Democracy Now!: Guam Residents Organize Against US Plans for $15B Military Buildup on Pacific Island
Part 1
Part 2
Guam Residents Organize Against US Plans for $15B Military Buildup on Pacific Island
The United States is planning an enormous $15 billion military buildup on the Pacific island of Guam. The project would turn the thirty-mile-long island into a major hub for US military operations in the Pacific in what has been described as the largest military buildup in recent history. We speak with Julian Aguon, a civil rights attorney from the Chamoru nation in Guam.
Showing posts with label Guam Activists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guam Activists. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Guam Delegation To UN Sparks Up Self Determination Question
Guam Delegation To UN Sparks Up Self Determination Question
Written by Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 09 October 2009 02:43
Chamoru Nation: 'We Need UN Intervention'
This news announcement has been repurposed from an official United Nations General Assembly press release posted at the UN website on October 7, 2009.
(Edited for use by Guam News Factor)
GUAM / New York City / 7 October 2009 - The United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its consideration of decolonization items on Wednesday afternoon, October 7, hearing 22 petitioners on the questions of Gibraltar, Guam and Western Sahara.
On the question of Guam, several petitioners expressed concern about the United States planned military expansion on the island and stressed that their pleas for assistance had essentially fallen on deaf ears. Calling the United States pledge made in 1946 to ensure the decolonization of Guam "politically empty and spiritually murderous" words, a representative of the Chamoru Nation said his group came to New York year after year to, in effect, "throw ourselves on the funeral pyre that is the United Nations decolonization apparatus".
Speaking on Wednesday on the question of Guam's political status were Michael Tuncap, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley; Hope Alvarez Cristobal, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice; David Roberts, PhD candidate in the Department of Geography of the University of Toronto; Megan Roberto, of the University of California Berkeley Pacific Islander Alumni; Josette Marie Quinata, Southern California Chapter of Famoksaiyan; and Destiny Tedtaotao, a Graduate Student at the University of Southern California School of Social Work.Petitioners on Question of Guam
MICHAEL TUNCAP, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley, said that as a descendant of a 4,000 year civilization that had existed before the nations of Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States, he requested that the United Nations recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of Guam. The continued occupation of United States military forces in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands was rooted in a system of racial inequality between European Americans, Asian and Pacific settlers and the indigenous Chamorro people.
He said that since initial contact with the United States in 1898, massive pacification and military occupation had prevented the people of Guam from exercising their inalienable right to self-determination. Colonial ideas of racial and gender superiority had shaped a long history of military violence and United States economic security. As such, the United States currently asserted that its citizens -- military personnel -- had a "constitutional" right to vote in the people's decolonization plebiscite.
However, he said, the indigenous Chamorro people in the Marianas and the other island residents were denied the right to vote in United States elections. The United States also continued to deprive the people of Guam their right to land, even as they caused the toxic pollution that was irreparably damaging the environment. The United States military also threatened the integrity of the land through economic colonization, and colonialism had also caused irreparable harm to bodies of land and water. For those and other reasons, the Fourth Committee must immediately enact the process of decolonization for Guam in lieu of the severe, irreversible impacts of United States militarization. The process must include the maximum funding allowed to achieve a far-reaching education campaign informing all Chamorus from Guam of their right to self-determination and decolonization options, he said.
HOPE ALVAREZ CRISTOBAL, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, said the Chamorro people of Guam had a long history as a free and independent people, interrupted by over 450 years of colonization by outside nations beginning in the sixteenth century. She said that earlier United Nations resolutions had addressed military issues in the operative clause calling on the administering Power "to ensure that the presence of military bases and installations would not constitute an obstacle to decolonization". However, she said the United Nations today seemed satisfied with obscure reference to the military -- the single most serious impediment to decolonization. Those types of changes undermined the intent and purpose of the United Nations Charter, especially Chapter 11, devoted to the "territories whose people had not attained a full measure of self-government".
The administering Power of Guam had in the past cited the issue of its military activities as one of the reasons why that Power would no longer cooperate with the Committee. She noted the "positive light" used to describe the massive militarization of Guam in the working paper, which said its inhabitants "generally welcomed the build-up", and she said nothing could be further from the truth. The militarization of the Chamorro people through the militarization of Guam, combined with over a century of United States immigration policies, was a flagrant violation by the administering Power of accepted standards in its fiduciary responsibilities, and must be addressed.
JULIAN AGUON, speaking on behalf of the Chamoru Nation, said instead of advancing the decolonization mandate of Guam, the United States was engaged in the largest military build-up in recent history, with plans that would bring, among other things, 50,000 people and six nuclear submarines. The United States pledge in 1946 to ensure its decolonization mandate on Guam had, half a century later, become "politically empty and spiritually murderous" words, and the Chamorro people continued to live in colonial conditions. That was why his delegation had come to New York, year after year to, in effect, "throw ourselves on the funeral pyre that is the United Nations decolonization apparatus".
Self-determination, as outlined in the United Nations Charter and international conventions, was an inalienable right, he said. As a Member State, the United States was bound to protect and advance the human rights articulated within the United Nations system. "We need United Nations intervention into the increasingly desperate human rights situation in Guam," he said. "The hyper-militarization of Guam is no doubt illegal under any principled construction of international law."
DAVID ROBERTS, PhD candidate in the Department of Geography of the University of Toronto, said that the United Nations must work for a just solution in Guam, based on the understanding that Guam's status as a non-self-governing entity effected the ability of the Chamorro people to make crucial decisions about their lives and where they lived. He maintained that Guam's virtual status as a colony should be abhorrent to those who champion democracy around the world.
He urged the Committee to give top priority to the fulfilment of the right of Chamorro to self-determination through a decolonization process that included a fully-funded campaign informing all Chamorro from Guam of their rights and options. The Committee, with United Nations funding, must investigate the administering Power's non-compliance with its international obligation to promote the economic, social and cultural well-being of Guam, and must send a team within the next six months to assess the effects of the past and future militarization of the island. Finally, he said the Committee must comply with the Indigenous Forum's request for an expert seminar to examine the impact of the United Nations decolonization process on indigenous peoples.
MEGAN ROBERTO, of the University of California Berkeley Pacific Islander Alumni, said that, having been educated by one of the best universities in the world, she spoke English with no recollection of her mother tongue. She was a success story of the United States colonization of Guam. However, she questioned that success, wondering if leaving the island had been the best option for her family.
Continuing, she said the physical and emotional consequences that colonization had had on the remaining Chamorro who lived on Guahan pointed to a positive answer. Among other things, Chamorro people had been exposed to radiation, Agent Orange and Agent Purple as a result of the island being a decontamination site for the United States in the 1970s. The community was also robbed of its cultural resources. The effects of colonialism on the Chamorro people had travelled along with them in the forced migration and assimilation. However, forced migration was not self-determination.
She said that the Committee should give top priority to the fulfilment of her people's inalienable right to self-determination and immediately enact the process of decolonization of Guahan in lieu of severe, irreversible impacts of United States militarization. The process must include a fully-funded and far-reaching education campaign informing all Chamorro from Guahan of their right to self-determination and decolonization options.
The Committee must send United Nations representatives to the island within the next six months to assess the implications of United States militarization plans on the decolonization of Guahan and the human rights implications of the United States military presence. And finally, the Committee must comply with the recommendations of other United Nations agencies, especially the Permanent Forum in Indigenous Issues, which had recently requested an expert seminar to examine the impact of the United Nations decolonization process on indigenous peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
JOSETTE MARIE QUINATA, Southern California Chapter of Famoksaiyan, said her homeland was threatened by the impending United States military build-up on Guam that was scheduled to begin in 2010. Yet Guam continued to be excluded from decisions that would affect the very people whose environment would be destroyed, and whose concerns were "second to militarization and colonialism". The question of Guam was not solely based on political turmoil and chaos among those who claimed Guam as a United States "possession", but also a reflection of Guam's identity, which continued to suffer from political hegemony and an administering Power that failed to recognize and respect political rights.
She recounted a dream in which she saw her ancestors, and spoke about revitalizing the Chamorro people and preserving their language and culture. She said that a "powerful calling" had kept her passion alive in understanding Guam's heritage and struggle for self-determination. She looked forward to creating a future "moved by heart, strength, and courage" to reaffirm that the question of Guam was a question of decolonization and the eradication of militarism and colonialism.
DESTINY TEDTAOTAO, a Graduate Student at the University of Southern California School of Social Work, speaking on behalf of the Chamorro grass-roots organization "I Nasion Chamoru", said that as the end Second Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism neared, Guam unfortunately still remained a Non-Self-Governing Territory under the United States. Guam continued to be a possession of its colonizers, and the Chamorro people were still being denied their rights to land and political destiny.
She said the devastation wrought on the island and its people created an uphill climb for self-determination. Yet, with the impending military build-up on Guam that was to start in 2010, she asked that the United Nations uphold the promise and "sacred trust" set forth in General Assembly resolutions 1514 and 1542, and ultimately hold accountable Guam's administering Power in recognizing and respecting its quest for self-determination.
The people of Guam were strong, and had a resilient culture that had continued to prevail amidst agonies of political disarray, militarism and colonial dominance. Yet, the people's voices for choosing their own political destiny had been silenced, ignored and misunderstood. Guam's administering Power had neglected the people's right as an indigenous people, and the people had long suffered at the hands of outside influences and decisions that neglected their voices and interests. As a daughter of Guam, self-determination was not only a word that encompassed and exuded empowerment, but also a struggle, she said.
Read the original United Nations General Assembly news release in its entirety, Hearing Petitioners on Questions of Gibraltar, Guam, Western Sahara, Fourth Committee Continues Decolonization Debate: Weary of ‘Empty Words', Speakers Urge Administering Powers to Live Up To International Obligations, Set Self-Determination Processes in Motion", October 7, 2009.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gaspd424.doc.htm
Read the WebNEWSWIRE post in its entirety: "Hearing Petitioners on Questions of Gibraltar, Guam, Western Sahara, Fourth Committee Continues Decolonization Debate:UN", Submitted by Navneet Singh on October 8, 2009 - 20:43
http://www.webnewswire.com/node/470097
Written by Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Friday, 09 October 2009 02:43
Chamoru Nation: 'We Need UN Intervention'
This news announcement has been repurposed from an official United Nations General Assembly press release posted at the UN website on October 7, 2009.
(Edited for use by Guam News Factor)
GUAM / New York City / 7 October 2009 - The United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its consideration of decolonization items on Wednesday afternoon, October 7, hearing 22 petitioners on the questions of Gibraltar, Guam and Western Sahara.
On the question of Guam, several petitioners expressed concern about the United States planned military expansion on the island and stressed that their pleas for assistance had essentially fallen on deaf ears. Calling the United States pledge made in 1946 to ensure the decolonization of Guam "politically empty and spiritually murderous" words, a representative of the Chamoru Nation said his group came to New York year after year to, in effect, "throw ourselves on the funeral pyre that is the United Nations decolonization apparatus".
Speaking on Wednesday on the question of Guam's political status were Michael Tuncap, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley; Hope Alvarez Cristobal, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice; David Roberts, PhD candidate in the Department of Geography of the University of Toronto; Megan Roberto, of the University of California Berkeley Pacific Islander Alumni; Josette Marie Quinata, Southern California Chapter of Famoksaiyan; and Destiny Tedtaotao, a Graduate Student at the University of Southern California School of Social Work.Petitioners on Question of Guam
MICHAEL TUNCAP, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley, said that as a descendant of a 4,000 year civilization that had existed before the nations of Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States, he requested that the United Nations recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of Guam. The continued occupation of United States military forces in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands was rooted in a system of racial inequality between European Americans, Asian and Pacific settlers and the indigenous Chamorro people.
He said that since initial contact with the United States in 1898, massive pacification and military occupation had prevented the people of Guam from exercising their inalienable right to self-determination. Colonial ideas of racial and gender superiority had shaped a long history of military violence and United States economic security. As such, the United States currently asserted that its citizens -- military personnel -- had a "constitutional" right to vote in the people's decolonization plebiscite.
However, he said, the indigenous Chamorro people in the Marianas and the other island residents were denied the right to vote in United States elections. The United States also continued to deprive the people of Guam their right to land, even as they caused the toxic pollution that was irreparably damaging the environment. The United States military also threatened the integrity of the land through economic colonization, and colonialism had also caused irreparable harm to bodies of land and water. For those and other reasons, the Fourth Committee must immediately enact the process of decolonization for Guam in lieu of the severe, irreversible impacts of United States militarization. The process must include the maximum funding allowed to achieve a far-reaching education campaign informing all Chamorus from Guam of their right to self-determination and decolonization options, he said.
