On April 29, 2022, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) wrote a second letter to the U.S. government to request information regarding allegations of Indigenous rights violations attendant to the construction and operation of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, which runs through Anishinaabe lands and impacts several tribes. The latest letter stated concerns about further allegations of the excessive force and militarized law enforcement presence that Indigenous water protectors were subjected to.
Given harmful impacts that have occurred from the Line 3 pipeline, Honor the Earth and Giniw Collective, two Indigenous-led organizations, have opposed the Line 3 pipeline replacement for nearly a decade. Among their call upon allies, the U.S. government, and other international advocates – like the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders – Honor the Earth and Giniw Collective filed a Request for Early Warning Measures and Urgent Action Procedure with the Committee in March 2021.
CERD’s initial response in August 2021, the aforementioned inquiry to the U.S., cited specific concerns about not securing the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC); the links to violence against Indigenous women caused by extractive industry; and the U.S.’s failure to honor its treaties with the affected tribes. The response noted that each of these issues, if left unaddressed, perpetuate systemic racial discrimination against the Anishinaabe.
Because the human rights violations continued and new violations occurred, Honor the Earth and Giniw Collective submitted a second request to CERD on October 26, 2021. This request detailed local and private law enforcement’s surveillance, harassment, and use of force against those who protested Line 3. At the time of submission, there had been over 500 arrests, citations, and charges, many of which were disproportionate to the inciting action. Some individuals faced felony charges. There were allegations of solitary confinement; targeted harassment such as pulling over out-of-state vehicles or a low-flying government helicopter that blasted protesters with dirt and debris; and use of non-lethal tactics like rubber bullets, tear gas, and pain suppression techniques. This response by law enforcement violates human rights and contributes to trends of Indigenous water protectors facing violence when protecting their land and create a chilling effect for those who seek to protect their lands, waters, and resources.
The U.S. responded to CERD directly about these allegations. Now, CERD's most recent inquiry provides a second response to the U.S. CERD notes that the U.S. did not provide specific responses to allegations of violence against Indigenous women and the excessive use of force by police and private security companies against peaceful protestors, especially those who are Indigenous. CERD asked that the U.S. respond to these allegations, and that the U.S. government:
- Consider suspending the pipeline until FPIC is granted;
- Carry out a full environmental impact statement process that involves Indigenous Peoples;
- Investigate and prevent violence against Indigenous women and violence against protestors; and
- Provide access to effective and prompt judicial remedy.
The Committee will be undertaking its regular review of the U.S. in August and confirms that it will bring forth the issues raised by the Anishinaabe in these requests.
Honor the Earth and Giniw Collective have called on international forums, like the CERD, to enforce nations’ adherence to international standards, when domestic recourse is insufficient. But this advocacy also spotlights the similar experiences of Indigenous Peoples globally. On April 29, when this letter was published, there were five other letters from CERD to countries around the world responding to allegations of racial discrimination. Each of these letters was directed at the unique experience of Indigenous Peoples. Many of them incorporated pressing global challenges related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, trans-national business and development, and persistent threats to human rights defenders.
The letters published by CERD unquestionably demonstrate that these issues are not unique, but rather reflect the pervasive challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples when corporations and nations proceed with development without securing FPIC and without acknowledgement of the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous water protectors, land defenders, and allies, like those addressed in the most recent CERD letter, are increasingly at risk of violence and harassment. Corporations and nation states who continue to act without obtaining Indigenous Peoples’ FPIC will continue to violate human rights like those articulation in the Convention to End All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
As Native Nations have demonstrated in the United States – from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline to the Gwich’in Nation’s advocacy to protect the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge to Anishanaabe action to protect the water that sustains manoomin central to their diet and culture – failure to respect Indigenous Peoples is a systemic failure. Indigenous leaders are calling for change at the highest levels to recognize Indigenous sovereignty, self-determination, and FPIC in a world facing rapid economic, environmental, and political change.
Image: Manoomin ricing via Honor the Earth.