Human Rights

The entire nuclear fuel chain involves the release of radioactivity, contamination of the environment and damage to human health. Most often, communities of color, indigenous peoples or those of low-income are targeted to bear the brunt of these impacts, particularly the damaging health and environmental effects of uranium mining. The nuclear power industry inevitably violates human rights. While some of our human rights news can be found here, we also focus specifically on this area on out new platform, Beyond Nuclear International.

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Entries by admin (383)

Wednesday
Nov022016

SumOfUs petition: Standing Rock

Over 100 water protectors were brutally arrested by Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) security forces -- some locked in dog kennels and shot at with rubber bullets and pepper spray -- just for standing up for their ancestral lands and our most precious resource, water.

Thousands have peacefully gathered in North Dakota to stop this dirty 570,000 barrel-per-day pipeline that would endanger the water and sacred burial grounds of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Just this week, people around the world have donated and showed up in support of the protest, and "checked-in" on Facebook in solidarity.

While this inspiring work is going on, the banks we use every day, like Wells Fargo and Citibank, are backing the project with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.

Demand that Wells Fargo, Citibank and all other financial institutions stop supporting the Dakota Access Pipeline and associated investments, such as Energy Transfer now.

North Dakota recorded nearly 300 oil pipeline spills in less than two years -- and none were disclosed to the public. It’s no wonder Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities alike are terrified by the prospect of this project.

DAPL was originally going to be routed near the city of Bismarck -- but was rejected because it would have run so close to municipal water sources. But for some reason, it was given a green light to put the Standing Rock Sioux’s ancestral water supply at risk to the profit of banks like Wells Fargo and Citibank.

Wells Fargo and Citibank aren’t the only banks trying to profiting off the Dakota Access Pipeline. ING Bank, SunTrust, and TD Bank are supporting the pipeline, too. These banks are vulnerable to public pressure. We are their customers and shareholders. They need our business. We can pressure them to pull out of this toxic, disrespectful project.

Stop the money, stop the pipeline. Tell Wells Fargo, Citibank, and other financial institutions to stop funding DAPL now.

What we are bearing witness to at Standing Rock is a moment of history. We can't all be in North Dakota, but we can all stand in solidarity with those who are. Sign the petition and we'll then share with you other ways you can support the Standing Rock Sioux to stop DAPL.

Alongside Indigenous leaders and grassroots communities on the front lines, tens of thousands of SumOfUs members raised their voices together, and we helped stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Our global community has stood with Indigenous communities, contributing tens of thousands of dollars to lawsuits to stop Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline in Western Canada. We are powerful when we come together. Now, we need to come together and help the Standing Rock Sioux stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Sign the petition asking banks to stop supporting Dakota Access Pipeline now.

Thanks for all that you do,
Nicole, Reem, Toni, and the rest of the SumOfUs team 

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More information: 

Who's Banking on the Dakota Access Pipeline? Food and Water Watch, Sept 6, 2016
The $3.7-billion pipeline that became a rallying cry for tribes across America, LA Times, Sept 13, 2016

The Dakota Access Pipeline is being funded by banks like Wells Fargo and Citibank to the tune of $2.5 billion dollars.

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Tell Wells Fargo, Citibank, and the other financial institutions supporting DAPL to stop.

SIGN THE PETITION

Wednesday
Nov022016

Momentum is building against Dakota Access Pipeline

Update by Dallas Goldtooth, on behalf of the Indigenous Environmental Network and 350.org:

Last week, police brutally attacked Indigenous protectors in Standing Rock as they peacefully defended their land and water. Within days, over 1.5 million people checked in to Standing Rock on Facebook in solidarity with this fight.1 By all measures, this is a historic moment of resistance -- and the movement is growing stronger by the day.

Now, Indigenous leaders are calling on us to take to the streets one week after the election to demand that President Obama’s Army Corps of Engineers and the incoming Administration put a stop to the Dakota Access Pipeline. We need to show President Obama and the new president-elect that this resistance movement will not fade away.

The Army Corps can approve or deny the final permit needed to complete construction -- that’s why we must act now, and act strongly, to make sure the permit is rejected.

