PRESS CALL PRESS CALL PRESS CALL PRESS CALL PRESS CALL
Australian federal Police desecrate Aboriginal Fire Ceremony, Canberra
Time: 9.50 am Friday 6 July 2001
Place: Mother Fire, Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Opposite old parliament
house, Canberra
CONTACT 0408331239
As darkness fell trucks and vans carrying forty Australian Federal Police,
under orders from the Commonwealth government, disgorged their cargo to
break up the Fire Ceremony for Peace which had moved to Commonwealth Place,
Canberra, and had halted construction of the site.
Australian Federal Police committed the greatest sacrilege under Aboriginal
Law by destroying the Fire Ceremony. They also arrested the keeper of the
Fire and removed tents, beds cooking gear and food. At eight thirty at City
Police Station in Canberra the Wiradjuri man was charged with refusing to
quit "Commonwealth premises". He has been accused of trespassing on his own
land.
The AFP are now attempting to return the stolen goods and we are informed
they will be coming to talk with the leader of the Fire Ceremony, Arabunna
Elder, Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, at 10am today, Friday.
The Fire Ceremony had moved to "Commonwealth Place" adjacent to
"Reconciliation Place" to call on the Commonwealth authorities to come to
the Fire and begin the peace talks and end the continuing genocide and
crimes against humanity that are being perpetrated against Aboriginal
Peoples. "Is this what they call Reconcilation?" Questioned Uncle Kevin
Buzzacott.
Members of the peace camp recorded the identification numbers of each
police officer involved and also followed the paddy wagon to ensure the
arrested man was not mis-treated. Witnesses from the non_Aboriginal
community also went to the City Police Station to monitor the AFP treatment
of the Wiradjuri man. But the man was held in the cell by himself, which is
against the Deaths in Custody recommendations, even though there were four
friends willing to sit in the cell with him.
Aboriginal Nations and Peoples are calling for recognition of sovereignty
to land.
BACKGROUND;
Resolution for national and international recognition of Aboriginal
Sovereignty, Spirituality and Sustainability
"Our spiritual connectedness to land, sea, each other and all creation is
sustainable management of the planet, the survival and quality of life for
all humanity, and the balance between spirituality and
materialism". Wadjularbinna, Gungalidda Nation
"For the foreigners it is not too late to come the Right Way and respect us
and accept us as the authority of this land in order to make peace. We have
the recipe of life for this land". Kevin Buzzacott, Arabunna Nation
"Each of our nations, each mob, can talk business for proper sovereign land
rights. We own it. We are boss for ourselves and our country from our
ancestor days. That means sovereignty. We never gave away our land, our
country, we never gave anyone the right to push us onto missions or kill
us. We own this land. We own it. We are sovereign bossS". Kevin Gilbert,
1933 - 1993, Wiradjuri Nation
We proclaim the necessity to immediately and unconditionally end
colonialism in all its forms and manifestations as it relates to the
subjugation of Indigenous Nations and Peoples;
We declare the right of Indigenous Peoples to live as nations of diverse
Peoples in equal sovereignty to UN Member States;
We call for international sporting sanctions against Australia to
facilitate an end to the entrenched racial discrimination, gross violation
of human rights, genocide and ethnocide against Aboriginal Nations and
Peoples in Australia;
We declare that Indigenous Peoples are Peoples under international law with
sovereign rights and freedoms to be enshrined under international law;
We call for full membership of Indigenous nations in the UN so that all
nations can live in peace and good order;
We call for resourcing and support for Indigenous Peoples in defence of the
Earth against the destruction created by corporate globalization,
militarism and the nuclear cycle;
We call for an end to the subjugation of First Nations Peoples and
recognition, acceptance and respect for Indigenous Sovereignty as an
effective way to defend the Earth, our Mother;
We call for an end to the torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment
or even death of Indigenous people, including when held in custody or
detention;
We call for reparations for the recovery of holistic physical, emotional
and spiritual health and common well-being of Indigenous Peoples so that
future generations can live in peace as free Peoples;
We call for the permanent protection of the remaining natural heritage of
biodiverse old growth forests, native grasslands and wetlands, unique
ecosystems, high conservation value areas, and all sacred and significant
places and spaces;
We call for the protection of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property
rights to traditional knowledge of biodiversity (In the UN Convention on
Biological Diversity);
We acknowledge that over 90% of the cultural diversity in the world is
within Indigenous Nations and Peoples;
We declare that the 1993 UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples is a minimum standard recognising collective rights and is
consistent with all other rights as espoused by international law,
treaties, covenants and conventions; We are convinced that, "All peoples
have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social
and cultural development. In no case may a people be deprived of its own
means of subsistence" (United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, ICCPR and the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, ICESCR);
We affirm that "The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination
and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is
contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the
promotion of co-operation and world peace. All peoples have an inalienable
right to complete freedom, the exercise of their sovereignty, and the
integrity of their national territory" as guaranteed under international
law. (UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 [xv] on Decolonization);
We are mindful that many UN Nation States oppose self-determination for
Indigenous Peoples because they fear the total disintegration of their
illegitimate statehood gained through the invasive colonial process;
We are mindful that the invasion and usurpation of other Peoples1 lands is
against natural law as decreed by ancient customary and traditional Law/Lore;
We acknowledge that Treaties are the mechanism of international law that
enshrine the sovereign rights of Indigenous Nations and Peoples;
We believe that healing and survival can only be ensured by discovering the
strength of unity in the diversity in humanity. The healing will only occur
when Indigenous Peoples locate and maintain natural spirituality and
religious freedoms;
We call for a Geneva Peace Accord to ensure the full recognition of
Indigenous Sovereignties under international supervision.
