FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2010
Albuquerque (NM) - The U.S. Department of State will hear input from American Indian tribal governments and community members on the United States efforts in meeting its human rights obligations on March 16, 2010, at the University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque, N.M. and on March 17, 2010, at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Navajo Nation, (Ariz.). This particular listening session will be focused on Indian Country. Tribal officials and tribal community members are encouraged to participate.
The Department of State is seeking comments from non-governmental organizations and other domestic civil society groups, state and local authorities, tribal governments, universities, and individuals to receive feedback on the state of affairs regarding human rights in the United States, and hear recommendations on how the protection of human rights can be improved.
The Department of State will be accepting comments until April 30th, 2010, after which they will compile the information gathered from the various communities and prepare a national report, which will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council before the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States.
The UPR is a process which reviews the human rights records of all 192 member States of the United Nations every four years. The United States is one of the States under Review in 2010.
For more information contact Rodney L. Tahe, Policy Analyst, of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission at (928) 871-7436 or visit their website at www.nnhrc.navajo.org or Helen B. Padilla, Director, of the American Indian Law Center, Inc. at (505) 277-5462.
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Read testimony provided by Indian Law Resource Center and NCAI representatives: