<![CDATA[International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality - News]]>Tue, 25 Jun 2024 08:04:00 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[URGENT APPEAL: Drop the trumped-up case against Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Chairperson Windel Bolinget!]]>Tue, 12 Jan 2021 18:37:11 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/urgent-appeal-drop-the-trumped-up-case-against-cordillera-peoples-alliance-cpa-chairperson-windel-bolingetPicture
January 11, 2021
 
URGENT APPEAL: Drop the trumped-up case against CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget!
 
A trumped-up case of murder against Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Chairperson, Mr. Windel Bolinget, was filed by a police officer in a court in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte, Philippines in 2020. The Cordillera Peoples Alliance learned that a warrant of arrest has been issued against Bolinget in relation to the case.
 
Bolinget and nine other individuals are being accused of killing Garito Tiklonay Malibato on March 22, 2018 in Barangay Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte. Bolinget has never been to the place. Also, in a news report on March 23, 2018, the Karadyawan, an organization of indigenous peoples in Kapalong, Davao del Norte, and  the PASAKA, organization of Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mindanao, pointed to the paramilitary group ALAMARA as the ones who shot dead Karadyawan member Garito Malibato. In addition, a relative of Malibato expressed that Malibato has been receiving death threats from the ALAMARA prior to his killing.
 
Since before Christmas, Bolinget’s residence and home towns have been put under visible surveillance, with members and assets of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) swarming around in search for him. Based on information gathered by the CPA, the manhunt intensified just before the New Year.
 
The Bolinget family and CPA fear the “tokhang”-style execution (extrajudicial killing under the pretext of “resisting arrest” or “nanlaban/fought back”) if Bolinget is arrested and even during his transportation to Davao Del Norte where he should face his case. This has been the track record of the PNP and AFP, the latest of which was the extrajudicial killings of 9 indigenous leaders and arrest of 16 others in a synchronized operation of the AFP and PNP last December 30, 2020 in Capiz and Iloilo provinces.
 
Bolinget did not commit any murder or physical harm against any individual. The trumped-up case is obviously meant to silence him and the CPA from asserting indigenous peoples’ rights and human rights against development aggression (destructive mining and dam projects) and rights violations. It is the latest of a series of attacks against Bolinget.
 
In 2006, Bolinget was included in a military hitlist, along with other leaders of the CPA. In February 2018, his name and that of former CPA leaders were included in the Department of Justice’s terrorist proscription list. Their names were eventually dropped from the list because it was baseless and simply meant to malign the individuals and the CPA.
 
Since April 2020, the attacks against Bolinget especially through social media has intensified in an unprecedented manner. Hundreds of Facebook posts tagged him along with his colleagues at CPA as communists and terrorists, and portrayed them as evils. Worse, Bolinget’s family was included in the attacks, putting their lives also in danger. Facebook posts were no doubt used by the AFP and PNP to condition the minds of the people that Bolinget is a wicked and immoral person, with the aim that when extrajudicial killing and trumped-up cases against him is committed, it may become “acceptable”.
 
Early in the morning of December 10, 2020 (International Human Rights Day), flyers were scattered along the road 80 meters away from his house in La Trinidad, Benguet to Baguio City. The flyers showed a photo of Bolinget and other individuals, with text saying Bolinget is immoral and a recruiter of the armed revolutionary group New People’s Army.  The same flyers were also posted in various areas in Baguio City.
 
All these are part of the systematic attacks of the Duterte regime against political dissenters and human rights activists through the implementation of the End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) under Duterte’s Executive Order 70. Without evidence for the things they accused Bolinget with, the AFP, PNP and their minions resorted to red-tagging (communis-tagging), terrorist-labeling, dirty tactics of smear campaign and paid trolls, and now trumped-up murder case.
 
We've learned of the dangers of red-tagging from our past experiences. Over the past years, peasant leaders in the Cordillera were killed after years of harassment, red-tagging, veiled threats, death threats and surveillance perpetrated by the AFP, PNP and other state agents. In 2019, CPA volunteer Brandon Lee barely managed to stay alive after an attempted extrajudicial killing which came after years of the same intense harassment, red-tagging and surveillance against him by no less than the 54th Infantry Battalion of the AFP in Ifugao province.
 
Bolinget belongs to the Kankanaey and Bontok indigenous peoples in Mountain Province. He has been an environment defender and human rights activist for more than half of his life. To date, he served the CPA for 23 years as Education Commission Officer, Secretary General and now Chairperson. He has long been known as an indigenous activist strongly committed to his work.
 
The trumped-up case and vicious attacks by the AFP and PNP against Bolinget are desperate attempts to destroy Bolinget and his family, and to delegitimize the CPA. These will neither silence nor stop the CPA from defending Cordillera indigenous peoples’ rights and human rights. However, these attacks must stop before worse forms of human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings, are committed against CPA leaders and members.
 
We appeal to you for support for Bolinget, his family and the CPA in these trying times.  The following are some of the ways that you may extend support:

1. Issue statements to condemn the trumped-up case against Bolinget and attacks against the CPA, and call for wider support for the campaigns on these. The following calls are encouraged to be used in statements and other social media posts:  
 
  • Drop the trumped-up case against Windel Bolinget!
  • Stop the manhunt!
  • Safety and (Access to ) Justice for Windel!
  • Stop the attacks against the CPA!
  • Junk Executive Order 70!
  • Justice for Garito Malibato!
  • #DefendWindel
  • #DefendCordillera

2. Send letters of concern to the following officers of concerned government agencies:

[SEE ATTACHED PDF]
3. Support the Defend the Cordillera campaign against plunder and State terror. Sign the Global Pact at defendcordillera.ph. Watch what's the campaign is all about here.
 
4. Financial and logistical support for the legal case expenses.
 
For inquiries, please contact the Cordillera Peoples Alliance through cpa@cpaphils.org, pic@cpaphils.org.
 
Thank you and we look forward for your support and solidarity.
 
