Mayan Woman Murdered by US Border Patrol on Texas Border

An eye witness said Claudia was hiding in the bushes when she was shot in the head and executed by a US Border agent.

Aljazeera reports:

Immigrant rights groups across the United States have condemned the killing of a young unarmed Guatemalan woman who was shot by a border patrol agent in Texas.

The woman, identified as 20-year-old Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzales, was shot in the head by a Customs Border Police (CBP) agent on Wednesday in Rio Bravo, Texas, close to the border with Mexico.

According to local media, quoting Gonzales' family, the young woman was travelling to the US from a small village in Guatemala to find work to pay for her education.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/indigenous-guatemalan-woman-shot-dead-border-patrol-180526081614753.html

Mohawk Nation News 'Chucky Face of America'

CHUCKY FACE OF AMERICA

Posted on May 27, 2018

Please post & distribute. 

MNN. May 27, 2018. Chucky, the Killer Doll, was asked, “Why do you kill?” He answered, “It’s a hobby. It helps me to relax”. She asked, “Am I going to be a killer?” Chucky answered, “Of course! It’s been a family tradition for generations.” She asked, “But violence is bad. Isn’t it? We have a problem with killing.”  Chucky commented, “We don’t have a problem with killing. I like a little killing now and then. What’s wrong with that? Killing is an addiction like any other drug.” Question, “Chucky, quit right now. Go cold turkey!” Chucky replies, “You have got to be kidding!” Read article:

http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2018/05/27/chucky-face-of-america/  

The Cage on Tohono O'odham Nation -- U.S. 'Dog Kennels' Imprison Migrants and Water Protectors

Photo copyright Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, March 22, 2006, south of Sells on Tohono O'odham Nation.

Cages used to imprison migrants and water protectors in the United States

Article by Brenda Norrell
Photo by Ofelia Rivas
Censored News

This photo is of The Cage, the sweltering inhumane outside detention center used by the US Border Patrol on the Tohono O'odham Nation in the Sonoran Desert, where temperatures can surpass 115 degrees in summer.
When Mohawks came here in 2007, they were joined by Lenny Foster, Dineh, who said this was no more than a "dog cage."
This cage was not operating the last time we were there, but these cages are still used, to cage migrants, as they were used by Morton County, North Dakota, Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier to cage Standing Rock Water Protectors who were jailed for praying for the water.
The Mohawk Warriors found it hard to believe that the Tohono O'odham tribal government allowed the US Border Patrol to be present on their land, and to carry out horrific abuses against migrants and Tohono O'odham.
Today, the cages are used in private prisons to cage migrants, including children, and the US Border Patrol is considered an "occupying army" by many O'odham, as agents carry out horrific abuses on the Tohono O'odham Nation.


Photo copyright Ofelia Rivas, O'odham
Article copyright Brenda Norrell

ACLU: U.S. Border Patrol engaged in pervasive abuse of migrant children

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NEW REPORT IS BASED ON THOUSANDS OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS OBTAINED THROUGH THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT THAT DETAIL HORRIFIC STORIES MAY 22, 2018 WASHINGTON — 

BY ACLU
Censored News

Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union featured in a new report released today show the pervasive abuse and neglect of unaccompanied immigrant children detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The report was produced in conjunction with the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. “These documents provide a glimpse into a federal immigration enforcement system marked by brutality and lawlessness,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, ACLU Border Litigation Project staff attorney. 
“All human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their immigration status — and children, in particular, deserve special protection. The misconduct demonstrated in these records is breathtaking, as is the government’s complete failure to hold officials who abuse their power accountable. The abuse that takes place by government officials is reprehensible and un-American.” The report is based on over 30,000 pages of documents dated between 2009 and 2014. The documents were obtained by the ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties and the ACLU Foundation of Arizona through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit co-counseled with Cooley LLP. The documents feature numerous cases of shocking violence and abuse against migrant children, many of whom arrived in the United States fleeing violence in their home countries. “The students reviewing these records were shocked by the abuse and neglect these children were subjected to at the hands of U.S. officials.
The fact that these children were already so vulnerable — most traveling alone in hopes of escaping violence and poverty in their home countries — made the unlawful and inhumane actions reflected in the documents even more distressing,” said Claudia Flores, faculty director of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.
Law students in the International Human Rights Clinic examined a subset of the records obtained.
The documents show numerous cases involving federal officials’ verbal, physical and sexual abuse of migrant children; the denial of clean drinking water and adequate food; failure to provide necessary medical care; detention in freezing, unsanitary facilities; and other violations of federal law and policy and international law. 
The documents provide evidence that U.S. officials were aware of these abuses as they occurred, but failed to properly investigate, much less to remedy, these abuses.
Examples of the documented abuses include allegations that CBP officials: Punched a child’s head three times Kicked a child in the ribs Used a stun gun on a boy, causing him to fall to the ground, shaking, with his eyes rolling back in his head Ran over a 17-year-old with a patrol vehicle and then punched him several times Verbally abused detained children, calling them dogs and “other ugly things” Denied detained children permission to stand or move freely for days and threatened children who stood up with transfer to solitary confinement in a small, freezing room Denied a pregnant minor medical attention when she reported pain, which preceded a stillbirth Subjected a 16-year-old girl to a search in which they “forcefully spread her legs and touched her private parts so hard that she screamed” Left a 4-pound premature baby and her minor mother in an overcrowded and dirty cell full of sick people, against medical advice Threw out a child’s birth certificate and threatened him with sexual abuse by an adult male detainee.
The report also shows evidence of CBP holding migrant children in excess of the 72-hour maximum period permitted by law, as well as officials’ efforts to deport children without due process and via coercion.
“It’s terrifying to think that the horrible abuses described in these documents can continue and perhaps worsen under the Trump administration,” said Astrid Dominguez, director of the ACLU Border Rights Center.
“It’s unacceptable that there are no mechanisms in place to shed light on CBP’s abuses and ensure accountability.”
The report provides an overview of key trends that converged to create a crisis of migrant child abuse in CBP custody, the largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The documents obtained from the government show no evidence that any of the abuses detailed therein were ever meaningfully investigated, much less that the officials responsible were held accountable. The ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties launched a new website which includes the CRCL documents, and a timeline of the Border Litigation Project’s efforts to obtain these crucial documents from the government over the past four years.
Certain personally identifying information — such as the names of government officials, migrant children, and other third parties — has been withheld from the records released in response to the ACLU’s FOIA request and subsequent litigation. More information on the report and documents is available here: https://www.aclusandiego.org/civil-rights-civil-liberties/

