every night, and they add more, every day, every day, every day.
"They tell us, 'you step on that bridge, you're going to prison, you're going to jail.' These are things that are happening out there, it is terrible.
"No one is intervening, there is no protection. I'm sorry but this is what I feel in my heart that I have to say here, so you really understand, so it is being told here," she said, and thanked the commission for listening.
She is the direct lineal granddaughter of Chief Sitting Bull, Chief Red Thunder, and Chief Rain in the Face. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Law and later graduated with her Masters in International Law from the University of Cambridge, England.
She worked tirelessly for her Oyate locally and abroad at the United Nations in Geneva and Brussels. She was a Professor in West Virginia and the founder of the Tetuwan Oyate Treaty Council at the United Nations.
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| Standing Rock Councilman Chad Harrison testifying, with Faith Spotted Eagle. |
Standing Rock Councilman Chad Harrison testified that the rights guaranteed by Treaties and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are being denied to the people of Standing Rock.
Harrison pointed out that consultations on energy extraction that affect Native Americans must be entered into by the United States government in a meaningful way, in good faith and entered into on a government to government basis. The Treaties must be honored.
The goal must be to protect tribal interests, and U.S. decision makers must listen to tribes. Tribes must be involved in consultation from the beginning, assuring free, prior and informed consent.
Standing Rock has been burdened by the impact of extractive industries.
"When federal decisions are made the interests of private corporations and non-Indians are deemed to be vitally important, while the interests of tribes and Indian people are given lip service or totally ignored."
The path of the Dakota Access Pipeline threatens the water of the Missouri River and sacred and cultural places of the tribe.
The approval of Dakota Access Pipeline and lack of consultation proves that the system is broken, and the federal courts have failed to provide redress, and failed to protect the peoples sovereign rights and cultural and natural resources, he testified.
Listen to the complete testimonies at:
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said:
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held its 160th special session on December 9-10, 2016, at its headquarters. The session included six public hearings on issues involving Canada and the United States, and one day of internal meetings. The Commission also presented its thematic report on human mobility and Inter-American standards.
"In the hearing “Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Persons in the Context of Projects and Extractive Industries in the United States”, the Cheyenne River Lakota, Yankton and Standing Rock Sioux tribes came to inform the Commission about the United States’ government’s failure to fulfill their obligations regarding indigenous people’s rights in the context of extractive projects.
"The representatives insisted on the excessive use of force that was deployed against peaceful protesters at Standing Rock, denouncing the use of water cannons, grenades, attack dogs, rubber bullets containing shrapnel, and highlighting three particular incidents that had terrible consequences on the physical integrity of three women.
"They also highlighted the failure of the State to consult tribal governments during the licensing process and prior to rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline to lands adjacent to their reservations, on sites of religious significance to them, and beneath water sources such as the Mississippi river and Lake Oahe, thereby violating national statutes and applicable international standards."
"The representatives also indicated to the Commission that the State did not meet the environmental review requirements for projects that affect indigenous natural resources and had not undertaken a full environmental impact statement. The State, for its part, insisted on the fact that the Army Corps of Engineers had finally denied the access to the easement under the river, to allow for additional environmental studies and further consultation with indigenous people."
"Members of the State panel, from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Justice Department, all acknowledged the need to improve consultation with tribal governments, to make it meaningful and timely, as well as recognized the need for a full environmental impact statement."
Standing Rock Camp, resisting the pipeline, this week during blizzard.
Previous statement:
Tribes to Appear Before International Human Rights Commission to Highlight Human Rights Violations Related to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Tribal representatives of the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River and Yankton Sioux Tribes will testify at a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Status conference on Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit will also be held Friday.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A group of tribal representatives will testify at a hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights this Friday, December 9 at 10:15 a.m. The hearing will examine the impact of extractive industries and projects on the human rights of indigenous peoples, focusing on the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
The human rights commission hearing, is public and will discuss how the planning and construction of extractive industries infrastructure projects trigger duties and obligations of members of the Organization of American States, including the United States, to promote, protect and guarantee human rights.