CORDILLERA PEOPLES ALLIANCE
 
urgent_appeal_drop_the_trumped-up_case_against_windel_bolinget_final_1.11.2020.pdf
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]]><![CDATA[IOSDE Statement on Self-Determination, Peace and Conflict, Security and Decolonizing... Domestic Abuse and Redefining Aggression]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2020 20:33:50 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/iosde-statement-on-self-determination-peace-and-conflict-security-and-decolonizing-domestic-abuse-and-redefining-aggression
]]><![CDATA[Sami National Day! To sign or not to sign... Sweden and ILO 169, the UNDRIP, and the Nordic Saami Convention]]>Wed, 06 Feb 2019 13:10:21 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/sami-national-day-to-sign-or-not-to-sign-sweden-and-ilo-169-the-undrip-and-the-nordic-saami-conventionToday is Sami National Day!

Following friendly and independent contact today, from within a Swedish media outlet to IOSDE founder and director on the issue of ILO 169 and why Sweden has not ratified it yet after all this time and demand from Sami voices as such, posted below is a discussion regarding Sweden and ILO 169, and two of ILO 169's regional (the Nordic Saami Convention 'to be', a mention) and international (the UNDRIP, current) counterparts.

Here is IOSDE's Director's statement:

"Sweden has continued to delay and avoid ratification of ILO 169 because the treaty is binding and thus can be utilized for direct redress jurisprudence, ie legal matters and cases, via the independent and external international ILO legal system; decisions which Sweden would then be obligated to implement.

To not ratify ILO 169 grants Sweden the ongoing power, throughout any and all Swedish governments over the years, and even those government systems under the and within the Swedish State, to continue to hold the Sami within the controlled scope of the Swedish domestic legal system. Sweden thus controls the outcomes of all potential matters and issues within the would-be scope of ILO 169. Essentially, this is a classical control tactic, rendering people bound to 'what is' and within the control or norms of the group (in this case the group being the State).

This State- and national systems-altering effect of direct and binding jurisprudence of ILO 169 can be seen, for example, in the use of the ILO legal system with the 169 treaty by the Norwegian side of Sapmi, as a result of Norway's obligations to the treaty as signatory party to ILO 169. The results regarding ILO 169 case decisions and matters, therein, have dramatically reshaped the landscape on the Norwegian side of Sapmi for both Norway and the Sami People, in terms of land, law, and other matters. However, this is only one example of its binding nature. ILO 169's potential to influence does not stop there- it is a comprehensive treaty citing many rights and therefore all articles and interpretations within its text can potentially be taking up for decisions on matters by the ILO system. Sweden would then, if having ratified, be obligated to enact such outcomes.

Some persons may argue a more benign and well-intentioned cause, claiming that Sweden's delay might also be due to a notion that truly democratic States take time to ratify international treaties. Meaning, that if the State intends to truly follow through on its obligations once it ratifies it thus can take years, even decades, to prepare internally and on many levels to be able to do so. However, this point is moot in the case of Sweden, because Sweden has ratified many international treaties of the United Nations that it does not uphold the expert recommendations of, concerning matters not only relating to the Sami People but many other humans and human rights, all people within Sweden, and on a wide range of issues, in general. Even recommendations of the EU to Sweden on a variety of matters are not upheld by the State, as its government(s) chooses.

Back to the point- it is the leeway gap of a binding versus non-binding juridical system that is the issue here. Sweden maintains control domestically via its own legal system by finely selecting which binding legal systems outside of its jurisdiction to subject itself to.

However, with this said, Sweden has signed the UNDRIP, and many Indigenous Peoples and experts, together collectively in the field of Indigenous Rights, argue that the UNDRIP offers much if not even more to enact Indigenous Rights, for Indigenous Peoples, than ILO 169, both comparatively and universally. Some even feel that ILO 169 is, compared to the UNDRIP, outdated, starting with the fact that the UNDRIP was, at its inception, an Indigenous-negotiated treaty (negotiated with States), and with more recent context and verbiage as sought after therein, as a result.

However, the caveat being that States still had the ultimate control in UNDRIP negotiations and thus possibly still do; States demanded inclusion at the final days of 'the deal' a clause within the UNDRIP that protects the State right to territorial integrity as encompassing any reading of the treaty rights themselves. A tricky move, given that this clause's invlusion contradicts the fact that the treaty is meant to be- or at least is titled to be- about Indigenous Rights, not the rights of a State. Clearly, the States requiring that clause at the time (or lobby for its inclusion secretly, whatever the case may have been) were trying to suppress formal territorial decolonization rights of Indigenous Peoples, and saw the chance to codify that as leverage agree to collectively approve the treaty into its existence. Not all Indigenous Peoples are concerned about this, and at the end of the day those who had the upper hand among the Indigenous delegates agreed, anyway, to this concession. To this day this continues to be a point of discussion, but most people are willing to work with the UNDRIP and find ways around the issue. Others still rightfully claim their own territorial integrity as a formal right of peoples to formal territorial decolonization, per still-standing international laws of peoples' rights to self-determination per the original and older, long-standing backbone treaties of the UN, meant to rectify root causes of genocide and other ills in the world, and the UN decolonization treaties.

The Sami Parliament in Sweden, still a branch of the Swedish Government, publicly states on its website that 1. "Sami self-determination is not about forming a new state." and, following that, 2. "This right is not granted by international law since the principle of states’ rights to territorial integrity places restrictions on the exercise of the right of self-determination." However, one can see that since Indigenous Peoples have never been allowed formal decolonization per UN and thus international standards for Peoples and decolonization both, and thus no formal voting or decision making process (unless internally taken up by the Indigenous leaders in their own communities and/or nations, as an act of self-determination or otherwise) has been undertaken to seek opinion on these matters within Indigenous Peoples communities and nations per People and per person, world-wide, including in Sapmi. How, then has it been decided that sentence #1 is true? Regarding Sentence #2, in expert legal opinion using all international law, the sentance is false; sentance #2 is not legally sound. Anyway, as long as the Sami People do not mind or demand otherwise from the Sami Parliament or Sweden or via their communities, it is so in Sweden. So, return the discussion to the likes of ILO 169, the UNDRIP, the Sami Nordic Convention.
 