HOPE ALVAREZ CRISTOBAL, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, said the Chamorro people of Guam had a long history as a free and independent people, interrupted by over 450 years of colonization by outside nations beginning in the sixteenth century. She said that earlier United Nations resolutions had addressed military issues in the operative clause calling on the administering Power "to ensure that the presence of military bases and installations would not constitute an obstacle to decolonization". However, she said the United Nations today seemed satisfied with obscure reference to the military -- the single most serious impediment to decolonization. Those types of changes undermined the intent and purpose of the United Nations Charter, especially Chapter 11, devoted to the "territories whose people had not attained a full measure of self-government".
The administering Power of Guam had in the past cited the issue of its military activities as one of the reasons why that Power would no longer cooperate with the Committee. She noted the "positive light" used to describe the massive militarization of Guam in the working paper, which said its inhabitants "generally welcomed the build-up", and she said nothing could be further from the truth. The militarization of the Chamorro people through the militarization of Guam, combined with over a century of United States immigration policies, was a flagrant violation by the administering Power of accepted standards in its fiduciary responsibilities, and must be addressed.
JULIAN AGUON, speaking on behalf of the Chamoru Nation, said instead of advancing the decolonization mandate of Guam, the United States was engaged in the largest military build-up in recent history, with plans that would bring, among other things, 50,000 people and six nuclear submarines. The United States pledge in 1946 to ensure its decolonization mandate on Guam had, half a century later, become "politically empty and spiritually murderous" words, and the Chamorro people continued to live in colonial conditions. That was why his delegation had come to New York, year after year to, in effect, "throw ourselves on the funeral pyre that is the United Nations decolonization apparatus".
Self-determination, as outlined in the United Nations Charter and international conventions, was an inalienable right, he said. As a Member State, the United States was bound to protect and advance the human rights articulated within the United Nations system. "We need United Nations intervention into the increasingly desperate human rights situation in Guam," he said. "The hyper-militarization of Guam is no doubt illegal under any principled construction of international law."
DAVID ROBERTS, PhD candidate in the Department of Geography of the University of Toronto, said that the United Nations must work for a just solution in Guam, based on the understanding that Guam's status as a non-self-governing entity effected the ability of the Chamorro people to make crucial decisions about their lives and where they lived. He maintained that Guam's virtual status as a colony should be abhorrent to those who champion democracy around the world.
He urged the Committee to give top priority to the fulfilment of the right of Chamorro to self-determination through a decolonization process that included a fully-funded campaign informing all Chamorro from Guam of their rights and options. The Committee, with United Nations funding, must investigate the administering Power's non-compliance with its international obligation to promote the economic, social and cultural well-being of Guam, and must send a team within the next six months to assess the effects of the past and future militarization of the island. Finally, he said the Committee must comply with the Indigenous Forum's request for an expert seminar to examine the impact of the United Nations decolonization process on indigenous peoples.
MEGAN ROBERTO, of the University of California Berkeley Pacific Islander Alumni, said that, having been educated by one of the best universities in the world, she spoke English with no recollection of her mother tongue. She was a success story of the United States colonization of Guam. However, she questioned that success, wondering if leaving the island had been the best option for her family.
Continuing, she said the physical and emotional consequences that colonization had had on the remaining Chamorro who lived on Guahan pointed to a positive answer. Among other things, Chamorro people had been exposed to radiation, Agent Orange and Agent Purple as a result of the island being a decontamination site for the United States in the 1970s. The community was also robbed of its cultural resources. The effects of colonialism on the Chamorro people had travelled along with them in the forced migration and assimilation. However, forced migration was not self-determination.
She said that the Committee should give top priority to the fulfilment of her people's inalienable right to self-determination and immediately enact the process of decolonization of Guahan in lieu of severe, irreversible impacts of United States militarization. The process must include a fully-funded and far-reaching education campaign informing all Chamorro from Guahan of their right to self-determination and decolonization options.
The Committee must send United Nations representatives to the island within the next six months to assess the implications of United States militarization plans on the decolonization of Guahan and the human rights implications of the United States military presence. And finally, the Committee must comply with the recommendations of other United Nations agencies, especially the Permanent Forum in Indigenous Issues, which had recently requested an expert seminar to examine the impact of the United Nations decolonization process on indigenous peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
JOSETTE MARIE QUINATA, Southern California Chapter of Famoksaiyan, said her homeland was threatened by the impending United States military build-up on Guam that was scheduled to begin in 2010. Yet Guam continued to be excluded from decisions that would affect the very people whose environment would be destroyed, and whose concerns were "second to militarization and colonialism". The question of Guam was not solely based on political turmoil and chaos among those who claimed Guam as a United States "possession", but also a reflection of Guam's identity, which continued to suffer from political hegemony and an administering Power that failed to recognize and respect political rights.
She recounted a dream in which she saw her ancestors, and spoke about revitalizing the Chamorro people and preserving their language and culture. She said that a "powerful calling" had kept her passion alive in understanding Guam's heritage and struggle for self-determination. She looked forward to creating a future "moved by heart, strength, and courage" to reaffirm that the question of Guam was a question of decolonization and the eradication of militarism and colonialism.
DESTINY TEDTAOTAO, a Graduate Student at the University of Southern California School of Social Work, speaking on behalf of the Chamorro grass-roots organization "I Nasion Chamoru", said that as the end Second Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism neared, Guam unfortunately still remained a Non-Self-Governing Territory under the United States. Guam continued to be a possession of its colonizers, and the Chamorro people were still being denied their rights to land and political destiny.
She said the devastation wrought on the island and its people created an uphill climb for self-determination. Yet, with the impending military build-up on Guam that was to start in 2010, she asked that the United Nations uphold the promise and "sacred trust" set forth in General Assembly resolutions 1514 and 1542, and ultimately hold accountable Guam's administering Power in recognizing and respecting its quest for self-determination.
The people of Guam were strong, and had a resilient culture that had continued to prevail amidst agonies of political disarray, militarism and colonial dominance. Yet, the people's voices for choosing their own political destiny had been silenced, ignored and misunderstood. Guam's administering Power had neglected the people's right as an indigenous people, and the people had long suffered at the hands of outside influences and decisions that neglected their voices and interests. As a daughter of Guam, self-determination was not only a word that encompassed and exuded empowerment, but also a struggle, she said.
Read the original United Nations General Assembly news release in its entirety, Hearing Petitioners on Questions of Gibraltar, Guam, Western Sahara, Fourth Committee Continues Decolonization Debate: Weary of ‘Empty Words', Speakers Urge Administering Powers to Live Up To International Obligations, Set Self-Determination Processes in Motion", October 7, 2009.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/gaspd424.doc.htm
Read the WebNEWSWIRE post in its entirety: "Hearing Petitioners on Questions of Gibraltar, Guam, Western Sahara, Fourth Committee Continues Decolonization Debate:UN", Submitted by Navneet Singh on October 8, 2009 - 20:43
http://www.webnewswire.com/node/470097
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Okada acknowledges U.S. ties, but cites need for talks
Okada acknowledges U.S. ties, but cites need for talks
By Teri Weaver and Hana Kusumoto,
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, October 9, 2009
TOKYO — Japan’s new foreign minister on Wednesday again stressed the need for renewed talks about a long-term plan to realign troops on Okinawa.
Katsuya Okada acknowledged the 2006 agreement that set in motion many moves involving security in Japan, including a relocation of a Marine air station on Okinawa.
But Okada, in his third week as Japan’s top diplomat, said he wants to lessen the burden Okinawa bears as the home to about half of the U.S. troops stationed in Japan. He’s put the issue on a list of topics to tackle in his first 100 days in office.
“The U.S.-Japanese alliance is extremely important,” Okada said at his first news conference as foreign minister at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
“However, Japan has its own national interest and the United States has its own national interest,” Okada said. “And in true alliance, the two will discuss and adjust in order to realize their national interests … in past Japanese diplomacy, the U.S. basically made decisions and Japan was more or less dragged along.”
The Democratic Party of Japan has pushed to reopen the realignment agreement since it seized power from the Liberal Democratic Party, which had controlled Japan for nearly five decades.
The proposed air station on Okinawa has long concerned locals, who now have more power thanks to the political change and to Diet representatives who have pledged to stop the construction. The new air station is linked to plans to move 8,000 Marines on Okinawa to Guam, a plan that the U.S. military says is still under way.
Following the elections, U.S. military officials stood firmly by the plan, saying that it could not be rewritten. Two weeks ago, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with Okada and toned down the response, saying the United States was committed to listening to concerns.
A draft budget plan is due out from the Japanese government Oct. 15. The spending plan may give an indication of how much Japan wants to renegotiate.
On Wednesday, Okada also talked about the money Japan is sending to Afghanistan to counter Taliban efforts, including funds that pay for 50 percent of Afghan police salaries.
He also said Japan would continue to support talks between the U.S. and North Korea, so long as Japan, China, South Korea and Russia have a final say in negotiations with the reclusive country.
Okada said that, despite the talk about the realignment plan, he sees Japan continuing to rely on the United States for security in the region.
“We depend on the U.S.,” he said, adding that the relationship stretches beyond the military to economic, cultural and societal interests.
“We do not have any plans to go away from this pillar.”
By Teri Weaver and Hana Kusumoto,
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, October 9, 2009
TOKYO — Japan’s new foreign minister on Wednesday again stressed the need for renewed talks about a long-term plan to realign troops on Okinawa.
Katsuya Okada acknowledged the 2006 agreement that set in motion many moves involving security in Japan, including a relocation of a Marine air station on Okinawa.
But Okada, in his third week as Japan’s top diplomat, said he wants to lessen the burden Okinawa bears as the home to about half of the U.S. troops stationed in Japan. He’s put the issue on a list of topics to tackle in his first 100 days in office.
“The U.S.-Japanese alliance is extremely important,” Okada said at his first news conference as foreign minister at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
“However, Japan has its own national interest and the United States has its own national interest,” Okada said. “And in true alliance, the two will discuss and adjust in order to realize their national interests … in past Japanese diplomacy, the U.S. basically made decisions and Japan was more or less dragged along.”
The Democratic Party of Japan has pushed to reopen the realignment agreement since it seized power from the Liberal Democratic Party, which had controlled Japan for nearly five decades.
The proposed air station on Okinawa has long concerned locals, who now have more power thanks to the political change and to Diet representatives who have pledged to stop the construction. The new air station is linked to plans to move 8,000 Marines on Okinawa to Guam, a plan that the U.S. military says is still under way.
Following the elections, U.S. military officials stood firmly by the plan, saying that it could not be rewritten. Two weeks ago, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with Okada and toned down the response, saying the United States was committed to listening to concerns.
A draft budget plan is due out from the Japanese government Oct. 15. The spending plan may give an indication of how much Japan wants to renegotiate.
On Wednesday, Okada also talked about the money Japan is sending to Afghanistan to counter Taliban efforts, including funds that pay for 50 percent of Afghan police salaries.
He also said Japan would continue to support talks between the U.S. and North Korea, so long as Japan, China, South Korea and Russia have a final say in negotiations with the reclusive country.
Okada said that, despite the talk about the realignment plan, he sees Japan continuing to rely on the United States for security in the region.
“We depend on the U.S.,” he said, adding that the relationship stretches beyond the military to economic, cultural and societal interests.
“We do not have any plans to go away from this pillar.”
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Guam Resists Military Colonization
Published on Monday, August 17, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Guam Resists Military Colonization
Having No Say When Washington Tries to Increase your Population by 25%
by Ann Wright
The United States and the Chinese governments have some remarkable similarities when it comes to colonization. The Chinese government has sent a huge Han population to inhabit Tibet and overwhelm the Tibetan population, even building the world's highest railway to get people and materials there.
The United States government, with virtually no consultation with the local government and citizens, is increasing the population of its non-voting territory, Guam, by 25%. 8,000 U.S. Marines, their dependents and associated logistics units and personnel-a total of 42,000 new residents-will be moved to the small Pacific island (barely three times the size of Washington, DC) that has a current population of 175,000. The move will have a tremendous impact on the cultural and social identity of the island.
These military forces are being relocated to Guam, in great measure, because of the "Close US Military Bases" campaign organized by citizen activists in Okinawa, Japan. The United States has had a huge military presence there since the end of World War II.
I thought I was reasonably well-informed about America's interests in the Pacific. I had worked as a US diplomat in Micronesia for two years and travelled many times through Guam, a US territory, located an 8 hour flight west of Honolulu.
But earlier this month, in Guam on a study tour sponsored by a coalition of Japanese peace activists spearheaded by CODEPINK-Osaka, Japan, which included a former member of the Japanese Diet (Parliament), I learned new aspects of the decision to relocate this large number of U.S. military to Guam.
