The NarcoSphere -

Hopi and Resistance: Water is Life

Brenda Norrell — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:25:10 -0500

By Brenda Norrell

Photo of Hopi imprisoned at Alcatraz

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. -- Hopi gathered at the 'Water is Life' conference in Kykotsmovi on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, to protect their aquifer and waters from mining and contamination from Peabody Coal on Black Mesa. It is also a time to remember the 19 Hopi imprisoned at Alcatraz who refused to allow their children to be indoctrinated in US colonial boarding schools.
"John Martini described the prisoner's cells at Alcatraz as 'tiny wooden cells ... worlds removed from the western desert and plains.' Indeed, a description of Alcatraz in 1902, just seven years after the Hopi prisoners were jailed there, suggests that the cells were in poor condition: 'The old cell blocks were `rotten and unsafe; the sanitary condition very dangerous to health. They are dark and damp, and are fire traps of the most approved (sic) kind," according to a history compiled by the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.
"In a series of letters between H.R. Voth, a Mennonite missionary at Orayvi, and Guruther, the Commanding Officer at Alcatraz, family members at Hopi were extremely worried about the prisoners. There were rumors that some of them had died. In August, Voth wrote to the Guruther that the pictures of the prisoners were 'very much appreciated by relatives and friends/ because rumors had circulated that they were "poorly fed, clothed, worked hard, some had died, etc. were perhaps killed.
"In September, Voth wrote to Lomahongiwma to report on the prisoners' families and the crops. These reports must have caused considerable anguish among the prisoners, especially those who were separated from their families during important ceremonies and planting and harvesting. In addition, two of the prisoners' wives gave birth to children who died while the men were at Alcatraz."

In Memory of the 19 Hopi who resisted and were imprisoned at Alcatraz:
Aqawsi (Kwaa/Eagle)
Heevi'yma (Kookop/Fire)
Kuywisa (Kookop/Fire)
Lomahongiwma (Kookyangw/Spider)
Lomayawma (Is/Coyote)
Lomayestiwa (Kookyangw/Spider)
Masaatiwa (Kuukuts or Tep/Lizard or Greasewood)
Nasingayniwa (Kwaa/Eagle) Patupha(Kookop/Fire)
Piphongva (Masihonan/Grey Badger)
Polingyawma (Kyar/Parrot)
Qotsventiwa (Aawat/Bow)
Qotsyawma (Paa'is/Water Coyote)
Sikyaheptiwa (Piikyas or Patki/Young Corn or Water)
Talangayniwa (Kookop/Fire)
Talasyawma (Masihonan/Grey Badger)
Tawaletstiwa (Tasaphonan/Navajo Badger)
Tuvehoyiwma (Hon/Bear)
Yukiwma (Kookop/Fire)

A Public Forum On Water & Energy
"Water is Life"

Veterans Memorial Center, Kykotsmovi
Agenda
November 6, 2009
8:00 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. Welcome & Prayer - Alph Secakuku, Sipaulovi Village
President of H.O.P.I
9:00 a.m. Purpose of the Forum: Ben Nuvamsa, Moderator

Recognition and Honoring of the Late (Former Hopi Tribal Chairman)

Chairman Ferrell Secakuku and the Late
Nat Nutongla (Advocates of the
Preservation of our sacred water)
9:15 a.m. History of Peabody Coal Company Ben Nuvamsa and
on the Black Mesa Mine Vernon Masayesva (former Hopi Tribal
(An Historical Chronicle of Peabody Coal leases Chairman)
from the 1960's to Present Day and the Role
of Hopi Tribal Attorneys).
10:00 a.m. Presentations by Invited Guest Speakers Moderated by Ben Nuvamsa
11:00 a.m. Collaboration with Hopi and Navajo Tribes; Roger Clark (Executive Director - Grand
Alternative Energy Projects; and Impacts of Canyon Trust)
Black Mesa, Mohave and Desert Rock Power
Plants: Showing of "Power Path" A Documentary
12:00 p.m. Lunch Break
Video: "Burning the Future: Coal in
America" - A documentary on open pit
mining and impacts on the environment".
1:00 p.m. - Track A: Black Mesa Environmental Impact Sean Gnant (CM Brewer, LLP)
2:00 p.m. Statement (What it is and its long term impacts
on Hopi)
1:00 p.m. - Track B: Life of Mine Permit Vernon Masayesva, Ben Nuvamsa
2:00 p.m. (What it is and what it means to you)
2:00 p.m. - Track C: Black Mesa Lease Reopener Vernon Masayesva & Ben Nuvamsa
2:30 p.m. (What is this and what it means to you)
2:00 p.m. - Track D: Alternative Energy Resources Shannon Francis
2:30 p.m.
2:30 p.m. Environmental, Cultural & Economic Impacts Open Microphone:
of Mining on Black Mesa & Kayenta Mines Testimony Offered by Forum Participants
(effects of pumping on the Navajo Aquifer
on our life ways, our ceremonies, our
economy).
4:00 p.m. Prayer and Adjournment

'Water is Life' conference information:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2009/11/hopi-water-forum-water-is-life.html

Electricians Take Over Luz y Fuerza Buildings

Kristin Bricker — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:32:33 -0500

Ex-Workers from Luz y Fuerza del Centro Tried to Enter the Pachuca Station and Hung Red and Black Banners in the Nuevo Necaxa, Puebla, Hydroelectric Plant

Wire Reports
El Universal

Ex-workers from defunct Luz y Fuerza del Centro power company intensified their actions in simultantaneous protests outside the company's buildings in two states.

In Hidalgo, the protesters created a protest encampment (plantón) outside the Juandho division in the Tetepango municipality, where the majority of the residents are ex-Luz y Fuerza workers. Meanwhile, in Tula and Pachuca, they burned banners, flags, and sticks. The situation remains tense, and they are expected to be forcibly removed.

At about six o'clock Thursday morning, electricians protested in Pachuca, Tula, Tulancingo, and Juandho, where they yelled chants against the federal government and burned flags, sticks, and some banners that announced the shutdown of Luz y Fuerza. In Juandho they closed off access to the buildings with pick-up trucks and cars in order to keep out police. The authorities have announced that the ex-workers could be forcibly removed.

In Pachuca, in the Santa Julia substation, about 100 electricians forced open the substation doors. However, they were only able to advance a few meters into the building because Federal Police were on guard inside with billy clubs. [Translator's note: The Federal Police have occupied Luz y Fuerza since thousands of federal troops first entered the power company's buildings in order to fire all of the workers.]

The electricians, led by the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME) secretary Luis Espinoza*, hung red and black strike banners as part of the general strike that has been called for November 11.

Municipal police arrived on the scene, and they remain on alert near the substation. According to Luis Espinosa, the ex-workers will remain at the site indefinitely because he insists that looting has begun in the Luz y Fuerza buildings.

"We don't want them to start blaming us. Equipment such as conductors have been stolen, and we aren't going to allow that to continue," he said.

Meanwhile, in Puebla the electricians hung red and black flags in the Nuevo Necaxa hydroelectric plant, where they will hold an assembly to call for a national general strike that is tentatively scheduled for November 11.

Union organizations that support the SME will participate in the assembly. Miguel Angel Montiel, the SME's Undersecretary of the Exterior for the Necaxa division, said that the electricians will "stop at nothing" to reverse the shutdown of Luz y Fuerza.

Regarding the workers who have picked up their severance package in Huauchinango, Miguel Angel Montiel says he doesn't know how many have accepted the government's offer.