Regarding binding versus non-binding and the argument that ILO 169 is the only binding Indigenous Rights legal instrument, is also said by many experts that the UNDRIP has been in force long enough and is crucial enough in the international and historical context to be considered binding law as customary law. Moreover, Sweden is obligated to incorporate the UNDRIP into its national law, as a signatory to the treaty, and to both consult with equal and full participation of the Sami People and their free, prior and informed consent of such a process and how, if and when to do so at all stages. With the UNDRIP, this implementation aspect gives Indigenous Peoples more leverage than, say the ILO 169 process, which continues to render Indigenous Peoples subject to external determination by a "higher" power, versus own decision-making on same footing as a State. However, there remains to this day no court outside of States for Indigenous Peoples to hold cases directly in light of the UNDRIP as a legal system as the ILO 169 can be, if that is the goal. This issue of lack of redress via the UNDRIP itself has been discussed under participation and consultation with Indigenous Peoples and us all as collective experts in the field of Indigenous Rights in more recent years at the UN under Indigenous- and collaborative-led UN initiatives, wherein a dicussed possible action that the United Nations can take up and build upon would be to create a mechanism of redress for the UNDRIP under and within the UN umbrella. For the time being, this has not happened.

Certain Indigenous UN mechanisms such as UNPFII and EMRIP and other select representative roles have, instead of creation of a UN-based or operated UNDRIP redress mechanism open to all, been empowered with authority to dictate select recommendations on interpretations of implementation of the UNDRIP or related matters via either their own increased inclusion within the UN system or, for example, country visits. It is important to note that such a process is hardly a replacement for an actual (binding or non-binding) legal UNDRIP redress mechanism, as country visits, for example, are a process applied to selected request applications by the EMRIP mechanism, and then in turn the process is closed to only those people who are chosen for such a visit, and within that, in action, only those who have the power to participate or determine participation locally/regionally, including within Indigenous Peoples co-opted hierarchies and potentially States'. A UN-based UNDRIP redress mechanism would undoubtedly still render recommendations and not binding decisions, due to political influence, and perhaps less political leverage than country visits, but an international UNDRIP legal redress mechanism would meet a fundamental necessaity for legal validity that the EMRIP country visits scheme does not- that of equal access to justice. 

Also in process for a long time is the Nordic Saami Convention, negotiated between States and Sami representatives from within the States encompassing Sapmi in the Nordic region (Norway, Sweden, Finland). This treaty remains to be seen for its results or even an agree-upon final treaty outcome. Important to point out is that Sapmi is also encompassed by Russia, so this treaty, the "Nordic" Saami Convention, is obviously not representative of whole Sami Nation or Sami People of all of Sapmi, even as a Sami-representative-participating treaty. It can only be hoped that lessons learned from both ILO 169 and the UNDRIP will be applied in its ultimate future, especially given that its creation has the participation of selected Sami representatives who claim to speak for the rights of Sami People, from their respective and encompassing Nordic States.

Comparatively, it most behooves most Indigenous Peoples to undertake as priority, between the ILO 169 and UNDRIP, to make demands and/or initiatives to full participation in implementation the UNDRIP into State law, policies, systems, structures and procedures, as hard and binding customary law, as a most comprehensive act of self-determination and steps towards just equality therein... with the major caveat, however  -and one to not be brushed aside- , of the fact that, if Indigenous Peoples rightly seek independence per the ultimate right of full political and territorial decolonization via People's right to self-determination, none of these treaties apply without major and unjust blockages or complete nuisance, unless meant to warm States and naysayers up to Indigenous Rights and a slow progression. In any case, there is a formal UN decolonization process to access, including regarding territory and political rights of all people within a People, as well as other peaceful mediation and negotiation methods for such, also in the best interest of all humans' and human rights and the rights of nations, peoples, or otherwise, and thus these methods are also long-time enshrined and still being lobbied for by certain Peoples, communities, groups and experts and representatives.

Ultimately, it is the choice of the Sami People which path(s) to take so meet their desired ends, and that is, in and of itself, self-determination, so long as all people within the nation (since we are talking about "Sami National Day"!), the Sami Nation (as a nation divided by States or one whole), have access to influence, and per reasonable norms and not force, externally or within. Human Rights are, after all and this day and age, both collective and individual, as well as fundamentally universal.

India Reed Bowers, BA LLM, Founder & Director IOSDE]]><![CDATA[Domestic Violence, Immigrant Rights, and CERD, GREVIO and Sweden in 2017-2018]]>Tue, 19 Jun 2018 04:59:42 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/domestic-violence-immigrant-rights-and-cerd-grevio-and-sweden-in-2017-2018Dear Friends,

In the recent months of 2017-2018, while our blog has been on pause, IOSDE has been working with a strong emphasis on addressing issues of domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants and other vulnerable groups and persons that puts certain persons at greater risk for being abused.

IOSDE works internationally, however IOSDE is also, at the same time, based in Sweden, and in Sweden IOSDE has, to-date, spent must time and work on Indigenous Sami rights and issues as residing in Sapmi, from its inception in 2012 on (including much of the the 1.5 years pre-dating this news blog site). However, Sweden, like many other European States, faces its own prejudices and harms beyond its more obvious colonial pasts and reconciliations therein, both at home and abroad. Currently, and really since the era of WW2, many European countries, including Sweden, have harbored in their populations sentiments of racism in the form of notions of ethnic cleansing, race biology, ethnic superiority, and isolationism, not only against people colonized, but all minority groups, especially religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants of all kinds.

Such prejudices are the root cause of violence. Violence cannot exist if the people themselves, on the daily level, do not burn for it as the result of misinformation, mis-education, or propaganda that promotes it (for nation-building, group-think, sense of power or otherwise). Such violence affects all lives, but some persons are more at risk than others, and women and immigrant women, along with Indigenous women, are among these at-risk persons. Not all women (or immigrants or Indigenous persons, or persons from vulnerable groups) are victims or at highest risk, just as not all stereotypes of oppressors hold true and many persons perceived as from oppressor groups, such as men or majority persons, are actually victims, as well. For this reason, IOSDE continues to be flexible in its approach to human rights, not only to 'go with the flow' of the agendas that are easy or predictable, but rather to address also the taboo.

