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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.
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.
Copyright © 2010 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
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.
Copyright © 2010 Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
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A delegation of the Phoenix-based Tonatierra stated violations result from international borders and
immigration enforcement policies.
immigration enforcement policies.
Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus Calls for United Nations
to Address Human Rights Violations
to Address Human Rights Violations
