Sunday, January 11, 2009
Affront to Humanity
In the December 12, 2008 closing statement from the International Indigenous Peoples' Forum on Climate Change to the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change, indigenous spokesman Tom Goldtooth noted the affront to indigenous delegates prohibited from participating in the climate change talks. No doubt responding to the hostile posture of the US government toward indigenous human rights, the UN body followed suit in denying indigenous peoples the very human rights the UN General Assembly a year earlier declared sacrosanct. No matter how one views the threat to humankind posed by issues like climate change, the perpetuation of colonial postures toward indigenous peoples in the 21st century is an affront to humanity.