Guam was first colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s, became a US colony in 1898, a war-trophy from the Spanish-American war and served as a stopover for ships travelling to the Philippines. During World War II, Guam was attacked and occupied by Japan on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. American citizens living on the island had been evacuated by the United States government before the attack, but the indigenous Chamorro population was left behind. During the 31 months of Japanese occupation, the Chamorros endured forced labor, concentration camps, forced prostitution, rape and execution by the Japanese military. The United States military returned three and one-half years later on July 21, 1944 to retake Guam.
In 1950, Guam was made an "unincorporated territory" of the United States by a US Congressional act and residents were given US as one of 16 "non-self governing territories" left in the world.
Lands were taken after World War II from the native Chamorro population without compensation by the US military to construct major air and naval bases which the US military still uses. Currently, there are 3,000 US Air Force and 2,000 US Navy personnel and 1,000 employees of other federal security agencies assigned to Guam.
Three Guam legislators told us that the Guam government has not been properly consulted in the discussions between the US and Japanese governments on the relocation of the large US Marine force. Guam officials have been given little firm information about the military expansion plans. They are very concerned about the impact of further militarization of their island as its major income is provided by hundreds of thousands of Japanese tourists who visit the tropical island annually.
They are disturbed by rumors of proposed forced condemnation of another 950 acres of land owned by members of the native Chamorro population for a live fire range for the incoming Marines. Residues of Agent Orange left from the Vietnam War and other toxic wastes from the military bases, plus the possibility that artillery shells and other munitions made from depleted uranium will be used on their island, are all sources of concern for the people of Guam.
In order to get the 8,000 US Marines out of Okinawa, the Japanese government is paying $6 billion to the US government for their relocation. Guam officials are concerned that not enough of the relocation funds will be made available for the large infrastructure improvements that will be needed for the island's roads, water, sewage and electrical systems as it tries to support a 25% increase in population. They feel the military will take care of its bases but may leave the local population struggling with the new infrastructure problems created by the large number of military personnel.
The Japanese people, too, are in the dark about the details of the billions of dollars they will pay the US government to have US forces leave Japan. Japanese members of our delegation were shocked when they learned from local Guam activists that the relocation budget calls for the Japanese government to pay $650,000 for the construction of each new house on the base, while Guam activists told us the cost of a middle class home on Guam is around $250,000. The Japanese delegation was greatly concerned that their government is funding such inflated projects and is going to raise the budget with Japanese Diet members when they return to Japan.
Of concern to the Guam business community is consideration by US House of Representatives law makers to give Japanese contractors the same access as American firms to bidding on contracts worth more than $2.5 billion in upcoming US military construction projects on Guam. Apparently, the Japanese government, like the US government, likes to have its commercial firms benefit from government aid projects it is funding "overseas." With Japan's $6 billion contribution to the $10 billion cost of relocating the Marines, Japan wants some of that money returned to Japan through construction contracts on the Guam infrastructure projects.
Many Guam officials and a large number of Guam citizens are deeply concerned about the cultural, economic and security impact of the dramatic increase in population and militarization of their island the relocation would present. The current cultural divide of those living in relative luxury inside the bases with better housing, schools and services has been a source of friction between the US military and the local population over the years.
Guam officials said that they too have been perturbed about the extraordinarily high expenditures on US military base facilities, when the Government of Guam is strapped financially. The officials said they were amazed and horrified when they learned that the Air Force recently built an on-base animal kennel for $27 million, with each animal space costing $100,000, when locally, the government is unable to provide sufficient infrastructure for its citizens, much less animals.
Professors and students at the University of Guam expressed concern that there will be a sharp increase in sexual assault and rape on the island due to the relocation of US Marines. They believe one of the reasons the Japanese government finally was able to get the US government to move some military forces out of Okinawa was because of major citizen mobilizations that occurred in response to rapes by US military personnel.
In 2008, the US Ambassador to Japan had to fly to Okinawa to give his apologies for the rape of a 14 year old girl by a US Marine. The US military forces on Okinawa had a 3 day stand-down for "reflection" and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to express her "regrets" to the Japanese Prime Minister "for the terrible incident that happened in Okinawa... we are concerned for the well-being of the young girl and her family."
In April, 2008, U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott, 38, who had been in the Marines 18 years, was charged with the February 10, 2008, rape of 14 year old girl, abusive sexual contact with a child, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping.
On May 17, 2008, Hadnott was found guilty of abusive sexual conduct and the four other charges were dropped. Hadnott was sentenced to four years in prison, but will only serve a maximum of three years in prison due to a pretrial agreement that suspended the fourth year of the sentence. He was reduced to private and given a dishonorable discharge from the US Marines.
The rape accusation against Hadnott stirred memories of a brutal rape more than a decade ago and triggered outrage across Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said that Hadnott's actions were "unforgivable."
There are US Congressional stirrings of concern about the relocation of the Marines to Guam. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee chair Ike Skelton has raised concerns about the size, scope and cost of the move to Guam. "At over $10 billion (two and one-half times the initial cost estimate of $4 billion), it is an enormous project, and I am concerned that the thinking behind it is not yet sufficiently mature," Skelton said at a recent Congressional hearing. "We need to do this, but it needs to be done right."
In a challenge to US military "forward deployment" strategy in Asia and the Pacific, Guam activists strongly feel the US military should relocate large forces to the mainland of the US where there presence can be better absorbed by the greater populations and existing large military bases, rather than to their small Pacific island.
However, the US federal government seldom takes into account local feelings about their projects, particularly military projects in a region far removed from the Washington power center.
Guam activists want their voices heard and respected and not to be treated as merely residents of a colony of the United States.
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience." (www.voicesofconscience.com)
Guam Resists Military Colonization
Having No Say When Washington Tries to Increase your Population by 25%
by Ann Wright
The United States and the Chinese governments have some remarkable similarities when it comes to colonization. The Chinese government has sent a huge Han population to inhabit Tibet and overwhelm the Tibetan population, even building the world's highest railway to get people and materials there.
The United States government, with virtually no consultation with the local government and citizens, is increasing the population of its non-voting territory, Guam, by 25%. 8,000 U.S. Marines, their dependents and associated logistics units and personnel-a total of 42,000 new residents-will be moved to the small Pacific island (barely three times the size of Washington, DC) that has a current population of 175,000. The move will have a tremendous impact on the cultural and social identity of the island.
These military forces are being relocated to Guam, in great measure, because of the "Close US Military Bases" campaign organized by citizen activists in Okinawa, Japan. The United States has had a huge military presence there since the end of World War II.
I thought I was reasonably well-informed about America's interests in the Pacific. I had worked as a US diplomat in Micronesia for two years and travelled many times through Guam, a US territory, located an 8 hour flight west of Honolulu.
But earlier this month, in Guam on a study tour sponsored by a coalition of Japanese peace activists spearheaded by CODEPINK-Osaka, Japan, which included a former member of the Japanese Diet (Parliament), I learned new aspects of the decision to relocate this large number of U.S. military to Guam.
Guam was first colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s, became a US colony in 1898, a war-trophy from the Spanish-American war and served as a stopover for ships travelling to the Philippines. During World War II, Guam was attacked and occupied by Japan on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. American citizens living on the island had been evacuated by the United States government before the attack, but the indigenous Chamorro population was left behind. During the 31 months of Japanese occupation, the Chamorros endured forced labor, concentration camps, forced prostitution, rape and execution by the Japanese military. The United States military returned three and one-half years later on July 21, 1944 to retake Guam.
In 1950, Guam was made an "unincorporated territory" of the United States by a US Congressional act and residents were given US as one of 16 "non-self governing territories" left in the world.
Lands were taken after World War II from the native Chamorro population without compensation by the US military to construct major air and naval bases which the US military still uses. Currently, there are 3,000 US Air Force and 2,000 US Navy personnel and 1,000 employees of other federal security agencies assigned to Guam.
Three Guam legislators told us that the Guam government has not been properly consulted in the discussions between the US and Japanese governments on the relocation of the large US Marine force. Guam officials have been given little firm information about the military expansion plans. They are very concerned about the impact of further militarization of their island as its major income is provided by hundreds of thousands of Japanese tourists who visit the tropical island annually.
They are disturbed by rumors of proposed forced condemnation of another 950 acres of land owned by members of the native Chamorro population for a live fire range for the incoming Marines. Residues of Agent Orange left from the Vietnam War and other toxic wastes from the military bases, plus the possibility that artillery shells and other munitions made from depleted uranium will be used on their island, are all sources of concern for the people of Guam.
In order to get the 8,000 US Marines out of Okinawa, the Japanese government is paying $6 billion to the US government for their relocation. Guam officials are concerned that not enough of the relocation funds will be made available for the large infrastructure improvements that will be needed for the island's roads, water, sewage and electrical systems as it tries to support a 25% increase in population. They feel the military will take care of its bases but may leave the local population struggling with the new infrastructure problems created by the large number of military personnel.
The Japanese people, too, are in the dark about the details of the billions of dollars they will pay the US government to have US forces leave Japan. Japanese members of our delegation were shocked when they learned from local Guam activists that the relocation budget calls for the Japanese government to pay $650,000 for the construction of each new house on the base, while Guam activists told us the cost of a middle class home on Guam is around $250,000. The Japanese delegation was greatly concerned that their government is funding such inflated projects and is going to raise the budget with Japanese Diet members when they return to Japan.
Of concern to the Guam business community is consideration by US House of Representatives law makers to give Japanese contractors the same access as American firms to bidding on contracts worth more than $2.5 billion in upcoming US military construction projects on Guam. Apparently, the Japanese government, like the US government, likes to have its commercial firms benefit from government aid projects it is funding "overseas." With Japan's $6 billion contribution to the $10 billion cost of relocating the Marines, Japan wants some of that money returned to Japan through construction contracts on the Guam infrastructure projects.
Many Guam officials and a large number of Guam citizens are deeply concerned about the cultural, economic and security impact of the dramatic increase in population and militarization of their island the relocation would present. The current cultural divide of those living in relative luxury inside the bases with better housing, schools and services has been a source of friction between the US military and the local population over the years.
Guam officials said that they too have been perturbed about the extraordinarily high expenditures on US military base facilities, when the Government of Guam is strapped financially. The officials said they were amazed and horrified when they learned that the Air Force recently built an on-base animal kennel for $27 million, with each animal space costing $100,000, when locally, the government is unable to provide sufficient infrastructure for its citizens, much less animals.
Professors and students at the University of Guam expressed concern that there will be a sharp increase in sexual assault and rape on the island due to the relocation of US Marines. They believe one of the reasons the Japanese government finally was able to get the US government to move some military forces out of Okinawa was because of major citizen mobilizations that occurred in response to rapes by US military personnel.
In 2008, the US Ambassador to Japan had to fly to Okinawa to give his apologies for the rape of a 14 year old girl by a US Marine. The US military forces on Okinawa had a 3 day stand-down for "reflection" and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to express her "regrets" to the Japanese Prime Minister "for the terrible incident that happened in Okinawa... we are concerned for the well-being of the young girl and her family."
In April, 2008, U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott, 38, who had been in the Marines 18 years, was charged with the February 10, 2008, rape of 14 year old girl, abusive sexual contact with a child, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping.
On May 17, 2008, Hadnott was found guilty of abusive sexual conduct and the four other charges were dropped. Hadnott was sentenced to four years in prison, but will only serve a maximum of three years in prison due to a pretrial agreement that suspended the fourth year of the sentence. He was reduced to private and given a dishonorable discharge from the US Marines.
The rape accusation against Hadnott stirred memories of a brutal rape more than a decade ago and triggered outrage across Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said that Hadnott's actions were "unforgivable."
There are US Congressional stirrings of concern about the relocation of the Marines to Guam. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee chair Ike Skelton has raised concerns about the size, scope and cost of the move to Guam. "At over $10 billion (two and one-half times the initial cost estimate of $4 billion), it is an enormous project, and I am concerned that the thinking behind it is not yet sufficiently mature," Skelton said at a recent Congressional hearing. "We need to do this, but it needs to be done right."
In a challenge to US military "forward deployment" strategy in Asia and the Pacific, Guam activists strongly feel the US military should relocate large forces to the mainland of the US where there presence can be better absorbed by the greater populations and existing large military bases, rather than to their small Pacific island.
However, the US federal government seldom takes into account local feelings about their projects, particularly military projects in a region far removed from the Washington power center.
Guam activists want their voices heard and respected and not to be treated as merely residents of a colony of the United States.
Ann Wright is a 29 year US Army/Army Reserves veteran who retired as a Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience." (www.voicesofconscience.com)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
From a Footnote...To the DNC
MINAGAHET ZINE
Tulu'Nga'Fulu'Gualo
"From a Footnote...To the DNC"
October 3, 2008
ARTICLES
May 15, 2008 - Bei Falak Denver - I'm Headed to the Democratic National Convention
Yanggen ilek-hu na "excited yu'" siempre ti nahong este na fino'-hu para u na'tungo' hamyo i tinahdong-hu i minagof-hu put este! Mampos excited yu'! Mamposssss.
