Testimonies of Human Rights at Home

A Report by the US Human Rights Network on their Human Rights Hearings Documenting Injustice in the United States US Human Rights Network New Mexico In July 2014 USHRN held two hearings and tours in New Mexico (Gallup and Albuquerque) that were co-sponsored by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) (with their core group of alliances: Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance (BVDA); Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM); Laguna-Acoma Coalition for a Safe Environment (LACSE); Post-71 Uranium Workers Committee (Post ’71); Red Water Pond Road Community Association (RWPRCA)). Thirty-five years after the Church Rock uranium spill (the largest nuclear accident in U.S. history in terms of radiation released and land impacted) devastated communities across New Mexico, the hearings gave those directly impacted by the spill and continued environmental injustices, caused by the uranium mining and milling industry, and other human rights violations an opportunity to share their experiences and join the growing U.S. human rights movement. The tour included a visit to the Acoma Pueblo, the Grants/Milan areas, and the Churchrock and Red Water Pond communities and Peoples. While in Albuquerque, the tour included visiting communities plagued by the environmental racism of multiple industries polluting. The panel of local and national distinguished human rights experts that attended the tour and hearings in New Mexico included: Ejim Dike, Executive Director, US Human Rights Network; Gay J. McDougall, Mulligan Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Law, Fordham University School of Law, formerly UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues and UN CERD Committee Member; Ron Davis, CEO, Jordan Davis Foundation; Marleine Bastein, Executive Director, Haitian Women of Miami, FANM & 2013 USHRN Human Rights Movement Builders Award Winner; and Petuuche Gilbert, Acoma Pueblo, Indigenous World Association. Click her to download a pdf of the report: Testimonies of Human Rights at Home – Documenting Injustice in the United States