In our country of base, Sweden, as well as in Sapmi therein (including within the Sami Parliament in Sweden, the over-arching self-governing mechanism to-date in Sapmi in Sweden, while also a branch of and funded by the Swedish Government), domestic violence is a taboo subject, as are immigrant rights and issues and the notions (legal, ethical, social and otherwise) of all non-majority persons in Swedish society as minorities and who should have minorities rights as non-majority groups and persons of all backgrounds in Sweden. IOSDE, for reasons that can be seen in recent works and throughout, brings to light, within and among this, the issue of the conditions of discrimination against so-called "love immigrant" women, for example, that put such women at additional risk for domestic violence.

Domestic violence is, in our eyes, a hate crime, and it is a pandemic. Domestic violence is about forcing a person to conform to norms- norms of gender, society, the home, economy, or otherwise, and more often than not it targets women and especially women who have less access to payment for their work, societal inclusion, recognition of background and otherwise. However, violence is also a pandemic that affects and touches all. Perpetrators are also victims, in their own right, as committing violence is not a healthy or happy lifestyle or a way to successfully resolve issues either personal or societal, and using violence usually occurs in the context of being taught no other way or not having healthy limits to expectations of power or control. It is for this reason IOSDE's Founder and Director, India Reed Bowers, has also promoted Restorative Justice, both personally and professionally, within and around these and surrounding and influencing issues.

At present, we give to you three recent publicly-available works addressing these issues or affecting them, two from IOSDE and one from a group we would like to endorse the work of, the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network, who was excluded by Sweden from the private State-NGO preparatory meeting during the recent UN CERD session just prior to Sweden's review (IOSDE was not permitted to attend due to needing interpretation from Swedish to English, as we were told it would be 'too disruptive' to have even casual interpretation at the ear, however this group was entirely excluded from invitation, and we therefore and for the reasons above and ethics and commitments of IOSDE choose to include their report and issues here).

1. IOSDE's report to the Council of Europe's GREVIO division, the monitoring group for the Istanbul Convention, i.e. the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, for GREVIO's first ever review of Sweden, including critique of the silence of the Sami Parliament in Sweden in country reviews as on domestic violence, as a State-funded, State body. The GREVIO Sweden country page is here, and contains also IOSDE's report along with Sweden's report and dialogue with State representatives, as well as, eventually, GREVIO's current conclusions.

2. IOSDE's report to the United Nations CERD (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination) Committee for its review of Sweden at the 95th CERD session, with a focus on discriminatory at-risk conditions of 'love immigrant' and all non-majority women in Sweden for domestic violence. Sweden and other 95th Session country documents, including CERD concluding remarks re Sweden and other countries reviewed, country reports, and other civil society reports available here.

3. From the same UN CERD session of #2 above, the report provided re Sweden to the CERD Committee by the Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network.

See also IOSDE's report, "Silence is Violence: A Shadow Report to UN CEDAW re Sweden Submitted to the United Nations CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee for its review of Sweden, 63rd Session, February 2016", dated 22 January 2016, and IOSDE's corresponding news blog entry "Silence is Violence" - IOSDE Report for the review of Sweden by the UN CEDAW Committee (United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women), as well as the IOSDE news blog entry International Women's Day 2014.
​
All of these reports and many current and previous UN and other monitoring treaty body systems call for Sweden to undertake disaggregated statistical data across Sweden including ethnic, immigration status and other lines important to knowing the prevalence of domestic violence within our shared lives, situations and communities in real figures, so that we can then examine the realities for their true urgency, which we already experience, and hold Sweden accountable for both appropriate changes for better equality, as prevention, and better services, for prevention and healing. Sweden is a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society, with many immigrants families already living for multiple generations in Sweden, as well many newly persons newly arrived, in addition to a 5-group historical grievances 'national minorities' category of the State for long-standing non-majority groups discriminated against/affected- Jews, the Roma, the (Indigenous) Sami, the Swedish Finns and the Tornedalers. IOSDE calls for Sweden to celebrate us all, as the diverse fabrics that we are contributing our gifts to the society as we do, and to eliminate the discrimination that leave some, more than others, most at-risk.]]><![CDATA[UPDATE! UN CERD seeks proof from the United States that the U.S.-Mexico border wall and the U.S. executive order for its expansion are not in violation of Indigenous Rights]]>Wed, 24 May 2017 00:09:37 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/update-un-cerd-seeks-proof-from-the-united-states-that-the-us-mexico-border-wall-and-the-us-executive-order-for-its-expansion-are-not-in-violation-of-indigenous-rightsGreat news!

In follow-up to our previous news item, URGENT ACTION: SIGN THE PETITION - U.S. Border Wall violates International Law; U.S. Law violates Lipan Apache Indigenous Rights (see related UN CERD action), calling for signatures of support to our collective, joint indigenous Lipan Apache and supporting submissions to UN CERD, University of Texas Law Clinic statements, and campaign therein, and in continuation and support of years of notable and groundbreaking work of Dr. Eloisa Tamez and Margo Tamez, who are Indigenous Lipan Apache Nde grandmother, mother and daughter, activists, scholars and experts, and their many supporters and colleagues, in several key legal and related actions fighting for Lipan Apache Nde and Apache Nde peoples' rights to traditional lands, ceremonies, family, historical and current remedy and restoration of sovereign rights and more:

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) has written to the United States for communication concerning allegations, submissions and evidence that the United States-Mexico border wall and the current U.S. Executive Order to expand the border wall are in violation of Indigenous Rights of the peoples whose homes and territories the wall and any expansion of the wall divide and affect, namely, in accordance with submissions made to the CERD Committee on the matter(s), discriminatory impacts on the Lipan Apache, Kikapoo, and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo indigenous peoples and communities.

Excerpts are as follows (click here for the full document) -

“The Committee is informed of the worsening of the situation of indigenous peoples in the same area. It is informed that the discriminatory effect of the previously constructed wall has not been remedied. Moreover, the Government’s planned expansion of the border wall, as announced through the executive order for 'Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements' of January 25, 2017, will allegedly have an adverse impact on the communities living along the border, especially indigenous communities.
 
