World Governments Attempt to Silence Indigenous Peoples at United Nations Permanent Forum

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
April 24, 2023

NEW YORK -- The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues began its second week today, and world governments continued to rush to silence Indigenous Peoples, and deny the human rights violations being exposed.

The governments of India and Vietnam denied human rights violations and were critical of statements by Indigenous Peoples detailing violations in those countries. China's cultural genocide in Mongolia was exposed for a second time during the Permanent Forum today.

Meanwhile, the government representatives of Mexico and Guatemala sounded more like a travel guide than a serious response. They failed to discuss the widespread assassinations, torture, and disappearances of Indigenous Peoples fighting mining and development, the poisoning of their rivers, and the loss of land, forests, and lives.

Gam Shimray told the Permanent Forum today, that this is not a place "to come and complain" about human rights violations. Gam Shimray, critical of statements being presented by Indigenous Peoples, is secretary general of the United Nations Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.

While the bureaucratic rhetoric continues, many traditional Indigenous wait for a turn to speak.

A Mongolian youth representative told the United Nations that China's cultural genocide in Mongolia has cost lives, and now the Mongolian language is at risk during the widespread crackdown in the name of 'Chinese supremacy.'

"On behalf of 6 million Mongolians, I would like to bring to your attention the ongoing cultural genocide committed by the government of China," she said last week, representing the Society for Threatened Peoples.

The heavy-handed crackdown was a full-scale cultural genocide campaign and the scope has extended far beyond the simple switch of language in schools, she said.

"'Learn Chinese' and become a civilized person has been an official slogan publicly promoting Chinese supremacy," she said, pointing out that China was overriding its own laws.

The government of China rushed to defend its human rights record and said it does not have Indigenous Peoples. Instead, China has ethnic autonomous regions, he said.

Blackfeet Councilman Marvin Weatherwax, Jr., told the United Nations Forum, "Today there is no greater offender to tribal rights than the U.S. Department of Justice which repeatedly fails to protect our tribal communities in egregious violation of the government's treaties and trust duties."

Councilman Weatherwax, chairman of the Coalition of Large Tribes, delivered a powerful address during the first week of the Forum.

The United States has failed to ensure Navajo water rights, plans to put a copper mine in the epicenter of San Carlos Apaches ceremonial place at Oak Flat, and treats Native people with hostility along the Canadian border.

The Department of Justice has taken the position in federal court that the United States bears no responsibility for the rape of a Northern Cheyenne woman in her home by an on-duty federal law enforcement officer.

Describing the horrific discovery of remains of Native children in boarding schools, and the widespread abuse, he said this cultural genocide has resulted in inter-generational trauma. As required by law, the land these boarding schools were built on must be returned to Native people, beginning with the Rapid City Indian boarding school, he said.

South Wales Aboriginal Land Council was among the first speakers, as the second week of the United Nations Permanent Forum began. Indigenous from Ecuador spoke as guardians and warriors of the Amazon. Saami delegations continue to speak out for the people of the far north. Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, struggling for rights and federal recognition in California, spoke on the damage being done by genetic modification.

The government representative of Canada pointed out this morning that Indigenous Peoples should be given priority at the Forum. This comes after the world governments have been absorbing large amounts of time defending their human rights records, after being exposed by Indigenous Peoples during the first week.

Follow Censored News coverage
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/