Dooda (NO) Desert Rock to UN: Human rights abuses by energy corporations

JAMES W. ZION
Attorney at Law
JZion@aol.com

November 21,2009
Julian Burger
Indigenous & Minorities Unit Coordinator
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva Office
Palais Wilson, Room 4-0811211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND

Re:Elaboration of Guidelines on Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries

Dear Mr. Burger:
I take this opportunity to follow up on a recent informal communication to you to open discussionof this issue and to say how good it was to see you in Geneva in August.
I see a lot of movement on questions that are vital to Dooda Desert Rock ofthe Navajo Nation. TheUnited Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination took particular note of problems associated with mining in areas of spiritual and cultural significance to Native Americans in the United States and adverse effects of the exploitation of natural resources by transnational corporations in its consideration of periodic reports of the United State, with specific reference to discrimination against indigenous Peoples in the United States. ReportCERD/CIUSAlCO/6,29,30 (8 May 2008).
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner gave a report to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on a workshop on natural resource companies, indigenous peoples and human rights that cited the work of your office on "the elaboration of guidelines, which would serve as a framework for implementation of a human rights perspective, in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant human rights standards, for extractive industries wanting to undertake activities on the land and territories of indigenous peoples." Document Paragraph 33, DocumentAlHRC/EMRIP12009/5(3July 2009).
I represent Dooda Desert Rock (Navajo for "NO" to the proposed Desert Rock power plant), an unincorporated association of grassroots Navajos, indigenous individuals and supporters, that is dedicated to not only blocking the ill-conceived Desert Rock power plant proposed by Sithe Global
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LLC, a transnational corporation engaged in extractive industries, but supporting economic development initiatives in the Indian Country of the United States that promote traditional values.
The include balance, harmony, respect and equality and the fact that Mother Earth and Father Skyare Holy Beings who live with us. The organization honors the elements of life and the teachings and wisdom of the Grandmothers and Grandfathers that we must honor the Earth and deal with itin a respectful way.
The United States is at a crossroads for energy policy. There are various proposals for energy development in Indian Country, but going to themes announced by the Expert Mechanism on theRights of Indigenous Peoples in its Report to the Human Rights Council on the Second Session heldin Geneva in August of this year (No. AlHRCI12/32, 8 September 2009) and by the Special Rapporteur in his report to the Council (No. AlHRC/12/34, 15 July 2009), participation and activeconsultation for genuine informed consent are a major problem in the United States.
That is, the federal government, and its Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in particular, areproceeding to develop energy policy for Indian Country without adequate notice to Indian Country and to individual Indians, including civil society organizations such as Dooda Desert Rock.
Indigenous civil society is being denied meaningful participation in policy development and issues that matter. We encounter problems with the desecration of our sacred mountains of the West and of the South by recreational development and threatened uranium extraction (with hate crimes associated with the latter) and the possibility that the federal government will surrender its oversight powers to companies through ill-conceived delegations of authority to Indian nation governments.
Dooda Desert Rock stresses that it is not opposed to economic development or resource extraction-it is opposed to false "economic development" that does not include or serve the people and toresource extraction without regard to the human rights of the people who live on the land.
Accordingly, I am instructed by Dooda Desert Rock, and by other grassroots groups of this region that will participate in the High Commissioner's development of guidelines to assure the observation of human rights in resource extraction, to inform you of the interest of this organization, the desire to participate in the High Commissioner's work to elaborate guidelines, and to request notice ofactivities where they can have input into her efforts.
My clients look forward to a positive and meaningful working relationship with the High Commissioner on this issue.

VIDEO: Ojibwa Grandmother recounts walk around Great Lakes

Ojibwa Grandmother recounts walk around the Great Lakes
Source: www.youtube.com
A First Nations Grandmother, Josephine Mandamin,from Manitoulin Island,who walked around Great Lakes talks about importance of water.

Alcatraz Sunrise Gathering and 40th Anniversary Occupation Events

Friday, November 20, 11 am - 3 pm, A new Native American Mural Dedication and Unveiling, Cesar Chavez Student Center ~ West Plaza, SFSU, 1650 Holloway Ave.
The Mural depicts community activism, self determination, resistance and survivance of Native American peoples. 1:00 pm - City of SF Proclamation presented by Andrew Jolivette to Annie Oakes and Fawn Oakes
Friday, November 20th, Free of charge. 40th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz Program hosted by Richie Richards, Native American Education Specialist for the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley Hearst Museum patio, 103 Kroeber Hall, Berkeley.
The event will honor and commemorate the original efforts and intentions of the student-based occupation that took place in 1969; which was to protest the social conditions Native Americans were being subjected to in both urban areas and on reservations. Please RSVP by sending contact information to Richie Richards at naes-pahma@berkeley.edu. *Healthy lunch will be provided to occupation speakers and elders who attend.. Lunch will be provided by Friendly Natives Catering: bluemaiz@yahoo.com
Saturday, November 21st, 8 am. 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Takeover of Alcatraz by Indians of All Tribes. Meeting at Pier 33 at 8 am. Tell the ticketing office you're with the 'Occupation ceremony'.
We're holding a commemoration on the island and trying to locate as many people as possible that inhabited or even just visited the island during the occupation from Nov. 1969 to June of 1971. This was a monumental event in Indian Country with international attention drawn to the plight of the American Indian. It helped shape reforms in policy that impact Native Americans to this day. Come join us!
Saturday, November 21st- Film Screening of Alcatraz is Not an Island. Artist Television Access,992 Valencia Street (at 21st) San Francisco (415)824-3890
Filmmaker James Fortier will be in attendance as well as members of the Oaks family.
Wednesday, November 25th from 6pm till sunrise- KPOO 89.5 FM live broadcast interview with film makers and film projection on Coit ower.
The themes are honoring the occupation and also raising the presence of Ohlone leaders.
Thursday, November 26th, $14 Indigenous People's Annual Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz. Boats depart 4:45-6:00am Pier 33, San Francisco.
Purchase advance tickets at http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/ (http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/website/sunrise-gathering.aspx) or call (415) 981 7625. For more information contact Morning Star Gali at morningstar@treatycouncil.org (415) 641 4482. Sponsored by International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary arts. http://www.treatycouncil.org/

