By Carey L. Biron

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A few extracts from a UN report exposing another case of hypocrisy of US policy on HR. The full report is available at

 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32525.htm

WASHINGTON, Sep 20 2012 (IPS) - A top United Nations official has presented the first ever international investigation into the situation of indigenous peoples in the United States, urging the adoption of new policies and mechanisms to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-address persistent

deep-seeded problems related to historical wrongs, failed policies of the past and continuing systemic barriersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

Based on research in the United States this past spring, James Anaya, the U.N.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, presented his final report to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Tuesday. Speaking before the council, Anaya stated that

indigenous communities in the United States (also referred to as American Indians) continue to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-face significant challenges that are related to widespread historical wrongs, including broken treaties and acts of oppression, and misguided government policies, that today manifest themselves in various indicators of disadvantage and impediments to the exercise of their individual and collective rights.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
Indeed, the 310 tribal-overseen ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-reservationsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in the United States, on which about half of the 4.5 million-strong Native American population lives today, are sites of some of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s most

grinding poverty. Some reservations see 66-percent unemployment figures, while rates of alcoholism are five times that of the rest of the U.S. population.

According to the most recent U.S. census statistics, a quarter of all Native Americans live in poverty and nearly a third lack health insurance, suffering from several health problems at far higher rates

than the rest of the country. According to 2003 data, fewer than half of Native American youths were expected to graduate from high school.

Such marginalisation has led to rights abuses that advocates say have yet to be addressed by either the U.S. government ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…" or, some suggest, by AnayaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s report.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Although the special rapporteur failed to recognise the growing problem of human and civil rights violations among the indigenous people of the United States, I am not surprised,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ John Gomez, with the

American Indian Rights and Resource Organization, told IPS. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-To acknowledge that the problem exists, and that the United States has taken no action to protect the rights of the individuals being

persecuted, would expose the hypocrisy of the U.S. government and the current administration.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