Tribal representatives will be available for questions following the hearing. Media is able to attend the hearing. Details can be found here:http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/coverage.asp
We also expect the hearing to be broadcast on the web: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/default.asp
What: Hearing on the Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Persons in the Context of Projects and Extractive Industries in the United States
Who: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of the United States
When: December 9, 2016, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
Tribal Representatives Testifying:
Councilman Chad Harrison, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Chairman Harold Frazier, Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe Chairman Robert Wayne Flying Hawk, Ihanktonwan Nation (Yankton Sioux Tribe)
Faith Spotted Eagle, Yankton Sioux Tribe
Councilman Chad Harrison, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Chairman Harold Frazier, Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe Chairman Robert Wayne Flying Hawk, Ihanktonwan Nation (Yankton Sioux Tribe)
Faith Spotted Eagle, Yankton Sioux Tribe
Tribes Petition the Commission
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe last week petitioned the commission to call on the United States to take precautionary steps to prevent irreparable harm to the tribes, their members, and others resulting from the ongoing and imminent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and from the harassment and violence being perpetrated against people gathered in prayer and protest in opposition to DAPL.
The official petition from the tribes can be found here.
Status Conference on the Dakota Access Lawsuit
In addition, a status conference in the lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting decisions will also be held Friday morning. That hearing will discuss the next steps in the U.S. District Court litigation, especially in light of the Corps' decision announced Sunday to refuse to grant an easement for the pipeline to go under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and to study alternate routes for the pipeline. While the status conference should result in some clarity about how the litigation will unfold, it is likely to be a routine hearing with no decisions announced."
Tribes Ask International Human Rights Commission to Stop Violence Against Water Protectors at Standing Rock
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe (the “Tribes”) announced today that they have requested the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights call on the United States to adopt precautionary measures to prevent irreparable harm to the Tribes, their members, and others resulting from the ongoing and imminent construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”), and from the harassment and violence being perpetrated against people gathered in prayer and protest in opposition to DAPL.
According to the filing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”), an agency of the U.S. government, failed to adequately assess potential environmental and social impacts of the project in its role as issuer of the numerous permits necessary for construction of DAPL, including authorization to drill beneath the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. The filing alleges that both U.S. law and international law require that the Corps carry forth its permitting assessment in consultation with potentially affected indigenous peoples. The filing further alleges that because the Corps disregarded the Tribes’ consistent and continuing objection to construction of the pipeline, the Tribes face irremediable harm to sacred and historical sites and resources, including the waters of the Missouri River.
The filing also raises grave human rights concerns surrounding threats, harassment and injury sustained by people peacefully praying and protesting in defense of the waters and the Tribes’ rights. The filing alleges that such conduct by police, military and private security guards and the failure of the U.S. government to protect the protesters constitutes a severe violation of the protesters’ rights to life, physical integrity and personal liberty, security, health, protection against arbitrary arrest, and freedom of association and assembly.
The Tribes’ request seeks the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to call on the Government of the United States to protect the rights of the Tribes by denying the easement allowing construction of the pipeline under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe; complete a full environmental impact statement in formal consultation with the Tribes; and immediately take all actions necessary to guarantee the safety of those engaging in peaceful prayer and protest concerning DAPL, as well as several other measures to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples are protected.
“Tribal concerns and treaty rights have been disregarded and ignored under the pretext of the ‘letter of the law for far too long,” said David Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
“Our people have tolerated this kind of treatment for over 200 years and enough is enough. It is time the United States finally and consistent with its legal and international obligations fully recognize our right to be treated like human beings and as sovereign nations.”
Robert Flying Hawk, Chairman of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, said, “Our status as sovereign nations is recognized internationally, as it exists outside of any constructs propagated by the United States.
As indigenous nations, we are standing strong in our conviction to protect the human rights of our people including advancing those interests in an international forum.”
