Yaqui and O'odham unite to plan Zapatistas' summits

UPDATE: Topics of discussion for Indigenous representatives, delegates and commissions attending summits

Photo: Vicam Pueblo Gov. Loreto Ramírez Mapoumea and Pueblo Mayor Florentino Buitimea Yoquihua meet with O'odham in Mexico Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia in Rancho el Penasco, Mexico, to plan upcoming Zapatistas regional and international summits. Photo Brenda Norrell
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Vicam Pueblo Yaqui hope Yaqui in the United States, and Indigenous throughout the Americas, will work with them in a spirit of unity in the struggle for Indigenous rights
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By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
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RANCHO EL PENASCO, Sonora, Mexico -- Yaqui Zapatistas from Vicam Pueblo met with O'odham in Sonora and reached out to the world's Indigenous Peoples, extending a warm invitation to come and support the Zapatistas' regional and international summits to be held in October.

Gathered with O'odham at Rancho el Penasco, a dozen Yaqui Zapatistas from Vicam Pueblo, including Gov. Loreto Ramirez Mapoumea and Vicam Pueblo Mayor Florentino Buitimea Yoquihua, urged Indigenous from Alaska, Canada and the United States to join with Indigenous Peoples in northern Mexico for the North American Continental Regional Conference here, Oct. 8 -- 9, 2007.

"What happens here will determine how effective the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit is in Pueblo Yaqui," Gov. Ramirez said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter.

"We are in solidarity with one another, and we want to be in solidarity with all of the Indigenous Peoples," Gov. Ramirez said during the reunion and planning meeting held Friday, Aug. 17.

The North American Continental Summit, Oct. 8 – 9, is one of four regional conferences. There are also Indigenous summits being held in Oaxaca, Oct. 4—5, Atlapulco, Oct. 6 –7 and Michaocan, Oct. 6 – 7, 2007.

The regional Indigenous gatherings precede the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit/Encuentro de Pueblos Indígenas de América, Oct. 11 -- 14 in Vicam Pueblo near Obregon in the southern part of the state of Sonora.

O'odham in Mexico Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia, among the O'odham who will host the North American Continental regional conference here, said it was wonderful to come together with Yaqui is such a spirit of unity and harmony.

"Respect," Lt. Gov. Garcia said was the feeling that permeated the meeting at Rancho el Penasco, an eco-tourism and biodiversity ranch located south of Magdalena de Kino, a 90-minute drive south of the Nogales, Arizona border.

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Topics of discussion:

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Garcia said the topics of discussion were established by the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit Commission (Comision Organizadora del Encuentro de Pueblos Indigenas de Americas.) The organizing commission includes the traditional authorities of Vicam Pueblo, National Indigenous Congress of Mexico and the Sixth Commission of the EZLN, as stated by Subcomandante Marcos in his August 15, 2007 statement.

The primary topic will be the war of capitalist conquest and its effect on Indigenous Peoples. The second topic is the resistance of Indigenous Peoples to this war of conquest in defense of Mother Earth and Indigenous territories and cultures. The third topic will be a discussion of why Indigenous Peoples are struggling.

The organizing commission said Indian tribes’ delegates, representatives or commissions are invited to bring the problems of their regions and discuss these topics at the regional and international summits.

Other attendees will be observers, without a voice or role in the decision-making process at the Indigenous summits, Garcia said, referring to Subcomandante Marcos’ statement.

Rancho el Penasco, near the US and Mexico border, has become a favorite meeting place for the Zapatistas from the south to meet with Indigenous Peoples from northern Mexico and the United States.

Subcomandante Marcos came to Rancho el Penasco in Oct. 2006 to meet with Indigenous Peoples in the north, then returned several times in the spring of 2007. Marcos said he found rest and harmony here at the ranch.

During the planning meeting Aug. 17, Yaqui from Vicam Pueblo offered to help in any way they could to ensure the success of the North American regional summit. O'odham appreciated their efforts.

"I think the most important thing is working together in unity. They talked about respect, which is sometimes only a word," Lt. Gov. Garcia said, emphasizing the respect shown by the Yaqui delegation.

Vicam Pueblo Yaqui said they are eagerly waiting to hear from Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Americas. They said they want input from the world's Indigenous Peoples and hope to hear news that Indigenous delegations will be arriving from throughout the world.

Yaqui extended a warm welcome to the world's Indigenous Peoples to attend the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit/Encuentro de Pueblos Indígenas de América.

Vicam Pueblo Yaqui extended a special invitation to Yaqui in the United States to work together with them a spirit of unity, in the struggle for Indigenous rights.

Garcia said Indigenous are welcome to arrive at Rancho el Penasco on the evening of Oct. 7th for the two-day summit. Camping is available. For those driving, there are motels nearby in Magdalena de Kino, located two miles north of Rancho el Penasco.
After the summit here, there will be a caravan of cars to the international gathering in Vicam Pueblo.

Brenda Norrell
brendanorrell@gmail.com
Contacts:
O'odham Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia
oodhamj@yahoo.com
Coordinator Martin Pina in Sonora, Mexico
mpina@guaymas.uson.mx

Vicam Pueblo, Mexico, contact:

Jahcabay@yahoo.com.mx
More information on summits:
Narco News
http://www.narconews.com/

TEMARIO:
1.- La guerra de conquista capitalista en los pueblos indígenas de América.
2.- La resistencia de los pueblos indígenas de América y la defensa de la madre Tierra, nuestros territorios y nuestras culturas.
3.- Por qué luchamos los pueblos indígenas de América
SEDE:
11,12,13 Y 14 DE OCTUBRE 2007
PUEBLO YAQUI DE VÍCAM, SONORA, MÉXICO

SUBSEDES:
4 Y 5 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Sur-Sureste: VALLES CENTRALES DE OAXACA
Responsable: CONSEJO INDÍGENA POPULAR DE OAXACA “RICARDO FLORES MAGÓN”.

6 Y 7 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Centro y Sudamérica: ATLAPULCO, Territorio ÑAHÑU, Estado de México
Responsable: CONGRESO NACIONAL INDÍGENA en Atlapulco.

6 Y 7 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Centro Pacífico-Centro Atlántico de México: NURIO, Territorio PURÉPECHA, Michoacán, México
Responsable: Purépecha-Ireta, Congreso Nacional Indígena

8 Y 9 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Norte del Continente Americano: Alaska, Canadá, Unión Americana y Norte de México: Rancho “EL PEÑASCO”, MAGDALENA, SONORA, MÉXICO
Responsable: Nación TOHONO O’ODHAM

INFORMES:
Comisión Sexta del EZLN, Correo electrónico: informes@encuentroindigena.org
Guardia Tradicional de la Tribu Yaqui, Vícam, Guaymas, Sonora, México, Tel. (045 ó 001)64 49 98 94 08
Organización de Comunidades Indígenas y Campesinas de Tuxpan, Jalisco: (01 ó 001) 371 41 764 15 comunidad_tuxpan@hotmail.com
Comisión Sexta: Enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx
Radio Bemba: vicam@radiobemba.org

COMISIÓN ORGANIZADORA: Autoridades Tradicionales de Pueblo Vícam, Tribu Yaqui; Congreso Nacional Indígena y Comisión Sexta del EZLN.

(Espanol) Enlace Zapatista

Pre-registration information for the intercontinental summit:
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/

Mohawks in Venezuela: Indigenous from Peru need help

MNN. Thursday, August 16, 2007
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/ see "South America"

Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Allies, Your Help is needed;

Peru Earthquake

A large delegation of Indigenous people of Peru , are at the "1st International Congress of the Anti-Imperialist Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" in Venezuela who cannot go home. They can’t get in touch with their families. There are massive black outs, fires and so far over 400 people are dead. It was 7.9 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was in the ocean off Lima . The earth moved in waves into the interior. 90% of the people of Peru are Indigenous of many different nations. Millions of our people are affected. The media has not been able to go in directly to get information and presently rely on third hand information.

The victims are primarily Indigenous people who live around the epicenter. The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs in Venezuela , have provided the Peruvian delegates with cell phones but they still can’t get through because everything is down.

It was the "First International Congress of the Anti-Imperialist Indigenous Peoples of the Americas ". The delegation from the U.S. and Canada are asking everyone for assistance for the indigenous nations of Peru by providing any kind of aid, financial and otherwise. Send it to the Peruvian embassies in your countries and make sure you designate it for the victims.

The American Indian Council, the Mohawk indigenous women, the representative of the Mohawk Nation Office and the representatives of the International Indian Treaty Council who came to Venezuela to attend the congress are still in Caracas and asking for aid to help our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Anything you can do is greatly appreciated.