Reportedly, the new order is more expansive than previous initiatives, and it was implemented without any type of consultation or consideration of potentially affected communities including indigenous communities.
 
[...] The Committee reconfirms and recommends the United States to '(a) Guarantee, in law and in practice, the right of indigenous peoples to effective participation in public life and in decisions that affect them, based on their free, prior and informed consent; (b) Take effective measures to eliminate undue obstacles to the recognition of tribes; (c) Adopt concrete measures to effectively protect the sacred sites of indigenous peoples in the context of the State party’s development or national security projects and exploitation of natural resources, and ensure that those responsible for any damages caused are held accountable'." [emphases added]
 
The United States is requested to submit a response to the CERD decision by 17 July 2017, in particular:

  1. The impact of the executive order of 25 January 2017 on the rights of affected indigenous peoples to have access to their lands and resources they own or traditionally use;
  2. Measures envisaged to reverse the negative impact of the expansion of the border wall on the rights of indigenous peoples;
  3. Measures taken to ensure the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples, or genuine consultation, in decisions affecting them. [emphasis added]

WE still need your signatures and support!

Sign here in support of the UN CERD, Lipan Apache Band, Lipan Apache Women Defense (LAWD), Apache Nde Nnee Working Group (ANNWG), International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE), and University of Texas Law Clinic statements and positions against the U.S. Mexico border wall's violations of Indigenous and Human Rights:

https://www.change.org/p/sign-the-petition-u-s-border-wall-violates-international-law-u-s-law-violates-lipan-apache-indigenous-rights/

Per UN CERD request, the United States has until this 17 July 2017, just under two months, to reply to the UN CERD Committee. We must continue to be active and vigilant, so as to ensure the United States upholds its side of the UN CERD treaty and takes all necessary actions to be in compliance with International Human Rights Law.

General contact point: Apache Nde Nnee Working Group, annwg@iosde.org
]]><![CDATA[URGENT ACTION: SIGN THE PETITION - U.S. Border Wall violates International Law; U.S. Law violates Lipan Apache Indigenous Rights (see related UN CERD action)]]>Mon, 08 May 2017 17:30:37 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/sign-the-petition-us-border-wall-violates-international-law-us-law-violates-lipan-apache-indigenous-rights-also-a-new-related-intervention-to-un-cerdURGENT ACTION:
SIGN THE PETITION!
SAY NO TO THE BORDER WALL!
Sign the petition in support of halting any further US-Mexico border wall construction in Ndé (Lipan Apache) Peoples’ traditional and customary homelands, currently bifurcated by the States of Mexico and the United States.

We demand an end to the deep, inherent violations of the US-Mexico border and its crossing of Nde and Lipan Apache Indigenous territories and homelands, and respect for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

Petition at:
https://www.change.org/p/united-states-us-border-wall-violates-international-law-us-law-violates-lipan-apache-indigenous-rights
The Lipan Apache Women Defense (LAWD) and Dr. Eloisa García Tamez (Lipan Apache Ndé. Lipan Apache Band of Texas), The Lipan Apache Band of Texas, The Apache Nde Nnee Working Group, and the International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE) have submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UN CERD), and now make firm, public statements against the alien, colonial domination of the United States-Mexico border and border wall and, therein, the current United States administration’s executive order and any other mandate or effort in further construction of a United States-Mexico border wall in Apache Ndé, and, specifically Lipan Apache, territory/ies.

Border walls do not build a better humanity. Border walls have consistently existed in conjunction with social oppression, violations of human dignity, peace and life, and, in the cases of colonial settler States/countries, acts of violence and violations against Indigenous Peoples and pre-existing peoples and lifeways who have, and continue to survive, border colonialism. The United States-Mexico border wall is in violation of International Law.

Collectively, we have established the cutting edge for understanding of the United States’ border and border wall and its inherent, encompassing violations of Indigenous and Human Rights to, among other things, land, religion, and freedom of expression, culture, family and kinship, movement within one's customary community, speech, identity, access to justice and appropriate juridical procedures, and due process and remedy.
 
This action is in conjunction to the Follow up to Urgent Action/Early Warning re United States Executive Order to further construct a US-Mexico border wall, submitted to the United Nations CERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) Committee by Ariel Dulitzky (member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances) and his University of Texas Law Clinic, and in accordance with related previous legal initiatives, as detailed in the sections and links below.
RECENT breaking developments:

21 February 2017. Ariel Dulitzky (member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances) and his University of Texas Law Clinic, under the continuation of previous work with LAWD, sent a request to the UN CERD Committee for review of the current United States administration’s order(s) to undergo renewed border wall construction (See letter here)

27 April 2017. Eloisa Garcia Tamez, founder of LAWD, created a letter to UN CERD in support of Mr. Dulitzky’s initiative, alerting the CERD Committee to official, contextual legal history re the border wall and the Lipan Apache, and brought a supporting call to action on several points. (See letter here)

27 April 2017. The Chair of the Lipan Apache Band of Texas, Daniel Castro Romero, Jr., created a letter to UN CERD, also affirming Dulitzky and Tamez’s actions, calling on the UN CERD for protection and affirmation of inherent Indigenous Rights. (See letter here)

30 April 2017. The Apache Nde Nnee Working Group, via Dr. Margo Tamez, Lipan Apache Nde, and legal counsel India Reed Bowers, LLM, Founder & Director of IOSDE, wrote in support of the LAWD and Dulitzky actions, affirming Indigenous and Human Rights, contextualizing the situation in historical context and regarding colonialism, and referencing the Apache Nde Nnee Working Group’s 2015 and 2016 Shadow/Alternative Report submissions to UN CERD for the reviews of the Holy See and Spain, therein, and the ties to the current border wall and border as it/they violate Nde Peoples and lands. (See letter here)

1 May 2017. The International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE) submitted the three supporting letters to the UN CERD Committee together as one action of Lipan Apache and Nde self-determination. (See submission here)

5 May 2017. The CERD Secretariat confirmed receipt of the letters.

Now: We anticipate the CERD Committee's formal response in the approaching days/weeks.
SIGN THE PETITION!
SAY NO TO THE BORDER WALL!

