On October 28th, Amnesty International USA
issued a press release detailing their sending a delegation human rights
observers to Standing Rock “to monitor the response of law enforcement to
protests by indigenous communities” ("AIUSA," 2016).
On October 31st, The Guardian reported that the United
Nations “is investigating allegations of human rights abuses by North Dakota
law enforcement against Native American protesters” (Levin, 2016) at the Dakota
Access pipeline protest at Standing Rock.
American media coverage of these two events, particularly the
mainstream media outlets, has been virtually non-existent. The silence on the
part of the American news media regarding this matter is a shameful example of just
how little news is actually being reported in this country. While we are
nearing the end of a bitter presidential election, it is no excuse to ignore
this glaring failure of US law and treaty obligations to its indigenous peoples.
The silence of the Obama administration has been deafening. The
silence on the part of the Clinton campaign has been equally deafening. I
expect no better from the Trump campaign and the GOP, but the Democratic party
has higher principles and standards to live up to. And President Obama has a
legacy that will now bear the indelible stain of his failure to stand for the
rights of America’s indigenous people.
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