Embassy of the Republic of Peru in Ottawa, Canada - Embajada del Perú en Ottawa, Canadá.Peru - 130 Albert Street Suite 1901, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 5G4 Telephone (613) 238-1777, Fax (613) 232-3062, e-mail: emperuca@magi.com Peru - Consular and Cultural Section - Telephone (613) 233-2721, Fax (613) 232-3062 email: conperu@magmacom.com

Diplomatic representation in the US - chancery: 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone : [1] (202) 833-9860 through 9869 FAX: [1] (202) 659-8124 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paterson (New Jersey), San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

Contact your Red Cross for arrangements to give relief for the earthquake victims of Peru.



Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News
from Caracas Venezuela


Posted by MNN. August 15, 2007. "Six Nations"


"ONE RULE OF LAW FOR ALL CANADIAN CITIZENS...",

has been the cry of many CANADIANS, however they are referring to the illegal imposition of their 'law' on sovereign nations, us the Six Nations Confederacy. The cry has also included equal treatment and application of the 'law' for Ongwehonweh (the real people) and Canadians.

Well, let's have it.

In CANADA all who are in 'contempt of court' or are 'violating a court order' or 'fail to acknowledge or respect the rule of law' are subject to arrest and detention and will go through the process of criminalization CANADA has laid out.

On April 20, 2006 @ Kanonhstaton (Douglas Creek Estates) CANADA, ONTARIO and the OPP set the standard for executing a 'contempt of court' injunction.

They declared it an acceptable standard of arrest for a 'contempt of court' charge to taser young children, drag women around by the hair, handcuff and assault 70 year old men, pepperspray unarmed women, men and children, beat grandmothers at a ratio of 5 to 1.

They declared it an acceptable standard of arrest to point high calibre weapons at close range at sleeping 10 month old and 2 year old babies and new mothers.

They declared it an acceptable standard of arrest to use snipers carrying all types of heavy artillery to chase down unarmed women and children in the dark.

They declared it legal and an acceptable standard to assault, threaten and terrorize unarmed, sleeping Natives of all ages.

Well, now let's talk about equal treatment under the 'law'.

Who drug Marie Trainer around by the hair for inciting violence on Native women? NOBODY.

Who is being held accountable for all levels of CANADA for not upholding section 35 of their constitution and breaking their own laws? NOBODY.

Who is being held accountable for UPPER CANADA stealing Six Nations' money from the GRAND RIVER NAVIGATION COMPANY to build the LAW SOCIETY OF UPPER CANADA? NOBODY.

One rule of law, yeah right.

The fight against discrimination against Ongwehonweh in the legal system is just beginning.

The very foundation of CANADA'S legal system is based on theft, fraud and deceit.

Theft of our land, theft of our lease money, forged documents, etc.

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE LAW...

ON TUESDAY AUGUST 21, 2007
FROM 10:00AM TO 12:00PM
@ The Law Society of Upper Canada
@ 130 Queen Street West in Toronto

A peaceful gathering to speak about the accepted and legislated discrimination against Natives,
the true history of the Law Society of UPPER CANADA and the CANADIAN "Rule of Law".

We need your support.
skennen, niawen.
(peace, thank you)

Janie Jamieson
Six Nations

O'odham host Zapatistas North American Regional Conference near border in October

Marcos in Rancho el Penasco 2007/Photo Brenda Norrell




Tohono O'odham to host Zapatistas gathering in Rancho el Penasco, south of the Arizona border, Oct. 8 --9, 2007

The North American Regional Conference welcomes all people, with a special welcome to Indigenous Peoples from Alaska, Canada, northern Mexico and the United States

By Brenda Norrell
Narco News

MAGDALENA DE KINO, Sonora, Mexico – Subcomandante Marcos and the Zapatistas will return to the U.S and Mexico border region to host a subsidiary conference prior to the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit in Pueblo Yaqui, to support Indigenous struggles for land and liberty.

The Magdalena gathering in the north, Oct. 8 – 9, will be one of four regional gatherings during the month of October, with three other regional conferences to be held in Oaxaca, Oct. 4 -- 5, Atlapulco, Oct. 6 –7 and Michaocan, Oct. 6 – 7, 2007. Those regional Indigenous gatherings precede the Intercontinental Indigenous Summit in Yaqui Pueblo near Obregon, to be held Oct. 11 -- 14.

