International Indigenous Human Rights Class

I would like to go back to early readings you did for the first class this semester. On page 3 in HRSJ, the author discusses the contents of each chapter and provides some background information for why they consider these topics essential to this textbook. Please do some quick research (basic, simple, web-based inquiry looking for constitutions in English for Iran, Brazil, India, and or Pakistan). Choose one of these countries and compare their constitution to the US constitution answer the following two questions and post your response on this blog:

1. What rights are citizens granted (social, political, economic, cultural etc.) in the current constitution (of the country you chose). Is the country you choose a signatory to the UNDHR? If not, can you identify why based on your reading of its constitution?

2. How does the current US constitution and social order adhere to the basic human rights principles as outlined in the preface and introduction to HRSJ? How does it not adhere to basic human rights principles as outlined in the UNDHR?

Cacique Marcos Xukuru - Group Meeting for Remembering Retomadas (re-taking of land) and for re-mapping of Indian territories 11-09

--

Marcia Mikulak

Associate Professor

Anthropologh Department

University of North Dakota

Grand Forks, ND 58202-8374

701-777-0718 Office

701-330-1311 Cell

http://www.und.edu/dept/anthro/Dr_Mikulak.html

www.twitter.com/xukurutwit

www.facebook.com/marcia.mikulak

www.youtube.com/marciamikulak

To the US and Back to Pernambuco

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been very busy reaching out to a variety of individuals and organizations in the US who can assist in reviewing the legal case of Cacique Marcos Xukuru, and assist us in our push to put pressure on the 5th Regional Tribunal in Recife to reverse his 10 year and 4 month prison sentence.

While in the US during December, I contacted The American Anthropological Association and passed on information about the human rights abuses endured by the Xukuru for more than 30 years (not to mention colonial attempts at eradication. The AAA has agreed to review Marco's case. If they find in favor of assisting Marcos, they will be a very valuable addition to our list of organizations supporting the reversal of his sentence, and also in support of indigenous human rights in Brazil.

In addition, I also spoke with the Indian Law Review Center in Washington, DC regarding the Xukuru fight for land and human rights. They also agreed to review the history of human rights abuses against the Xukuru up to and including Marco's case. Their advocacy and legal assistance will be invaluable to Marcos and his legal team here in Brazil.

If any human rights lawyers are reading this blog, I would love to hear from you in order to share more detailed legal documents from the 2009 trial that reveal the absence of due process for Marcos and demonstrate judicial bias. I'll be posting some of the trial data (in Portuguese) soon.

VID 00018-20091015-1312.3GP

Xukuru - Dancing the Tore (a ritual process with a variety of purposes and meanings). See Blog for more information.

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Gaining Ground on Legal Assistance

Good news - we're gaining some ground on finding US lawyers who work in international indigenous human rights that are willing to support the Xukuru’s struggle to gain their human rights. The lawyers will assist in the current appeals to reverse the sentence of 10 years and 4 months levied against Cacique Marcos Xukuru , and various other sentences given to 31 Xukuru tribal members and village leaders. This is exciting news, brought to me by Joseph Mandala (my research assistant). Thanks to Joseph's hard work, we hope to have several US lawyers working with international human rights documents to identify specific areas where the Brazilian legal system is non-compliant as signatories. Will keep you posted on the ways in which such documents can be very useful, and hopefully, successful.

Here are links to the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/declaration.htm

* The UN Declaration was adopted by a majority of 143 states in favor, 4 votes against (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) and 11 abstentions (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine).

* The Declaration establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, well-being and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The Declaration addresses both individual and collective rights; cultural rights and identity; rights to education, health, employment, language, and others. It outlaws discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them. It also ensures their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own priorities in economic, social and cultural development. The Declaration explicitly encourages harmonious and cooperative relations between States and indigenous peoples.

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/512/07/PDF/N0651207.pdf?OpenElement

*English version of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/declaration/declaration_QA_2009.html

*This is an interesting read - it's a web page from the Australian Human Rights Commission that offers a "Q&A" on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As one of the four countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, & the US) opposed to the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, this page offers a discussion on the issues that continue to produce miss-information about indigenous peoples and their rights.

Questions:

• Which human rights abuses experienced by the Xukuru can you identify in the General Assembly’s Resolutions? In the 46 Articles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

• How would you discuss the issues and present them is such a way as to demonstrate how the Brazilian Nation-State has abused the basic human rights of the Xukuru as outlined in this document?

These are two of the questions we must answer in ways that convince the Regional Federal Tribunal of the 5th region (Pernambuco, Brazil) which is reviewing current appeals to reverse the Federal Courts’ decision to sentence Cacique Marcos Xukuru to 10 years and 4 months in prison (see discussions in earlier blogs about the attempted assassination of Cacique Marcos Xukuru and other abuses). Your suggestions could add to our success.

Good Web Page

http://assinexukuru.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html
This web page is in Portuguese. For those who read Portuguese, several petitions/letters in support of the Xukuru are posted here.

IMG00063-20091015-1322.jpg

Jacinaiara - Young Xukuru Child - 4 years old

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.