Additional information:

The following information consists of excerpts from the LAWD-Apache Nde Nnee Working Group-Lipan Apache Band joint submission to UN CERD, in support of the Follow Up to the Urgent Action/Early Warning regarding the Border Wall and the United States as-submitted by Ariel Dulitzky and Clinic.
 
Background [for sampled, detailed key results from actions below, click here]:

  • In 2007, Indigenous women from El Calaboz led a national and international legal challenge to the wall.
 
  • In 2008, in partnership with Denise Gilman and the University of Texas School of Law, LAW-Defense participated in a hearing on the Texas-Mexico Border Wall, at the Inter-American Commission/Organization of American States, 133rd Period, held in Washington, D.C.; the Inter-American Commission/OAS supports the claims in the submission. (see key results here).
 
  • Dr. Margo Tamez, Co-founder, Lipan Apache Women Defense, Co-Director, Emilio Institute for Indigenous and Human Rights, submits and presents: Kónitsąąíí gokíyaa Ndé: ‘Big Water People’s Homeland’ a shadow of Self-Determination in a bifurcated Traditional Territory; from ‘Strengthening Partnership between States and indigenous peoples: treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements’, Geneva 16-17 July 2012, Organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, HR/GENEVA/ /SEM/NGOs/2012/BP.7 (see key results here)
 
  • In 2012, in partnership, with Mr. Dulitzky and the University of Texas (UT) Law Human Rights Clinic, the LAW Defense, in partnership with the Lipan Apache Band of Texas, co-submitted an Early Action/Early Warning (EA/EW) procedure to the UN CERD Committee (See more here).
 
  • Based on the submission to CERD above, on March 1, 2013, during the 82nd Session, Alexei Avtonomov, then UN CERD Committee Chair, sent a diplomatic letter to Ms. Betty E. King, then Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. (see key results here)
 
  • Ndee-Nnee Alliance Intervention Statement, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), 12th Session, 20-31 May 2013, New York. (see key points here). Other UNPFII and UN EMRIP statements also made in various sessions and years (available by request).
   
Current requests from Apache Ndé Nneé Working Group to the UN CERD Committee include (See more here):

  • Acknowledge the diversity of Ndé-Nneé juridical personality and political-territorial status(es) affected by the United States-Mexico border and border wall […] as a result of intergenerational and on-going racism, discrimination, and aggressive State policies. (Dr. Margo Tamez, Apache-Ndé-Nneé Shadow Report, CERD 88th Session: Holy See, p. 56).
 
  • Acknowledge that a United States Government’s policy/mandate-induced expansion of a United States-Mexico border wall, and without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the affected Indigenous Peoples, including the Lipan Apache Band (Ndé), is a continued colonial and genocidal territorial alien domination of the traditional Indigenous Peoples and lands and in direct violation of international law as per the ending of all forms of colonialism (CERD preamble and Art. 15, and associated and applicable UN GA Resolutions and UN initiatives, departments, mechanisms, procedures and treaties), as well as all relevant CERD Treaty articles and analyses as provided by Mr. Ariel Dulitzky and his Clinic’s submission.

Lastly, LAWD has called for the CERD Committee to affirm the Declaration from the El Calaboz 2011 Gathering on Indigenous Knowledge, Lands, Territory and Rights. (see key points here)

SIGN THE PETITION!

Sign the petition today in support of halting any further US-Mexico border wall construction in Ndé (Lipan Apache) Peoples’ traditional and customary homelands, currently bifurcated by the States of Mexico and the United States.

We demand an end to the deep, inherent violations of the US-Mexico border and its crossing of Nde and Lipan Apache Indigenous territories and homelands.

SAY NO TO THE BORDER WALL!
TEAR DOWN THE WALL!

Contact info: Apache Nde Nnee Working Group, annwg@iosde.org
]]><![CDATA[Letter from IOSDE's Restorative Justice Expert Associate to President Obama re Standing Rock, DAPL, and Obama's promises to Indigenous Youth]]>Sun, 04 Dec 2016 22:03:59 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/letter-from-iosdes-restorative-justice-expert-associate-mr-marquez-to-president-obama-re-standing-rockDear IOSDE friends, colleagues and family,

We are releasing a letter that IOSDE's Restorative Justice Expert Associate, Ramon Montano Marquez, has written and sent this past Friday, December 2nd, to President Barack Obama regarding the violations of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Indigenous Peoples and especially indigenous youth, as well as the Water Protectors and others in and affected by the situation of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). He writes from his perspective as a young indigenous man who is a committed educator, youth worker, advocate and restorative justice practitioner in the United States and the communities in which he lives and resides. He is a global advocate for indigenous youth, education and restorative justice.

It has been extremely and especially devastating that the President of the United States has directly used indigenous youth of the United States, including many from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, for his own career, publicity and campaigns, while making false promises and hopes to and for indigenous youth in the United States along the way, not taking a direct and swift stand, in turn and at the same time, as the United States leader, regarding crucial, harmful situations those very same youth have found themselves in, such as mass resource extraction violating their rights, cultures, families, sacredness, and traditions. Such hypocrisy and re-traumatization is unacceptable and in violation of a multitude of human rights and basic, fundamental human ethics.

We hope President Obama will take indigenous leaders and experts, such as Mr. Marquez, and indigenous youth seriously, as he does his own, and that he will participate in fully ending ending and repairing the damages he and the United States have done to Indigenous Peoples, as he promised, protecting the lands, waters, ecosystems and humans lives of all.

Please share Mr. Marquez's letter far and wide. For the downloadable pdf of the letter click here.

Sincerely,
India Reed Bowers, B.A. LL.M.
Founder & Director IOSDE

***

The letter reads as follows:

December 2, 2016

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
United States of America

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Ramon Montano Marquez and I am a young indigenous advocate from the Kickapoo, Kumeyaay and Paipai Tribal Nations, hoping for a better tomorrow for the children of America, and the world. My advocacy and engagements have led me to many great initiatives and to meet many wonderful people from around the world. I work for King-Chavez Neighborhood of Schools here in San Diego, California, as the Restorative Justice Coordinator for our King-Chavez Preparatory Academy.

