A-Infos (en) UN Delegation Holds Hearings on Dineh relocation

["Shawn Ewald" <shawn@wilshire.net>]

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UN Human Rights Delegation Holds Hearings on Forced Relocation and
Religious Persecution of the Dineh people

by Shawn Ewald and Lyn Gerry
for The A-Infos News Service

BIG MOUNTAIN, NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA -- On Febuary 2nd and 3rd, at
the home of Glenna Begay, a tradtional Dineh elder, hearings were held
by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and
several UN affiliated NGO's, investigating charges of the forced
relocation of traditional Dineh people from their homes,
religious persecution against those who practice traditional Dineh
beliefs, and environmental degradation of traditional Dineh lands
by Peabody Coal Company.

The hearings were the result of a complaint filed by the Dineh in 
1997 charging the US Federal Government with human rights violations. 
The hearings are an attempt to pressure the US Federal Government to
repeal Public Laws 93-531 and 104-301 which have legalized the denial
of access to water, livestock confiscation, the denial of the right to
gather firewood for the Dineh to heat their homes in winter -- even in
cases of life threatening illness, and the denial of the right of the
Dineh to make improvements in their housing. The Dineh filed the
complaint because the US Federal Government has consistently blocked 
any attempt by the Dineh to address their grievances in a US court.

The Dineh also hope that the United Nations will formally charge the
United States with human rights violations.

British-owned Peabody Coal Company (henceforth, PCC), the world's
largest privately-held coal company, operates the Black Mesa/Kayenta
strip mine in the heart of the Black Mesa region of the Dineh
reservation. Over 4,000 burial and sacred sites have been destroyed as
a result of strip mining. There is no protection given to Dineh burial
grounds  and sacred sites. Their religion, which is land based and
site specific, is the foundation of their way of life. The Dineh state
that Public Laws 93-531 and 104-301 were written specifically to
promote PCC's interests in the region.

Mr. Amor and the visiting NGO's heard the testimony of Dineh elders
from all over the Black Mesa region of the Dineh reservation. They
gave their accounts of their forced eviction or the eviction of their
neighbors from their land, the demolition of theirs and their
neighbors homes, as well as accounts of harassment by the US Bureau of
Indian Affairs. The hearings for both days lasted well into the night.

Elders from the neighboring Hopi reservation also gave their
testimony. They verified many of the statements of the Dineh elders,
especially the accounts of the increasing scarcity of water in the
region.

The Dineh and Hopi reservations sit on top of one of the largest
aquifers in the South West. PCC has been using massive amounts of
water from the aquifer to operate coal slurry pipelines that transport
coal to Las Vegas and Southern California without replacing the water
they use, which is a requirement of US mining regulation. The result
of these mining violations has meant that well's are rapidly running
dry all across the Dineh and Hopi reservations.

The Hopi elders also came to publicly dispel the myth of a Dineh/Hopi
land dispute, which the traditional Dineh and Hopi say has been
manufactured by the Hopi and Dineh tribal councils in an effort to
prevent solidarity among the Hopi and Dineh in this struggle. The
traditional Dineh and Hopi regard their tribal councils as nothing
more than puppets of the US Federal Government who merely rubber-stamp
any proposal made by the Federal Government and its corporate backers.

Well over one hundred Dineh supporters from all over the United
States also came to attend the event, and donate food, clothing 
and their labor. Members of Free Radio Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) and 
Radio Clandestina (Los Angeles, CA) set up a temporary micropower 
radio station, Free Radio Dineh, for the UN visit. For three days, 
interviews and commentary from Dineh resistors as well as testimony 
from the hearings were broadcast to residents of the Black Mesa/Big 
Mountain region. The members of FRB and RC hope to set up a permanent 
micropower station for the traditional Dineh in the near future.

The event was universally considered to be a success, and the Dineh 
are hopeful that they will see a positive result from the hearings. 
In his opening remarks, Mr. Amor told those in attendance at the 
hearings, "I will listen with an open mind and an open heart". 
Whether the UN General Assembly will listen with open minds and 
hearts and have the strength to charge the United States with human 
rights violations remains to be seen.

For more information on the plight of the Dineh, go to:
http://www.solcommunications.com
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Radio4All:
http://www.radio4all.org/
The A-Infos Radio Project:
http://radio4all.web.net/

Public PGP Block: http://www.radio4all.org/pgp/

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