Serious Surrender

Glenn Morris, a scholar from the Fourth World Center for the Study of International Law and Politics, observes that the State Department report — documenting the conditional US endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — seeks to “persuade indigenous peoples that we’ve lost our international legal personality–and that is a very serious surrender.” Professor Morris goes on to say that the US statement regarding its qualified endorsement of UNDRIP amounts to domesticating an international document, and “rejects its major principles and ideals.” The consistent historical US opposition to indigenous peoples’ human rights, says Morris, reflects the current US strategy to protect its ill-gotten gains through such chicanery.

Obama v Peace

The Obama justice department continues its harassment of the anti-war movement, in particular opponents of US policy in Colombia and Palestine. Serving subpoenas on anti-war organizers and media editors critical of US–funded state terror in South America and the Middle East, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Holder escalates the Obama administration’s war on dissent initiated by FBI raids in September. Peace activists like FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley and former special agent Mike German condemn Obama’s mobilization of federal agencies against free speech.

Dirty Secrets Dirty Deals

David Frost interviews Julian Assange about the abuses of power revealed by Wikileaks, and the abuses of process by those embarrassed by these revelations that resulted in retaliation toward him and his organization. As the State Department, CIA and Pentagon engage in character assassination against whistleblowers and Assange, only independent media can counter this attack on investigative journalism and freedom of the press.

Big Trouble

In this post, Deputy Special Envoy Jonathan Pershing of the US State Department says that balance is the key to making progress on climate change. He also lauds transparency as essential to the effort. Progress and balance though, as determined by the carbon cartel and promoted by the United States, make a mockery of the international human rights regime. If scheming to exclude indigenous peoples while bribing and threatening states to go along with the Copenhagen Accord (itself a back room deal) is an example of transparency, then we’re in big trouble.

Implementing UNDRIP

Robert T. Coulter of the Indian Law Resource Center discusses the agenda of implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it pertains to laws, policies and actions of the United States government.

Manifest Injustice

As a participant in the Modern Indian Identity series of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, Walter Echo-Hawk of the Native American Rights Fund spoke recently about the manifest injustice in the American court system, observing that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — an instrument of international human rights law opposed by the US — is the Magna Carta of our time.

Arrest Obama

Obama’s death squads in West Papua, the Indonesian military special forces known as Kopassus, are now targeting indigenous religious leaders for assassination. In July, Barack Obama lifted the restrictions on funding the notorious death squads responsible for innumerable murders in West Papua and East Timor. Perhaps some day international jurists will no longer turn a blind eye to this violation of human rights law; what better time to bring charges against a United States president in an international court.

Keeping A Closed Mind

Columbia University reminds international relations students that discussing Cablegate online might foreclose US State Department careers.

Surmounting Servility

As we await Hillary's hysteria and Barack's bromides over Cablegate, it might be an opportune moment to consider the mindset that fosters their rise to power despite their intellectual incompetence. In his 2006 essay Conspiracy as Governance, Julian Assange examines the primary methodology of authoritarian regimes, as well as ways of attacking their conspiratorial cognitive ability.