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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2001

Members of the Western Shoshone Nation asked a United Nations panel on Tuesday to condemn the United States for breaking treaties and international law.

The delegation said the United States illegaly took their land in an 1863 treaty. The Supreme Court has upheld the treaty, authorizing a $26 million judgement for tribal members.

But the judgement, which has since grown to $130 million, has been refused. Carrie Dann and her sister, two elderly women in Nevada, have continued to graze their cattle on ceded land, to the opposition of the Bureau of Land Management.

Dann was among those who made the Shoshone's case to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. On Monday, the United States finished presenting a report to the committee, citing that progress has been made reducing discrimination against indigenous peoples and other minorities.

The Shoshone tribes are spread throughout Nevada, California, Idah and Utah. They are protesting use of traditional land for nuclear and mining activities.

Get the Story:
Western Shoshone leaders appeal to U.N. over U.S. land policy (AP 8/8)

Get the Draft Report:
INITIAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (State Dept September 2000)

Relevant Links:
Human Rights Issues, State Department - http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr
World Conference Against Racism, UN - http://www.un.org/WCAR

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