US State Department "LISTENING SESSIONS" for Indigenous Peoples, Tribes and Community Members

Dear Sunray Community,

I thought the following information would be of interest. I got this information from the International Indian Council http://www.treatycouncil.org/ where you can find more specifics.

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The United States of America became a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2009 and will be reviewed for the first time this year by the HRC's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in November 2010.  Under the UPR all 192 UN member States (countries) are reviewed every 4 years to assess compliance with their obligations to respect and implement human rights for all.  The review is based on each country's national report as well as independent submissions from "civil society stakeholders" including Indigenous Peoples.

The US State Department has arranged "listening sessions" across the country, including 2 planned specifically for Indigenous Peoples and Nations, to receive input for its national report.  Indigenous Peoples, Nations and organizations are invited and encouraged to participate in any of these meetings.

The current national schedule:

1. New York City Date: Feb. 26, Location: Columbia University and proposed site visits
2. Dearborn, MI Date: March 3 (TBC) Location: (TBC)
3. El Paso, Texas Date: March 8 - 9, Location: Camino Real Hotel
4. Birmingham, Al Date: March 11 - 12, Location: Miles College
5. New Mexico Date: March 16-17, Locations: UNM Law School (16th): Window Rock, Navajo Nation (17th)
6. Chicago, Il Date: March (TBC), Location: TBC
7. San Francisco, Ca Date: March 25 - 26, Location: USF Law School (SF) and/or Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley) (TBC)

In some cases meeting sites and/or local contact organizations are still being worked out. A good person to contact for more information is Sarah Paoletti, Senior Coordinator for the US Human Rights Network UPR Project. She can be reached at: paoletti@law.upenn.edu

Whether or not you can provide input directly for the US National report through these "listening sessions", Indigenous Peoples and other "stakeholders" can also submit their own written statements to the Office of the High Commission on Human Rights presenting concerns, questions and recommendations about the activities of the US government which are impacting their human rights. UPRsubmissions@ohchr.org

In Peace,
Sandy Sheridan
Sunray NGO/UN Representative