"I wouldn't know how many have begun the paperwork to receive their severance package because we know that the SME has filed over 30,000 individual injunctions against the president's executive order to shut down Luz y Fuerza," he explained.

El Universal correspondent Dinorath Mota and Notimex contributed to this report.

Translator's note:
* This may have been an error in the original Spanish article. SME's secretary general is Martin Esparza. Luis Espinosa (alternatively spelled Espinoza in the press) is a former SME secretary general.

Translated by Kristin Bricker

U.S. agrees to settle lawsuit in which CIA officials are accused of misconduct, fraud

Bill Conroy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:06:29 -0500

Ending litigation, filed by former DEA agent Richard Horn, will cost taxpayers a pretty penny

Former DEA agent Richard Horn, and his attorney, former federal prosecutor Brian Leighton, have struck a deal to end a long-running legal case in which Horn accused former CIA and State Department officials of spying on him and sabotaging his anti-narcotics mission in Burma — now known as Myanmar.

The litigation was shrouded under the cloak of national security for years, until this past summer, when the judge in the case ordered the court record unsealed and challenged the government’s state-secrets claims in the wake of discovering that CIA officials seemingly had misled the court.

The proposed settlement filed with the court Nov. 3 is still subject to the approval of federal Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., where the case has been on the U.S. District Court docket now for some 15 years.

The agreement calls for Horn to receive a lump sum payment of $3 million from Uncle Sam (the taxpayers) in exchange for settling the case against the defendants — former CIA Station Chief Arthur Brown, former State Department Chief of Mission Franklin Huddle Jr. and the U.S. government as intervenor.

In addition, Horn has agreed to not oppose the government's efforts to convince the judge to vacate several pending court orders in the case that could lead to a potentially unpleasant outcome for some current and former CIA officials.

Those judicial ruling order the government to:

• Provide security clearances to attorneys in the case;

• Set up procedures that allow the court to determine the scope, or limits, of the government's claim of state-secrets privilege with respect to evidence;

• And invited Horn to "seek sanctions for alleged misconduct" against CIA officials — who asserted a state-secrets claim to allegedly protect defendant Brown's covert cover and then failed, for some six years, to inform the court that his covert status had been lifted. [And, in fact, a motion seeking those sanctions was filed by Horn’s attorney and is currently pending in the litigation.]

The settlement, which otherwise remains confidential, also will not be "construed as an admission by the Defendants nor the United States ... of any allegation or the validity of any claim asserted" in Horn's lawsuit, according to pleadings filed in court on Nov. 3.

It is likely Judge Lamberth will play ball in this case. However, given the government’s past “fraud” on the court in the Horn litigation, there is a slim possibility that the judge might see justice better served by allowing some of the outstanding motions to carry on — particularly with respect to the potential sanctions “for alleged misconduct.”

And the proposed settlement does seem to keep that door open while allowing Horn to collect his measure of justice as well:

If, however, the Court refuses to vacate any or all of these Orders and Opinions, but enters an order dismissing this civil action … this agreement is binding upon all parties, and the United States is obligated to make the cash payments [to Horn] following the entry of the order dismissing the case with prejudice.

Stay tuned ....

Richard Horn Litigation Settlement Pleadings

• Settlement Agreement

• Motion to Vacate State-Secrets-related Orders

• Motion to Vacate Sanctions Orders

Prior stories on Horn’s case

• U.S. government's effort to derail former DEA agent's lawsuit marked by deceit

• CIA, State Department accused of sanitizing report into alleged misconduct

• Former DEA agent's lawsuit exposes CIA "fraud"

• State secrets claim takes a blow in Horn case

• DEA Agent’s Whistleblower Case Exposes the “War on Drugs” as a “War of Pretense”

The Sanctuary Movement and Manzo

Brenda Norrell — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:45:24 -0500

By Brenda Norrell

Photo: Angie Ramon, Tohono O'odham, views the crosses in memory of the migrants who died crossing the Sonoran Desert, at the Dia de los Muertos on Oct. 31, 2009, in San Xavier, Tohono O'odham land. Ramon remembered her son Bennett Patricio, Jr., who was run over and killed by the US Border Patrol. Based on the evidence, Ramon said her son walked upon US Border Patrol agents invovled in drug smuggling in the desert at 3 a.m. and was intentionally murdered. She took the case to Ninth Circuit federal court, but found no justice. Photo Brenda Norrell.

TUCSON -- In the heart of the barrios of Tucson, there lives and breathes the inexplicable truth that it is possible to do great works with one's life, saving the lives of countless peoples who face torture and death.
Before the Sanctuary Movement's Central American underground railroad, there was the former Manzo Area Council. Indigenous Peoples were among those who found shelter in this country because of the heroic acts of the people in these movements. Following the birth of Manzo, the Rev. John Fife and co-founder James Corbett, the late Quaker rancher who died in 2001, announced the existence of the Central American underground railroad. At a recent dinner honoring Manzo, Fife said the credit for the Sanctuary Movement should go to Manzo, comprised of a small group of women from Tucson's west side. Those include Manzo's Margo Cowan and Lupe Castillo. Fife and the Asylum Program of Arizona, honored Cowan, Cathy Montaño Gamez, Margie Ramirez Atkins and Sister Ann Gabriel Marciacq of the St. Joseph Carondelet order for their work.
Listen to this program, recorded by Amanda Shauger at KXCI Tucson and read more at:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kxci/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&id=1572700&pid=218&sid=14

Read Mother Tongue: Demetria Martinez' award-winning book Mother Tongue is based in part upon Martinez's 1988 trial for conspiracy against the United States government in connection with smuggling Salvadoran refugees into the country, a charge that with others carried a 25 -year prison sentence. A religion reporter at the time, covering the faith-based Sanctuary Movement, Martinez was found not guilty on First Amendment Grounds.

Profiteering from misery: Private prison scams target American Indians

Brenda Norrell — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:43:57 -0500

Profiteering from misery: Alaskan Natives' private migrant prison for profit is disturbing trend in violation of the traditional teachings of Native Americans

By Brenda Norrell

Photo: Outdoor migrant detention center on Tohono O'odham land, where temperatures can reach 116 degrees in summer, known as 'The Cage." Photo by Ofelia Rivas.

TUCSON -- Native Americans say the disturbing trend of profiteering from foul and abusive private migrant prisons by American Indian Nations violates traditional teachings to honor the sacredness of life and all humanity.
The San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation has planned a migrant prison in secret for years. Recently, outcry from neighbors at Sahuarita, Ariz., halted the plan. However, a second site selected in secret is east of Three Points, Ariz. and has not been made public.

Mike Wilson, Tohono O'odham who puts out water for migrants against the wishes of the Tohono O'odham government, is among those opposing the migrant prison.
"The Tohono O'odham Nation is anxious to take blood money from the Department of Homeland Security. Shamefully, we who were once oppressed are now the willing oppressors," Wilson said.

The residents of Sahuarita and city officials of the City of Green Valley, including the mayor, were opposed to the prison. David Garcia and Wilson, both Tohono O'odham, met officials at the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting on May 12, 2009 and opposed the prison.

Jose Matus, Yaqui and director of the Indigenous Alliance without Borders/Alianza Indigena sin Fronteras, points out that many of those arrested by the US Border Patrol, and dying in the Sonoran Desert, are Indigenous Peoples from southern Mexico and Central America. They are desperate for food and jobs after being forced off their lands by multi-national corporations. An increasing number of the dead are Mayan women, walking with their children.

