Hawai`i Protocol and Statement of Petition in Regards to the Deaths of
Environmental Activists
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 20:07:15 -0800 (PST)
Posted by: Steve Habib Rose habib@thegarden.net
Excerpt From: paul hawken
It occurs to me that we in the environmental/sustainable movement do
not allow ourselves the means to grieve and mourn what we have lost, and what
we are losing.The three who were killed in Columbia were engaged in the
critical work of preventing cultural genocide and environmental depredation.
In the homeland of the U'wa, they are inseparable. For the rest of us living
in cities and developed nations, those links are harder to perceive. I am
sending this document because I feel it is an eloquent expression of dignity,
grief, anger and hope.
Nothing that I know of in our "sustainability" movement matches the depth and
clarity of what is coming from the Indigenous communities. I think we would
all do well to link more closely with our brothers and sisters here, to listen
to a wisdom that is not science or policy or activism alone, but one that
arises from the deepest longings of what it means to be human in community
here on earth. Please share this with others if you feel so moved.
Paul
The Hawai`i Protocol and Statement of Petition in Regards to the
Deaths of Lahe`ena`e Gay, Ingrid Washinawatok and Terence Freitas
Colombia, March 4, 1999
We the Kanaka Maoli Nation of Hawai`i and a member nation of indigenous
peoples of the Pacific, along with our loyal allies, do join our brothers and
sisters of other indigenous nations of the world in heartfelt sorrow and deep
regret regarding the tragic and needless killing of three heroic beings. The
bullet shots that brutally riddled their bodies were echoed around the globe
and sent a shock wave throughout our homeland, Hawai`i nei, the birth place of
Lahe`ena`e Gay, one of our beloved daughters.
He Pohaku o Aloha
We the Kanaka Maoli o ka Pae `Aina o Hawai`i Loa and our kako`o call upon Ke
Akua Nui to heed our voice as we unite our prayers with the prayers of the
millions of Indigenous Peoples in ceremonies with our mourning wail in
traditional respect for grief and loss. With our voices raised, we chant to
the four corners of the universe to guide their spirits on their final journey
as we bid them farewell with Aloha.
We have a strong affinity and respect for the U`wa nation and their
ancestors, for now we are bound by our own blood that was shed on your
ancient lands. It has opened a door of awareness to your history and
suffering. We accept its call through Papa (earth mother) with Aloha,
our truest form of solidarity and urge you not to give in or give up
any of your precious race. Here we are to strengthen you.
We feel bound to the great ancestors of Peqtaw-Metamoh - Thunderbird
Woman - Ingrid Washinawatok and her people, the fearless Menominee, for
her blood has been shed on the land of the U`wa. We have felt your
fierceness, it has struck our hearts and spirit. Kahekili took notice
in that moment.
Terence Freitas heeding Papa's angry call followed under the eyes of
Kane-I-Kapulena. We grieve for your brave mother who has touched our
hearts. Her voice is your shining star and her prayers have gained a
clear path. We are now bound to your struggle, as your blood too has
been fed into the hearts of the U`wa, into the hearts of the Menominee,
into our hearts.
We place a Pohaku o Aloha into the hearts of the U`wa; into the hearts
of the Menominee ... Hear their call as she sings ... He Pohaku o
Aloha
Amama, Ua noa
We extend our deepest sympathy and regards to the family and
relatives of these fallen warriors, Lahe'ena'e Gay of the Pacific
Cultural Conservancy International, Ingrid Washinawatok of the
Menominee Nation, the Indigenous Women's Network and countless other
organizations, and Terence Freitas, an environmental activist. Let us
all pick up the fallen torches, let us continue the struggle. This
fight is for our lands, our precious culture and life-giving sources.
That is all we seek. Money and power breeds death and destruction...we
do not ask for money or riches. We have our wealth in our lands and
our cultural beliefs and values. Please, let us just live in nature,
it is our way, it is the only way to preserve a future for our
children, grandchildren and the generations yet unborn. We answer the
call by other indigenous nations to unite in a concerted effort to
protect our earth mother and stop needless killing and violence.
Therefore we are determined to address those responsible for this
breach of the most sacred trust that the Great Creator has given us
which is life itself. Our grief can no longer choke our voices to
silence and we now rise through our tears of anguish:
To the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) :
Understanding you are a guerrilla organization of Colombia and have
taken it upon yourselves to hold hostage one of Hawai`i's women,
Lahe`ena`e Gay - a Kanaka Maoli o Hawai`i Nei - and you have caused her
death by: abducting her, holding her hostage, tormenting her mind and
heart, torturing her body, beating her, then filling her with your
bullets in a heinous manner. You repeated this crime twice more by
doing the same if not more to her colleagues - Ingrid Washinawatok and
Terence Freitas.
We hold your soldiers and officers accountable for these acts, and
charge you with these crimes in the severest manner. We hold you
accountable for all the ramifications you have caused and will continue
to cause upon their families and those for whom their good work was to
endure and assist. We know that this punishment is a mountain that
you cannot climb and an ocean that you will not survive. We join the
many nations and organizations and call upon your organization to
resume the Peace Talks with the Colombian Government, with highest
aspirations towards just and lasting peace.
But we say this with
caution for the protection of your very lives - and do not wish any of
your people subjected to any government abuses. We also understand
that a large percentage of your members are members of our Indigenous
world community. We do this in the spirit of our ancestors, our Aloha
- our unconditional love in the strongest ability of the heart and
life.
The State of Colombia :
We turn and hold you fully responsible for
this crime committed upon Lahe`ena`e Gay, Ingrid Washinawatok and
Terence Freitas in the fullest possible terms of international law and
any other applicable penalties, for viciously creating the oppressive
conditions upon your own citizens through extreme suffering,
destruction and torture, for causing the unbearable conditions within
your country that brought about this overall disaster due to your own
violations of human rights and international law in your pursuit of
monetary gain.
