US Human Rights Network Statement of Solidarity

The US Human Rights Network (USHRN) stands in solidarity with TONATIERRA and Los Comités de Defensa del Barrio in the struggle against Arizona’s SB 1070 and other laws that seek to re-enshrine white supremacy and justify colonial conquest.

We will not compromise with the peddlers of racism and the promoters of colonialism. We defend the gains of the Indigenous, Chicano, and Black Liberation movements of the 1960’s and 70’s to dismantle dejure racism. However, the resurgence of racial discrimination and the persistence of racial inequity, clearly demonstrate that more needs to be done to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of these liberation movements. Conditions demand that progressive social movements press for the full recognition and fulfillment of the human rights of all, including the right of oppressed people to self-determination, to overcome these inequities and provide restitution for the centuries of crimes against humanity that Indigenous, Chicano, and Black peoples and communities have suffered at the hands of European settlers and the United States government.

We further applaud TONATIERRA and Los Comités de Defensa del Barrio for taking the bold step of adopting the Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. Adoption of this declaration is a fundamental and necessary step towards implementing restorative justice for oppressed peoples throughout the world and the beginning of the journey towards creating social systems that will enable the restoration of ecological equilibrium between humanity and “all its relations”.

We applaud your foresight and your courage. And look forward to supporting your ongoing efforts in the struggle for justice, human rights, and liberation.

Kali Akuno

Acting Co-Director, US Human Rights Network

Wednesday, January 25, 2012