O’odham in Mexico Lt. Gov. Jose Garcia welcomed all to the gathering at Rancho el Penasco, the eco-tourism site south of Magdalena, where Marcos and the Zapatistas met with Mexico’s northern Indigenous tribes during 2006 and 2007.

“This is an opportunity for Indigenous everywhere to come together and get to know one another better,” Garcia said, after the EZLN made the official announcement Aug. 15. “People can come together and learn more about the Zapatistas.”

Garcia said while the Zapatista struggle is well known in southern Mexico, tribes in the northern part of Mexico still want to learn more.

“The Zapatistas in the south are facing the same struggle as we are in the north, the same struggle that Indigenous are facing everywhere.’

Garcia encouraged those attending to bring camping gear and food. There is water on site.

During earlier meetings with the Indigenous in the north, Zapatistas established a fishing camp to protect the fishing rights of the Cucapa (Cocopah) in Baja and supported struggles of the Seri, Mayo, Yaqui, and Kickapoo. Tohono O’odham asked Zapatistas for their support in opposing a hazardous waste dump at the ceremonial area of Quitovac, Sonora, and with border rights of passage as the militarization of the border increases.

ENCUENTRO DE PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS DE AMERICA TEMARIO:
1.- La guerra de conquista capitalista en los pueblos indígenas de América.
2.- La resistencia de los pueblos indígenas de América y la defensa de la madre Tierra, nuestros territorios y nuestras culturas.
3.- Por qué luchamos los pueblos indígenas de América
SEDE:
11,12,13 Y 14 DE OCTUBRE 2007
PUEBLO YAQUI DE VÍCAM, SONORA, MÉXICO
SUBSEDES:
4 Y 5 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Sur-Sureste: VALLES CENTRALES DE OAXACA
Responsable: CONSEJO INDÍGENA POPULAR DE OAXACA “RICARDO FLORES MAGÓN”.
6 Y 7 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Centro y Sudamérica: ATLAPULCO, Territorio ÑAHÑU, Estado de México
Responsable: CONGRESO NACIONAL INDÍGENA en Atlapulco.
6 Y 7 DE OCTUBRE 2007
Región Centro Pacífico-Centro Atlántico de México: NURIO, Territorio PURÉPECHA, Michoacán, México
Responsable: Purépecha-Ireta, Congreso Nacional Indígena
8 Y 9 DE OCTUBRE 2007:
Región Norte del Continente Americano: Alaska, Canadá, Unión Americana y Norte de México: Rancho “EL PEÑASCO”, MAGDALENA, SONORA, MÉXICO
Responsable: Nación TOHONO O’ODHAM
Informes:
COMISION SEXTA DEL EZLN, encuentroindigena.org. Correo electrónico: informes@encuentroindigena.org
Guardia Tradicional de la Tribu Yaqui, Vícam, Guaymas, Sonora, México, Tel. (045 ó 001)64 49 98 94 08
Organización de Comunidades Indígenas y Campesinas de Tuxpan, Jalisco: (01 ó 001) 371 41 764 15 comunidad_tuxpan@hotmail.com

Photo 2: Zapatistas at Rancho el Penasco, Sonora, in 2007. Photo Brenda Norrell

ACLU: Abu-Ghraib was torture, new documents

ACLU: Abu-Ghraib abuse was torture

New documents identitfy role of Major General Barbara Fast in those tortures. Two priests in Arizona attempted to deliver a letter to Fast in opposition to torture in 2006 and were arrested. Jesuit Steve Kelly and Franciscan Louie Vitale, in federal court Monday, were arrested as they knelt in prayer outside of Fort Huachuca in Arizona and are now facing prison.

ACLU Obtains New Details of Possible "Cover-Up" of Iraqi Prisoner Abuse (8/15/2007)

Senior Defense Department Officials Failed to Act on Reports of Abuse, Documents Suggest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@aclu.org

NEW YORK - Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union provide new evidence of a possible “cover-up” of Iraqi prisoner abuse by U.S. forces in 2003, and suggest that senior military officials failed to act promptly upon receiving reports of the abuse. The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also reveal that an Army investigator found that the conditions of prisoners held in isolation at Abu Ghraib qualified as torture.