May 19, 2008 - From a Footnote...To the Democratic National Convention
My new audience, and one which I am definitely happy to engage with is a liberal, Democratic, progressive one. There is so much terrain, so many issues and so many ideas upon which there is a strong affinity between what I believe and what these other bloggers believe, but I know that given my political status, there will be very fundamental divisions and distinctions, that cannot be simply explained away as "politics" or simple differences of opinion, but stem directly from the ambiguous and colonial status of Guam.
June 26, 2008 - Fache'
TRUE RUMORS ABOUT OBAMA: Barack Obama is spearheading a movement to rename “Marine Corps Drive” “Marine Drive Magazine Drive.”...Barack Obama is the white lady in Mai'ina...Barack Obama was really the one who grabbed the gavel from Judi Won Pat...Barack Obama closed down Gameworks...Barack Obama is the reason that it always rains on Liberation Day...Barack Obama is the one who keeps putting casino gambling on the election ballots and who also keeps organizing the Lina’la’ Sin Casino movements...Barack Obama is the one who wrote all the terrible Guam jokes for Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Jon Stewart...When the Marines and their dependents get to Guam and the roads get worse, the infrastructure becomes even more strained and the cost of living shoots up even more, it will all be Barack Obama’s fault
July 9, 2008 - Racial Fantasies
From this perspective Obama does represent a huge shift. He is not just another rich white guy, who came from a perfect American home and had plenty of perfect American opportunities. He is not part of that fallacy of American normativity. Since he comes from modest means and a broken home, he does have a much more actual American story than most Presidents. But as a person of color, he also knows the pain of being an American who must constantly endure the racism of American race relations, where those with different names, skin colors, phenotypes or religions can always be treated like outsiders and always be told in both polite and impolite ways to "go home" or back to where they came from. Obama, as a Presidential candidate still isn't exempt from this. Despite being born in the United States and being a US citizen, there are still very strong rumors working their ways through "hard working" communities that argue that he isn't an US citizen and was in fact born in Kenya, and that he believes in one of those "non-American" or "anti-American" religions.
August 15, 2008 - Bloggers at the DNC
Whether this year results in significant gains for racialized groups is unlikely, but the Democratic National Convention will be a potent symbolic event, creating a huge emotional bubble amongst people in the United States, built from two very intimate, yet transcendent hopes. The first is the laudable hope that racism in this country can be surpassed and that dream of Martin Luther King Jr.'s is possible. The second is the selfish and self-protecting hope that should America at last elect a black person to its highest office, then white people who never owned slaves or killed Native Americans, will no longer have to feel guilty for the slaves owned and indigenous people that their ancestors killed or profited from
August 23, 2008 - Kao Sina Hu Interview Hao?
To tell you the truth, there is some hope on the horizon for this dream of decolonization for Guam, a faint trace fell into my inbox this evening. It is not much, and probably won't amount to anything, but it is still something.
August 24, 2008 - DNC Preview
Tomorrow is the first day of the convention and I'll have a lot more. I was able to meet up with the Guam delegation today. They all sported red Hawaiian shirts which made them very popular with the other delegations and they were often asked by complete strangers if they could take pictures of them. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this...
August 25, 2008 - DNC Day 1- The AAPI Matrix
I attended four Asian Pacific Islander Events today, and for the part of me that has lived out in the states for the past four years, and become accustomed to pan-ethnic rubrics such as “Asian Pacific Islander Americans” it was an exciting day. For the other part of me which is rooted in Guam, and had never even used the term “Pacific Islander” until I came out here, the day has been a bit disconcerting.
August 25, 2008 - DNC Day 1 - The Return of the Native
I think the crosswalk lights had been white for a while. Because he immediately darted off, in a different direction than which we had both been initially facing. In the last look that I got of his face, I saw a mixture of fear and confusion, as if the foundation for his identity in that moment had just completely collapsed and fallen away, leaving him to dangle without any certainty. I imagine that so many people who come to Guam serving in the military, or even tourists who visit Hawai’i get that look after they realize that a place that they imagined as theirs, whether it be a paradise or just another military base, in reality belongs to someone else, and has natives who claim it.
August 26, 2008 - DNC Day 2 - The Half Vote Dilemma
I've written before about the half-vote delegates that Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Americans Abroad receive in the Democratic Presidential primary process. For me this is just another sort of way in which the island is included and excluded, how it is never made a full part of the United States, but instead treated to small token gestures to make it feel more American then it really is. But this is my view on things, a member of the Guam delegation Taling Taitano...looks at it in a different way.
August 26, 2008 - DNC Day 2 - Okinawan Realities
I briefly met one elected official this afternoon, who had spent several years of her life in Okinawa. I introduced myself as the blogger from Guam. She mentioned having always wanted to visit Guam but never having the chance too. I took this opportunity to discuss the impending military buildup there...At first her face went ashen, and she said, oh no, how terrible.
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - Another Dispatch from the AA/PI Matrix
Guestblogged by Rashne Limki
The fundamental difference between the two groups (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) can be captured in one word – ‘colonization.’ The AAPI rubric is as absurd as AANA (i.e. Asian American Native American). But what makes the indifference, lack of awareness and absurdity starkly evident is that the majority of the speakers at the caucus stumble over the ‘PI’ part, hesitating about where exactly the letters P and/or I fit into the label. And of course, when not using the abbreviated version, the group is addressed simply as ‘Asian American.’
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - Looking for the Other Side of American Militarization
Coming from an island which has a far more intimate relationship to the military than any other military community (with the exception perhaps of the Marshall Islands), I'm struggling to find a place for the expression or even just mention of Guam's particular relationship with the United States military. Can any "real" "formal" American community, meaning those in states, know the feeling of being occupied in an American war, being displaced from your land to transform your island into a massive base, and also have your people then serve and die in that same military in record numbers? And this is all history which is not ancient, but has all taken place in the lives of my grandparents and thousands of other Chamorros.
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - War Reparations and Self-Determination are on the Table
Pilar Lujan also made an impact on the proceedings with her short, but to the point introduction to Guam, prior to providing the tally for the Guam delegation. She began by invoking that they were the delegation from Guam, "Where America's Day Begins" which was met by applause. She followed up this statement with a reminder that the Guam delegation seeks self-determination and war reparations from the United States. She again repeated a moment later, the reminder about self-determination for Guam.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day 4 - The Lost Pacific
To say that this convention has been frustrating because of a lack of Pacific Islander presence would be a sen dongkalu na understatement. I've attended this week all of the events which were marked as "Asian-American Pacific Islander" or "Asian Pacific Islander American" and even "Asian Pacific American." I've had little to no luck. The delegates and representatives from these islands haven't been attending these meetings or even speaking at them.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day - Operation New Life
She was considering how far things had come, how things had changed, how they hadn't, and how people came full circle. She is currently teaching journalism at Kent State University, and more than thirty years ago, over that war and its expansion into Cambodia had sparked even more protests, and at her current university several protesting students were killed to protect that idea of American exceptionalism, and that it above all has a right to wage whatever war it wishes.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day 4 - Of Course...
I spent Barack Obama's speech crawling around on the floor of Invesco Field, trying to worm my way close enough to the candidate so I could get a decent picture of him with my cheap digital camera. Unfortunately, the closest I was able to get was right in the middle of the Texas delegation, so I have several dozen photos of a brown blur in a black suit that still has plenty of gravitas.
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - The War We Fight
Guestblogged by Victoria Leon Guerrero
Like Obama’s advisor, most political advisors know nothing about Guam . The DNC taught me that we will never have a presence until we make a statement. No one is going to listen until we shout loudly for our rights. There is no hope in fighting another country’s war. It’s time to fight for our own nation and her people.
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - Breaking News - Sarah Palin as Republican VP
I'm watching CNN right now and it seems that the Republicans have decided to make major history this election, by not just picking a woman for Vice President, but bringing together the first Father -Daughter Ticket in History!!!!
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - Some Quotes from the Week
Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo: "When I first sat in the Armed Services Committee, my first meeting. They said now, the question you ask, I was on the lower tier, the first row, now I'm on the second row. They said the question should be kind of generic and not too specific. So I had this question written out. Then I heard the rest of them, "my base" and "my state." I says, "Hey!" So when it came down to me, I said, "I want a carrier sent to Guam."
September 4, 2008 - Why Obama Has a Vision, While Palin Doesn't...Or Why I'm (sort of) a Community Organizer
When organizing communities, you are often working with an injustice and a vision. A community which is being mistreated, is not getting their fair share, has been ignored or forgotten, and you reference this historical or contemporary mistreatment in order to activate them, to propel them forward into a progressive, more inclusive, more prosperous, more equal or simply, just a better vision of the future. In Barack Obama's campaign you can see this, and contrast it with the McCain campaign's approach.
September 7, 2008 - Change You Can Handle - A White Compromise
But whereas Obama represents a change that "you can believe in" or a change which is derived from hope or dreams in a better future (something which, even if incrementally pushes you forward), McCain's campaign has changed this race back into the question of "change that you can handle." For all of those white voters out there who are uncomfortable or uneasy about voting for black man, who might be Muslim, and talks like he's smart and "uppity" McCain has offered them a chance to still change this country, but to still protect its perceived identity as a "white" nation. Protect the whiteness of America, but still be part of that bold pioneering American spirit!
September 13, 2008 - An Indigenous View on Palin's Alaska
There is far more to "Native America" than just casinos, and if you don't know about the fragile relationships that reservations or tribes have with their state governments in your state, its probably not because it doesn't exist, but its either because of the metaphorical erasure of Native Americans from American consciousness, or its because they were physically erased and displaced from your area or state.
Tulu'Nga'Fulu'Gualo
"From a Footnote...To the DNC"
October 3, 2008
ARTICLES
May 15, 2008 - Bei Falak Denver - I'm Headed to the Democratic National Convention
Yanggen ilek-hu na "excited yu'" siempre ti nahong este na fino'-hu para u na'tungo' hamyo i tinahdong-hu i minagof-hu put este! Mampos excited yu'! Mamposssss.
May 19, 2008 - From a Footnote...To the Democratic National Convention
My new audience, and one which I am definitely happy to engage with is a liberal, Democratic, progressive one. There is so much terrain, so many issues and so many ideas upon which there is a strong affinity between what I believe and what these other bloggers believe, but I know that given my political status, there will be very fundamental divisions and distinctions, that cannot be simply explained away as "politics" or simple differences of opinion, but stem directly from the ambiguous and colonial status of Guam.
June 26, 2008 - Fache'
TRUE RUMORS ABOUT OBAMA: Barack Obama is spearheading a movement to rename “Marine Corps Drive” “Marine Drive Magazine Drive.”...Barack Obama is the white lady in Mai'ina...Barack Obama was really the one who grabbed the gavel from Judi Won Pat...Barack Obama closed down Gameworks...Barack Obama is the reason that it always rains on Liberation Day...Barack Obama is the one who keeps putting casino gambling on the election ballots and who also keeps organizing the Lina’la’ Sin Casino movements...Barack Obama is the one who wrote all the terrible Guam jokes for Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Jon Stewart...When the Marines and their dependents get to Guam and the roads get worse, the infrastructure becomes even more strained and the cost of living shoots up even more, it will all be Barack Obama’s fault
July 9, 2008 - Racial Fantasies
From this perspective Obama does represent a huge shift. He is not just another rich white guy, who came from a perfect American home and had plenty of perfect American opportunities. He is not part of that fallacy of American normativity. Since he comes from modest means and a broken home, he does have a much more actual American story than most Presidents. But as a person of color, he also knows the pain of being an American who must constantly endure the racism of American race relations, where those with different names, skin colors, phenotypes or religions can always be treated like outsiders and always be told in both polite and impolite ways to "go home" or back to where they came from. Obama, as a Presidential candidate still isn't exempt from this. Despite being born in the United States and being a US citizen, there are still very strong rumors working their ways through "hard working" communities that argue that he isn't an US citizen and was in fact born in Kenya, and that he believes in one of those "non-American" or "anti-American" religions.
August 15, 2008 - Bloggers at the DNC
Whether this year results in significant gains for racialized groups is unlikely, but the Democratic National Convention will be a potent symbolic event, creating a huge emotional bubble amongst people in the United States, built from two very intimate, yet transcendent hopes. The first is the laudable hope that racism in this country can be surpassed and that dream of Martin Luther King Jr.'s is possible. The second is the selfish and self-protecting hope that should America at last elect a black person to its highest office, then white people who never owned slaves or killed Native Americans, will no longer have to feel guilty for the slaves owned and indigenous people that their ancestors killed or profited from
August 23, 2008 - Kao Sina Hu Interview Hao?
To tell you the truth, there is some hope on the horizon for this dream of decolonization for Guam, a faint trace fell into my inbox this evening. It is not much, and probably won't amount to anything, but it is still something.