Please check out this incredible archive of news coverage and footage from the 1969 occupation from the SF State archive project:
http://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/2589
Morning Star Gali
Community Liaison Coordinator
International Indian Treaty Council

morningstar@treatycouncil.org
Tel. + 415.641.4482 Fax + 415.641.1298

Special thanks to the UN OBSERVER & International Report at the Hague for sharing this:
http://www.unobserver.com

O'odham: Surviving apartheid on the illegal border

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON – Tohono O’odham living on the border joined with activist Ward Churchill to speak out on “Apartheid in America, Surviving Occupation in O’odham Lands,” on Nov. 13. Ofelia Rivas and her brother Julian Rivas, O’odham living on the US/Mexico border, spoke of the impact and desecration of colonization and border militarization.
Ofelia Rivas said O’odham were never included in the dialogue determining the delineation of the US/Mexico border in the 1800s or the construction of the border wall.
“We were not at that table when they made that international border. We were not considered human,” she told the crowd of several hundred people.
Responding to questions from supporters seeking ways to help, Ofelia said, “Can you take that border down for us? Can you restore our way of life? Can you give the language back to our young people who have gone though the boarding school experience or those who went through relocation? Can you give those back to us?” she asked.
“In the beginning, when the world was made, we were here. We were made from this earth.”
She said when O’odham elders, the ancestors passed away, they became part of this earth since the beginning of time. “Our ancestors are every part of this land, not just our ancestors, but all the Indigenous Peoples of this world.”
Ofelia said she was inspired by the young people who came to learn because they care.
Describing the ongoing struggle of O’odham she said, “We are considered not human today. They can kill us, they can abuse us.” Now, the sacred routes have been closed that O’odham have followed since the beginning of time for ceremonies and to make offerings to the land.
“That is the way we live, that is our balance here as human beings.”
O’odham continue to struggle every single day because border policies make lives so difficult. Each day O’odham are confronted with the choice to compromise in order to survive and become part of the system. It is a system that makes O’odham “unhuman,” she said.
Ofelia said many look at the desert and speak only of the heat. But here, she said there is the beauty of the cactus, beauty of animals, beauty of the water that once flowed and the beauty of the original people of this land. She told those who want to make social change, the place to begin is to view O’odham as human beings. She said O’odham who happen to be born at home, in what is now another country, now need permission to travel.
When O’odham cross the border to visit their families and for ceremonies, O’odham undergo demeaning treatment on a daily basis from border agents because of this illegal border.
“They didn’t ask us to put that international border there," said Ofelia, founder of the O'odham VOICE Against the Wall.
When confronted by US Border Patrol agents, she said she uses her O’odham language to establish her right of passage. Still, the US Border Patrol has held a gun to her head and to the heads of O’odham elders. Her brother Julian was shot at crossing the border.
Ofelia said she tells young people to say prayers that the hearts of the human race will be changed. She said people need to remember their songs to give back the blessings to Mother Earth and live in harmony with the water, land and people.
Ofelia said the Tohono O’odham chairman held a ceremony recently in Washington for a card that gives permission for O’odham to travel on their own lands.
“I have a problem with that,” she said of the O’odham border card.
“As original people, we’ve always had permission from the Creator to travel on our own lands and that is the only permission we need.”
Ofelia asked for help in monitoring laws being passed in Washington. Currently, the lands of Indigenous Peoples have been contaminated by many forms of pollution, including atom bomb testing.
She pointed out that the US waived 37 laws to build the vehicle barrier on O’odham lands. The US dug up O’odham ancestors to build this vehicle barrier.
Julian Rivas said O’odham are continuing in the path of resistance fighters like Leonard Peltier. “Indigenous Peoples have a tie to the land, a tie to their beliefs. Their comfort zone is the earth. As non indigenous people, you create your own comfort zone.”
Speaking on Indigenous resistance, Julian said “We do it, we don’t just talk about it.”
Julian said he continues to cross the border even though his pickup truck has been shot at and has bullet holes in it.
“That’s our way of life in resistance.”
Julian said after 9/11 there were many changes at the border which affected the O’odham way of life. “They blocked off some of our traditional routes and it instilled a lot of fear in the people.” O’odham became fearful of crossing the border, which they have done since time immemorial, going back and forth in their homelands. Now, the militarization of the border involves at least seven enforcement agencies.
Still, traditional O’odham leaders in Mexico have been at the bargaining table with the Zapatistas in Mexico in order to bring further recognition to Indigenous Peoples in Mexico.
“We have no means of funding.”