“These documents make clear that prisoners were abused in U.S. custody not only at Abu Ghraib, but also in other locations in Iraq,” said Amrit Singh, an attorney with the ACLU. “Rather than putting a stop to these abuses, senior officials appear to have turned a blind eye to them.”

The documents detail Army Office of Inspector General investigations of alleged improprieties by Major General Barbara Fast, Major General Walter Wojdakowski and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez. These investigations were initiated by the Department of Defense, after the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal, and absolved all three officers of blame.

The inquiry into Major General Barbara Fast, the top intelligence officer attached to U.S. command in Iraq at the time the Abu Ghraib abuses occurred, provides new details of her role in responding to reports of prisoner abuse in the vicinity of the Baghdad International Airport in the summer of 2003. The outcome of the investigation illustrates the Defense Department’s refusal to hold her, or any other senior military officials, responsible for failing to put a stop to the known abuses, said the ACLU.
The inquiry into Fast also includes the testimony of a colonel who compiled a report in November 2003 that documented potential abuse of Iraqi detainees by a joint Special Operations and CIA unit looking for weapons of mass destruction. Although the colonel’s name was blacked out throughout the records, the ACLU believes this testimony is from retired Colonel Stuart Herrington.
The colonel maintains that someone called him in late November with details of prisoner abuse that occurred in June or July of 2003 in the vicinity of Baghdad International Airport. The colonel’s source had previously complained about the abuse to Major General Dayton, Commander of the Iraq Survey Group in charge of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. The source had also reported the abuse to the Defense Intelligence Agency Chain of Command in Clarendon.
The colonel says that he met with Fast in late 2003 to brief her on his investigation and that he gave her a copy of his report. Subsequently, the Judge Advocate General’s office attached to U.S. Command in Iraq informed the colonel that it had found “no evidence to support the allegations that detainees were mistreated.” The colonel dismissed this conclusion as a “cover-up” and expressed “blunt dismay.” He could not fathom how his own report could be taken so lightly given that he had provided names of the witnesses and “already had two people who admitted it.”
The colonel testifies, moreover, that it was not until after the abuses of Abu Ghraib were made public, almost six months after he gave Fast the report, that she acknowledged finding his report in her e-mail account for the first time. Fast told him that she had not recognized his name and that she came across the e-mail while she was refreshing her memory on Abu Ghraib. The colonel testifies that he internally questioned the veracity of Fast’s claim of not having seen the report and whether “in light of the Abu Ghraib thing is this something here that’s convenient and comfortable?” However, based on his personal evaluation of her character, he decided that Fast must be telling the truth.
The Army Inspector General report clears Fast of all allegations of misconduct and concludes that Fast took prompt action to alert the proper authorities once she was informed of the alleged abuse.
Additional documents made public today by the ACLU reveal that Major General George Fay found that the conditions under which Abu Ghraib prisoners were isolated went far beyond the limits of abuse and were, in fact, torturous. Fay is quoted in the investigation as saying, “But what was actually being done at Abu Ghraib was they were placing people in their cells naked and they were - those cells they were placing them in, in many instances were unlit. No light whatsoever. And they were like a refrigerator in the wintertime and an oven in the summertime because they had no outside form of ventilation. And you actually had to go outside the building to get to this place they called the ‘hole,’ and were literally placing people into it. So, what they thought was just isolation was actually abuse because it’s - actually in some instances, it was torturous. Because they were putting a naked person into an oven or a naked person into a refrigerator. That qualifies in my opinion as torture. Not just abuse.”
Fay also says that a memo from then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld authorizing removal of clothing created a “mindset” in which that kind of humiliation was considered an “acceptable technique.” He notes that even though Rumsfeld later rescinded the memo, not everyone received notice that the interrogation of naked prisoners was no longer permissible.
In addition to the documents made public today, the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has resulted in the release of thousands of pages of government documents detailing the torture and abuse of detainees. The ACLU has created a search engine for the public to access the documents at www­.aclu.org/torturefoia/search/search.html
The ACLU brought the FOIA lawsuit in October 2003 with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.
In addition to Singh, attorneys in the FOIA case are Lawrence Lustberg and Melanca Clark of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, P.C.; Jameel Jaffer and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The documents released today are available online at: www­.aclu.org/safefree/torture/31303res20070815.html.