Los Comités de Defensa del Barrio
Human Rights Commision
Prerogatives of the Peoples
Principles and Demands
The right of representation in the affairs
of public government is one of the fundamental pillars of democracy. In terms of US immigration law and policy,
without the legitimate representation of the constituency, especially those peoples among the constituents most
impacted by subsequent policies, there can be no hope for justice in any
legislation which may be brought forward to be adopted in law.
In
today’s times, when so much inhumanity, racism and political animosity clouds
the debate on what principles should guide a “just” immigration policy for the
US government, we of the Comités de
Defensa del Barrio are determined to bring forward into the public
discussion on this issue, the perspective of our families, communities, and
organizations of Indigenous Peoples.
Prerogative of the Peoples
Principles
§
As Indigenous
Peoples, we are equal to all other peoples.
The recognition of equality is fundamental to the respect for all Human
Rights, as has been articulated in the UN
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), but only since the adoption
on September 13, 2007 of the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has this recognition of
equality been the extended to Indigenous Peoples as a standard for law and
policy for all governments and constituencies of the United Nations around the
world.
§
As Indigenous
Peoples, we are not immigrants in our own continent. While the issue of international borders of the states and the Human Rights and
Territorial Rights of the Nation of Indigenous Peoples is an issue across the
globe, in this continent of Abya Yala
[the Americas] we face a distinct and particular challenge in addressing the
violation of our collective rights as Indigenous Peoples in this regard, since
the normalization of these systemic violations has been institutionalized at
all levels of law and policy across the continent by the Doctrine of Discovery of 1492.
§
While the issue of US Border Enforcement
policies in all aspects is the frame of reference for the ongoing debate on “comprehensive immigration reform” in
the US Congress, there has been no substantive acknowledgement of the rights of
Indigenous Peoples in the deliberations on public policy, such as the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as Migrant
Workers and their Families, under United Nations Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, or the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (2007).
§
Presently, most of the attention and public
vitriol in the US on these issues that has focused on the situation at the
US-Mexico border, is in reality simply the reassertion in the public
media-sphere of the continuation of the racist ideology of the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny (1845),
which first legitimized the acquisition by “any means necessary” of the
territory of the state of Texas, and then in cultural blitzkrieg of genocide
across the continent resulted in the present border agreement between the two
countries officialized by the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. At no
time in the entire history of these developments, from 1845 to 2014, has the
position of the Nations of Indigenous Peoples on either side of
the border been integrated with Equality
as Peoples into the legislative debates regarding border enforcement
policies. NO LEGISLATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
§
In context of the above, we are called to
address the “humanitarian crisis” of the surge of unaccompanied minors and
families being detained and deported by ICE as we speak in violation of due process, in violation of International Law, and in denial of the direct US government complicity by political, economic, and
military intervention in the countries of origin such as Honduras, Guatemala,
and El Salvador. We call for justice. We call
upon the Spirit of Humanity, In Nelhuayotl, In Aztlan - which is the foundation of all human
ethics and law, and demand recognition
for these relatives of our Indigenous Peoples as Special Social Groups before the US immigration courts. Further, the Comités de Defensa del Barrio clarifies
that the reality of violence from which these young relatives are fleeing is
only the latest assault of the aftermath of the illegal colonization of our continent of Abya Yala which began in 1492, and has since been directed and
managed by the policies of “Uncle Sam” upon the proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, and the full
militarization of that policy by the Roosevelt
Corollary in 1904. We call for
accountability, we call for decolonization
and recognition of the Right of Self
Determination of Indigenous Peoples as Peoples,
equal to all other peoples in order to accurately define and deconstruct
the regimes of racist doctrine across the Americas that provides context of the
current crisis.
Colonization is the epitome of organized crime, it must be ended.
*************
We Demand the Right to Work with Dignity
“The issue is not the
right to work. Everyone has the right to
work. The Right to Work is an inherent Human Right, not a delegated
privilege. The issue is the criminalization
of migrant workers and their families by racist regimes of “lawful employment”
that disguise ethnic cleansing. In terms
of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as Migrant Workers, it is an issue of
colonization and self determination.”
! NO CRIMINALIZATION !
¡ Defend the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families!
¡ Stop the Separation of Families - Stop the Deportations !
The Rule of Law : Uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Full Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
ARIZONA HUMAN RIGHTS ZONES
NO SOMOS ILLEGALES, NO SOMOS CRIMINALES!
SOMOS TRABAJADORES DE PUEBLOS
ORIGINALES!
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