Meanwhile in Montana, the private security firm American Police Force is under a state Attorney General's probe, after masquerading as the police force in Hardin, Montana, a town with a long history of racism and attacks on American Indians. American Police Force is linked to Texas-based CorPlan Corrections, which is pitching the private prison to Tohono O'odham and other Indian Nations.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted in Texas for prison profiteering. Cheney invested in the Vanguard Group, which profits from private prison contractor GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut, which split into GEO and Wackenhut Transportation.)

The Vanguard Group reported $1.24 trillion in assets, in mutual funds, in 2009, with global offices, including offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and Valley Forge, Penn. Vanguard Group is among the top investors in Corrections Corporations of America, CCA, operating private prisons in Arizona and throughout the United States.

Wackenhut Transportation, owned by G4S, currently has a contract to transport detained and arrested migrants in buses at the Arizona border. The buses constantly flow from the border to Tucson. Aso, at the Arizona border, Elbit Systems, the Israeli contractor of the Palestine Apartheid Border, was subcontracted by the border wall profiteer Boeing for spy apparatus on the Arizona border.

In another twist, there's an Israeli/US border prison connection. US based Emerald Corrections was granted a prison contract in Israel. Israel’s government awarded a 22year contract to a consortium of Africa-Israel Investments, Minrav Holdings Ltd and Emerald Correctional Management to finance, design, build and operate the country’s first private prison at Be’er Sheva in 2005. Emerald operates the prison at San Luis, Arizona, on the US/Mexico border and others in Texas.

Private prisons, packed with migrants, were quickly built in Texas and along the Southwest border during the Bush administration. American Indians are imprisoned at a disproportionate rate in prisons and receive longer prison terms than non-Indians, according to the ACLU. While the abuses in private prisons continue, Cheney has not been prosecuted.
Already, Alaskan Natives are in the private prison profiteering business, according to New York Times, citing the abuses today from a filed complaint of a migrant detention center in New York. Mildew, frigid temperatures and hunger were repeated complaints.
"In vivid if flawed English, it described cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day," New York Times reported.
A subsidiary of Ahtna Inc., an Alaska Native regional corporation, Ahtna Technical Services Inc., operates the Varick Street Detention Facility with the help of a Texas subcontractor.

Ben Carnes, Choctaw prison rights activist, was surprised by the news of Native-run prisons. "Wow. I always thought that if the First Nations were in the prison industry, they would manage it as a positive advancement in corrections, instead of just another stinking jail."

After viewing a photo of an outdoor migrant detention center on the Tohono O'odham Nation, often described as "The Cage," Carnes said, "The people cannot keep ignoring how the US imposed tribal council system is operating before they end up in those dog cages!"

Read the article below from the New York Times.

Corrupt prison hustlers linked to Tohono O'odham prison:
(Link to prison hustle in Choctaw and Chickasaw lands)
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2009/10/corrupt-prison-hustlers-linked-to.html

New York Times: Immigrant Jail Tests U.S. View of Legal Access
By NINA BERNSTEIN
New York Times
Published: November 1, 2009
A startling petition arrived at the New York City Bar Association in October 2008, signed by 100 men, all locked up without criminal charges in the middle of Manhattan.
Daniel I. Miller, a former detainee at the Varick Street center, complained of abuses there. "These people have no rules," he said.
In vivid if flawed English, it described cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day. Read article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/nyregion/02detain.html?_r=1

Indianz.com
http://www.indianz.com/
A subsidiary of Ahtna Inc., an Alaska Native regional corporation, runs an unusual immigrant detention facility in New York City under a $79 million, three-year contract with the federal government.
Ahtna Technical Services Inc. operates the Varick Street Detention Facility with the help of a Texas subcontractor. The jail houses up to 250 adult male aliens who face deportation for various reasons.
The Obama administration cites the jail as a model for the way legal services are provided to detainees. But the New York City Bar Association says detainees are frequently denied counsel and live under harsh conditions.
Ahtna has about 1,200 shareholders.
Relevant Documents:
Contract with Homeland Security for the operation of the Varick Federal Detention Processing Facility

http://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/contracts/ahtnatechnicalservicesinchsceop07c00019asofp00012.pdf

ACLU: Racial profiling and prison sentences of American Indians

Indian political participation is further diminished by the disproportionate number of tribal members disfranchised for commission of criminal offenses. There is a pattern of racial profiling of Indians by law enforcement officers, the targeting of Indians for prosecution of serious crimes, and the imposition of lengthier prison sentences upon Indian defendants. These injustices result in the higher incarceration of Indians and dilute the overall voting strength of Indian communities. (OCt. 14, 2009)

http://www.nativelegalupdate.com/2009/10/articles/aclu-alleges-widespread-voting-rights-problems-in-native-communities/

US Detention Facilities:
http://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/americas/united-states/list-of-detention-sites.html

U.S. government's effort to derail former DEA agent's lawsuit marked by deceit

Bill Conroy — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:42:36 -0500

Recent DOJ pleadings in state-secrets case appear to rely on fabrications

U.S. government attorneys seem to have made another major blunder in the closely watched state-secrets privilege case involving former DEA agent Richard Horn.

Government lawyers who are seeking to advance national security claims in Horn’s case have already been accused of committing a fraud on the court. In addition, Paul E. Forster, a former agent with the State Department Inspector General’s Office (OIG) is now prepared to testify in the case that his superiors whitewashed an investigative report that substantiated Horn’s charges against CIA and State Department employees.

Now, in a motion filed September 9 with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia, Department of Justice attorneys seem to advance claims in the Horn case that are at odds with the facts. And, interestingly, about three weeks after that seemingly flawed appeals-court motion was filed, the parties to the lawsuit (including the DOJ) reached an “agreement in principle to settle the underly ing litigation,” according to pleadings filed with the court.

That settlement, the pleading state, was supposed to be ironed out by the end of October. However, as of the time of this report, Narco News was unable to confirm whether an agreement has been finalized.

The September 9 motion filed by attorneys from the DOJ’s Civil Division was an effort to convince the appeals court to issue an emergency “stay,” or hold, on the Horn case proceedings pending a review “of the district [lower] court’s order compelling the government to grant [or renew] security clearances to [private] counsel [for Horn and the defendants in the case — a former CIA station chief and a former State Department chief of mission]. …”

Absent the granting or renewing of those security clearances to the attorneys, Horn’s case is essentially, once again, dead in the water. That’s because the process adopted by the judge for separating what can be presented as evidence in the case from what cannot (due to its classified nature) requires that the attorneys be granted security clearances.

In order to advance the argument before the appeals court judges for the stay in the court proceedings, the DOJ attorneys in their motion arguably attempt to paint the judge in Horn’s case (Royce Lamberth) as an incompetent jurist who fails to understand the complexities of national security and Horn as a loose cannon who is harming the country by recklessly releasing national security secrets.

The problem with that effort, however, is that the claims advanced in the government’s September 9 motion to support that dire narrative appear to be fabrications — when those claims are compared with the facts in the court record.

H. Thomas Byron III, who is one of the DOJ attorneys whose name appears on the September 9 pleadings, however, says: “I stand by [the] motion and believe it’s accurate.”

Byron declined to comment beyond that statement.

Twisting the Truth

Horn’s civil lawsuit was filed in 1994 against former CIA Chief of Station in Burma Arthur Brown and former State Department Chief of Mission in Burma Franklin Huddle Jr. — who were both stationed in the country, now known as Myanmar, in the early 1990s at the same time Horn served as DEA’s country attaché.

