The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe must have a say with regard to a $3.8 billion oil pipeline that could disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for 8,000 tribal members, representatives of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said Wednesday.
In a statement, the forum’s chairman Alvaro Pop Ac called on the U.S. to provide the tribe a “fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent process to resolve this serious issue and to avoid escalation into violence and further human rights abuses.”
Dalee Dorough, an Inuit member of the forum, which provides representation at the world body for indigenous peoples around the globe, said failure to consult with Sioux over the project violated the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Article 19 of the declaration, which the U.S. endorsed in 2010, says: “States shall consult and co-operate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”
“There has been a lack of good faith consultation with the indigenous people who will more than likely be impacted,” Dorough said in telephone interview from Anchorage Alaska. “The U.N. declaration is fundamental because President Obama pronounced support for it and that they haven’t been consulted consistent with the rights of that declaration is highly problematic.”
Native Americans from reservations hundreds of miles around have joined the growing protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will pass through Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota, causing the company to temporarily halt construction. Over the past few weeks, nearly 30 protesters have been arrested.
On August 25, 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux and hundreds of people gathered in Washington D.C. in opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. A judge is expected to rule on a lawsuit submitted by the Sioux against the Army Corps of Engineers for lack of consultation.
In all honesty; I think the only way that you can get transparency with negotiations over land and resources is to record every meeting. It’s no good relying on ‘paper work’ as proof of anything because paperwork can get ‘lost’ as the whole of history with indigenous land issues has shown. It would seem that at every land issue meeting, deal, negotiation each and every first nation needs a legal representative from ‘human rights’ as well as tangible evidence of what is said and done in every context. Videoed. Why should these nations holding the valuable land resources that are ‘coveted’ so much, have to keep footing the bill as well as the damage, and the loss? It seems that the law and human rights are ‘maintained’ as divorced from what the financial objective is being the sales and legitimate or not legitimate use of land, itself being over and above the land’s owners and thereby their rights over and above business men. Snatching or duping land out of people’s property is illegal but so too, is fear mongering, black mail, the conscious manufacturing of misinformation and rights of those wishing to purchase the land or/and rights to do what they want without regard to the ‘owners’ of the land. This is abuse and exploitation per se before we even get to the reasons for no sale, namely environmental degradation but also the health factors associated with burst oil pipes, and toxins poisoning humans and fish as well as the land. Aka the very real health risks to many of these communities = 1000’s of people over time. This kind of abuse runs into serious ‘willful intent’ issues on a number of crimes – starting with the issues of human rights and the legitimacy of ownership!
that is true, but the government does have proof of papers from history that state of any treaty was made with the Natives and the indigenous people that state a relationship between and they have to resolve the problem. and then, the present situation, if the company would got an ok by the Native people. it could of gone smoothly, but since that did not happen. it is the companies fault for not showing and given the approval by the government and the community to “all” ok the process. but in the end, who is the blame of the situation is the human population of demand and resources. every year, new resources are being made from a simple small material, can impact of how much materials need to make one small material which it will definitely impact the future generation, but also will it comply with the community to accept it. so the blame is the system is working to create something valuable like oil. it does have an impact on things, but it will also affect the surrounding situation as the people. the process is like hell and that everything needs to be in control of what reality rule of need and want. and from those two is going to be a cause and effect scenario. I’ve witness this and it is not a smooth road. I get the understanding, but as always the real culprit to make things work is human nature against everything. everything is the problem that has to make the world go round and round and that humans cannot stop until the end. not the world , but the human race. if they can resolve another issue from another source. it’s the “HUMAN” nature is the problem of everything that has to make everything work
Hi ya; I’v only just seen your reply. You speak of 1/ transparancy 2/ human nature as the problem. Both are major elements in the ‘making’ of devastation to the environment and to life – and people.
On Transparency – yes you have historical documents that were made to give you the freedom to choose what is to become of yourselves on your lands. However, government erodes these papers by ‘continually’ making new ‘legal’ policies which favour corporate companies chipping away at your rights and your land ownership and freedom to do what you want with it. In the UK, people buy a house, yet the fracking companies can dig under and around the house without your consent, regardless of ownership and cost, devaluation and devastation to your property that you are mortgaged or paid outright ( at least you can move away if you rent). It seems to be the same with you guys only you’ve got whole national geographical lands comprising of acres (wheres Brits only have a house and a neckerchief size plot of land). Still, the companies take it! And they take it when you are dead too. That’s greed. Greed is made by commercials, media, and life styles promoted on t.v and magazines which all present ‘styles’ as in cars, media tools, not only gas and electricity but plastic that covers everything you buy – poison, suffocating stuff which doesn’t dissolve and ruins the sea and its babs whom live there. Media turns ‘desire’ or ‘fancying’ into ‘NEED’. For example, look at mobile phones, everybody has them. You can’t eat them, but even people living on the dumps in INdia have them. And these too are environmentally destructive ( sorry can’t remember how right now).
When you send the kids to school (all nations everywhere) the connection between families and neighbors gets broken. These are the people that teach you about helping each other, the local producers, to work locally and support each other, make loads of things, fishing, building homes and more. That is REAL NEED made out of love, not plastic love, but love as friendship and respect – deep bonds, historic and more. This is broken AS KIDS so that you are vulnerable to ‘outside’ influences = DEMANDS. Your mums and dads had the same thing and even your grand parents, in uk, ours is longer than yours, though you have residential schools which tried to do a quick job of it through torture -emotional and physical. You/we don’t care anymore about ‘real love’ because its been broken so that you LOVE adverts and MEDIA demands. Therefore, instead of doing what was natural- working together in a community, we all follow the examples of media and do what they want us to do. Buy their products and make them rich at the expense of the community – all the time. KIDS in the UK commit suicide because they cannot ‘look’ like what the media says what they should look like. They’ can’t because they cannot get jobs to afford to be and look the way that is popular at the time. They also can’t keep up with its ongoing transformations which companies do so you are always buying to look and be cool etc. With mums and dads its always to buy the latest electrical gadgets, phones, etc – it all serves to keep your attention aways from the people that you need. Kids get counseling. Its expensive for tax payers and privately. It’s not the answer, the answer it to keep it real and make your own way, arts, culture, clothes and energy not to be a ‘pet dog’ of the companies. Kids would stop trying to end their lives when the competition in greedy culture is ignored and seen as totally uncool and is being ‘the way of the wimp’ – – right!! You don’t need therapists and shite – start up businesses your/ourselves and don’t let the big corporations copy them or buy from them as they will do it themselves and undercut your profits. Keep it in the family – community – everywhere, from one community to the other – not to the big boys. Who knows, they big boys might actually have to start working for a living and learn to tie there own shoes laces up!
I am always thinking of ways to make our own safe energy. There is NOTHING wrong in technology because you can always make it green and sustainable. For example, there is nothing wrong with having a washing machine (i don’t have one) because you can use biodegradable liquid and the water can be used again, also solar and also wind and more for all other appliances (as long as you don’t use plastic coating etc).The oil barons do not want us all to demand eco friendly energy because they will go out of business. That’s it. We are raised not from our families but from adverts and media, a few massive businesses and an international army called the law to protect profits. Greed of us keep demanding ‘things’ is REAL NEED/LOVE as transformed and false NEED?LOVE of what schools and companies want us to love and need to make THEM big profits. All kids attempting suicide are healthy, they do it because they know the lives they are pushed in too are NOT NATURAL.