Red Warrior Camp Counters Sheriff's Accusations

For Immediate Release - from the Red Warrior Camp on the Cannon Ball River - Non Violent Direct Action to Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline Owe Aku International Justice Project Owe Aku Bring Back the Way August 18, 2016 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Media Contact: Cody Hall Organization: Red Warrior Camp Voice Phone Number: (605) 220.2531 Email Address: RedWarriorCamp@gmail.com Social Media: Facebook.com/RedWarriorCamp , Twitter:  @ZuyaLutaOceti Donations:  www.oweakuinternational.org Cannonball River, 1851 Treaty Territory Dakota Access Pipeline Project Stopped Temporarily The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is on hold as of August 17, 2016. Water defenders have responded to a call for warriors to come to the Northern border of the Oceti Sakowin Confederacy to stop the pipeline. That is our purpose here. The Red Warrior Camp has established a home for all who are willing to facilitate Non-Violent Direct Action in peace and prayer to achieve no other goal than to stop the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. This is a continuation of the actions initiated in early April 2016 by the Sacred Stone Camp. The Red Warrior Camp condemns the falsehoods and fear mongering that the Morton County Sheriff is exhibiting. There are no guns, or pipe bombs, or weapons of any sort in the entire camp. The Morton County Sheriff is lying so that the foundation can be laid, fraudulently, for law enforcement to escalate the tensions and initiate violence against citizens exercising their basic human and constitutional rights to protect safe drinking water for all in the Missouri River basin. The Morton County Sheriff is deliberately or negligently defaming the peaceful character of the camp in order justify a reason to call in the National Guard. Calling in the National Guard would relieve Morton County's staffing and financial burden of providing safety for the protestors and the DAPL employees. Thus far, the activities by the Sacred Stone Camp protestors have included attempts at preventing access to the construction site leading to arrests. There has thus far been one time when the construction was halted, when women, without planning, initiated a direct non-violent action. This is only fitting, as women of all Nations have a sacred connection to water. There are many Tribal Nations and non-Native allies represented in the entire camp. The sole reason 500 people responded to the call for warriors is to come in peace and prayer to stop the pipeline. The Red Warrior Camp stands in solidarity with the Sacred Stone Camp and will continue to stay in 1851 Treaty Territory until the pipeline has been stopped. Any donations are welcome to help the water protectors at the Red Warrior Camp on the Cannonball River www.oweakuinternational.org and click on the PayPal button Owe Aku is a grassroots organization of Lakota people and our allies founded to promote the protection of sacred water and preservation of our territorial lands.  Our actions for environmental justice rely upon cultural revitalization as our major tool in achieving our goals.  The principle location from which are operations are based are on Lakota territory along Wounded Knee Creek on what is called the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation .  More information on our work can be found at www.oweakuinternational.org You are receiving this email because you are an ally in our struggle to preserve sacredwater Our mailing address is: Owe Aku International Justice Project PO Box 325 Manderson, SD 57756   You are receiving this email because you are an ally in our struggle to preserve sacredwater Our mailing address is: Owe Aku International Justice Project PO Box 325 Manderson, SD 57756

Yaqui Water Rights Defenders Imprisoned

Yaqui water rights spokesmen imprisoned, as Mexico steals Rio Yaqui water

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
English and Dutch

Yaqui water rights defenders battling the theft of their water by the Mexican government have been imprisoned. The National Indigenous Congress, Zapatistas, and Amnesty International have demanded the release of the Yaqui spokesmen for the Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora.

Yaqui in Vicam are struggling to preserve their river water from an aqueduct for the city of Hermosillo, Sonora. Vicam Yaqui maintained a highway roadblock through their community. 

Censored News joins the others in demanding the release of our Yaqui brothers Mario Luna Romero and Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez from prison.

International Water Rights Forum
Vicam Traditional Authority
Photo by Brenda Norrell

Mario Luna Romero, secretary and spokesperson for the Traditional Authority of Vicam Pueblo, was interviewed by Censored News during the International Water Rights Forum in 2012. Luna was arrested in September and imprisoned.

Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez, spokesperson for the Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, was also arrested in September and imprisoned.

Amnesty International said, "On the morning of 11 September, Mario Luna Romero, a leading member of the Yaqui Indigenous community in Sonora State, was arrested by state judicial police in Ciudad Obregón. He was denied access to relatives and his lawyers until late afternoon, by which time he had been transferred to a prison outside the state capital, Hermosillo."

"Mario Luna Romero is a translator and spokesperson in the Yaqui Indigenous community based in the town of Vicam and has led protests and legal measures to stop the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct which draws water from the Yaqui River at the Novillo dam. The Yaqui community argues that the aqueduct directly places their traditional culture and livelihoods under threat." (Scroll downt to read full statement.)

The National Indigenous Congress and Zapatistas said, “We demand the immediate cancellation of all arrest warrants and fabrication of crimes against members of the Yaqui Tribe, and we condemn the criminalization of their struggle. We say to the bad governments that come from the political parties: the Yaqui River has served as the historical carrier and ancestral continuation of the Yaqui Tribe’s culture and territory. We who make up the National Indigenous Congress reiterate that if you touch any of us, you touch all of us, and we will respond accordingly to any attempt to repress the Yaqui’s dignified struggle or any other struggle (Joint communiqué from the CNI-EZLN). (Scroll down to read full statement.)

Frontline Defenders said, "Early on 23 September 2014, human rights defender Mr Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez was arrested as he made his way to work in the town of Vícam, Sonora State.

"At 6:50 am. as he walked on Benito Juárez Street, individuals dressed in grey got out of two unmarked white vans, and captured the human rights defender. A lawyer, who has had access to Fernando Jiménez Gutiérriz at the Third Penal Court, CERESO 1 in Hermosillo Sonora, reports that the human rights defender informed him that once inside the vehicle he had a black hood placed over his head and he was questioned in an intimidating manner.

"Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez is a spokesperson for the Yaqui Tribe, which is the same tribe as fellow human rights defender Mr Mario Luna Romero. Fernando Jiménez Gutiérrez had been participating in meetings on the conflict of Aqueduct Independence on behalf of the Yaqui Tribe en Mexico City. He speaks for his community in the context of the construction and operation of the Independence Aqueduct. The Yaqui Tribe has been working to prevent the diversion of water from the Yaqui river, over which the tribe has 50% ownership, to the Independence Aqueduct. (Scroll down to read full statement.)