On Tuesday, November 15th, join a day of action across the country to demand that this Administration and the next reject this pipeline. Join an action near you - and if one doesn’t exist, organize an action in your community.



The Army Corps fast-tracked the Dakota Access Pipeline without proper consultation, and now bulldozers are approaching Standing Rock. But with coordinated, massive demonstrations across the country, we’ll make it clear that we will not allow the Obama Administration or the incoming president to sacrifice Indigenous rights, our water, or our climate.

Water protectors in Standing Rock have withstood brutal police repression, freezing temperatures, and bulldozers destroying their sacred land -- yet they’re standing strong and determined.

Will you join a bold, powerful action on November 15th that honors this urgent fight?

Resistance to fossil fuel projects is rising everywhere. Almost a year ago we stopped the Keystone XL pipeline; now, an even bigger movement is rising up to stop Dakota Access. This is one of the most courageous stands against a fossil fuel project this country has ever seen, and solidarity actions are popping up everywhere -- targeting Army Corps offices, banks financing the pipeline, and other Federal buildings.

Horrible images of people being tear gassed, attacked by guard dogs, and having their teepees torn down are not just remnants of this country's ugly past -- this is happening right now, and it's unconscionable. We can’t alter history, but together we can change the future.

We know that elections and individuals alone don’t create change -- movements do. That’s why we’ll continue to fight until native sovereignty is honored, Indigenous rights are protected, and our communities' water and climate matter more than fossil fuel profits.

Let’s get to work. Find an action near you on November 15th.

In solidarity,

Dallas Goldtooth on behalf of the Indigenous Environmental Network and 350.org


 More Than 1 Million ‘Check in’ on Facebook to Support the Standing Rock Sioux, NPR

Wednesday
Nov022016

WashPost: On Dakota Access, Obama says Army Corps is weighing whether to ‘reroute’ pipeline

As reported by the Washington Post:

President Obama said Tuesday that his administration was considering ways to “reroute” the Dakota Access oil pipeline after a week of violent clashes between authorities and activists protesting the controversial project.

In an interview with NowThis, Obama addressed concerns from Native Americans that the pipeline cuts too close to tribal lands in North Dakota. The $3.8 billion project was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is slated to cross under a section of the Missouri River less than a mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

“We’re monitoring this closely,” Obama said. “My view is that there is a way for us to accommodate sacred lands of Native Americans. And I think that right now the Army Corps is examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline.”

We’re going to let it play out for several more weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved in a way that I think is properly attentive to the traditions of First Americans,” he said...

In his interview Tuesday, Obama addressed allegations that authorities used excessive force against some of the protesters who were arrested last week. He called for both sides to keep calm, alluding to Black Lives Matter protests that have followed fatal shootings by police.

“It’s a challenging situation,” Obama said. “There is an obligation for protesters to be peaceful, and there is an obligation for authorities to show restraint. And I want to make sure that as everyone is exercising their constitutional rights to be heard that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt.” (emphasis added)

More.

Wednesday
Nov022016

Dakota Access Pipeline protesters shut down Grand Central station

As reported by CNN:

Dozens of demonstrators aiming to raise awareness of the ongoing pipeline protest in North Dakota disrupted the morning commute at New York's Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday before marching on the offices of major US banks to question their decision to fund the pipeline.The protesters, who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline, gathered in the station's lobby floor at 8 a.m. to express solidarity with the demonstrations at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, they said. They then marched from Grand Central to the offices of Bank of America and JP Morgan to protest the big banks' funding of the project.

More.

Wednesday
Nov022016

Sierra Club: Bad Craziness at Standing Rock

Bad Craziness at Standing Rock

Militarized police confronted and began forcibly removing Native and Indigenous activists and their allies, known as the Water Protectors, who were peacefully demonstrating against the Dakota Access Pipeline on the ancestral homelands of the Standing Rock Sioux. Private and local security have increasingly resorted to aggressive tactics such as dogs, pepper spray, low-flying helicopters, and roadblocks to intimidate and invoke fear.

Stand with the Water Protectors by calling on President Obama to investigate and address rights violations associated with the Dakota Access Pipeline and to reject the pipeline once and for all.