August 24, 2008 - DNC Preview
Tomorrow is the first day of the convention and I'll have a lot more. I was able to meet up with the Guam delegation today. They all sported red Hawaiian shirts which made them very popular with the other delegations and they were often asked by complete strangers if they could take pictures of them. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this...
August 25, 2008 - DNC Day 1- The AAPI Matrix
I attended four Asian Pacific Islander Events today, and for the part of me that has lived out in the states for the past four years, and become accustomed to pan-ethnic rubrics such as “Asian Pacific Islander Americans” it was an exciting day. For the other part of me which is rooted in Guam, and had never even used the term “Pacific Islander” until I came out here, the day has been a bit disconcerting.
August 25, 2008 - DNC Day 1 - The Return of the Native
I think the crosswalk lights had been white for a while. Because he immediately darted off, in a different direction than which we had both been initially facing. In the last look that I got of his face, I saw a mixture of fear and confusion, as if the foundation for his identity in that moment had just completely collapsed and fallen away, leaving him to dangle without any certainty. I imagine that so many people who come to Guam serving in the military, or even tourists who visit Hawai’i get that look after they realize that a place that they imagined as theirs, whether it be a paradise or just another military base, in reality belongs to someone else, and has natives who claim it.
August 26, 2008 - DNC Day 2 - The Half Vote Dilemma
I've written before about the half-vote delegates that Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Americans Abroad receive in the Democratic Presidential primary process. For me this is just another sort of way in which the island is included and excluded, how it is never made a full part of the United States, but instead treated to small token gestures to make it feel more American then it really is. But this is my view on things, a member of the Guam delegation Taling Taitano...looks at it in a different way.
August 26, 2008 - DNC Day 2 - Okinawan Realities
I briefly met one elected official this afternoon, who had spent several years of her life in Okinawa. I introduced myself as the blogger from Guam. She mentioned having always wanted to visit Guam but never having the chance too. I took this opportunity to discuss the impending military buildup there...At first her face went ashen, and she said, oh no, how terrible.
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - Another Dispatch from the AA/PI Matrix
Guestblogged by Rashne Limki
The fundamental difference between the two groups (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) can be captured in one word – ‘colonization.’ The AAPI rubric is as absurd as AANA (i.e. Asian American Native American). But what makes the indifference, lack of awareness and absurdity starkly evident is that the majority of the speakers at the caucus stumble over the ‘PI’ part, hesitating about where exactly the letters P and/or I fit into the label. And of course, when not using the abbreviated version, the group is addressed simply as ‘Asian American.’
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - Looking for the Other Side of American Militarization
Coming from an island which has a far more intimate relationship to the military than any other military community (with the exception perhaps of the Marshall Islands), I'm struggling to find a place for the expression or even just mention of Guam's particular relationship with the United States military. Can any "real" "formal" American community, meaning those in states, know the feeling of being occupied in an American war, being displaced from your land to transform your island into a massive base, and also have your people then serve and die in that same military in record numbers? And this is all history which is not ancient, but has all taken place in the lives of my grandparents and thousands of other Chamorros.
August 27, 2008 - DNC Day 3 - War Reparations and Self-Determination are on the Table
Pilar Lujan also made an impact on the proceedings with her short, but to the point introduction to Guam, prior to providing the tally for the Guam delegation. She began by invoking that they were the delegation from Guam, "Where America's Day Begins" which was met by applause. She followed up this statement with a reminder that the Guam delegation seeks self-determination and war reparations from the United States. She again repeated a moment later, the reminder about self-determination for Guam.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day 4 - The Lost Pacific
To say that this convention has been frustrating because of a lack of Pacific Islander presence would be a sen dongkalu na understatement. I've attended this week all of the events which were marked as "Asian-American Pacific Islander" or "Asian Pacific Islander American" and even "Asian Pacific American." I've had little to no luck. The delegates and representatives from these islands haven't been attending these meetings or even speaking at them.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day - Operation New Life
She was considering how far things had come, how things had changed, how they hadn't, and how people came full circle. She is currently teaching journalism at Kent State University, and more than thirty years ago, over that war and its expansion into Cambodia had sparked even more protests, and at her current university several protesting students were killed to protect that idea of American exceptionalism, and that it above all has a right to wage whatever war it wishes.
August 28, 2008 - DNC Day 4 - Of Course...
I spent Barack Obama's speech crawling around on the floor of Invesco Field, trying to worm my way close enough to the candidate so I could get a decent picture of him with my cheap digital camera. Unfortunately, the closest I was able to get was right in the middle of the Texas delegation, so I have several dozen photos of a brown blur in a black suit that still has plenty of gravitas.
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - The War We Fight
Guestblogged by Victoria Leon Guerrero
Like Obama’s advisor, most political advisors know nothing about Guam . The DNC taught me that we will never have a presence until we make a statement. No one is going to listen until we shout loudly for our rights. There is no hope in fighting another country’s war. It’s time to fight for our own nation and her people.
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - Breaking News - Sarah Palin as Republican VP
I'm watching CNN right now and it seems that the Republicans have decided to make major history this election, by not just picking a woman for Vice President, but bringing together the first Father -Daughter Ticket in History!!!!
August 29, 2008 - DNC Day 5 - Some Quotes from the Week
Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo: "When I first sat in the Armed Services Committee, my first meeting. They said now, the question you ask, I was on the lower tier, the first row, now I'm on the second row. They said the question should be kind of generic and not too specific. So I had this question written out. Then I heard the rest of them, "my base" and "my state." I says, "Hey!" So when it came down to me, I said, "I want a carrier sent to Guam."
September 4, 2008 - Why Obama Has a Vision, While Palin Doesn't...Or Why I'm (sort of) a Community Organizer
When organizing communities, you are often working with an injustice and a vision. A community which is being mistreated, is not getting their fair share, has been ignored or forgotten, and you reference this historical or contemporary mistreatment in order to activate them, to propel them forward into a progressive, more inclusive, more prosperous, more equal or simply, just a better vision of the future. In Barack Obama's campaign you can see this, and contrast it with the McCain campaign's approach.
September 7, 2008 - Change You Can Handle - A White Compromise
But whereas Obama represents a change that "you can believe in" or a change which is derived from hope or dreams in a better future (something which, even if incrementally pushes you forward), McCain's campaign has changed this race back into the question of "change that you can handle." For all of those white voters out there who are uncomfortable or uneasy about voting for black man, who might be Muslim, and talks like he's smart and "uppity" McCain has offered them a chance to still change this country, but to still protect its perceived identity as a "white" nation. Protect the whiteness of America, but still be part of that bold pioneering American spirit!
September 13, 2008 - An Indigenous View on Palin's Alaska
There is far more to "Native America" than just casinos, and if you don't know about the fragile relationships that reservations or tribes have with their state governments in your state, its probably not because it doesn't exist, but its either because of the metaphorical erasure of Native Americans from American consciousness, or its because they were physically erased and displaced from your area or state.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Guam Blogger Headed to Democratic National Convention
PRESS RELEASE
August 20, 2008
CONTACT:
Michael Lujan Bevacqua
mlbasquiat@hotmail.com
Guam Blogger Headed to 2008 Democratic National Convention
As part of the Democratic Party’s emphasis on courting America’s “netroots,” at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, this August 25th-28th, bloggers will have unprecedented access to delegates and elected officials. More than 120 blogs have been given full press credentials in Denver, whereas only 30 received the same access four years ago in Boston. 55 of the blogs this year were chosen as part of the Democratic Party’s “State Blogger Corps,” with slots allotted to one grassroots blogger each, representing the 50 states and 5 territories. These bloggers will receive full press access to the convention floor, and be seated with their state/territorial delegations at Senator Barack Obama’s historic speech accepting the nomination of his party for President.
Michael Lujan Bevacqua was chosen to represent Guam at the convention. His blog, No Rest for the Awake – Minagahet Chamorro, which he started in August 2004, is dedicated to “Chamorro issues, the use and revitalization of the Chamoru language and the decolonization of Guam,” and aims to inform “people around the world about the history, culture and language and struggles of the Chamorro people.”
Bevacqua received an undergraduate and graduate degree from the University of Guam, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He has been involved in Guam’s decolonization movement for the past decade, by helping in the organizing of conferences and forums on Guam and Chamorro issues, and making presentations, both in Guam and in the United States, to facilitate greater education and awareness about issues pertaining to Guam’s political status.
During the convention, Bevacqua is scheduled to interview Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands), Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Missouri), Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) as well as former Congressman Norman Mineta (D-California). The interviews will focus on issues important to Guam and Chamorros, such as the environment, voting rights, war reparations, the imminent military buildup, Federal-Territorial relations, and the decolonization of Guam. He is also slated to speak to Obama surrogates who can speak to the Senator’s positions on foreign/military policy in the Asia-Pacific region, national service programs, and Native American and Native Hawaiian affairs.
These interviews, as well as general updates from the Convention, will be available at http://minagahet.blogspot.com starting Monday, August 25th. For more information, Bevacqua can be contacted at mlbasquiat@hotmail.com
*******************************************
For More Info:
No Rest for the Awake – Minagahet Chamorro – http://minagahet.blogspot.com
Decolonize Guam - http://decolonizeguam.blogspot.com
Full List of 2008 DNC Credentialed Blogs - http://www.demconvention.com/credentialed-blogs/
Senator Barack Obama Campaign Website – http://www.barackobama.com
Democratic National Convention Website – http://www.demconvention.com
August 20, 2008
CONTACT:
Michael Lujan Bevacqua
mlbasquiat@hotmail.com
Guam Blogger Headed to 2008 Democratic National Convention
As part of the Democratic Party’s emphasis on courting America’s “netroots,” at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, this August 25th-28th, bloggers will have unprecedented access to delegates and elected officials. More than 120 blogs have been given full press credentials in Denver, whereas only 30 received the same access four years ago in Boston. 55 of the blogs this year were chosen as part of the Democratic Party’s “State Blogger Corps,” with slots allotted to one grassroots blogger each, representing the 50 states and 5 territories. These bloggers will receive full press access to the convention floor, and be seated with their state/territorial delegations at Senator Barack Obama’s historic speech accepting the nomination of his party for President.
Michael Lujan Bevacqua was chosen to represent Guam at the convention. His blog, No Rest for the Awake – Minagahet Chamorro, which he started in August 2004, is dedicated to “Chamorro issues, the use and revitalization of the Chamoru language and the decolonization of Guam,” and aims to inform “people around the world about the history, culture and language and struggles of the Chamorro people.”
Bevacqua received an undergraduate and graduate degree from the University of Guam, and is currently enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He has been involved in Guam’s decolonization movement for the past decade, by helping in the organizing of conferences and forums on Guam and Chamorro issues, and making presentations, both in Guam and in the United States, to facilitate greater education and awareness about issues pertaining to Guam’s political status.
During the convention, Bevacqua is scheduled to interview Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands), Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Congressman Ike Skelton (D-Missouri), Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) as well as former Congressman Norman Mineta (D-California). The interviews will focus on issues important to Guam and Chamorros, such as the environment, voting rights, war reparations, the imminent military buildup, Federal-Territorial relations, and the decolonization of Guam. He is also slated to speak to Obama surrogates who can speak to the Senator’s positions on foreign/military policy in the Asia-Pacific region, national service programs, and Native American and Native Hawaiian affairs.
These interviews, as well as general updates from the Convention, will be available at http://minagahet.blogspot.com starting Monday, August 25th. For more information, Bevacqua can be contacted at mlbasquiat@hotmail.com
*******************************************
For More Info:
No Rest for the Awake – Minagahet Chamorro – http://minagahet.blogspot.com
Decolonize Guam - http://decolonizeguam.blogspot.com
Full List of 2008 DNC Credentialed Blogs - http://www.demconvention.com/credentialed-blogs/
Senator Barack Obama Campaign Website – http://www.barackobama.com
Democratic National Convention Website – http://www.demconvention.com
Thursday, June 12, 2008
General Assembly Reaffirms Self-Determination Rights
United Nations, General Assembly
Special Committee on GA/COL/3177
Decolonization
6th Meeting (AM)
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION ADOPTS TEXT REAFFIRMING
SELF-DETERMINATION AS FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT
Members Hear Petitioners on Western Sahara, Guam, United States Virgin Islands
The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a two-part draft resolution on 11 Non-Self-Governing Territories, and heard petitioners on Western Sahara, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands.
By the terms of an “omnibus” draft entitled “Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Untied Virgin Islands”, the Special Committee would recommend that the General Assembly reaffirm that, in the process of decolonization, and where there was no sovereignty dispute, there was no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which was also a fundamental human right. The text also contained provisions concerning each of those Non-Self-Governing Territories.
