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UN Human Rights Council Report on Indigenous and Militarization: What the Report Omits

by Brenda Norrell
Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, said a new report to the UN Human Rights Council on militarization and Indigenous Peoples, fails to relay the impacts and is padded with words stolen by college professors from authentic Native people. Ofelia describes the racket of non-profits hustling for money at the United Nations, and the profiteering academics and fake chiefs.
ofelia-rivas.jpg
UN Human Rights Report on Indigenous and Militarization: What the report is not telling you

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 12, 2023

The report on the impact of militarization on Indigenous Peoples now being presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council fails to relay the impact or carry the voice of authentic Indigenous Peoples. Instead, the report is padded with words stolen by college professors and used by non-profits who are profiteering, said Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham.

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, and founder of O'odham Voice against the Wall, has spent her life on the border in the struggle for human rights and and protection of the sacred -- while battling the U.S. Border Patrol and militarization of the border.

Ofelia described the murder of her friend since childhood, Raymond Mattia, Tohono O'odham, murdered by U.S. Border Patrol agents on May 18. Raymond was shot nine times in a rain of bullets on his front door steps, in Ali-Jegk on the Tohono O'odham Nation on the Arizona border.

"When Raymond Mattia complied with their profanity-filled demands, he was still gunned down, dead, as documented on their own Border Patrol cameras," Ofelia said.

Ofelia described the reality of the murder of women and the impact of militarization on the Tohono O'odham Nation. Ofelia's interview with Censored News, and her testimony here, are not included in the new report to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"Women are found dumped on the reservation roads to be run over by their own border patrol trucks. The unmonitored numerous unauthorized roads that crisscross the lands are full of unmarked undocumented graves, victims of the United States military forces known as the border patrol, customs, militia and special forces," Ofelia said.

"The United States of America refuses to acknowledge Human Rights violations within the United States," Ofelia said, describing the response of the U.S. to her testimony on border militarization to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Jamaica in 2019.

Ofelia also described the constant surveillance of the spy towers, integrated fixed towers, constructed by the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. These 11 towers on the Tohono O'odham Nation provide live images to the U.S. Border Patrol who can now stalk vulnerable O'odham.

The report to the United Nations Human Rights Council is padded with words that were stolen by college professors.

Ofelia said, "All the words are directly from the defenders who gave their lives and still stand strong with the real people. The people that traveled for days to arrive at isolated communities to sit on the land and make offerings in their fire."

"The hearts are not on the ground. No pretend indigenous or professor-of-deceit or gated-community-book-producer, words thief, can take our strength."

"Relatives defend your words and own experiences in this lifetime existence. The pretenders return back to your plastic-wrapped lives of greed, and exploit your own delirious delusion."

Ofelia also described the vulgarity of social media.

"All the social media giants will control our thoughts and actions, from a peaceful people to an unrecognizable vulgar aggressive void of humanity's existence," Ofelia said.

Ofelia described the racket of non-profits scrambling for grant money, using grassroots Natives' words and issues without their consent, at the United Nations.

"Meanwhile the pretenders in unrecognizable wear and paraphernalia crowd the popular United Nations halls and Geneva stages to shamefully discuss Indigenous issues for their next grant writer efforts to bring in that Indian money," Ofelia told Censored News today.

Ofelia said pretenders and the fake chiefs are profiteering

"When pretenders forget what tribe they were from day to day it should be obvious to the real people. Or maybe an obscure less-known tribe now has a number of others increasing the membership, it's obvious to the real people," Ofelia said.

"Especially when a clown claiming to be some chief got a hundred thousand dollars from a non-profit with questionable motives -- we see the old divide and conquer when it comes to land and culture."

"We the real people must stand strong," Ofelia said.

Censored News reported live the testimony of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in July in Geneva, Switzerland. Much of the most powerful testimony is not included in the final report to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The testimony is in the original series at Censored News.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-united-nations-and-us-government.html

Note: Ofelia Rivas does not allow her image or words to be used without written permission.
Ofelia's website, with contact information, is O'odham Rights https://www.oodhamrights.org/

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Ofelia Rivas, Censored News

Also see:

Yaqui Disappeared and Assassinated Not Included in report to UN Human Rights Council, by Censored News

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/yaqui-disappeared-and-assassinated-not.html
§
by Brenda Norrell
screenshot_2023-09-11_1.58.19_pm.png
The new report on militarization impacts on Indigenous Peoples fails to convey the magnitude of the testimony at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva in July, including the powerful statement of a young Indigenous woman from Russia now living in exile. She refuted Russia's claim that Indigenous youths are given an alternative to military service. Instead, they are being forcibly mobilized and dying in the Ukraine war. She said the UN's draft report gave credibility to the Federation of Russia's statement and created a lack of confidence in the ongoing process at the U.N.
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