At my young age of 23 I have accomplished many things, from being appointed to the Youth Panel of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, chaired by the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and current UN Special Envoy for Global Education Mr. Gordon Brown, to being asked to serve in the Global Campaign for Education – United States Board of Directors, to advising staff of the Global Partnership for Education on their Youth Engagement Strategy, and working with many stakeholders in the Global Education Movement and Educational Equity and Justice here at home, which are all great and wonderful experiences... But my most important role on top of my day-to-day job at King-Chavez is being a voice for my tribal indigenous peoples.

Mr. President, you have visited many tribal nations, been honored by many tribal elders, held our children, promised a better future for our tribal youth, and even created an indigenous youth movement- all promising a better tomorrow. However, promises are not always held to accountability and just become words, something that we indigenous peoples have been used to for hundreds of years. Yet, we continue to strive for equality and a basic understanding of our indigenous human rights. In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a declaration that was adopted and mandated in many UN member states for the protection of indigenous peoples around the world, including us, the indigenous peoples of the United States of America. In 2014, the United Nations hosted the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, and I was honored to have attended through sponsorship of the UN. During the General Assembly of the United Nations during the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, a Resolution was adopted which mandated member states to work with indigenous peoples to find a common ground on the UNDRIP. The UNDRIP and the Outcome Document were adopted by the UN General Assembly for the protection of indigenous peoples around the world. At this time, our own US nation has violated the UNDRIP and our human rights, as the first peoples of this lands. What we are witnessing in North Dakota is in huge violation of the rights of indigenous peoples. This new age civil war attacks our way of life and our constitutional rights as American people. The events in Standing Rock are not only Civil Rights Violations; the events are Human Rights Violations.

There are many articles on the UNDRIP I wished to include in my letter to you, President Obama, but there are two main articles that I feel go along with what I am expressing here today. According to the UNDRIP:

Article 7 (1) Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person. (2) Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group.

Article 8 (1) Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture. (2) States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for: (a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities; (b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources; (c) Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights; (d) Any form of forced assimilation or integration; (e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination directed against them.

I believe in the American dream, but what is happening to my fellow brothers and sisters has proven to me that the US government does not truly recognize the indigenous peoples of this land or our ways of life and prayer. As an involved education advocate who advocates on local, national and international levels for our children I have seen and heard many things... but the most devastating thing happening today is that our American indigenous children are being denied their human rights and the right to clean, accessible water. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a danger to all Americans who depend on water from the Missouri River, the Mississippi River, and all other affected and potentially affected water, waterways, soils and ecosystems. This pipeline violates a series of human rights and civil rights stated in our US Constitution, UNDRIP and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We the American people mourn for the state that our nation is currently in and most importantly for the future of our children. Every day I walk in to hundreds of children who fear for their future, who see the racism in our nation, who don’t understand why our nation is divided. These are the fears of our children. What’s more devastating is seeing the pain within the many who have experienced loss, who continue to fight their constant battles within them, those who have been taken to soon, those who have been forgotten and those who continue to strive for the next seven generations.

President Obama, in 2014 you sparked a new movement within the indigenous youth community that made many youth feel loved, heard, understood and cared for; you made promises to the tribal youth to protect them, to care for them, to understand them. Now the youth wonder where these promises have gone, where this movement of understanding has landed. For years our communities have struggled for common understanding between a new western mentally and our traditional cultural values, and we continue to struggle for that very same thing today. President Obama, I believe that it is never too late to do the right thing; all I can do is hope and pray that this wonderful nation of ours will do what’s right for the protection of our brothers and sisters, water and tribal communities. I urge you, President Obama, to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in its entirety and to demand full protection of the water protectors who continue to fight for equal human rights and for clean water for all people. I thank you for your time and pray that you do the right thing for the American people.

With Love and Respect,

Ramon Montano Marquez
Restorative Justice Expert Associate
International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE)

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]]><![CDATA[We Stand With Standing Rock! Stop Attacking Water Protectors! A Joint Statement by IPMSDL, AIPP, IOSDE]]>Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:09:40 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/we-stand-with-standing-rock-stop-attacking-water-protectors-a-joint-statement-by-international-indigenous-peoples-movement-for-self-determination-and-liberation-ipmsdl-asia-indigenous-peoples-pact-aipp-international-organization-for-self-determinWe Stand With Standing Rock! Stop Attacking Water Protectors!

A Joint Statement by

International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE)

23 November 2016

For downloadable PDF of this statement including photos click here.
On the night of November 20, 2016, over 400 Water Protectors gathered on a bridge near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, United States and were violently dispersed by police forces in the name of the corporate-owned Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The security forces were in riot gear and used water cannons, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, tear gas and sound cannons against the Water Protectors, who were weaponless and praying, singing and seeking to create access to and through the bridge in order to ensure connection to a nearby town for supplies, support and health care.

In this horrific incident, police forces indiscriminately aimed water cannons at everyone on the site, and targeted people's heads and legs with their bullets. Tear gas was also used against the Water Protectors.  Around 300 were injured and 26 had to be hospitalized, including one arm amputation case, one for cardiac arrest, and another for seizures. Because of the near-freezing temperature in the area, the water from the cannons used by the police caused early signs of hypothermia. Police also illegally detained 16 protesters one day after the incident.

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, has continued construction of the USD 3.7 billion project despite a request from the US government to temporarily cease construction. The US Army Corps of Engineers, with capacity to implement this request into order, has in fact done nothing to stop ETP from continuing construction. The 1,170-mile pipeline will threaten the water supplies and waterways, and continue to desecrate Native American burial grounds and sacred sites. ETP has already landgrabbed from private US landowners as well as Native Americans in the course of construction. At least 500 activists and supporters have been slapped with trumped-up charges for resisting the project.

The International Indigenous Peoples' Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), and the International Organization for Self Determination and Equality (IOSDE) condemn in the strongest possible terms this violent dispersal of Water Protectors by government security forces. Instead of protecting its own people against plunder, environmental degradation and human rights violations, the US government has chosen to side with big corporations such as ETP. It has done nothing to uphold its international obligations to protect human rights, and its continued support of the DPAL construction clearly shows its bias to protect corporate interests and outright disregard of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other oppressed groups not only in its own country but in the whole world.