According to the draft, the Assembly would reaffirm the responsibility of the administering Powers to promote the economic and social development of the Territories, and to preserve their cultural identity and natural environment, giving priority to the strengthening and diversification of their respective economies. The Assembly would stress the importance of constitutional reviews in the Territories administered respectively by the United Kingdom and the United States, and decide to follow closely developments concerning their future political status.
As the Special Committee took up the question of Western Sahara, a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Polisario) said no progress had been made in negotiations between the parties, held in Manhasset, New York, owing to Morocco’s refusal yesterday to cooperate with the United Nations in implementing previous plans and its refusal today to discuss the proposal advanced by Frente Polisario in April 2007. That proposal stressed the need for a referendum on self-determination, which would include the options of independence, integration or autonomy. It also proposed negotiations on a preferential relationship with Morocco if the Saharan people opted for independence. Morocco’s position left no other alternative than the continuation of the unacceptable status quo, which could have dangerous consequences for the ceasefire in place since 1991.
He noted that Security Council resolution 1813 of April 2008 had rejected some unexpected and surprising ideas offered by the Facilitator that international legality should be abandoned and substituted with the occupation of Western Sahara by a foreign force. Those ideas advocated “political realism” to the detriment of international law and required a break with the Manhasset process, as well as a rupture from the legal basis for decolonization. Such personal ideas, vented publicly, disqualified the Facilitator. Western Sahara could not become an exception to the rule concerning the right of peoples and colonial countries to self-determination.
Also petitioning the Special Committee, an indigenous Chamorro woman from the island of Guam stressed the urgency of protecting her people’s right to self-determination in the face of intensified militarization by the administering Power, insisting that the United States’ $15 billion plans to further transform the Territory into a forward base had been developed without the informed consent and against the will of the Chamorro people.
“Let’s be clear,” she said. “Massive militarization is not development in the best interests or with the consent of the indigenous people of Guam, and is in violation of the administering Power’s ‘sacred trust obligation’ under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter to ensure our transition from colonization to freedom.” The military build-up would forever secure the political and cultural dispossession of Guam’s indigenous people.
A petitioner from the United States Virgin Islands appealed to the Special Committee to demand that the United Nations system comply with its directives on decolonization. Territories committed to self-determination were deeply troubled that the United Nations appeared ready to abandon the decolonization process, “declare victory and move on”.
Also taking the floor today were representatives of Cuba and Venezuela.
The Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples -– also known as the “Special Committee of 24” -- will continue its work at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 12 June.
Background
The Special Committee met to hear petitioners regarding the questions of Western Sahara, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands. It was also expected to consider the questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Untied Virgin Islands.
Before the Special Committee was a draft resolution entitled “Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Untied Virgin Islands”, (document A/AC.109/2008/L.9), by which it would recommend that the General Assembly reaffirm that, in the process of decolonization and in the absence of a dispute over sovereignty, there is no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which is also a fundamental human right.
By other terms of the text, the Assembly would also reaffirm the responsibility of the administering Powers to promote the economic and social development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories and to preserve their cultural identity. The Assembly would further request the Territories and the administering Powers to protect and conserve the environment of the Territories against any degradation.
Also by the draft, the Assembly would stress the importance of constitutional reviews in the Territories administered respectively by the United Kingdom and the United States, and decide to follow closely developments concerning their future political status.
Regarding Anguilla, the Assembly would welcome the report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission and the holding of public meetings in order to make recommendations to the administering Power, the United Kingdom, on proposed changes to the Territory’s Constitution.
It would also welcome the new constitution of the British Virgin Islands, which took effect in June 2007, and express appreciation for the efforts made to continue the work of the Inter-Virgin Islands Council to advance cooperation between the two neighbouring Territories.
The Assembly would, by other terms, welcome the work of the territorial Government and legislature of American Samoa on recommendations made by the Territory’s Future Political Status Study Commission regarding a constitutional convention.
As for Guam, the Assembly, aware that the Territory has established a non-binding plebiscite process for a self-determination vote by eligible Chamorro voters, would call once again upon the administering Power, the United States, to take the will of the Chamorro people, as expressed in the referendum of 1987, into account. The administering Power and the territorial Government would be encouraged to enter into negotiations on the matter.
Further by the draft, the Assembly would welcome all efforts by the United Kingdom, the administering Power of Pitcairn, to devolve operational responsibilities to the territorial Government with a view to expanding self-government.
Aware of the ongoing constitutional convention, the fifth attempt by the United States Virgin Islands to review the Revised Organic Act, the Assembly would request the administering Power to help the territorial Government achieve its political, economic and social goals, in particular the successful conclusion of the constitutional convention exercise. The Assembly would reiterate its call for the Territory’s inclusion in regional programmes of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), consistent with the participation of other Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Question of Western Sahara
RODRIGO MALMIERCA DIAZ ( Cuba) said the United Nations had reiterated repeatedly that the Western Sahara conflict was a decolonization issue, in which the Special Committee had a central role to play. The Saharan people were the only people who could decide on their future, as underlined by more than 40 resolutions since Western Sahara’s inclusion on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Since the adoption of Security Council resolution 1754 (2007), the parties had carried out four rounds of negotiations, and hopefully they would continue to seek solutions compatible with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)
Stressing that the Saharan people needed the support of the international community, he said his country had contributed to their development, especially in the area of education. In response to the Assembly’s annual appeals that Member States offer study and training facilities to the inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories, 600 Saharan students were studying in Cuba, which would continue to support a just and definitive solution to the question of Western Sahara, in conformity with the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.
MARCO PALAVICINI-GUEDEZ ( Venezuela) said his Government wished to state emphatically its unreserved commitment to the sovereign right of Western Sahara to independence, according to relevant international decisions. It was to be hoped that the will of the Saharan people would be fulfilled as quickly and peacefully as possible, and without any deviation from their natural rights.
AHMED BOUKHARI, representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Polisario), said that, after Spain had withdrawn from Western Sahara in 1975, the General Assembly had called for an end to the occupation by Morocco, negotiations with Frente Polisario and a referendum on self-determination. Since then, several peace plans had been proposed, including the 2003 Baker Plan, which had all been accepted by Frente Polisario.
He said Moroccan Prime Minister Karim Lamrani had told the General Assembly that his Government would respect the results of the referendum, but Morocco’s position had hardened since 2003. It now proposed autonomy under “Moroccan sovereignty”, which implied the precondition that Western Sahara was an integral part of that country. Neither the United Nations nor the African Union recognized Morocco’s territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara, as it had not even been the Territory’s administering Power.
He recalled that, in April 2007, Frente Polisario had submitted a possible political solution that would guarantee the right to self-determination of the Saharan people. That proposal stressed the need for a self-determination referendum that would include the three options of independence, integration or autonomy. If the result was to be independence, the parties could negotiate on a preferential relationship with Morocco in the security, trade and social spheres.
Since the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 1754 (2007), which called for negotiations without conditions and in good faith, four rounds of negotiations had taken place in Manhasset, he said. Frente Polisario’s basic position had been to express its willingness to discuss those proposals in detail and to present them in a referendum to the Saharan people, as that would be the best way to move forward in line with all proposals and plans, including the Baker Plan. However, yesterday’s refusal by Morocco to cooperate with the United Nations in implementing those plans, and its refusal today to discuss the Saharan proposal, left no alternative than the continuation of the unacceptable status quo, which could have dangerous consequences for the ceasefire that had been in place since 1991. For that reason, the Manhasset negotiations, initiated in June 2007, had not made any progress.
He said that Council resolution 1813 (2008) and the Secretary-General’s report to the Council rejected some unexpected and surprising ideas offered by the Facilitator that international legality should be abandoned in order to substitute it with Western Sahara’s occupation by a foreign force. Such a “bargain” was offered under the mantle of “political reality”. If the United Nations had accepted such “bargains” in the past regarding questions of decolonization, the map of the world would look rather different today.
Such ideas advocated political realism to the detriment of international law and required a break with the Manhasset process, as well as a rupture from the legal basis for decolonization, he stressed, adding that they disqualified the Facilitator. The position assumed by Morocco since 2003 imperilled the holding of the referendum it had endorsed. The continued illegal exploitation of natural resources and political repression in Western Sahara made the impasse even more serious and placed the region on the brink of tension and conflict. No one could deny that the issue was on the Special Committee’s agenda. Western Sahara could not become an exception to the rule concerning the right of peoples and colonial countries to self-determination.
Question of Guam
SABINA FLORES PEREZ, an indigenous Chamorro woman, stressed the urgency of protecting her people’s human right to self-determination in the face of intensified militarization by the administering Power. Guam continued to play a crucial role in the economic and military defence scheme of the United States. The current plan of intensified militarization, estimated to cost $15 billion, had been developed without the informed consent and against the will of the Chamorro people. It would further transform the island into a forward base, following the establishment of Global Strike Force, the refurbishing of Naval Base Guam to enhance its capacity to support nuclear aircraft carriers, the construction of an army base to serve as a Patriot ballistic missile defence task force and the planned construction of a highway solely for military purposes.
Noting that those plans included the scheduled initial transfer in 2008 of 8,000 United States Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa, she said the projected influx of 35,000 military personnel, their families and support staff from other parts of Asia would result in a 23 per cent population increase over the next six and a half years. It would alter Guam’s demography, further marginalizing the Chamorro with absolutely no guarantees that their right to self-determination would remain intact. Furthermore, Lieutenant General Daniel P. Leaf, Deputy Commander of Pacific Command, had stated in 2006 that United States troops had a constitutional right to participate in Guam’s local elections. That was an example of United States policy regarding local governance.
The military build-up on Guam contravened the administering Power’s moral and legal obligations to protect the indigenous population’s human rights, she said. The island’s water, power and port were under relentless privatization pressure, all within the trust of the administering Power. The local population’s livelihoods had also been impacted by persistent and cumulative exposure to military contamination. At least 78 toxic sites had been identified for clean up from past military activities, and countless others were hidden. Local water resources in close proximity to military bases were seriously compromised by the administering Power. For example, Andersen Air Force Base sat atop the northern aquifer supplying 75 per cent of Guam’s drinking water.
Describing the dire situation of the population, she said the military influx, promoted as the panacea to the local Government’s economic woes, was exacerbating living conditions for many residents. Twenty-five per cent of the residents were below the federally defined poverty level, while rents and housing prices had skyrocketed beyond the reach of many local people, who were on fixed or low incomes. The Chamorro were at serious risk of losing control of their homeland, as green areas and significant ancestral burial sites were bulldozed and developed for housing and tourism. The United States Department of the Interior had taken an active role in inviting foreign businesses to build up Guam’s military-based economy. “Let’s be clear. Massive militarization is not development in the best interests or with the consent of the indigenous people of Guam and is in violation of the administering Power’s ‘sacred trust obligation’ under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter to ensure our transition from colonization to freedom.”
She said the military build-up would forever secure the political and cultural dispossession of the indigenous people of Guam, who were reminded time and again that they were “less than human and mere objects” by policy-makers and military leaders of the administering Power, including one Captain Douglas, who had stated bluntly: “People of Guam seem to forget that they are a possession and not an equal partner.” The Chamorro were requesting relief from the violence that the intensified militarization brought. The Special Committee must live up to its mandate and end its current policy of “colonial accommodation”. It should give top priority to the inalienable right of the Chamorro people to self-determination; work with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in reporting on the decolonization process at its eighth session in 2009; denounce the administering Power’s “hyper-militarization” of Guam as a breach of trust; and implement measures to increase the coordination of United Nations agencies towards decolonization, providing corrective measures against the current and cumulative impacts of colonization and militarization.
Question of United States Virgin Islands
JULIETTE CHIN, presenting a statement by Judith L. Bourne, President of the United Nations Association of the Virgin Islands, said the lack of substantive positive movement on decolonization in the twenty-first century was a travesty of the Special Committee’s purpose, attributable largely to the indifference of some administering Powers, which sensed that Member States were no longer interested in real decolonization. A significant part of that was due to the inaction of the United Nations system, which had failed to carry out, or had inadequately carried out, the activities that the Special Committee had directed it to carry out in its annual resolutions.
For example, she said, in its resolution of 27 May on the dissemination of decolonization information, the Special Committee had referred to the information leaflet entitled What the United Nations Can Do to Assist Non-Self-Governing Territories. However, that document gave no insight on the agencies providing the assistance to which it referred. It was thus of questionable value, yet the resolution projected it as a major contribution to the dissemination of information on decolonization. Also, when queried in 2007, the Department of Public Information had been unable to give any indication as to whether the information had ever reached the Territories. Yet the resolution recognized the role of United Nations information centres in disseminating information to them. That was but one example of the disconnect between what the United Nations system said it did and what was actually done.
