A key UN committee has censured the US government over its treatment of the Western Shoshone tribe of Nevada.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) urged the American government to 'freeze' and
'stop' actions being taken against the Western Shoshone Indians.
The US government has for many years asserted its ownership of nearly
90% of Western Shoshone lands, covering approximately 60 million acres,
stretching across the states of Nevada, Idaho, Utah and
California. Western Shoshone rights to the land – which they
continue to use, care for, and occupy today – were recognized by the
United States in 1863 through the Treaty of Ruby Valley.
The U.S. now claims these same lands as 'public' or federal lands, and
is using parts of them for military testing, open-pit gold mining and
nuclear waste disposal planning. Members of the Western Shoshone who
use the lands for cattle grazing have repeatedly had their livestock
confiscated and fines imposed.
After the UN's verdict Joe Kennedy of the Western Shoshone said, 'We
have rights to protect our homelands and stop the destruction of our
land, water, and air by the abuses of the United States government and
the multinational corporations. The situation is outrageous and we're
glad the United Nations Committee agrees with us. Our people have
suffered more nuclear testing than anywhere else in the world and
they're continuing underground testing despite our protests. We
cannot stand for it – this earth, the air, the water are sacred.'
In its decision the Committee urged the US government to:
a) Freeze any plan to privatize Western Shoshone
ancestral lands for transfer to multinational extractive industries and
energy developers;
b) Desist from all activities planned and/or
conducted on the ancestral lands of Western Shoshone or in relation to
their natural resources, which are being carried out without
consultation with and despite protests of the Western Shoshone peoples;
c) Stop imposing grazing fees, trespass and
collection notices, horse and livestock impoundments, restrictions on
hunting, fishing and gathering, as well as arrests, and rescind all
notices already made to that end, inflicted on Western Shoshone people
while using their ancestral lands.