In the litigation, both Brown and Huddle are accused of violating Horn’s constitutional rights by conspiring to plant an eavesdropping bug in his government-leased quarters in Burma. Horn also alleges in the lawsuit that the eavesdropping was part of a larger effort by Brown and Huddle to undermine DEA’s anti-narcotics mission in Burma.

The judge in Horn’s civil case, which is still pending in federal court in Washington, D.C., earlier this year ruled that the CIA had committed a fraud on his court by failing to reveal in a timely manner that Brown is no longer considered a covert operative. In fact, Brown had his official CIA cover lifted in 2002 — yet the government continued to claim Brown’s covert status was a basis for its state-secrets privilege claim in the Horn case. Judge Lamberth determined that those responsible for the fraud allegedly include several attorneys with the CIA’s Office of General Counsel, and Brown himself.

The judge, clearly upset with a pattern of CIA dishonesty, in July of this year ordered the court pleadings in Horn’s case to be unsealed and made available for public viewing. (The case, until that point, had been cloaked under a “state-secrets privilege” ruling due to alleged “national security” concerns and all of the pleadings filed under seal.)

DOJ attorneys filed the September 9 motion for a stay with the appeals court after Judge Lamberth ruled on September 4 against a similar motion filed in his court by the government. The government’s September 9 motion references Lamberth’s September 4 motion frequently and, seemingly, without great reliance on the truth.

Following are some of the alleged misrepresentations in the DOJ’s September 9 appeals court filing — which is titled “Reply in Support of Emergency Motion of the United States for Stay Pending Appeal.”

The government’s September 9 motion can be found at this link.

Judge Lamberth’s September 4 motion can be found at this link.

• From the government’s September 9 motion before the appeals court:

The district court also refers to Horn's prior unauthorized disclosures to his counsel.

[The motion goes on to quote partially from Judge Lamberth’s Sept. 4 ruling.]

(... "counsel for Horn *** discussed most, if not all, of the classified information Horn knew related to this case.") [Emphasis added.]

... Horn's prior and repeated breaches of security by disclosing classified information to his counsel (and more broadly to the public) do not justify the district court’s disregard of the Executive’s [President’s] well-established procedures for safeguarding that information against further breaches.

From the judge's September 4 ruling (or Memorandum Opinion):

First, for large portions of this litigation counsel for Horn had a security clearance and discussed most, if not all, of the classified information Horn knew related to this case. As to the renewal of Horn's counsel's security clearance, the government cannot demonstrate an injury, since it has once before allowed disclosure of the information it now seeks to "protect."

[Notice that in the government’s September 9 motion, ellipses are inserted in place of the phrase “had a security clearance,” which has the effect of obscuring the meaning of Judge Lamberth’s statement in his September 4 ruling and making it appear that the judge is saying Horn engaged in "unauthorized disclosures."]

• From the government’s September 9 motion before the appeals court:

But that concern results from the district court’s failure to rule on the [state-secrets] privilege…. [Emphasis added.]

[In fact, Judge Lamberth did rule on the state-secrets privilege question.]

From a July 16 Memorandum Opinion [link here] issued by Judge Lamberth:

Upon consideration of the motions, the declarations, the plaintiff’s opposition, the government’s reply, applicable law and the entire record herein, the assertion of the state secrets privilege and proposed protective order will be DENIED without prejudice. [Emphasis added.]

• From the government’s September 9 motion before the appeals court:

The district court [Judge Lamberth] here improperly and unnecessarily seeks to involve private counsel [Horn and the defendants’ attorneys] in assessing the scope of the state secrets privilege. [Emphasis added.]

[In fact, Judge Lamberth seeks to set up very elaborate procedures, involving in-camera and ex-parte filings by government attorneys, for assessing what is or is not national-security sensitive material as part of Horn’s case. Those procedures do not involve granting the power to make that assessment to “private counsel.”]

From a Memorandum Opinion issued by Judge Lamberth on Aug. 26, 2009 [link here]:

It is important to remember that at this juncture, the plaintiff, defendants, and their counsel, only have a need-to-know the classified and/or privileged information already known to them or to their clients for purposes of allowing this lawsuit to proceed. …

Within 40 days of this date, the plaintiff and defendants will be required to file motions with the Court stating (1) information that they intend to use during discovery and/or present at trial, and (2) over which the parties believe the government has improperly classified, asserted the privilege over, or redacted, including specific justifications for their arguments.

… After the Court receives these filings, the government will have an opportunity to respond, and it will be able to respond ex parte [alone with the judge, absent the presence of other parties] if it believes its very responses are privileged and can justify its belief.

• From the government’s September 9 motion before the appeals court:

Horn also makes wild and unsupported assertions of bad faith. [Emphasis added.]

[In fact, it is Judge Lamberth — not Horn — who accused the CIA of acting in bad faith and committing a fraud on the court.]

From a January 14, 2009, Memorandum Opinion issued by Judge Lamberth:

Defendant Brown’s cover was lifted and rolled back in 2002. However, this Court was not informed of the change in Brown’s status until 2008.

Moreover, the attorney “handling” the case within the CIA’s office of general counsel in 2005 was put on actual notice of the change in Brown’s [CIA cover] status in January 2005. Nevertheless, he or she reviewed drafts of appellate pleadings arguing that Brown’s identity was covert and failed to correct the false statement or report it to his or her superiors. The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Brown, relying on the fact that “nothing about ‘Defendant II’ would be admissible at trial.”

… Because the misrepresentation was material, intentional, involved an officer of the court and was directed at the judicial machinery itself, this Court concludes that the government’s actions constitute a fraud on the court. [Emphasis added.]

The three-judge appeals court panel, after reviewing the DOJ’s September 9 motion, agreed to grant a stay pending appeal, which effectively put a halt to Horn’s litigation, including his attorney’s attempts to depose former State Department agent Forster — since Forster’s planned testimony concerning the whitewashing of the State Department OIG investigative report would likely broach matters requiring the attorneys involved to have security clearances.

However, absent a last-minute change of heart by one or more of the parties to the litigation, a settlement in the Horn case appears imminent, possibly to be announced as soon as this coming week.

And given the U.S. government’ past record of deceit in the Horn litigation (under the guise of protecting state secrets), it doesn't seem far-fetched to consider that the next move to be made by DOJ attorneys overseeing the case might not be motivated purely out of a desire to protect national security or to advance the cause of justice.

Stay tuned ....

Prior stories on Horn’s case

• CIA, State Department accused of sanitizing report into alleged misconduct

• Former DEA agent's lawsuit exposes CIA "fraud"

• State secrets claim takes a blow in Horn case

• DEA Agent’s Whistleblower Case Exposes the “War on Drugs” as a “War of Pretense”

Faking the News

Brenda Norrell — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:11:17 -0400

By Brenda Norrell

SKY CITY, Acoma Pueblo, N.M. -- Where were the news reporters during the 7th Southwest Uranium Forum? Only two people identified themselves as news reporters at the gathering, a correspondent for Washington Post and another from the Four Corners Free Press.

Where was the American Indian media? Where were the Native American newspapers and radio stations?

Recently, Associated Press and the Arizona Republic were quick to attack environmentalists by rewriting the press releases of politicians and corporations. But where were their reporters when Indigenous Peoples gathered to tell their stories of how uranium mining, and the radioactive waste strewn and left behind, caused the deaths of their children, parents, brothers and sisters?

Faith Gemmill, Gwich'in, came all the way from the Arctic Circle in Alaska to this gathering, telling of the climate change devastating the way of life of her people and the land, water and air of all life there. Charmaine White Face of Defenders of the Black Hills came from South Dakota, revealing the secrecy of the uranium mining and the waste that poisons the land and water of the Oglala. Winona LaDuke, Anishinabe, came from White Earth, Louise Benally, Navajo, came from Big Mountain, Margene Bullcreek, Goshute, came from Utah and Supai Waters from the land of the Havasupai.

