Posted by [EMAIL PROTECTED] : link provided by Robert Quiver..thanks! USCRC hearing focuses on Native American injustice http://www.msnbc.com/local/knbn/2404.asp On Monday, the State Advisory Committee to the US Civil Rights Commission listened to testimony concerning allegations of injustice against Native Americans in South Dakota. Voice your opinion on the NewsCenter1 Billboard! http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/local-knbn/index.asp The discussions focused on the deaths of eight Native Americans along Rapid Creek, the discovery of Robert Many Horses’ body in a trash can in Mobridge, and the slayings of two men outside Pine Ridge last summer. But is racial prejudice to blame for the deaths and for the lack of arrests in several cases? After twelve hours of testimony, the Civil Rights Commission hopes to have those answers. The message is familiar. “We always said this is one of the most racists states in the Union as far as Indian people are concerned. It’s bad all over the place here in South Dakota. You can cut it with a knife,” says Bellecourt. Native Americans say that racism is what caused the deaths of the men near the reservation. Bellecourt says, “We were called into Mobrige when Many horses was stuffed in a garbage can upside down, and we were called into Sisseton when the young man was run over by a car.” Allegations of prejudice, disparity, and discrimination were addressed by the panel. Attorney Charles Abourezk spoke to the commission on behalf of the mother of Robert Many Horses. “We are still hopeful that the federal authorities who are now investigating this will come up with something and she will feel like she has been better served, but until them I think she’s pretty discouraged in the justice system,” says Abourezk. Bellecourt agrees, “We are calling for a federal inquiry into the misconduct of law enforcement in handing these cases.” Bellecourt and others just may get what they ask for. “We are very much interested in the killings, the loss of life goes beyond any other kind of abuse that people have to tolerate, and so we are very interested in making sure the FBI and other law enforcement people act to resolve these cases. It has just taken too long and doesn’t inspire confidence,” says Dr. Mary Frances Berry Many individuals who attended the hearing on Monday said there is injustice in law enforcement on both the local level and the Federal level. They feel that injustice has allowed racial hatred and prejudice to continue for too long in South Dakota, and has resulted in the unsolved deaths of Native Americans. Dr. Berry questioned the FBI Assistant Special Agent in charge, James Burrus at length if he acknowledged that there was a huge amount of distrust and and lack of confidence in law enforcement. He said that they work to try and improve it every single day. Vernon Bellecourt, American Indian Movement “We will not cooperate with the FBI until there’s a thorough investigation to figure out their capability and wrongdoing. They stand totally discredited on the Pine Ridge Reservation, on other reservations across South Dakota, and across the country.” The American Indian Movement also alleged that the FBI infiltrated the American Indian Movement and asked for a Federal inquiry in the Wounded Knee Trial. Bellecourt states, “We have information that they furnished guns, ammunition, and money to the Richard Wilson Government in 1971, 1972, and 1973, and those of course were used to kill Indian people.” The goal of the Civil Rights Commission is to enter a new millennium leaving the last centuries of hatred and prejudice behind. The Civil Rights Commission has no power of law enforcement. Instead, it will make recommendations to the US Attorney General, should there be a recommendation for prosecution. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