Faith Spotted Eagle, Chair of the Ihanktonwan Treaty Steering Committee, said “Endangering human and water security is a violation of international human rights. Our treaties are international law and are entitled to respect as such. Beyond that, we are constantly under corporate attack on our cultural and natural resources and spiritual life ways, We are being robbed of treaty lands and it must be stopped.”
The Tribes brought the filing collectively. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is represented by Earthjustice and the American Indian Law Clinic at the University of Colorado Law School. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe are represented by Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP.
A group of tribal representatives has been invited to testify at a hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on December 9 at 10:15 a.m. These representatives will hold a press conference following the hearing.
What: Hearing on the Human Rights Situation of Indigenous Persons in the Context of Projects and Extractive Industries in the United States
Who: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of the United States
When: December 9, 2016, 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.
Where: Padilha Vidal Room (TL Level), GSB Building of the Organization of American States, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
Tribal representatives testifying:
Councilman Chad Harrison, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Chairman Harold Frazier, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Faith Spotted Eagle, Yankton Sioux Tribe
Chairman Robert Wayne Flying Hawk, Ihanktonwan Nation (Yankton Sioux Tribe)
Chairman Harold Frazier, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Faith Spotted Eagle, Yankton Sioux Tribe
Chairman Robert Wayne Flying Hawk, Ihanktonwan Nation (Yankton Sioux Tribe)
More:
Read more:
New Series at Censored News!
New! FBI had 10 informants at Standing Rock, testimony of FBI agent Jacob O'Connell, Censored News
New! FBI Agent reveals informants reported rumors and third-hand information on water protectors at Standing Rock, deposition in North Dakota v. U.S.
Read more:
New! FBI had 10 informants in Standing Rock camp. FBI supervisor at Standing Rock reveals daily operations of the FBI in water protectors camps.
New! BIA top cop can't dodge questions in court deposition:
BIA head of law enforcement in Washington reveals BIA's role at Standing Rock during water protectors resistance, by Censored News
New! FBI Special Agent reveals informants reported rumors and third-hand information on water protectors at Standing Rock, deposition in North Dakota v. U.S.
New! U.S. Marshals requested its secretive Special Operations Group be deployed to Standing Rock camps, but the request was denied. SOG led the attacks at Wounded Knee with tanks and snipers firing from helicopters.
New! The Kirchmeier File at Standing Rock: The 'Perfect Storm' was the perfect human rights disaster. Morton County Sheriff's first deposition in current case.
New! Morton County Sheriff reported bogus crimes, that there was no evidence of, to President Elect Trump, urging him to shut down the camps. After taking office, federal agents and law enforcement violently raided and cleared the camps. Morton County Sheriff's second deposition in current case.
The Intercept -- FBI informant Heath Harmon, Three Affiliated Tribes, owned the gun at the center of FBI case: It resulted in a nearly five year prison sentence for Red Fawn Fallis, Lakota:
The Guardian -- Wilansky may lose her arm
Marcus Mitchell Dine' (Navajo) Shot in the Eye, Interrogated in Hospital
In a case now before the federal court -- Marcus Mitchell, Dine' (Navajo) was shot in his eye by a shotgun fired by law enforcement at Standing Rock in the early hours of January 18, 2017, at Backwater Bridge. After he was shot, militarized law enforcement threw him on the ground and he felt like he was drowning in his own blood. After waking from surgery, he had to endure questioning by law enforcement in the hospital.
In a case now before the federal court -- Marcus Mitchell, Dine' (Navajo) was shot in his eye by a shotgun fired by law enforcement at Standing Rock in the early hours of January 18, 2017, at Backwater Bridge. After he was shot, militarized law enforcement threw him on the ground and he felt like he was drowning in his own blood. After waking from surgery, he had to endure questioning by law enforcement in the hospital.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/dine-marcus-mitchell-shot-in-eye-at.htmlArticle copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News.
1 comment:
Blackfoot-Cree Nation member, in Missoula, MT. Would very much like to know the OUTCOME OF International Humane Rights Commission violation at Dakota Access Pipeline. Interested in OFFICIAL findings, actions concerning violations. Respectfully, R.M. Villa.
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