And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Subject: U.N.: Protect Indian Sites in U.S. Sent: 3/17/99 12:14 PM U.N.: Protect Indian Sites in U.S. .c The Associated Press GENEVA (AP) -- Laws and attitudes in the United States should take greater account of the beliefs and traditions of American Indians, a U.N. investigator into religious intolerance said in a report published Wednesday. Abdelfattah Amor said after a 15-day study trip to the United States that the country was generally open to all religions, but said there was a need to protect sacred Indian sites. ``It is essential to make society and the whole of the administrative and political apparatus aware of the indigenous peoples' religions and spiritual beliefs,'' said Amor, a Tunisian. Amor went to Mount Graham, Ariz., where telescopes are being constructed by the University of Arizona on a site sacred to the Apaches. He also visited the Black Mesa region of Arizona, where two tribes are involved in a dispute over a piece of land after the resettlement of Indian families. Amor said Indians carrying ceremonial instruments and objects were sometimes arrested at frontiers, Indian prisoners had religious practices banned for security reasons and some Indian children were made to cut their hair by schools. Among minority religions in the United States, Jews were ``satisfied with their lot as a whole,'' Amor said. There were more problems for Muslims, he said, accusing some segments of the media of displaying racial and religious intolerance. The report will be discussed during the six-week meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which begins in Geneva on Monday. AP-NY-03-17-99 1513EST Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
