The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, today called on the United States to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline as it poses a significant risk to the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and threatens to destroy their burial grounds and sacred sites...

“The tribe was denied access to information and excluded from consultations at the planning stage of the project and environmental assessments failed to disclose the presence and proximity of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation,” the expert stressed.

“The United States should, in accordance with its commitment to implement the Declaration on the rights on indigenous peoples, consult with the affected communities in good faith and ensure their free, and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands...,” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said...

Ms. Tauli-Corpuz’s call has also been endorsed by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mr. Michel Forst; the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Léo Heller; the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. John H. Knox; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr. Maina Kiai; the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, Ms. Karima Bennoune; the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, Mr. Baskut Tuncak, and Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga, current Chairperson of the  Working Group on business and human rights.