From: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>

>Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 22:44:30 +0100
>From: Harald Ihmig <ihmig@iname.com>
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [de] (Win98; I)
>X-Accept-Language: de
>To: Robert Dorman <redorman@theofficenet.com>
>Subject: International Urgent Action
>
>Dear Robert,
>I send you the English version of an international urgent action in
>favor of the Dineh by
>FIAN INTERNATIONAL. Please post to BIGMTLIST!
>It appears in German, French and Spanish too.
>
>Harald
>--
>Harald Ihmig
>Beim Rauhen Hause 30
>22111 Hamburg
>T. 040-6518393; Fax 040-65901168
>e-mail ihmig@iname.com

UA 9916 28.10.98
Forcible relocation and loss of means of subsistence of Dineh indigenous
people, Arizona, USA

Background:
The right to feed themselves of the Dineh (spanish name: Navajo)
indigenous people around the "Big Mountain" in the US American state of
Arizona is at stake. They face forcible relocation, their access to pasture
land and to springs is being denied and, their livestock is being
confiscated.In fact by remaining in their traditional area the Indians are
supposedly committing an illegal act. Construction and repair work for
their houses has been frozen Furthermore, they face daily harassment by the
rangers and by the agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). 12,000
people have already been forced to leave the area.

The rest of the community consisting of at last 2,000 persons will be
expelled from the area by February 1, 2000. Those already displaced have
been resettled in conditions without sufficient opportunity to either earn
their living by traditional livestock raising or through income generating
work. Moreover within this they are exposed to the impact of disastrous
radioactive contamination. Some others have left for urban areas where
they have been unable to create adequate living conditions including
housing, work and food. In addition, the forcible relocation means the
Dineh will be evicted from the sacred territory of their ancestors.

The reason for the forcible relocation of the Dineh is that the most
extensive coal deposits of the US were found under their traditional area,
called the "Black Mesa". A consortium of the 23 major energy utilities,
including the largest coal producer in the US, the "Peabody Coal company"
then made up the story of a "range war" between the Dineh and another
Indian nation, the Hopi. Peabody had obtained mining leases in 1966 and
since then has been interested in strip mining the whole area. It,
therefore, actively took part in the so called "Navajo- Hopi" land dispute
settlement, enacted 1974 (P.L. 93-531), which partitioned the area in "Hopi
Partitioned Land" (HPL) and Navajo Partitioned Land (NPL). The territory
instead being a "Joint Use Area"where both indian nations can live is
,thus, now divided.

The introduction of exclusive property rights through the partition led to
the forcible relocation of the Dineh people living in the HPL. This was
legalised through the agreement of the Tribal councils, which had been
imposed by the government in the 1930´s and solely represent the
assimilated indians. An accomodation agreement has been proposed to the
Dineh which is unacceptable since it would force them to live under the
foreign opi jursidiction. Both the non-assimilated Hopi and Dineh indian
nations would like to continue living according to their traditional
customs. As a result of the relocation act, the right to feed themselves of
both nations has been infringed since Dineh people were resettled on Hopi
territory and the remaining Dineh have started to face harassment by the
authorities.
Reasons for the urgent action:
With the deadline of February 1, 2000, the over 2,000 remaining Dineh
people will be forcibly relocated and will, thus, lose their access to
their traditional means of subsistence. The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which stipulates in its article 25.1 that "...everyone has the
right to an adequate standard for the health and well-being of himself and
his family, including food, housing..." was drafted to a great extent by
members of the US goverment. This state should therefore ensure that none
of its policies leads to the violation of the right to feed oneself of
parts of the population. If the Dineh people are forced to leave their
traditional area, they will lose their access to means of subsistence, and
will, therefore, be acutely threatened with hunger and malnutrition. An
intervention is urgently required, otherwise the Dineh might suffer
malnutrution during the approaching winter.

Recommended action:
Please write polite letters and faxes to the President of the US of America
Mr Bill Clinton, demanding him to respect the right to feed themselves of
the Dineh communities by revoking the deadline of Feb. 1, 2000 for their
forcible relocation. Ask him to reestablish their right to feed themselves
in their homeland through putting a stop to all actual harassment measures
and providing compensation for losses in cattle and crop. Please take the
opportunity to ask the President of the USA to ratify the ILO convention
169 ensuring the right of indigenous communities to their traditional
area. Please send a copy to the Secretary of the Interior, to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and to the victims´ support group.

End of action: 28.12.99

Addresses:

Mr Bill Clinton Mr Bruce Babitt
President of the United States of America Secretary of The Interior
The White House US Department of the Interior
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 1849 C Street NW
Washington DC 20500 Washington DC 20240
USA USA
Fax: +1 202 456 2461 email: bruce_babbit@ios.doi.gov
email: president@whitehouse.gov

Kevin Gover Sovereign Dineh Nation
Assistant Secretary c/o Carlos Begay
Bureau of Indian Affairs P.O. Box 1968, Kaibeto
1849C Street NW Arizona 86053
Washington DC 20240 USA
USA Fax: +1 520 673 3461
Fax: +1 202 208 6334 email: dinetah@aol.com
email: webmaster@snake2.cr.usgs.gov

Please inform the International Secretariat of FIAN of any response to your
letters

Mr Bill Clinton
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20500
USA

Mr President,

Recently, I received alarming information concerning the right to feed
themselves of the Dineh indigenous people in the Big Mountain area of
Arizona. 12,000 members of the community have already been forced to leave
the area, and the over 2,000 people remaining there are threatened with
forcible relocation to be enforced by February, 1, 2000. They already face
harassment by the rangers and agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs:
construction and repair work is being banned, their livestock is being
confiscated and access to pasture land and springs is being denied. Their
presence in their ancestral area all together is considered illegal.
According to our information, the indigenous people are to be resettled for
the sake of economic interests since large coal deposits were found in the
area.

Most of the already relocated 12,000 Dineh have been settled in conditions
where they are exposed to the impact of disastrous radioactive
contamination and without sufficient opportunity either to earn their
living by traditional livestock raising or through income generating work.
A large amount of them have emigrated to urban areas where they have not
been able to create adequate living conditions including housing, work and
food. In addition, the forcible relocation means the Dineh will be evicted
from the sacred territory of their ancestors.

As specified in article 25.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
"everyone has a right to an adequate standard of living,..., including
food...". The government of the USA must therefore respect the access to
their traditional resources to all parts of its population including the
indigenous communities.

As a person working internationally for the implementation of the right to
feed oneself, I would like to ask you Mr President:
to lift the deadline of February 1, 2000 for the forcible relocation of
the remaining Dineh people in the Big Mountain area;
to stop all above mentioned harassment measures and provide the affected
communities with adequate compensation for their losses;
to ratify the ILO convention 169 ensuring indigenous people a right to
their traditional territories.

I would like to ask you Mr President to inform me about the measures you
intend to take in that respect.
Yours sincerely,