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<h1 id="reader-title">International Indian Treaty Council:
Trump's Executive Orders Violate Treaties <br>
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<div class="postmeta-lefttop"> Andrea Carmen and Roberto
Borrero, International Indian Treaty Council • February
8, 2017 </div>
<br>
<p><em>Statement by the International Indian Treaty
Council</em>: Just two weeks after President Donald
Trump signed an Executive Order and two memorandums
paving the way to expedite the permitting of extractive
projects such as the Dakota Access and Keystone XL
Pipelines, the U.S. Department of the Army announced it
would grant the final easement needed to finish the
controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a
court filing Tuesday, February 7, 2017.</p>
<p>These fast tracked actions led by the new U.S.
President and supported by the Republican majority
display a flagrant disregard for the federal legal
process already engaged in by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, cutting short its publically stated intent to
conduct a full environmental impact assessment and the
public comment period associated with it.</p>
<p>Given Trump’s campaign statements and his personal
financial ties to the fossil fuel industry, as well as
his apparent disdain and/or lack of awareness for both
federal and international human rights law, his
pronouncements, while shocking and heart wrenching in
their utter callousness, were not unexpected. These
actions, along with the appointment of the former CEO of
Exxon Oil, responsible for the oil spill that devastated
Indigenous Peoples in the coastal areas of Alaska in
1989, as the Secretary of State, are an ominous
foreshadowing of the shape of things to come.</p>
<p>Undaunted by these recent developments, the <a
href="http://standwithstandingrock.net/standing-rock-denounces-army-easement-announcement-vows-court-challenge/">Standing
Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) quickly responded</a> to the
Army’s announcement Tuesday, denouncing the
Administration’s continued defiance of the law. The SRST
also vowed to vigorously pursue a legal challenge.
Consistent with our previous <a
href="http://www.iitc.org/standing-rock-human-treaty-rights-violations-continue-presidential-executive-order/">statement
by the International Indian Treaty Council</a> in
support of the SRST, it is our position that these
actions taken by the President ignore both federal and
international law to which the U.S. is obligated,
including its legally-binding commitments under the
Treaties concluded with the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota
(“Great Sioux Nation”). The International Indian Treaty
Council again asserts that President does not have the
legal or moral authority to violate the U.S.
Constitution, which states “treaties are the supreme law
of the land.”</p>
<p>These Executive Orders and memorandums, as well as
others issued recently and recklessly by Trump, must
continue to be challenged as they will have far-reaching
and detrimental affects on the environment, human rights
defenders, and Indigenous Peoples overall, within and
outside the United States.</p>
<p>The President’s January 28<sup>th</sup> memorandum to
restructure the National Security Council and the
Homeland Security Council, for example, could increase
scrutiny on and/or seek to criminalize future protests
against extractive industries and other destructive
projects impacting the lands, waters and cultural rights
of Indigenous Peoples. Trump’s multi-pronged orders on
border security and immigration enforcement include the
authorization of a U.S. – Mexico border wall and
increased border patrol activity, which will further
impede travel for Tribes such as the Yaqui and Tohono
O’odham to their own traditional homelands, ceremonies
and families. Reinstating local and state immigration
enforcement partnerships could also challenge Tribal
sovereignty and previous border agreements. The Tohono
O’odham Nation has already stated its intention to
oppose construction of the wall on its land.</p>
<p>Trump’s executive order that directs federal agencies
to ease the “regulatory burdens” and to “waive, defer,
grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of
any provision or requirement” of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA, aka “Obamacare”) that imposes a “fiscal burden on
any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory
burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers,
health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare
services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of
medical devices, products, or medications” could
eliminate a portion of that law that commits federal
funding for Tribal health care around the country. While
the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act is a separate
piece of legislation, its reauthorization in 2010 was
included within the ACA bill.</p>
<p>It is essential that Indigenous Peoples and our allies
remain vigilant as Trump and the Republicans continue to
push their radical change agenda with disregard for
human rights, Treaties and the environment. The IITC
stands in solidarity with the resistance that has taken
to the streets in this country and around the world, and
commend the legal efforts such as the recent and
successful ACLU challenge to the president’s Muslim ban.
The world is watching as the historic mass mobilization
and profound solidarity that came together at Standing
Rock emanates to other struggles. Broad support will be
especially critical as Indigenous Peoples’ lands, waters
and sacred landscapes are increasingly threatened by
imposed development and extractive industries through
the policies of this administration and its backers in
the U.S. Congress. International human rights oversight
will be needed more than ever.</p>
<p>For the sake of our future generations, broad-based
solidarity within, among and beyond Indigenous Peoples
and Nations must be a priority as we face ongoing
threats to Treaties and human rights in the Trump-era.</p>
<p><em>Roberto Borrero (Taíno) is a Board Member of the
International Indian Treaty Council. Andrea Carmen
(Yaqui) is IITC’s Executive Director. </em><em>T</em><em>he
International Indian Treaty Council is an organization
of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South
America, the Arctic, Pacific and Caribbean in General
Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic
and Social Council</em></p>
<p><em> </em>Sioux response to Army <a
href="http://standwithstandingrock.net/standing-rock-denounces-army-easement-announcement-vows-court-challenge/">http://standwithstandingrock.net/standing-rock-denounces-army-easement-announcement-vows-court-challenge/</a></p>
<p>IITC Press Release: <a
href="http://www.iitc.org/standing-rock-human-treaty-rights-violations-continue-presidential-executive-order/">http://www.iitc.org/standing-rock-human-treaty-rights-violations-continue-presidential-executive-order/</a></p>
<p>Tohono O’odham Nation statement: <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/donald-trump-border-wall-tohono-oodham-arizona-tribe">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/donald-trump-border-wall-tohono-oodham-arizona-tribe</a></p>
<p>Indian Health Care reference <a
href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/24/indian-healthcare-improvement-act-affordable-care-act/96987680/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/24/indian-healthcare-improvement-act-affordable-care-act/96987680/</a></p>
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