This Indigenous Uranium Forum was broadcast live with streaming video by Earthcycles. As of Monday morning, there were more than 62,300 views of the sessions from Thursday, Friday and Saturday. News reporters have access to these sessions at no cost. Will they tell the story of the Navajos who buried their children after they died of brain tumors, or the children who grew up without their mothers who died of lung cancer from the uranium mines in Monument Valley, Red Valley and Cove, Arizona?

Will they tell the story of the children taken away, vanished from their families, after their parents died working in the uranium mines without protective clothing? Will they tell the story of the Acoma and Laguna Pueblos who ate the radioactive dust with their meals near Jackpile Mine? Will they tell the story of the Havasupai who now must sacrifice their own money to fight the new threat of uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, uranium mining that could poison their water? Will they tell of how the Cyprus Tohono Corporation's copper mining released uranium into the water supply and there is now a cancer alley?

Will they listen to John Redhouse, Navajo, tell of the hate crimes toward Navajos and Pueblos here. Will the news reporters reflect and consider that uranium mining has long been a hate crime in Indian country?

Sky City on Acoma Pueblo is located between the Navajo Nation and Albuquerque. It is alongside the interstate highway, but no local reporters came. If they did, they did not identify themselves at the beginning or the conclusion of the gathering.

Censorship is the sad state of the media today. Faking news coverage is what the media does when reporters are lazy and editors do not send reporters to hear the stories of the grassroots people.

It is far easier for editors and reporters to rewrite the press releases of corporations and politicians than to go and listen to the truth and the voices of the people. A quick phone call will not do justice to the long standing genocide, greed and destruction by energy companies and the US government in Indian country.

This was an opportunity missed for the media who did not make it a priority. Please write the reporters and editors and hold them accountable.

Indigenous Uranium Forum session videos:
http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles

Brenda Norrell is a contributor to Narco News, CounterPunch, Americas, Atlantic Free Press, Sri Lanka Guardian and the UN OBSERVER & International Report. She publishes Censored News.

Chiapas Government Tries to Pin Narco Arsenal on Peasant Leader

Kristin Bricker — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:37:33 -0400

Conflicting Press Releases Cast Doubt on Government Claims

This past October 16, the Mexican Federal Police transferred Chiapan peasant leader Jose Manuel “Don Chema” Hernandez Martinez to a maximum-security federal prison located in Nayarit, 26 hours from his home. Don Chema is a leader of the Emiliano Zapata Peasant Organization (OCEZ). The government claims that it transferred him “for his own safety.”

On October 9, the government claims to have uncovered a massive weapons stockpile—reportedly the largest weapons seizure in the history of Chiapas, and the biggest weapons seizure in the entire country so far this year. The Chiapas state government says in a press release that “according to statements made by the men detained in this operation, the arsenal would be linked to José Manuel Hernández Martínez.”

The press release, dated October 18, is meant to justify Don Chema’s transfer to a maximum-security federal prison “for his own protection.” The press release continues: “It was detected that people, members of the organization in which Jose Manuel Martinez participates, wanted to cause him physical harm so that he wouldn’t testify to the authorities about this arsenal.” Don Chema’s family was unaware of these threats; they protested his transfer as a government move to isolate him from his family, lawyer, and political support base.

On October 12, the Chiapas government issued a press release regarding the arms seizure. The press release explains how the government arrested three men who then led them to the weapons. The three men are: Juan Rocha Flores from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and Joel Díaz González and Silverio Osorio López from Huimanguillo, Tabasco. According to the press release, all of the men say they belong to a “criminal organization in the region;” one of the men “said he belongs to an organization called OCEZ or OPEZ that uses ‘social struggle’ as a front.” The press release does not specifically mention Don Chema; the press release mentioned above that justified Don Chema’s transfer to Nayarit makes the explicit link between the weapons stockpile and Don Chema.

On October 13, the Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) issued a press release stating that the Chiapan government had transferred the three men to the federal government’s custody for detention, processing, and prosecution. The PGR press release states that the three men admitted to being hitmen and “halcones” (elite fighters) for Los Zetas, the Gulf cartel’s private army that occasionally also works with the Beltran Leyva drug trafficking organization. The PGR press release does not mention the OCEZ nor the OPEZ nor Don Chema. Likewise, the previously issued Chiapas state government press releases to not mention Los Zetas.

Contradictions Outweigh Consistencies

The three press releases (two from the Chiapan government and one from the PGR) include a number of inconsistencies that cast a shadow of doubt over their claims, particularly the so-called evidence that incriminates Don Chema and the OCEZ.

The press releases’ inconsistencies begin with the moment the men are detained. The PGR press release reports that Chiapan State Preventive Police (PEP) stopped the men at a checkpoint. According to the PGR, the men tried to evade the checkpoint. The Chiapan press release states that the men were stopped for a routine inspection (which could be the checkpoint the PGR mentions, but the wording is too vague to be sure) on the highway that connects the cities of Frontera Comalapa and Comitan. Here’s the problem: the Frontera Comalapa-Comitan highway is a federal highway. State police don’t have jurisdiction on federal highways; only federal police and soldiers do. State police can’t make arrests on federal highways unless they’re taking part in a joint federal-state operation (none of the three press releases alludes to a joint operation on that highway at the time). And State police certainly can’t set up checkpoints on federal highways. So why do the government press releases say that state police stopped the men at a checkpoint on a federal highway?

The press releases also give conflicting reasons for why the men were arrested. The Chiapas press release states: “During a routine inspection carried out while they traveled along the highway that runs from Frontera Compalapa to Comitan de Dominguez in a gray Chrysler Ram double-cab pick-up truck, the men responded in a nervous manner and tried to bribe the police officers.” The PGR press release states that the men tried to avoid the highway checkpoint all together.

Even more interestingly, none of the press releases claim that the men had any contraband on them at all at the time of their detention. So aside from the attempted bribe that may or may not have actually occurred, it seems as though the arresting police officers had no evidence against the men. This begs the question: why would the men have tried to bribe the police officers if they had no contraband in their vehicle?

The Organizations

One of the most striking contradictions in the three press releases is the very information that directly incriminates Don Chema and the OCEZ: the three detained men’s testimony regarding who they work for. The Chiapas press release states that the three suspects told police that they are members of the “OCEZ or OPEZ.” It’s odd that the detained men aren’t exactly sure which organization they belong to. What’s even more odd are the two organizations they say they might belong to: the Emiliano Zapata Proletarian Organization (OPEZ) split off from the OCEZ years ago, and the two organizations and their members don’t get along at all. Overlapping membership in the two organizations is highly unlikely.

The men’s OCEZ membership is even more questionable when one considers where the men are from. According to the Chiapas government, the men hail from Tabasco and Tamaulipas, not Chiapas. The complete name of Don Chema’s OCEZ is the Emiliano Zapata Peasant Organization - Carranza Region (OCEZ-RC). “Carranza Region” was added to the name in order to distinguish it from other Chiapan organizations that also call themselves OCEZ. “Carranza Region” refers to the Chiapan county in which the organization is located. In other words, not only does the name “OCEZ” refer to Chiapan organizations, Don Chema’s OCEZ-RC is an organization that exists in a particular Chiapan county. It is unlikely that the OCEZ-RC has Tabascan members, and it is even more unlikely that the OCEZ-RC has members from Tamaulipas, which is located at the other end of the country. Members of Don Chema’s OCEZ are from communities in Carranza county, Chiapas.

