Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 20240
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
United Nations
New York, NY 10017
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FIAN International
To: The Hon. Eldridge Coochise
Hearing Officer
Hopi Tribe
8565 W. Granada Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85037
Re: The Hopi Tribe Petitioner vs. Marsha Monestersky, Respondent
in the Hopi
Tribe Exclusion Process, Hopi Indian Reservation, Kykotsmovi,
AZ
Mr. Coochise,
Recently, we received alarming information concerning a second
Exclusion
Order and an impending trial in Hopi Court against Marsha Monestersky.
FIAN, the international human rights organization for the right
to feed
oneself, is deeply concerned about denying this human right to
the Dineh
people remaining in the Big Mountain area, threatened by forcible
relocation
and suffering from harassments by rangers and agents of the Bureau
of Indian
Affairs, impoundments of their livestock and freeze of construction
and
repair work.
FIAN has not long ago appealed to Mr. Bill Clinton, President
of the United
States of America, by means of an urgent action in behalf of the
Dineh. FIAN
considers Marsha Monestersky, who is trusted by the Dineh as their
consultant
and legal assistance, its partner in defending the Dineh's right
to feed
themselves in their traditional area. We - the Hamburg FIAN Group
- know her
personally, we met her during the SDN-delegation's visit of Europe
in April
1999, and we are in continuous touch with her. She is highly appreciated
by
us and several members of parliament for her steady commitment
for the Dineh,
of whom many do not speak English and are not sufficiently informed
about
their civil and human rights and the procedures to secure them.
To remove her from the now Hopi Partitioned Land would mean to
deprive them
of their voice to be heard by American authorities and international
bodies.
We are afraid that such silencing is the purpose of the measures
initiated
against Mrs.Monestersky, so we urge you to protect her and the
people she is
so competently working for.
Sincerely,
Prof. H. Ihmig
Beim Rauhen Hause 30
22111 Hamburg
T. 040-6518393; Fax 040-65901168
e-mail ihmig@iname.com