Julian said O’odham along the border have applied to the Tohono O’odham Nation government in Sells, Arizona, for funds, but have received none.
“There is nothing coming out for that. We have to do our own fund raisers for the work we are doing.”
“We do follow a traditional order,” he said of the O’odham leadership in Mexico. He said that neither the Tohono O’odham Nation nor the Mexico government can dictate to the O’odham in Mexico. The O’odham traditional form of government is not written down, but it is known to the O’odham.
Julian said O’odham in Mexico have fought a toxic waste dump planned for their ceremonial community of Quitovac in Sonora, Mexico. O’odham in Mexico first learned about the toxic dump from people in Mexico. Although the Tohono O’odham Nation government knew about it earlier, the nation was not concerned with it, he said.
Activist groups across the Southwest helped traditional O’odham in Sonora fight this toxic dump, he said.
Julian said when 9/11 occurred Homeland Security brought in expensive vehicles to run over everything in the O’odham homeland, desecrating the land and sacred area. “They build roads wherever they want to.”
“Because of 9/11, everyone with brown skin is labeled a terrorist.”
Julian said the Tohono O’odham Nation government speaks of sovereignty, but it is not demonstrating sovereignty.
“It is always strings being pulled from somewhere else.”
“We survived 500 plus years of that. With this resistance, we’re going to last another 500 plus years,” he said.
Welcoming guest speaker Ward Churchill, Ofelia Rivas said Churchill has proven to be sympathetic and compassionate about what is happening on the border to Native lands.
During questions, Churchill said it should be the O’odham people who determine an action plan for the border. Churchill said video cameras could be used to curb the level of violence by vigilantes at the border. He said people can follow the Minutemen and other civilian border patrols around with video cameras, as the Black Panthers once did in Oakland. After the Panthers followed Oakland police around with video cameras, police brutality dropped more than 50 percent in six months.
Churchill encouraged Tucson area residents to establish “neighborly” relationships with O’odham to work toward change. He said there is no script for instant social change.
“The process is called ‘a struggle’ for a reason.”
During his talk, Churchill spoke of Leonard Peltier and Indigenous land rights. He described apartheid formulated in South Africa, which was strict segregation and flagrantly racist. He said people were outraged in the United States about apartheid, but it was adapted from Jim Crow. Jim Crow in the deep south was an antecedent to apartheid in South Africa.
For Native people, colonizers brought mainstreaming.
“Mainstreaming means assimilation.”
Churchill spoke of different forms of colonialism in South Africa, US, Poland and Germany. He spoke of how colonialism affected Native people, pointing out the short life expectancy for Native men as living conditions deteriorated and colonization increased.
Churchill described settler state colonizers and the struggle for decolonization which began in the 1940s.
Speaking of boundaries and walls, Churchill described the wall in Palestine and on O’odham land. Today in the US, O’odham have to go through “checkpoints,” just like Palestinians. Churchill compared the lethal actions of Israel toward Palestinians to the US Border Patrol’s lethal actions toward O’odham.
He said the dehumanizing of Palestinians is manifest in a similar fashion in the US. This dehumanizing of Indians is apparent in movies like the Oscar winning western “Unforgiven.”
Further, he spoke of racial profiling in the US, the popularity of Rush Limbaugh and vigilantes at borders.
Angie Ramon spoke of her son, Bennett Patricio, Jr., who was run over and killed by the US Border Patrol. Bennett was walking home through the desert at 3 a.m. when he was run over. Ramon believes, based on the evidence, that her son was intentionally run over and killed after he walked upon Border Patrol agents involved in a drug transfer. Ramon described her struggle for justice and asked why the US Border Patrol left her son crushed on the highway for so long without transporting him to a hospital.
"I know he must have still been alive," she said, describing how his fingers were still twitching as he lay dying on the highway.
She said both the US Border Patrol and the Tohono O'odham police know what really happened.
Ramon said the Tohono O'odham Nation government has not helped her financially with the case, which she took alone to the Ninth Circuit. She said the tribal government receives funds from the US Border Patrol.
During the event, the crowd enjoyed traditional O'odham tepary beans, baked squash and fry bread, cooked by Ramon and her family.
The event was a fundraiser for the O'odham Solidarity Project.
http://www.solidarity-project.org/

--Watch videos of this gathering, with additional O’odham interviews by Earthcycles and Censored News: http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles

Wikipedia: "The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were usually inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.

Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms and restaurants for whites and blacks. The U.S. military was also segregated. These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 Black Codes, which had also restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans. State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Generally, the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964[1] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965."--Wikipedia