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| Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus Calls for United Nations to Address Human Rights Violations |
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
| A delegation of the Phoenix-based Tonatierra stated violations result from international borders and immigration enforcement policies. |
TONATIERRA DELEGATION: Eve Aguirre,
President of the Nahuacalli Neighborhood Association
(left.) and Tupac Enrique Acosta (right,) at the
Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus at the United
Nations headquarters in New York.
Photo: Special
President of the Nahuacalli Neighborhood Association
(left.) and Tupac Enrique Acosta (right,) at the
Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus at the United
Nations headquarters in New York.
Photo: Special
| Special |
New York, NY. May 19, 2009 - With a critical eye to the recent
election of the United States to the UN Human Rights Council,
and with direct witness and testimony presented by Indigenous
Peoples impacted by international borders, the Indigenous
Peoples Global Caucus has today called for the United Nations
Human Rights Council to address human rights violations
resulting from immigration enforcement policies and laws.
election of the United States to the UN Human Rights Council,
and with direct witness and testimony presented by Indigenous
Peoples impacted by international borders, the Indigenous
Peoples Global Caucus has today called for the United Nations
Human Rights Council to address human rights violations
resulting from immigration enforcement policies and laws.
Of particular concern to the Indigenous Peoples are border crossing issues and economic policies of the
government states of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) regime (Canada-US-Mexico).
The Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus is a deliberative body of Indigenous Peoples from around the world
convened at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in attendance at the 8th Session of the annual United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
This year’s session of the Permanent Forum is addressing implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13th, 2007.
At present time, the United States has yet to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, although signals from the Obama Administration indicate that a change in policy in favor of the declaration
is being considered, and consultations at the United Nations with delegations of Indigenous Peoples in New York
are in the works.
Among the indigenous representatives attending the 8th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
is a delegation from Arizona that includes representatives of Tonatierra.
Tonatierra presented a report to members of the Permanent Forum on the issues of discriminatory enforcement
and human rights abuses in Maricopa County being perpetrated by Sheriff J. Arpaio, and immigration enforcement
policies such as the 287(g) agreements with the federal government.
Citing from testimony submitted by La Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras, an alliance of Indigenous Peoples created to
address border issues of the southern US border with Mexico, Tonatierra submitted the following testimony at the
United Nations, “We believe that the militarization and border enforcement policies that have been inflicted upon
the territories of our eight Nations of Indigenous Peoples divided by the U.S.-Mexico border have helped nurture
virulent racist nativism in America, and politicians have used immigration as a wedge issue that has degraded
respect for the civil and human rights of us all.”
The statement from the Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras, which consists of individual tribal members from the eight
southern border indigenous nations with relatives in Mexico, then continued to say that “The actions of Sheriff
Arpaio extend the militarization of the border to the entirety of the metropolis of Maricopa County, where the
Sheriff’s Posse acts as an ‘uber police’ force, overriding jurisdictions of civil government and community control. We
understand that the 287(g) Agreement now in place with the Sheriff of Maricopa County and the federal
government has been implemented in violation of the constitutional right of Equal Protection and with blatant
discriminatory enforcement tactics by Sheriff Arpaio, and therefore demand that the 287(g) Agreement be cancelled
immediately.”
The statement by the Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus given today also stated that “We urge member states
that any and all Free Trade Agreements must recognize, respect and implement mechanisms for the protection of
the rights contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
Taking action to implement this recommendation, the Tonatierra delegation has called for the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, Professor James Anaya of
the University of Arizona, to articulate effective measures to address the international, regional and historical
context of the international border issues and transnational government economic policies as part of a pattern of
systemic human rights violations against the Indigenous Peoples in the NAFTA territories.
“With the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we stand at the
threshold of a new relationship with the government states of this hemisphere and the world, constructing a new
framework of evaluation for the work of the Permanent Forum and indeed all the initiatives of the United Nations
system”, said Tupac Enrique Acosta of Tonatierra.