In the United States Virgin Islands, she said, awareness of the actual political status options available to the Territory’s people was virtually non-existent, despite decades of resolutions on the creation of education programmes on that issue. “The inability of this Committee to require the United Nations departments to actually carry out Committee decisions is nothing short of tragic.” The Special Committee had referred to the current constitutional convention as progress towards self-determination. Setting aside the fact that the United States law authorizing the development of a local constitution clearly delimited its scope to the confines of the present colonial relationship, a recent exchange illustrated both the abdication of any responsibility by the administering Power for the political education or development of the Territory and the lack of an informed consciousness there.
She said that, following the Governor’s request for technical assistance funding from the administering Power to fund the convention’s expenses, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary had responded: “Because your drafting of a constitution is an exercise in self-government, we believe it important that the entire effort, including the financing, be accomplished locally.” That response was in derogation of clear responsibilities of the administering Power. Clearly, a refusal to require action on the many valuable activities mandated in the Special Committee’s annual resolutions was to turn aside from its stated purpose. The United States itself had acknowledged to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2007 that there had been no changes in the political status of any of the United States-administered Territories.
“Is there a new purpose to simply legitimize status quo colonial arrangements as some new acceptable form of self-government, contrary to the real situation on the ground?” she asked. “What happened to the case-by-case analysis, which the Committee adopted, which would have provided details on the current colonial arrangements? What happened to the Plan of Implementation of the Decolonization mandate, endorsed by the General Assembly, which called for much needed political analysis to be done by an independent expert? What happened to the proposal by Dominica at the opening of the Special Committee in February to create a working group to deal with the small territories?” It appeared that all those proposals, designed actually to carry out the decolonization mandate, had been systematically blocked, while the status quo continued.
Thus, less than two years before the end of the Second Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, she said, the Special Committee produced repetitive resolutions with no apparent prospect of implementation, with the cycle repeating itself over and over, year after year, while the United States Virgin Islands actually moved further away from activities and a mindset that encouraged self-determination. Perhaps the conclusions of the expert seminar on decolonization proposed by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues would provide the Special Committee with much needed information on the dynamics of contemporary colonial arrangements. Territories committed to self-determination were deeply troubled that the United Nations appeared to be ready to abandon the decolonization process at the end of the present decade, declare victory and move on. The Special Committee was urged to demand that the United Nations system comply with its directives on decolonization.
The Special Committee then approved, without a vote, the draft resolution contained in document A/AC.109/2008/L.9.
* *** *
Special Committee on GA/COL/3177
Decolonization
6th Meeting (AM)
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION ADOPTS TEXT REAFFIRMING
SELF-DETERMINATION AS FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT
Members Hear Petitioners on Western Sahara, Guam, United States Virgin Islands
The Special Committee on Decolonization today approved a two-part draft resolution on 11 Non-Self-Governing Territories, and heard petitioners on Western Sahara, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands.
By the terms of an “omnibus” draft entitled “Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Untied Virgin Islands”, the Special Committee would recommend that the General Assembly reaffirm that, in the process of decolonization, and where there was no sovereignty dispute, there was no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which was also a fundamental human right. The text also contained provisions concerning each of those Non-Self-Governing Territories.
According to the draft, the Assembly would reaffirm the responsibility of the administering Powers to promote the economic and social development of the Territories, and to preserve their cultural identity and natural environment, giving priority to the strengthening and diversification of their respective economies. The Assembly would stress the importance of constitutional reviews in the Territories administered respectively by the United Kingdom and the United States, and decide to follow closely developments concerning their future political status.
As the Special Committee took up the question of Western Sahara, a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Polisario) said no progress had been made in negotiations between the parties, held in Manhasset, New York, owing to Morocco’s refusal yesterday to cooperate with the United Nations in implementing previous plans and its refusal today to discuss the proposal advanced by Frente Polisario in April 2007. That proposal stressed the need for a referendum on self-determination, which would include the options of independence, integration or autonomy. It also proposed negotiations on a preferential relationship with Morocco if the Saharan people opted for independence. Morocco’s position left no other alternative than the continuation of the unacceptable status quo, which could have dangerous consequences for the ceasefire in place since 1991.
He noted that Security Council resolution 1813 of April 2008 had rejected some unexpected and surprising ideas offered by the Facilitator that international legality should be abandoned and substituted with the occupation of Western Sahara by a foreign force. Those ideas advocated “political realism” to the detriment of international law and required a break with the Manhasset process, as well as a rupture from the legal basis for decolonization. Such personal ideas, vented publicly, disqualified the Facilitator. Western Sahara could not become an exception to the rule concerning the right of peoples and colonial countries to self-determination.
Also petitioning the Special Committee, an indigenous Chamorro woman from the island of Guam stressed the urgency of protecting her people’s right to self-determination in the face of intensified militarization by the administering Power, insisting that the United States’ $15 billion plans to further transform the Territory into a forward base had been developed without the informed consent and against the will of the Chamorro people.
“Let’s be clear,” she said. “Massive militarization is not development in the best interests or with the consent of the indigenous people of Guam, and is in violation of the administering Power’s ‘sacred trust obligation’ under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter to ensure our transition from colonization to freedom.” The military build-up would forever secure the political and cultural dispossession of Guam’s indigenous people.
A petitioner from the United States Virgin Islands appealed to the Special Committee to demand that the United Nations system comply with its directives on decolonization. Territories committed to self-determination were deeply troubled that the United Nations appeared ready to abandon the decolonization process, “declare victory and move on”.
Also taking the floor today were representatives of Cuba and Venezuela.
The Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples -– also known as the “Special Committee of 24” -- will continue its work at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 12 June.
Background
The Special Committee met to hear petitioners regarding the questions of Western Sahara, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands. It was also expected to consider the questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Untied Virgin Islands.
Before the Special Committee was a draft resolution entitled “Questions of American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guam, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Untied Virgin Islands”, (document A/AC.109/2008/L.9), by which it would recommend that the General Assembly reaffirm that, in the process of decolonization and in the absence of a dispute over sovereignty, there is no alternative to the principle of self-determination, which is also a fundamental human right.
By other terms of the text, the Assembly would also reaffirm the responsibility of the administering Powers to promote the economic and social development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories and to preserve their cultural identity. The Assembly would further request the Territories and the administering Powers to protect and conserve the environment of the Territories against any degradation.
Also by the draft, the Assembly would stress the importance of constitutional reviews in the Territories administered respectively by the United Kingdom and the United States, and decide to follow closely developments concerning their future political status.
Regarding Anguilla, the Assembly would welcome the report of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform Commission and the holding of public meetings in order to make recommendations to the administering Power, the United Kingdom, on proposed changes to the Territory’s Constitution.
It would also welcome the new constitution of the British Virgin Islands, which took effect in June 2007, and express appreciation for the efforts made to continue the work of the Inter-Virgin Islands Council to advance cooperation between the two neighbouring Territories.
The Assembly would, by other terms, welcome the work of the territorial Government and legislature of American Samoa on recommendations made by the Territory’s Future Political Status Study Commission regarding a constitutional convention.
As for Guam, the Assembly, aware that the Territory has established a non-binding plebiscite process for a self-determination vote by eligible Chamorro voters, would call once again upon the administering Power, the United States, to take the will of the Chamorro people, as expressed in the referendum of 1987, into account. The administering Power and the territorial Government would be encouraged to enter into negotiations on the matter.
Further by the draft, the Assembly would welcome all efforts by the United Kingdom, the administering Power of Pitcairn, to devolve operational responsibilities to the territorial Government with a view to expanding self-government.
Aware of the ongoing constitutional convention, the fifth attempt by the United States Virgin Islands to review the Revised Organic Act, the Assembly would request the administering Power to help the territorial Government achieve its political, economic and social goals, in particular the successful conclusion of the constitutional convention exercise. The Assembly would reiterate its call for the Territory’s inclusion in regional programmes of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), consistent with the participation of other Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Question of Western Sahara
RODRIGO MALMIERCA DIAZ ( Cuba) said the United Nations had reiterated repeatedly that the Western Sahara conflict was a decolonization issue, in which the Special Committee had a central role to play. The Saharan people were the only people who could decide on their future, as underlined by more than 40 resolutions since Western Sahara’s inclusion on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Since the adoption of Security Council resolution 1754 (2007), the parties had carried out four rounds of negotiations, and hopefully they would continue to seek solutions compatible with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)
Stressing that the Saharan people needed the support of the international community, he said his country had contributed to their development, especially in the area of education. In response to the Assembly’s annual appeals that Member States offer study and training facilities to the inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories, 600 Saharan students were studying in Cuba, which would continue to support a just and definitive solution to the question of Western Sahara, in conformity with the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.
MARCO PALAVICINI-GUEDEZ ( Venezuela) said his Government wished to state emphatically its unreserved commitment to the sovereign right of Western Sahara to independence, according to relevant international decisions. It was to be hoped that the will of the Saharan people would be fulfilled as quickly and peacefully as possible, and without any deviation from their natural rights.
AHMED BOUKHARI, representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Polisario), said that, after Spain had withdrawn from Western Sahara in 1975, the General Assembly had called for an end to the occupation by Morocco, negotiations with Frente Polisario and a referendum on self-determination. Since then, several peace plans had been proposed, including the 2003 Baker Plan, which had all been accepted by Frente Polisario.
He said Moroccan Prime Minister Karim Lamrani had told the General Assembly that his Government would respect the results of the referendum, but Morocco’s position had hardened since 2003. It now proposed autonomy under “Moroccan sovereignty”, which implied the precondition that Western Sahara was an integral part of that country. Neither the United Nations nor the African Union recognized Morocco’s territorial sovereignty over Western Sahara, as it had not even been the Territory’s administering Power.
He recalled that, in April 2007, Frente Polisario had submitted a possible political solution that would guarantee the right to self-determination of the Saharan people. That proposal stressed the need for a self-determination referendum that would include the three options of independence, integration or autonomy. If the result was to be independence, the parties could negotiate on a preferential relationship with Morocco in the security, trade and social spheres.
Since the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 1754 (2007), which called for negotiations without conditions and in good faith, four rounds of negotiations had taken place in Manhasset, he said. Frente Polisario’s basic position had been to express its willingness to discuss those proposals in detail and to present them in a referendum to the Saharan people, as that would be the best way to move forward in line with all proposals and plans, including the Baker Plan. However, yesterday’s refusal by Morocco to cooperate with the United Nations in implementing those plans, and its refusal today to discuss the Saharan proposal, left no alternative than the continuation of the unacceptable status quo, which could have dangerous consequences for the ceasefire that had been in place since 1991. For that reason, the Manhasset negotiations, initiated in June 2007, had not made any progress.
He said that Council resolution 1813 (2008) and the Secretary-General’s report to the Council rejected some unexpected and surprising ideas offered by the Facilitator that international legality should be abandoned in order to substitute it with Western Sahara’s occupation by a foreign force. Such a “bargain” was offered under the mantle of “political reality”. If the United Nations had accepted such “bargains” in the past regarding questions of decolonization, the map of the world would look rather different today.
Such ideas advocated political realism to the detriment of international law and required a break with the Manhasset process, as well as a rupture from the legal basis for decolonization, he stressed, adding that they disqualified the Facilitator. The position assumed by Morocco since 2003 imperilled the holding of the referendum it had endorsed. The continued illegal exploitation of natural resources and political repression in Western Sahara made the impasse even more serious and placed the region on the brink of tension and conflict. No one could deny that the issue was on the Special Committee’s agenda. Western Sahara could not become an exception to the rule concerning the right of peoples and colonial countries to self-determination.
Question of Guam
SABINA FLORES PEREZ, an indigenous Chamorro woman, stressed the urgency of protecting her people’s human right to self-determination in the face of intensified militarization by the administering Power. Guam continued to play a crucial role in the economic and military defence scheme of the United States. The current plan of intensified militarization, estimated to cost $15 billion, had been developed without the informed consent and against the will of the Chamorro people. It would further transform the island into a forward base, following the establishment of Global Strike Force, the refurbishing of Naval Base Guam to enhance its capacity to support nuclear aircraft carriers, the construction of an army base to serve as a Patriot ballistic missile defence task force and the planned construction of a highway solely for military purposes.
Noting that those plans included the scheduled initial transfer in 2008 of 8,000 United States Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa, she said the projected influx of 35,000 military personnel, their families and support staff from other parts of Asia would result in a 23 per cent population increase over the next six and a half years. It would alter Guam’s demography, further marginalizing the Chamorro with absolutely no guarantees that their right to self-determination would remain intact. Furthermore, Lieutenant General Daniel P. Leaf, Deputy Commander of Pacific Command, had stated in 2006 that United States troops had a constitutional right to participate in Guam’s local elections. That was an example of United States policy regarding local governance.