This you have done knowingly and to the point of near
extinction, eg. the U`wa tribe and possibly many others. We ask for
full investigations upon your government and its members, bodies,
organizations and entities to alleviate the intolerable acts of
Genocide and conditions upon the Indigenous Peoples of your state. We
stand witness to these crimes on their behalf and we expect that these
charges will be answered and we will call upon the assistance of any
legal source available to assist in this matter.
We also charge you in extreme and gross violation of the good
efforts and new partnerships agreements entered in good faith by
Indigenous Peoples of the world with the UN and its members. This
decade, consecrated by the international community as the UN Decade of
the Indigenous Peoples of the World has been desecrated in this action
and you have hindered the process of our hard work.
Further, you have
proven total disregard for all International Instruments and their
reflective principles held within the UN Draft Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which seeks to attain the very barest
minimum standards towards the survival of Indigenous Peoples.
You have
intentionally encouraged a stark desecration upon the good intent of
the UN Commission on Human Rights efforts with Indigenous Peoples, the
ECOSOC and the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples through your
continued and excessive economic relations with US-based Occidental
Petroleum, and not excluding possible misuse of U.S. financial aid to
your country which we want fully investigated by appropriate UN
investigative bodies as soon as possible. We seek your submission to
these investigations and any other relative crimes that may be
discovered in the investigations to come from this multiple atrocity.
Occidental Petroleum and any affiliate corporations and/or
individuals: we also hold you responsible for these crimes and seek to
legally bind you from committing further acts of environmental
destruction upon any indigenous territories and from any further
complicity in the crime of Genocide along with States upon Indigenous
Peoples. We seek all possible legal assistance to achieve this goal
now set in this petition.
United States :
At this time we approach you respectfully and call
on you to assist our efforts based upon our inherent rights as Kanaka
Maoli and make this petition along with our allies. We take a firm
stand in coordinated effort with other Indigenous nations and
non-governmental organizations to insist that all U.S.economic
assistance to the government of Colombia for military or any other
purposes that may cause unaccountable harm in any way to Indigenous
Peoples and their Territories be stopped until investigations are fully
discovered and the protection of Indigenous Peoples as defined within
the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted at
the Sub-Commission on Human Rights-1994 and all other UN Instruments;
has been ensured with the oversight of Her Excellency Mary Robinson,
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights along with all accredited
Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations and relative Indigenous
organizations.
Further, we ask that you extend full economic assistance and moral
support towards up-building the peoples affected so severely by this
incident and our own efforts to proceed to legal remedy. We ask that
you move in accord with the principles defined in the UN Instruments
and the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to fully
investigate and pursue justice under these standards, and that you also
petition the United Nations through its appropriate bodies for its
immediate involvement in this matter.
We ask that Occidental
Petroleum, Shell Oil and any other US and otherwise based
multi-national corporations be stopped as soon as possible from further
desecration and violations upon any Indigenous Peoples and their
territories. That you also support the initiatives and new
partnerships underway with Indigenous Peoples through the UN and their
members towards a permanent mechanism for Indigenous Peoples to bring
these violations, and under which indigenous peoples will be able to
formally bring similar charges of human rights violations for
investigation and resolution.
HER EXCELLENCY MARY ROBINSON, HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS:
Your Excellency, we had the honor of receiving your support and
commitment to assist us in achieving an "aspirational" declaration for
the protection of Indigenous Peoples, at which time one of our Kanaka
Maoli was present. This incident has made it very clear that
Indigenous Peoples are without any protection whatsoever and caught in
the cross-fire of complicit political and military acts along with
economic aggression against Indigenous Peoples and the environment
within their territories.
We ask your assistance now in attaining
immediate oversight of this situation from the UN and encourage a tour
as soon as possible into the regions for consultations with which to
truly identify the circumstances and needs therein which are keeping us
from attaining our good goals set out in this decade, beginning with
Colombia. We also ask that any other UN officially appointed
dignitaries who work in the areas of Indigenous Peoples, Environment
and Human Rights be asked for assistance in the appropriate capacity
deemed necessary.
Last, we call upon all member states and especially those members
who have been in treaty with our Kanaka Maoli Nation - the Kingdom of
Hawai`i, to take official notice of in this crime and investigations.
We place He Pohaku o Aloha in your path to light your way.
We now send this petition throughout the world so that all affected
by this grievous atrocity may share with us, for the purpose of Peace
and global integrity among our people, the Indigenous Peoples of the
world and all of humanity - in honor and tribute to our relatives so
brutally murdered - for our earth and her children.
Be in solidarity with us as we place our pohaku in your hearts so
you can hear her song. Call out so she can sing with you, so that your
voice can always be spoken from the deep things of earth and join in
our petition for Aloha the truest sense of Solidarity we have. He
Pohaku o Aloha - Come share with us.
He mele oia ha`awe mai nei i ka honua o ke Akua Nui. He kukui
malamalama oe, He pulamalama oe, He kulamalama oe.... This statement
is for all of Earth, of ke Akua Nui. You are the sacred light - you
are the sacred gifts - you stand for that light... Amama ua lele
noa...
JOIN YOUR VOICE TO THIS PETITION IN SOLIDARITY
BE CARRIERS OF OUR SACRED SONG "HE POHAKU o ALOHA"
Justine Cooper
Volunteer/Intern Coordinator
Earth Day Network/Earth Day 2000
91 Marion Street
Seattle, WA 98104 USA
(206)264-0114 x212 justinec@earthday.net
