From: Black Mesa Projects/ ISCO <bigmnt@efn.org>
My apologies for any duplicate messages- please distribute widely.
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Sample Letter to Stop Forced Evictions!
Print the below, sign and date, send it in, Thank you!
Friday, Monday and Tuesday January 28, 31 & February 1st!
Fax Attack-- Print and send below to: (202) 514-0467 Spread the
word!
Call the DoJ-- Express key points in the below letter (202) 514-2101
Please let us know you did and/or send us a copy, thank you!
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(your address)
Assistant Attorney General Eric Holder
United States Department of Justice
PO Box 44378
Washington DC 20026
January 28, 2000
Dear Mr. Holder:
I am concerned about the impending forced eviction of traditional
Dine'h
(Navajo) from Hopi Partition Lands (HPL) in northeastern Arizona.
Please
instruct the Office of the United States Attorney for the District
of
Arizona, to NOT seek court ordered evictions in the United States
District
Court in Phoenix, nor enforce any evictions! Instead, please
instruct
them to protect Dine'h human, civil and religious rights.
Dine'h are being forced to sign "Accommodation Agreement"
leases that are
neither permanent or fair. Those who do not sign face eviction
hearings
sometime after February 1, 2000 under PL 104-301, which attempts
to
settle a legal claim brought by the Hopi Tribe against the United
States.
This matter must be handled non-violently by the United States
Department
of Justice, with sensitivity to the traditional Elders and different
culture of the Dine'h. The DoJ must halt any threatening actions
against
United States citizens whose beliefs counter federal policies
that
directly affect their children!
Despite any perceived land dispute between Dine'h (Navajo)
residents or
the Navajo and the Hopi Tribal Councils, forced relocation continues
to
violate Dine'h religious and human rights. Many outstanding issues
remain unresolved in the Manybeads V. United States et al. class
action
lawsuit, now in review at the Ninth United States Circuit Court
of Appeals
in San Francisco. Also, related concerns continue to be heard
within the
United Nations. With time, these matters will be addressed, if
evictions
do not happen first. Please allow these matters to be resolved!
Currently, Dine'h who repaired their homes on the HPL, despite
a 33-year
old construction ban, are told to dismantle the necessary repairs
or face
demolition under the "Bennett Freeze" section of PL
93-531. This ban
violates Dine'h treaty rights and human rights and will hasten
evictions!
Since the US Department of Justice is under investigation for
it's role in
the tragic fire at the Branch Dividian Compound at Waco, Texas
and the
FBI has been held responsible for shooting deaths at Ruby Ridge
in Idaho,
I urge you to please direct US Attorneys in Phoenix to not seek
or enforce
court ordered evictions of traditional Dine'h from lands shared
for centuries!
The United States must be more "accommodating" and
learn to stop bullying
American Indians or it will only continue to exasperate the ongoing
situation. Forced evictions can only bring further tragedy and
national
disgrace. Instead, protect the human and religious rights of
the
traditional Dine'h, regardless of their lease status, who remain
on the HPL!
I thank you for your kind consideration of these matters.
Sincerely,
(your name)