The military build-up on Guam contravened the administering Power’s moral and legal obligations to protect the indigenous population’s human rights, she said. The island’s water, power and port were under relentless privatization pressure, all within the trust of the administering Power. The local population’s livelihoods had also been impacted by persistent and cumulative exposure to military contamination. At least 78 toxic sites had been identified for clean up from past military activities, and countless others were hidden. Local water resources in close proximity to military bases were seriously compromised by the administering Power. For example, Andersen Air Force Base sat atop the northern aquifer supplying 75 per cent of Guam’s drinking water.
Describing the dire situation of the population, she said the military influx, promoted as the panacea to the local Government’s economic woes, was exacerbating living conditions for many residents. Twenty-five per cent of the residents were below the federally defined poverty level, while rents and housing prices had skyrocketed beyond the reach of many local people, who were on fixed or low incomes. The Chamorro were at serious risk of losing control of their homeland, as green areas and significant ancestral burial sites were bulldozed and developed for housing and tourism. The United States Department of the Interior had taken an active role in inviting foreign businesses to build up Guam’s military-based economy. “Let’s be clear. Massive militarization is not development in the best interests or with the consent of the indigenous people of Guam and is in violation of the administering Power’s ‘sacred trust obligation’ under Article 73 of the United Nations Charter to ensure our transition from colonization to freedom.”
She said the military build-up would forever secure the political and cultural dispossession of the indigenous people of Guam, who were reminded time and again that they were “less than human and mere objects” by policy-makers and military leaders of the administering Power, including one Captain Douglas, who had stated bluntly: “People of Guam seem to forget that they are a possession and not an equal partner.” The Chamorro were requesting relief from the violence that the intensified militarization brought. The Special Committee must live up to its mandate and end its current policy of “colonial accommodation”. It should give top priority to the inalienable right of the Chamorro people to self-determination; work with the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in reporting on the decolonization process at its eighth session in 2009; denounce the administering Power’s “hyper-militarization” of Guam as a breach of trust; and implement measures to increase the coordination of United Nations agencies towards decolonization, providing corrective measures against the current and cumulative impacts of colonization and militarization.
Question of United States Virgin Islands
JULIETTE CHIN, presenting a statement by Judith L. Bourne, President of the United Nations Association of the Virgin Islands, said the lack of substantive positive movement on decolonization in the twenty-first century was a travesty of the Special Committee’s purpose, attributable largely to the indifference of some administering Powers, which sensed that Member States were no longer interested in real decolonization. A significant part of that was due to the inaction of the United Nations system, which had failed to carry out, or had inadequately carried out, the activities that the Special Committee had directed it to carry out in its annual resolutions.
For example, she said, in its resolution of 27 May on the dissemination of decolonization information, the Special Committee had referred to the information leaflet entitled What the United Nations Can Do to Assist Non-Self-Governing Territories. However, that document gave no insight on the agencies providing the assistance to which it referred. It was thus of questionable value, yet the resolution projected it as a major contribution to the dissemination of information on decolonization. Also, when queried in 2007, the Department of Public Information had been unable to give any indication as to whether the information had ever reached the Territories. Yet the resolution recognized the role of United Nations information centres in disseminating information to them. That was but one example of the disconnect between what the United Nations system said it did and what was actually done.
In the United States Virgin Islands, she said, awareness of the actual political status options available to the Territory’s people was virtually non-existent, despite decades of resolutions on the creation of education programmes on that issue. “The inability of this Committee to require the United Nations departments to actually carry out Committee decisions is nothing short of tragic.” The Special Committee had referred to the current constitutional convention as progress towards self-determination. Setting aside the fact that the United States law authorizing the development of a local constitution clearly delimited its scope to the confines of the present colonial relationship, a recent exchange illustrated both the abdication of any responsibility by the administering Power for the political education or development of the Territory and the lack of an informed consciousness there.
She said that, following the Governor’s request for technical assistance funding from the administering Power to fund the convention’s expenses, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary had responded: “Because your drafting of a constitution is an exercise in self-government, we believe it important that the entire effort, including the financing, be accomplished locally.” That response was in derogation of clear responsibilities of the administering Power. Clearly, a refusal to require action on the many valuable activities mandated in the Special Committee’s annual resolutions was to turn aside from its stated purpose. The United States itself had acknowledged to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2007 that there had been no changes in the political status of any of the United States-administered Territories.
“Is there a new purpose to simply legitimize status quo colonial arrangements as some new acceptable form of self-government, contrary to the real situation on the ground?” she asked. “What happened to the case-by-case analysis, which the Committee adopted, which would have provided details on the current colonial arrangements? What happened to the Plan of Implementation of the Decolonization mandate, endorsed by the General Assembly, which called for much needed political analysis to be done by an independent expert? What happened to the proposal by Dominica at the opening of the Special Committee in February to create a working group to deal with the small territories?” It appeared that all those proposals, designed actually to carry out the decolonization mandate, had been systematically blocked, while the status quo continued.
Thus, less than two years before the end of the Second Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, she said, the Special Committee produced repetitive resolutions with no apparent prospect of implementation, with the cycle repeating itself over and over, year after year, while the United States Virgin Islands actually moved further away from activities and a mindset that encouraged self-determination. Perhaps the conclusions of the expert seminar on decolonization proposed by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues would provide the Special Committee with much needed information on the dynamics of contemporary colonial arrangements. Territories committed to self-determination were deeply troubled that the United Nations appeared to be ready to abandon the decolonization process at the end of the present decade, declare victory and move on. The Special Committee was urged to demand that the United Nations system comply with its directives on decolonization.
The Special Committee then approved, without a vote, the draft resolution contained in document A/AC.109/2008/L.9.
* *** *
Monday, June 09, 2008
US Accused of Human Rights Violations by Chamorro Activists
Press Release
Monday, 9
June 2008
US accused of human rights violations
Two Chamoru representatives from Guam visiting Australia for a month-long international awareness campaign today accused the United States of glaring human rights violations of the indigenous Chamoru people.
"The new wave of U.S. militarization of Guam means to be decisive," said Chamoru writer Julian Aguon in Sydney today. "It is not simply more of the same. Part of the U.S. military realignment in the Asia-Pacific region includes the controversial relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. The move will have devastating consequences for the indigenous Chamoru people, who have been struggling for decolonization of their island home.
"The situation of Guam serves as one of the greatest indictments of U.S. democratic legitimacy, as Guam remains one of only 16 non-self-governing territories in the modern world. The military build-up now underway in Guam, which will include an influx of a military personnel population comparable in size to the entire indigenous population (55,000), is being done entirely without the input or consultation of the indigenous people and over their deepening dissent."
Dr. Lisa Natividad, a professor at the University of Guam, stated that the new wave of military buildup will only worsen the well being of the Chamoru people, who already suffer from the classic symptoms of a colonial condition such as dramatic health disparities. "For example, rates of nasopharyngeal cancer among my people are 2,000% higher than in the United States, and the rate of diabetes is five times the national U.S. average," Dr Natividad said.
"Although Guam is only 30 miles long, it contains 19 sites designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency as the most highly contaminated and toxic sites in the entire United States." Dr. Natividad said. These toxins include radioactive and carcinogenic materials, dioxins, etc.
"We come to Australia in the hope of raising awareness about the human rights deprivations of the Chamoru people by the U.S, to build solidarity among the peace and justice groups here and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, who are all endangered by current U.S. militarization of the region," she said.
For more information and interviews with Lisa Natividad and Julian Aguon.
please contact Dr Hannah Middleton on 0418 668 098
Monday, 9
June 2008
US accused of human rights violations
Two Chamoru representatives from Guam visiting Australia for a month-long international awareness campaign today accused the United States of glaring human rights violations of the indigenous Chamoru people.
"The new wave of U.S. militarization of Guam means to be decisive," said Chamoru writer Julian Aguon in Sydney today. "It is not simply more of the same. Part of the U.S. military realignment in the Asia-Pacific region includes the controversial relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. The move will have devastating consequences for the indigenous Chamoru people, who have been struggling for decolonization of their island home.
"The situation of Guam serves as one of the greatest indictments of U.S. democratic legitimacy, as Guam remains one of only 16 non-self-governing territories in the modern world. The military build-up now underway in Guam, which will include an influx of a military personnel population comparable in size to the entire indigenous population (55,000), is being done entirely without the input or consultation of the indigenous people and over their deepening dissent."
Dr. Lisa Natividad, a professor at the University of Guam, stated that the new wave of military buildup will only worsen the well being of the Chamoru people, who already suffer from the classic symptoms of a colonial condition such as dramatic health disparities. "For example, rates of nasopharyngeal cancer among my people are 2,000% higher than in the United States, and the rate of diabetes is five times the national U.S. average," Dr Natividad said.
"Although Guam is only 30 miles long, it contains 19 sites designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency as the most highly contaminated and toxic sites in the entire United States." Dr. Natividad said. These toxins include radioactive and carcinogenic materials, dioxins, etc.
"We come to Australia in the hope of raising awareness about the human rights deprivations of the Chamoru people by the U.S, to build solidarity among the peace and justice groups here and throughout the Asia-Pacific region, who are all endangered by current U.S. militarization of the region," she said.
For more information and interviews with Lisa Natividad and Julian Aguon.
please contact Dr Hannah Middleton on 0418 668 098
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Okinawa Rape Case Worried Guam Activists
New Okinawa rape case worries Guam activists
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff
THE activist group Chamoro Nation has renewed its call for the removal of the U.S. bases on Guam following a new rape incident involving a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa.
"We the Chamoru people of Guam are appalled by the continuing indecent behavior of violence such as the rape of yet another child in Okinawa by members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Our sincerest and heartfelt sympathy goes out to this poor child, her family and the entire Okinawan community," the Chamoru nation said in a statement of solidarity with the Japanese community.
The latest rape case against, filed by a Filipino woman who accused an American soldier of sexually attacking her in an Okinawa hotel, came following the arrest of 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, who was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa.
The series of rape cases involving members of the U.S. Armed Forces has sparked outrage in Japan, which is host to some 50,000 U.S. troops under a security treaty.
"This horrendous attack along with the past acts of violence by U.S. service members further instills our belief that the transfer of these so-called 'family orientated' soldiers to Guam will severely and adversely impact the well-being and safety of our island community causing us to live constantly in a state of fear and oppression, as it has done to all outside the bases in Okinawa and throughout our region," the Chamorro Nation said.
The tensions in Japan have been exacerbated by allegations of additional less serious crimes by American troops. Japanese leaders have deplored the behavior and accused the U.S. military of lax discipline.
"The courageous stance taken by the people of Okinawa to protect their families from the ruthlessness of these monstrous, uncaring and vicious people is clearly the only solution to insuring their safety," according to statement from Chamorro Nation, the most vocal anti-military bases group in Guam.
Though Guam is generally receptive to the military expansion plan for the island, a handful of activists and women senators have repeatedly expressed concerns about the social impact of the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa.
Debbie Quinata, maga'haga of Chamorro Nation, said her group stands in firm solidarity with the people of Okinawa in calling for the removal of all U.S. bases and their soldiers from Okinawa.
"We further call for their removal from Guam, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines returning to their country, the United States of America," the statement said.
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff
THE activist group Chamoro Nation has renewed its call for the removal of the U.S. bases on Guam following a new rape incident involving a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa.
"We the Chamoru people of Guam are appalled by the continuing indecent behavior of violence such as the rape of yet another child in Okinawa by members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Our sincerest and heartfelt sympathy goes out to this poor child, her family and the entire Okinawan community," the Chamoru nation said in a statement of solidarity with the Japanese community.
The latest rape case against, filed by a Filipino woman who accused an American soldier of sexually attacking her in an Okinawa hotel, came following the arrest of 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, who was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa.
The series of rape cases involving members of the U.S. Armed Forces has sparked outrage in Japan, which is host to some 50,000 U.S. troops under a security treaty.
"This horrendous attack along with the past acts of violence by U.S. service members further instills our belief that the transfer of these so-called 'family orientated' soldiers to Guam will severely and adversely impact the well-being and safety of our island community causing us to live constantly in a state of fear and oppression, as it has done to all outside the bases in Okinawa and throughout our region," the Chamorro Nation said.
The tensions in Japan have been exacerbated by allegations of additional less serious crimes by American troops. Japanese leaders have deplored the behavior and accused the U.S. military of lax discipline.
"The courageous stance taken by the people of Okinawa to protect their families from the ruthlessness of these monstrous, uncaring and vicious people is clearly the only solution to insuring their safety," according to statement from Chamorro Nation, the most vocal anti-military bases group in Guam.
Though Guam is generally receptive to the military expansion plan for the island, a handful of activists and women senators have repeatedly expressed concerns about the social impact of the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa.
Debbie Quinata, maga'haga of Chamorro Nation, said her group stands in firm solidarity with the people of Okinawa in calling for the removal of all U.S. bases and their soldiers from Okinawa.
"We further call for their removal from Guam, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines returning to their country, the United States of America," the statement said.
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