In this United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Peoples 1995-2004
We respectfully declare that Aboriginal Nations and Peoples in Australia
are custodians of the Earth's oldest living cultures, whose indomitable
spiritual connection to this ancient land, waters and life is the sovereign
right and root title to land, superior to the imposed colonial system,
which is foreign to what this land and Peoples are used to. The 1992 High
Court Mabo judgement recognised native title as an undoubted ancient
liberty preceding British law;
We emphasise that First Nations Peoples in Australia have never surrendered
nor ceded sovereign rights to traditional lands and territories despite
suffering more than 213 years of oppression and genocide;
We emphasize that the legitimacy of government derives from consent of the
people to be governed. This consent has never been given by the Indigenous
Peoples in Australia by treaty or otherwise. Aboriginal Peoples remain
Sovereign Nations despite colonial rulings;
We respectfully declare that the Mabo High Court case ended terra nullius
as a pseudo-legal basis of white sovereignty for the Australian
Commonwealth government, which now illegally invokes the Act of State
doctrine, although it is not a basis for sovereignty under international law;
We condemn the use of the Australian Constitution to permit the making of
racially discriminatory laws, allowing for the derogation from human
rights, as affirmed in the Hindmarsh Island case (Kartinyeri v The
Commonwealth 1998, High Court of Australia);
We deplore the Native Title Amendment Act which was passed in the
Commonwealth Parliament only subject to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
being suspended and Australia's compliance with the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) nullified. During
the passing of this Act in the Australian Senate, Senator Bob Brown, leader
of the Australian Greens stated that, "Let it be on the record that this
racial discrimination was done with intent" (6 July 1998).
We emphasize that on three occasions the CERD condemned the amended Native
Title Act as racially discriminatory and recommended suspension of the
Native Title Act and a commencement of open negotiations with Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. CERD listed Australia for early
warning and urgent action;
We declare the amended Native Title Act 1993 wrongfully extinguishes
inherited rights to land and waters. It inhibits the exercise of
self-determination, and is a continuation of the systematic, widespread and
institutionalized genocide and ethnocide against the Aboriginal Peoples in
Australia who have among the worst health and well-being indicators in the
world.
In the pursuit of peaceful co-existence among all people, we the
undersigned request legislation from The Australian Senate and The House of
Representatives to:
Suspend the Native Title Act and commence proper negotiations with
Aboriginal Nations and Peoples under international supervision for the
peaceful co-existence;
Halt the destruction and unsustainable development of Aboriginal lands as a
prerequisite to negotiating the foundation of peaceful coexistence between
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples;
Finally end the hostilities of genocide and ethnocide by incorporating the
United Nations Genocide Convention into domestic law so that genocide is a
crime that is punishable and preventable without any reservations;
Repeal the Defence Legislation Amendment Act 2000 which provides immunity
for defence personnel to shoot to kill unarmed civilians;
Discard the Administrative Decisions Bill (Anti-Teoh Bill) which attempts
to prevent the legitimate expectation of legal remedies of justice from
international human rights treaties;
Ensure the return of traditional lands, the regeneration of language, and
spiritual and religious freedoms for all Aboriginal Nations and Peoples;
Finance reparations and non-monetary compensations for land theft, human
rights violations and crimes against Aboriginal Peoples since 1788 to now;
Include in education systems an accurate portrayal of Aboriginal resistance
to invasion, and the logical, moral and legal basis for respecting
Aboriginal Sovereignty and traditional Law/Lore;
Formally entitle the land opposite old Parliament House in Canberra for a
permanent Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy for the many diverse Aboriginal
Nations and Peoples in Australia;
Prevent corporations using the 'divide and rule, co-option and coercion
tactics' to gain consent from just a few unauthorized individuals who are
not authorized in accordance with Aboriginal Law/Lore;
Respect the rights of First Nations Peoples to control and sustainably
manage their own natural wealth and resources, including the right to veto
development on any ancestral lands and territories;
Fully inform Aboriginal Peoples, in languages that are readily understood,
the legal basis of any formal agreements, eg. Indigenous Land Use
Agreements (ILUAs) when signed extinguish native title;
We invite all interested people and organisations to table this draft
Resolution at general meetings, discuss and network it with local
Aboriginal people, and fax your endorsed copy ASAP to +61 2 6247 6821
I/we hereby endorse this resolution for recognition of Aboriginal
Sovereignty, Spirituality and Sustainability.
Name of Endorsing Organizations:
..........................................................................................................................................
Name and Position of Authorized Person
..............................................................................................................................
Signature of Endorsing Individuals
...........................................................................................................................................
Email:
.......................................................
Phone/Fax/Mobile:..........................................................
Date: .............................
Authorised by:
Sovereign Union of Aboriginal Nations and Peoples in Australia
(SUANPA).
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Contact: 0408 331239
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