Two of the three men also reportedly told police that they spent one month in Guatemala receiving kaibil training. Kaibiles are elite Guatemalan soldiers, holdovers from the dirty war there. They have a reputation for being inhuman monsters; their training reportedly includes biting off the heads of live chickens. Kaibiles have a history of repressing insurgent peasant organizations, not training them. The Mexican government claims that many kaibiles have now allied themselves with Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and train DTO hitmen and private armies.

According to the government, the two men testified that the San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, diocese put them in contact with the kaibiles. Since Don Samuel Ruiz, an indigenous rights supporter and president of the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), was bishop of the San Cristobal diocese during the Zapatista uprising in 1994, the diocese has been very oriented towards liberation theology. As such, both Frayba and the San Cristobal diocese have been frequent targets of government harassment and smear campaigns. Furthermore, during the Guatemalan dirty wars, the kaibiles and other Guatemalan security forces were known for repressing and killing liberation theologists and catechists, not training them.

But why would the three men incriminate local peasant and religious organizations, some of which they don’t seem to even be vaguely familiar with? The answer could lie in Mexico’s protected witness program: Mexican officials offer detained suspects “protected witness status” which would result in their charges being reduced or dropped if they agree to testify against more important targets, in this case, that could be Don Chema, the OCEZ, and the San Cristobal diocese. This could have been the case with these three men: in a highly unusual move, the Chiapan government press release regarding the men’s arrest and their alleged arsenal only includes pictures of the weapons; the three detainees’ pictures are not included in the press release. The government generally prefers to parade detainees around in front of their alleged arsenals for the press. With this arms seizure being the largest in Chiapan history and the largest in the country this year to date, one would think the government would want to give the press a picture of the men who allegedly lead them to the historic stockpile.

In contrast to the Chiapan government press release, the PGR press release regarding the same men and the same arsenal says that the three men admitted to being Zetas. Oddly, the PGR press release does not mention anything about any “criminal organization that uses ‘social struggle’ as a front,” nor the OCEZ, nor the OPEZ. However, the PGR press release does state that the men testified to the Chiapas State Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime that they worked as hitmen and halcones for Los Zetas. If the PGR is to be believed, this seems like important information that the Chiapan government should have taken credit for in its own press release. So why did the Chiapan government neglect this important piece of information, and choose to instead focus on linking the OCEZ and Don Chema to the historic arsenal seizure?

The Arsenal

According to the Chiapas government, during questioning the detained men tipped off authorities to the location of a safe house where arms were stored. There, the Chiapas government found the largest weapons stockpile in Chiapan history. However, the arsenal itself raises questions about the veracity of the government’s claims.

The Chiapas government reports no arrests in the ranch where the arms stockpile was discovered—it found weapons and animals there, but no people. In other words, the Chiapas government wants us to believe that the largest arms cache in Chiapan history was left unguarded.

The arsenal was discovered in Frontera Comalapa, which is located about five hours from Carranza county, where the OCEZ-RC is based. It is imaginable that major drug trafficking organizations, which due to their immense financial resources are arguably better armed than the Mexican government itself, would have an excess weapons stockpile of this size stashed away in a house. However, a poor peasant organization whose members live in tiny cinderblock houses is not likely to hide a weapons arsenal of this size so far from its base of operations—after all, the weapons are useless if they are located a five-hour drive away from home. Furthermore, guns require routine cleaning and maintenance: this is something an insurgent peasant organization could do if their weapons were dispersed and hidden amongst their members, but regular weapon maintenance would be much more difficult if all or most of their weapons were stored in an abandoned ranch five hours from their community.

Peasant organizations are, by definition, too poor to have an excess of armament that they would store hours away from their home base. Case in point: during the Zapatista uprising in 1994, many indigenous members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) were armed with sticks instead of guns. This is because many indigenous peasants, the poorest of Mexico’s poor, couldn’t afford to buy a gun, even if it meant the difference between life and death. For example, in the below video of the 1994 uprising, at 1:28, 2:09, and 2:32 minutes one can see EZLN soldiers who are armed with sticks or who are completely unarmed. Those who are armed carry obsolete weapons. On EZLN soldier can be seen holding a tear gas launcher as his only weapon.

The typical peasant army arsenal is a far cry from the stockpile allegedly found at the Frontera Comalapa ranch. In addition to 306 mortar rounds, 22 rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and eight landmines, Chiapan police allegedly found nine vehicles and two racing horses. Peasants whose leaders live in two-bedroom cinderblock houses (as is Don Chema’s case) would keep their vehicles close to home for daily use rather than leaving a fleet of them parked at an abandoned ranch. Likewise, most peasants don’t own expensive racing horses; they own beasts of burden.

The Chiapas government also reports that it recovered a jewel-encrusted pistol from the ranch. While it doesn’t show said pistol in the photos it released to the press, a different pistol with what appears to be a gold-and-ivory handle is visible. Jewel- and gold-encrusted pistols are not available off-the-shelf. They must be special ordered and are very expensive. The style is popular amongst rich, high-ranking drug traffickers, which led to jewel- and gold-encrusted pistols being nicknamed “narco-bling.” This historic Chiapas arms seizure is the first time the government has attempted to convince the public that poor peasant guerrilla organizations also possess “narco-bling.” The presence of narco-bling calls the veracity of the government’s claims into question because, again, unlike drug trafficking organizations, insurgent peasant organizations struggle just to arm all of their members with any weapon at all. If by some stroke of luck a peasant guerrilla organization were to obtain a jewel- or gold-encrusted pistol (for example, in a confrontation with drug traffickers), they’d be more likely to strip the weapon of its jewels and gold and sell them in order to purchase more weapons.

Likewise, police report that one of the vehicles recovered at the ranch was armored. Drug traffickers are frequently seen traveling in armored vehicles; peasants rarely have enough money for cheap cars, let alone an armored vehicle.

Police also report that they recovered a trailer at the ranch in Frontera Comalapa. The OCEZ community of 28 de Junio, where Don Chema lives, is located 3 km from the nearest paved road. What would they do with a trailer? It would tip over if they tried to bring it to their community.

Even though police say they recovered mortars and RPGs from the ranch, no grenade launchers appear in the government photos nor in the government’s list of recovered arms. Who owns RPGs and mortars but no weapons with which to shoot them?

Furthermore, the Chiapas government’s photos of the arsenal include eight CB radios. Three of the radios appear to be brand-new; they still have plastic film over their screens. All of the cables that appear with the radios are brand-new: some appear in their original factory zip-ties, while others lack the dirt and grime that would appear on a radio that was installed in a vehicle. Much of Carranza county doesn’t have cell phone reception. Rather than leaving brand-new CB radios stored in an abandoned ranch five hours from home, wouldn’t OCEZ members use them for day-to-day communications?

The Location

The arsenal’s location also raises questions about the Chiapan government’s claim that the weapons belong to the OCEZ. Frontera Comalapa, as previously mentioned, lies about five hours from Carranza county, where Don Chema’s OCEZ faction is based.

Frontera Comalapa is not known for insurgent activity. This arms bust, if it is to be believed, would be the first time the Mexican government has publicly stated that it has detected insurgent activity in the area. However, this is not the first arms bust in Frontera Comalapa.

Frontera Comalapa, as its name suggests, is located along the Chiapas-Guatemala border. This border region is the primary land route for drug traffickers wishing to bring drugs into Mexico. This area is reportedly dominated by Los Zetas.