VIDEO -- Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegation Confronts Credit Suisse at Shareholder Meeting

Watch this powerful video as the Indigenous Women's Delegation demands answers from Credit Suisse, and holds it responsible for financing the disastrous fossil fuel industries in their homelands.
Watch Video at:
https://www.facebook.com/WECAN.Intl/videos/2139723286056243/
Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegation Confronts Credit Suisse at Shareholder Meeting 

"The decisions you make as Credit Suisse and the Swiss people effect those of us downstream from your actions. You sit here comfortably in your privilege, while our communities bear the risks of your investments with our very health, our lives - we face a future without clean water, as you reap your dividends and returns. To us, water is life, to all of us." - Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle

Indigenous women and their allies are rising in action to divest funds from banks and fossil fuel companies endangering Indigenous peoples, human rights, climate, and water. They are advocating against unwanted extractive development and demanding adherence to international Indigenous rights and human rights standards and norms.

The third Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegation To Europe traveled to Germany and Switzerland, engaging in high-level meetings with officials from UBS, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and the Swiss government; holding a public education event in Zurich; participating in a direct action outside bank headquarters; and presenting powerful testimony at the Credit Suisse annual shareholder meeting.

International allies are called upon to demand Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank stop funding the companies violating Indigenous rights and destroying the climate! Continued action from people across the U.S. pushing for their Tribal Nations, cities, schools, friends, and families to divest from U.S. based fossil fuel funders also remains imperative!

Featuring Delegates - Charlene Aleck (Elected councillor for Tsleil Waututh Nation, Sacred Trust Initiative, Canada); Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle (Oglala Lakota and Mdewakantonwan Dakota pediatrician, living and working on the Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota); Wasté Win Yellowlodge Young (Ihunktowanna/ Hunkpapa of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Former Tribal Historic Preservation Officer); Monique Verdin (Member of South Louisiana's United Houma Nation Tribal Council and the Another Gulf Is Possible Collaborative); and Michelle Cook (Diné/Navajo, human rights lawyer, Founder and Co-Director of the Divest, Invest, Protect campaign, and Delegation Co-Organizer) - along with Osprey Orielle Lake (WECAN Executive Director, Co-Director of the Divest, Invest, Protect campaign and Delegation Co-Organizer), and Swiss women leaders.

Read the latest Delegation press release here: bit.ly/2KzN4xu

Learn more about ongoing work of Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegations here: wecaninternational.org/…/divest-invest-…

The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network is honored to participate in this vital work.

Follow and support ongoing pipeline struggles including: L'eau Est La Vie Camp - No Bayou Bridge - No Bayou Bridge Solidarity Campaign - Camp White Pine - Three Sisters Resistance Camp - Makwa Initiative - Line 3 Frontline Resistance - Tiny House Warriors

On the Vanguard -- Lisa DeVille 'Zinke Visit to North Dakota'

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US Secretary Visit to North Dakota

By Lisa DeVille, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara
Censored News

Members of POWER requested to have a meeting with Secretary Zinke while he was here in ND. We also requested that allotted landowners have an opportunity to voice our concerns because of the federal government has stated that they want to work with tribes on rights of way for development. Will landowners have that right to have a say about what happens to OUR land? 

I am very concerned about the precedent being set by our tribal business council; we have millions of dollars from oil and gas development (even though we've been drastically under paid for our leases.) Because of this the federal government has taken special interest in exploiting our lands and natural resources, is our business council is allowing it to happen? Federal government should acknowledge the government to government relationship to all tribes not smile in our faces while their hands are in our pockets.

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We've forgotten our roots as the people of Nueta, Hidatsa, Sahnish nations, we need to remember that we have other people in these lands that are our relatives; the Lakota, Dakota, Chippewa. We are all northern plains tribes that survived from the river that runs through our ancestral lands. But we have few people making the calls on how the water is being pillaged and ​our families and communities are being left behind as few people prosper at the cost of our health.

Our elected representatives must take into account that the Department of the Interior must protect the trust responsibility of all tribal citizens, not just MHA interest. It is only now, in this new industrialized age for Indian Country that the government is willing to give us a seat at the table because they see that we have lands that is sitting on top of one of the biggest oil reserves in this continent. Our representatives need to remember what history has shown us, we cannot trust takers. They will continue to lie to our people to get what they want. This election season, I ask that the citizens of MHA Nation keep a close eye on who is willing to bend over backwards for the takers and who is actually here to protect our people, land, water, and air.