This week, the Western Shoshone tribes have acquired a victory at the United Nations Committee on racism. CERD, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination told the US to stop destructive land-use practices that it has previously been using on sixty million acres that the Shoshone tribes claim as their own land (Nevada and parts of Idaho, California and Utah). The US is to stop these practices until a settlement is reached on the land.
This victory was in part because of the thirteen-thousand signatures that Oxfam America helped to acquire. This victory is a very important turning point for the Western Shoshone. It is something that the tribes have been asking for many years now. It is also the first time that a UN committee has given a complete decision against the US in terms of federal Indian law.
The Western Shoshone have stated that the Us once recognized their land rights, in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. However, the US now considers these lands to be public. The US has been using the land for environmentaly destructive practices, such as gold mining and military testing. Nuclear waste disposal on the land is also in talks.
The US must now talk to the Western Shoshone tribes and come to a conclusion on the lands. The US must present an update on the land issues by July 15.
"This has been going on for quite some time, but we've seen a dramatic increase in the federal government and the companies' rush to finalize what they consider a settlement in order to get hold of our lands for activities that are contaminating our water and our air. We are very pleased that our rights are finally being listened to," stated a member of the Western Shoshone delegation, Steven Brady.
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/press_release.2006-03-10.3507376169
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