Recognizing that United Staes civil rights protections are insufficient to address the international scope of issues
involving Human Rights violations, Tonatierra has launched a campaign to petition the National Human Rights
Commission of the United States to assess and document the situation on the ground in Arizona. A particular issue
of serious concern is the current situation at the Maricopa County Jail where hundreds of inmates have been
engaged in hunger strikes in protest of the policies of Sheriff Arpaio and incidents of physical abuse, including a
lockdown of the facility.
The delegates gathered at the Permanent Forum in New York have called to all members of human society to
recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a necessary instrument to
address comprehensively both the global climate crises and the global economic crises as an effective mechanism
of world peace.
government states of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) regime (Canada-US-Mexico).
The Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus is a deliberative body of Indigenous Peoples from around the world
convened at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in attendance at the 8th Session of the annual United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
This year’s session of the Permanent Forum is addressing implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13th, 2007.
At present time, the United States has yet to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, although signals from the Obama Administration indicate that a change in policy in favor of the declaration
is being considered, and consultations at the United Nations with delegations of Indigenous Peoples in New York
are in the works.
Among the indigenous representatives attending the 8th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
is a delegation from Arizona that includes representatives of Tonatierra.
Tonatierra presented a report to members of the Permanent Forum on the issues of discriminatory enforcement
and human rights abuses in Maricopa County being perpetrated by Sheriff J. Arpaio, and immigration enforcement
policies such as the 287(g) agreements with the federal government.
Citing from testimony submitted by La Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras, an alliance of Indigenous Peoples created to
address border issues of the southern US border with Mexico, Tonatierra submitted the following testimony at the
United Nations, “We believe that the militarization and border enforcement policies that have been inflicted upon
the territories of our eight Nations of Indigenous Peoples divided by the U.S.-Mexico border have helped nurture
virulent racist nativism in America, and politicians have used immigration as a wedge issue that has degraded
respect for the civil and human rights of us all.”
The statement from the Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras, which consists of individual tribal members from the eight
southern border indigenous nations with relatives in Mexico, then continued to say that “The actions of Sheriff
Arpaio extend the militarization of the border to the entirety of the metropolis of Maricopa County, where the
Sheriff’s Posse acts as an ‘uber police’ force, overriding jurisdictions of civil government and community control. We
understand that the 287(g) Agreement now in place with the Sheriff of Maricopa County and the federal
government has been implemented in violation of the constitutional right of Equal Protection and with blatant
discriminatory enforcement tactics by Sheriff Arpaio, and therefore demand that the 287(g) Agreement be cancelled
immediately.”
The statement by the Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus given today also stated that “We urge member states
that any and all Free Trade Agreements must recognize, respect and implement mechanisms for the protection of
the rights contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
Taking action to implement this recommendation, the Tonatierra delegation has called for the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, Professor James Anaya of
the University of Arizona, to articulate effective measures to address the international, regional and historical
context of the international border issues and transnational government economic policies as part of a pattern of
systemic human rights violations against the Indigenous Peoples in the NAFTA territories.
“With the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we stand at the
threshold of a new relationship with the government states of this hemisphere and the world, constructing a new
framework of evaluation for the work of the Permanent Forum and indeed all the initiatives of the United Nations
system”, said Tupac Enrique Acosta of Tonatierra.
Recognizing that United Staes civil rights protections are insufficient to address the international scope of issues
involving Human Rights violations, Tonatierra has launched a campaign to petition the National Human Rights
Commission of the United States to assess and document the situation on the ground in Arizona. A particular issue
of serious concern is the current situation at the Maricopa County Jail where hundreds of inmates have been
engaged in hunger strikes in protest of the policies of Sheriff Arpaio and incidents of physical abuse, including a
lockdown of the facility.
The delegates gathered at the Permanent Forum in New York have called to all members of human society to
recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a necessary instrument to
address comprehensively both the global climate crises and the global economic crises as an effective mechanism
of world peace.