We from the IPMSDL, AIPP and IOSDE strongly reiterate our solidarity with the Sioux peoples in their fight  against corporate encroachment, plunder and militarization of their ancestral lands. We continue to stand with the Standing Rock Sioux peoples and all Indigenous Peoples in the world in our common struggle for self determination, the defense of our lands, territories and resources, and the protection of our cultural heritage. Global attention and actions are urgently needed to resolve the historical injustices committed against Indigenous Peoples, which is the source of many of the conflicts around the world.


Reference:

Ms. Beverly Longid
Global Coordinator, IPMSDL, info@ipmsdl.org, ipmsdl@gmail.com

Ms. Joan Carling
Secretary General, AIPP, aippmail@aippnet.org

Ms. India Reed Bowers
Director, IOSDE, info@iosde.org

]]><![CDATA[IPMSDL statement: Attacks against indigenous Santal in Bangladesh by government forces must stop! ]]>Fri, 11 Nov 2016 12:57:38 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/ipmsdl-statement-attacks-against-indigenous-santal-in-bangladesh-by-government-forces-must-stopDear IOSDE friends and colleagues,

IOSDE, via its director, is on the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of the International Indigenous Peoples' Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL). We work collectively for justice, rights fulfillment and equality.

Please make note of these horrific events, do what you can to help, and share the news in solidarity. The wars against the people(s) of this world we all live in must be brought to an end, for the full and due return of access to life, health, peace and healing.

Press release and link below:
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International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation - Friday, November 11, 2016
The International Indigenous Peoples' Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing attacks against the indigenous Santal people and Bengali farmers in Bangladesh by government security forces and private gunmen. To date, these continuing attacks have resulted in 3 deaths and 30 injured. 1,200 families have been forcibly displaced as a result of these actions.

On the morning of November 6, 2016, Bangladeshi police and local gunmen hired by the Rangpur Sugar Mills Authority attacked thousands of indigenous Santal and Bengali peoples in the Shahebgan Bagda farm of Rangpur Sugar Mills in Gaibanda district in Bangladesh. This bloody attack was an effort by the Bangladeshi government and greedy corporations to forcibly evict the Santals from their ancestral lands. 2 died and 30 were injured while another 3 were illegally arrested.

Later that evening government forces and private goons set fire to the houses of the Santals and Bengalis and shot to death another Santal, forcing 1,200 families to flee from their ancestral lands. Unconfirmed reports say another four (4) people were killed by the police and their bodies are being held in the Bagda farm. Following these incidents the Bangladeshi police then slapped more than 400 Santals and Bengalis with trumped-up charges.

Since 2014 the indigenous Santals and Bengali farmers have been demanding the return of over 700 hectares of their ancestral lands from the government and the Rangpur Sugar Mills Authority. The Santals and Bengalis accused the government and the company of violating the previous agreement they had made, wherein the Indigenous Peoples will allow only sugarcane to be planted on their ancestral lands. On July 2016 the indigenous Santals and Bengali farmers occupied over 40 hectares of land and built makeshift homes and a school. This makeshift community was also attacked by government security forces that same month by government forces in an effort to evict the Santals and the Bengali.

These continuing attacks and the refusal of the government and the Rangpur Sugar Mills to honor past agreements with the Santal peoples is a gross violation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples to determine the development of their ancestral lands. IPMSDL strongly demands that the government cease and desist further attacks on the Santal people and Bengali farmers and honor previous agreements made with Indigenous Peoples, and their ancestral lands be immediately returned. Furthermore, we demand that all trumped up charges against the Santal people and Bengali farmers be dropped immediately, and that the government immediately arrest State security forces and hired gunmen responsible for the bloody attacks.

The IPMSDL stands united with the Santal people of Bangladesh in the fight to reclaim and defend their ancestral territories, and we are one with the Santal people in condemning these vicious attacks by the Bangladeshi government on the right of the Santals to self determination.

/ref# s1623/mark

Photo from the Dhaka Tribune.
]]><![CDATA[Standing Rock's Red Owl Legal Collective sends Divestment Letter to Den Norske Bank - DNB (The Bank of Norway) in serious and urgent request that DNB divest from the Dakota Access Pipeline (#NODAPL)]]>Tue, 08 Nov 2016 02:51:57 GMThttp://iosde.org/news/standing-rock-red-owl-legal-collectives-letter-to-den-norske-bank-dnb-the-bank-of-norway-in-serious-and-urgent-request-that-dnb-divest-from-the-dakota-access-pipeline-dapl
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US government and private pipeline security militarization against the water protectors on the traditional territory of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Rob Wilson Photography, https://www.facebook.com/rob.wilson.142892

The Red Owl Legal Collective has sent a Divestment Letter to Den Norske Bank – DNB (The Bank of Norway), in serious and urgent request that DNB divest from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) due to, among other things, grave human, indigenous and environmental rights violations of the pipeline project and construction.

Link to the letter can be found here.

The letter's heading is DNB Divestment from the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Fulfillment of the Human Rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their Supporters. It was sent to DNB today (Nov. 8) electronically and will be hand-delivered tomorrow (Nov. 9) in person in Norway.

Red Owl Legal Collective, with the support of the National Lawyer's Guild, is the on-the-ground, direct support legal team at the Standing Rock encampment in North Dakota, where the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its supporters, also known as water protectors, having been standing against the pipeline for several months, facing ongoing, historical, current and intensely increasing conditions of rights violations due to the pipeline construction and pending usage.

The letter has been compiled and written for the Red Owl Legal Collective by:

Michelle Cook, J.D.
SJD Candidate, University of Arizona, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy
Program
Red Owl Legal Collective Member

India Reed Bowers
BA Cultural Anthropology, Brown University, United States
LLM International law of human rights & criminal justice, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Founder & Director, International Organization for Self-Determination and Equality (IOSDE)

Andrew B. Reid, JD, LLM
Adjunct Professor, International and Human Rights Law of Indigenous Peoples University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Please share widely with your contacts, networks and media.
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