The Mexican government and press have repeatedly reported Zetas and drug trafficking activity in Frontera Comalapa and the surrounding area.

On October 15, just three days after the Chiapan government issued its press release attributing the arsenal to the OCEZ, the Mexican military seized 40.66 kilos of cocaine in Fronteral Comalapa.

This past July, the Chiapas government reported that alleged Zetas attacked state police with firearms and grenades in Frontera Comalapa in retaliation for the apprehension of a Zetas leader in Chiapas.

And just last year, the Chiapas government reported that it seized another historic arsenal in Frontera Comalapa. This arsenal contained the most grenades seized at one time. The Chiapas state government attributed that arsenal to organized crime, not local insurgents.

Weak Accusations Lead to Useful Results

Frontera Comalapa is drug trafficking territory, not insurgent territory. The arsenal contains items that a peasant guerrilla army would most likely not own or would not stockpile. The massive arsenal and two racing horses (which require food and water) were left unguarded. The federal and state governments cannot agree on the circumstances of the men’s arrest, nor their alleged organizational affiliations. The PGR, which is responsible for prosecuting the men, claims the detainees are Zetas, not insurgents. Something stinks.

But why would the Chiapas state government go to such lengths to link Don Chema and the OCEZ to this arsenal if its story contains so many holes and inconsistencies?

The Chiapan government has unleashed an unprecedented campaign of legal repression against the OCEZ, and as flimsy as the accusations might be, they serve their purpose. The arsenal provided the government with justification to transfer Don Chema, a state prisoner and the OCEZ’s principal leader, to a federal maximum-security prison located at the other end of the country. And just this morning, unidentified police officers broke into the homes of Rocelio de la Cruz Gonzáles and José Manuel de la Torre Hernández, two other OCEZ leaders, and kidnapped those two men. Because the police officers did not present an arrest warrant when they carried off the men, it is unknown what how the government will charge them.

One thing is certain: with the year 2010—the centennial and bicentennial of two Mexican revolutions—just around the corner, the Mexican government is just getting started with its pre-emptive strikes against the opposition.

Indigenous Uranium Forum, Acoma Pueblo Live

Brenda Norrell — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:53:57 -0400

Streaming live video: Indigenous Uranium Forum
Acoma Pueblo
http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles

By Brenda Norrell

ACOMA PUEBLO, N.M. -- The Indigenous Uranium Forum will be broadcast live Thursday, Oct. 22, at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time, through Saturday noon. Earthcycles www.earthcycles.net will provide live coverage, carrying the voices of Indigenous uranium victims to the world. Acoma Pueblo and Havasupai leaders join Anishinabe Winona LaDuke at the forum. Uranium victims and activists will speak from Pueblo, Navajo, Goshute and Lakota lands, along with Indigenous Peoples from Bolivia, Canada and Alaska.

"The 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum proposes to focus much needed public attention on the rape of Mount Taylor and to serve as a vehicle to launch a regional inter-tribal campaign to end this madness in the Grants Mineral Belt, Lakota Lands, and elsewhere in Indian Country from the Grand Canyon to White Mesa where deadly and runaway uranium technology threatens the lives of future of our water, land, people, and our winged, four legged and those that crawl relatives," Native American organizers said.

"The 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum will focus on the recent onslaught of exploratory measures to mine and mill uranium in the Grants Mineral Belt. Due to recent price fluctuations of uranium on the world market and United States energy policy still emphasizing nuclear power as an answer to global warming and climate change, we will inform and educate participants of local, national and international nuclear issues impacting Indigenous peoples."

The forum will also prioritize health issues impacting mining and non-mining populations living in contaminated communities.

"We will use the forum as an organizing and network initiative to help us better understand the work Indigenous people are doing to fight nuclear power in their communities and move toward alternative forms of energy such as wind and solar."

Earthcycles will broadcast live from the Indigenous Uranium Forum at Sky City, Acoma Pueblo, N.M., on Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time through Saturday noon, Oct. 22-24.

Thursday, October 22, 2009
7:00AM-8AM: Breakfast & Registration
8:30AM: Welcome - Honorable Chandler Sanchez, Governor of Acoma Pueblo
8:45AM: Opening Prayer - Honorable Ron Charlie, 2nd Lieutenant Governor, Acoma Pueblo
9:00AM: Introductions - Manny Pino, Acoma, Professor, "Overview of Acoma Homelands"
9:30AM: Protecting Mt. Taylor: 30 Years of Resistance

Jon Redhouse, Advisor to SIUF
"Honoring Diana Ortiz, Women of Acoma: Great Role Model"
Wild Fire Singers, Taos Drum Group, "Songs for the People"

10:30AM: Break
10:45AM: Inter-Tribal Voice
12:00PM: Lunch (on your own)
1:00PM: Indigenous Nuclear Resistance Panel

Charmaine White Face, Defenders of the Black Hills, "Impacts of uranium

development on Lakota Lands and World Health Organization Obligation to the UN"

Rita Capitan, Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining
Supai Waters, Matthew Puetsoy , Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai Tribe, People of

the Blue Green Waters, Protecting Red Butte and Grandmother Canyon

Nuclear Waste: Margene Bullcreek, Shoshone Paiute
Indigenous Youth Voices: Nadine Padilla, Autumn Chacon, Nikke Alex & Jihan

Gearon

Solidarity Statement: Katsumi Furitsu, Japan & Mayra Gomez, Aymara Tribe,

Bolivia
3:00PM: Break
3:15PM: Indigenous Nuclear Resistance Panel

Gilbert Bedonie, Navajo Dependents of Uranium Workers Committee
Chris Peters, 7th Generation Fund, "Abya Yala" International Connections
Updates: Nuclear Regulatory Commission-GEIS Panelist Eric Jantz, NMELC
Dineh Project, Sarah Adeky and Chris Shuey, SRIC

4:30PM: Adjourn
5:00PM: Dinner & Music by "Indigie Femme"
7:00PM-9:00PM: Evening Activities
1. Networking and relax: It's your choice
2. Film Screenings: "U38 Womyn" (7 mins), Shonto Prepatory School, Uranium
Research, "Radioactive Mines to Radioactive Weapons" (27 mins) -- Host:
Norman Brown
Friday, October 23, 2009
7:00AM-8AM: Breakfast & Registration
8:30AM: Opening Prayer
8:45AM: Overview/Check in with Forum/Updates
7TH SOUTHWEST INDIGENOUS
URANIUM FORUM
OCTOBER 22 , 23, 24 2009
SKY CITY HOTEL & CASINO
I- 40 AT EXIT 102, ACOMA PUEBLO, NM
9:00AM: Greening Our Economies Panel

John Fogarty, New Energy Economy
Louise Bennally, Food Sovereignty
Cristala Allen, Caddo, Native Workplace

10:30AM: Break
10:45AM: Nuclear Terrorism on Indigenous Lands: Treaty and Human Rights Lens -
Moderator: Manny Pino

James Zion, Esq. "Public Lands Uranium Resistance: Grand Canyon and

Beyond"

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity

12:00PM: Lunch (on your own)
1:00PM: Tools for Change - Moderator: Petuuche Gilbert, Acoma

Multi-Cultural Alliance for a Safe Environment-Best Practice for Alliance

Building Nadine Padilla, Larry King, Jonnie Head, & Rosemarie Cechini
3:00PM: Break
3:15PM: Impact of Uranium Development on Local Communities - Moderator: Laura
Watchempino, Acoma

Teddy Nez, Carletta Garcia, Al Waconda

4:30PM: Adjourn
5:00PM-6:30PM: Dinner
7:00PM-9:00PM: Film Screening and Discussion - Host: Robert Tohe

"Return of Navajo Boy" (53 min) & Conversation with Elsie Mae Begay

Saturday, October 24, 2009
7:00AM-8:00AM: Breakfast & Registration
8:00AM: Opening Prayer & Announcements
9:00AM: Guest Speaker, Winona LaDuke, Anishanabe, White Earth Homelands
10:15AM: Beyond Nuclear, Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog
10:30AM: Break
10:45AM: Strategy Presentations, Draft Press Release, Reach Consensus on Plans of Action,
Assignments, Committee to Carry out Plan of Action, Set Conference Call, & What
organizations are committed?
12:00PM: Wrap Up Discussion
12:30PM: Adjourn
Thank you all for taking the time to share and plan for a Nuclear Free World.

Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) is an internationally renowned activist working on issues of sustainable development, renewable energy and food systems. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, and is a two time vice presidential candidate with Ralph Nader for the Green Party. As Program Director of the Honor the Earth, she works nationally and internationally on the issues of climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice with Indigenous communities. Winona LaDuke will be speaking at the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 9AM.
http://groundswellfilms.org/grandmothers-dc.htm
November 2006 saw the birth of Indigie Femme. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA international performers Indigie Femme combines their traditional and original songs, dance and storytelling, Indigie Femme's vision is to create global cross-cultural exchange. The lively performances weave ethnic cultures through song, dance, storytelling and facilitating educational workshops in North America and the world. Indigie Femme will be performing at the Forum Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 5PM.
Set in the stunning landscape of Utah's Monument Valley, this unforgettable, universally acclaimed documentary chronicles the extraordinary saga of how a rediscovered 1950s silent film reel leads to the return of a long-lost brother to his Navajo family. Since the 1930s, members of the Cly family have lived in Monument Valley and appeared as subjects in countless photographs, postcards, and Hollywood westerns -- even in a home movie by legendary director John Ford and a propaganda film by a uranium mining company. The film "The Return of Navajo Boy" will be screened at the Forum Friday, October 23, 2009 at 7PM.
Special acknowledgement to the following supporters:
7th Generation Fund
Lannan Foundation
Western Mining Action Network
Bioneers
Available Media, Inc.
Beyond Nuclear
Phil Harrison, Navajo Nation Council Delegate (Cove & Red Valley)

Detained Chiapan Peasant Leader Treated Worse Than a Drug Kingpin

Kristin Bricker — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:10:41 -0400

Government Transferred “Don Chema” to a Federal Maximum-Security Prison

The way the government is treating Jose Manuel Hernandez Martinez, also known as “Don Chema,” one would think he’s the head of a drug cartel.

According to witnesses, on September 30, at least eighteen police officers—many disguised as electrical workers—kidnapped Don Chema from his home in the 28 de Junio community in Chiapas. The operation included state and federal police officers working together in a “joint” or “mixed” operation—the sort of operation that characterizes the war on drugs.

Because the agents reportedly did not identify themselves as police during the arrest, fellow members of Don Chema’s organization, the Emiliano Zapata Peasant Organization (OCEZ), followed the police’s pick-up truck in an attempt to free Don Chema.

According to witness accounts, another vehicle intercepted the truck carrying the OCEZ members. Even though the civilians were unarmed, the vehicle reportedly opened fire on the OCEZ truck, causing it to crash and allowing Don Chema’s kidnappers to get away. One of the truck’s occupants, Jordán López Aguilar, died instantly in the crash. A second man, Bayardo Hernández de la Cruz, died from his injuries on October 17. Two other men remain hospitalized.

Don Chema appeared the following day in a government press release. As it does with nearly all members of organized crime, the government included Don Chema’s mug shot (complete with two police posing next to him) in the press release. The press published Don Chema’s mugshot, as it does when the government arrests organized crime’s “Most Wanted” members.

After spending sixteen days in Chiapas’ infamous El Amate prison, Federal Police suddenly transferred Don Chema to a federal maximum-security prison in the state of Nayarit. The government did not notify Don Chema’s family nor his lawyer before transferring him.

In Nayarit, Don Chema’s fellow prisoners include the likes of Loz Zetas members (former elite Mexican soldiers and currently the Gulf cartel’s private army), members of the Beltran Leyva brothers’ drug trafficking organization, members of the La Familia criminal organization, and the 51 prison guards and officials who helped 53 Zetas escape from a Zacatecas prison, amongst other heavy-hitters in the organized crime world.

All in all, it would seem as though Don Chema is receiving typical treatment for a high-ranking member of organized crime.

But Don Chema isn’t a drug kingpin; he’s a peasant leader. His organization, the OCEZ, occupies land in order to legalize it (that is, obtain land titles) and re-distribute it amongst Chiapan peasants. While most drug kingpins live in luxurious mansions in Mexico’s most expensive neighborhoods or in beautiful, isolated mountainside ranches, Don Chema lives in small two-bedroom cinderblock-and-asbestos house (public housing, actually) off a dirt road in the small Chiapan peasant community of 28 de Junio.

Now that Don Chema is in federal maximum-security prison, he may wish he were a drug kingpin. According to the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba), “federal maximum-security prisons are notorious for their punishment methods.” Maximum-security prisoners are kept in a near-constant state of incommunication. New arrivals such as Don Chema are often held incommunicado for 15-40 days. Prisoners may only receive visitors every eight days, and 10-minute phone calls every ten days. Depriving prisoners of their rights to phone calls and visits is a commonly used punishment.

In Nayarit, Don Chema is a 26-hour, MX$1,400 (USD$111) bus trip away from his family and the OCEZ, which has mounted a political campaign to free him. And that time and money doesn’t include the return trip. The government has offered to pay the family’s plane tickets to visit Don Chema (then again, it offered to pay the injured men’s hospital bills and never did), but it hasn’t offered to pay his lawyer’s plane tickets.

The recently released Cerezo brothers spent time in nearly every Mexican federal maximum-security prison while they were political prisoners. Hector Cerezo reports that prison guards beat new arrivals in order to “show them who’s boss.”

Hector Cerezo also reports that federal maximum-security prisons have “no school, no work, no painting, no music, no theater. The only thing they let me have was a book chosen off of a list of prison-owned books.”

In contrast, Sinaloa drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman had a decidedly different experience during his stay in a federal maximum-security prison. Mexican journalist Ricardo Ravelo writes in his book “Los Capos” that El Chapo and his closest associates enjoyed many perks. He reports that prostitutes visited the men regularly; steaks and other favorite dishes were brought in from the outside; and prison guards allowed El Chapo to string a sheet across the bars of his prison cell to give him privacy. Ravelo reports rumors that El Chapo even left the prison from time to time in order to eat out. El Chapo enjoyed so many perks inside the prison that in early 2001 he escaped without a single bullet being fired.

The way the government is treating Don Chema, it’s easy to forget that he’s not a drug kingpin, or even a lieutenant, or even a lowly corner dealer for that matter. Don Chema isn’t even charged with federal crimes; his charges are all at the state level. So why is Don Chema in a federal maximum-security prison?

October 23 Update: We have some new reports that conflict with what La Jornada and other sources originally reported. As cited above, La Jornada reported that a vehicle (presumably police) opened fire on the OCEZ truck, leading to the death of two occupants. Another source close to the community reports that the police did not actually open fire, but that an order was given to "get the OCEZ truck off the road," which, regardless of whether the police opened fire or not, is what occurred. What has always been clear is that the crash, not bullets, killed the two peasants.