ACLU Testifies at UN on Border Patrol Killings and Human Rights Abuses

By Andrew O'Reilly
Published October 25, 2012
Fox News Latino

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncsta...ve%20Force.jpg
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

With killings by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on the rise, the American Civil Liberties (ACLU) presented testimony to the United Nations Thursday on human rights violations along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The ACLU presentation comes a week after a top UN human rights official said that the U.S. has used excessive force in dealing with immigrants along the border and needs to properly investigate the recent string of killings.

Since January of 2010, 20 individuals have either died or been seriously injured by CDP officials, including eight cases where agents responded to rocks being thrown across the border and six cases involving individuals killed while standing on the Mexican side of the border, the ACLU stated.

“They feel empowered to shoot people standing on the Mexican side of the border,” Vicki B. Gaubeca, the director of the ACLU New Mexico’s Regional Center for Border Rights told Fox News Latino of the CBP. “Imagine what would have happened if this occurred on the U.S.-Canada border.”

U.S. investigators announced last week that they were reviewing the U.S. Border Patrol's lethal force policies in the wake of the recent shootings. The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General probe involves a review of accusations of excessive force, the Associated Press reported, and CBP says it will cooperate with all investigations.

Rock throwing is considered deadly force, and Border Patrol agents generally find it acceptable to respond to the rock throwing with fatal weapons -- though critics claim it's an uneven fight and over the top.

"CBP law enforcement personnel are trained to use deadly force in circumstances that pose a threat to their lives, the lives of their fellow law enforcement partners and innocent third parties," said Michael Friel, a spokesperson for CBP. "We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with investigations of alleged misconduct by our personnel, on or off duty."

Kent Lundgren, a former agent and now chairman of the National Association of Former, told The Associated Press that rocks can be deadly.

"A rock thrown real slow will kill you just as dead as a bullet," Lundgren said.

He said in the early 1970s when he was hit in the head with a rock while patrolling the El Paso, Texas border.

"It put me on my knees," he said. "Had that rock caught me in the temple, it would have been lethal, I have no doubt."

The Mexican government has been vocal in their criticism of killings along the border by U.S. agents, with Mexico’s Senate urging President Felipe Calderón in September to pressure the U.S. to arrest and extradite a border agent involved in the fatal shooting of a Mexican on the border with Texas.

"They feel empowered to shoot people standing on the Mexican side of the border."
- Vicki B. Gaubeca, the director of the ACLU New Mexico’s Regional Center for Border Rights

According to a number of media accounts, the Mexican man - Guillermo Arevalo Pedraza - was killed after rocks were thrown at agents across the border. The Mexican Senate wants Calderón to start a joint investigation with U.S. authorities over the incident, in order to make an arrest "with the aim of extraditing the agent responsible,” according to Reuters.

Besides the killings along the border, the ACLU testimony will also touch on other alleged abuses such as unwarranted and invasive personal searches, unjustified and repeated detention based on misidentification, the use of coercion to force individuals to surrender their legal rights and sexual abuse.

“We are deeply concerned by these systematic abuses,” said Jennifer Turner, ACLU human rights researcher. “It is essential that the United States launch a comprehensive external investigation in addition to the Department of Homeland Security’s internal review. These reviews must examine CBP’s policies and practices in order to bring the United States in compliance with its human rights obligations to conduct thorough, impartial and transparent investigations and hold perpetrators accountable for human rights abuses.”

The ACLU’s San Diego office noted the case of Hernán Cuevas, a Chilean businessman who was attempting to enter the U.S. with a valid visa. Cuevas was allegedly strip-searched and detained for over three hours, without explanation.

“I could not believe I was in U.S. I was completely perplexed”, said Cuevas told the ACLU. “The incident was so bizarre that it was a perfect fit for a ‘banana republic,’ a corrupt place without democracy.”

The ACLU is urging the U.S. government to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for abuses and conduct publicly-released investigations as well as reform its use-of-force training and establish a permanent external, independent oversight commission to investigate complainants of CBP abuses along with other reforms.

“There needs to be transparent investigations,” Gaubeca said.

Illegal immigration and the flow of drugs across the border have put border agents on heightened alert. The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has worked closely with Calderón to curb the flow of drugs across the two nations’ porous almost 2,000-mile joint border.

Despite some gains against Mexico’s major drug organizations, violence still continues to proliferate along Mexico’s side of the border as well as in other parts of the country and much of the violence is fueled by weapons coming across from the U.S.

ACLU Testifies at UN on Border Patrol Killings and Human Rights Abuses | Fox News Latino

Who is testifying about the thousands of Americans killed each year by illegal immigrants??? The scale of deaths of innocent American citizens dwarfs the handful that our Border Patrol agents have killed.

W

This is the most important election in the history of this country.

It is the Agenda of the UN to have the people from poor countries "migrate" to the wealthy countries, illegally, and send money back to their countries to bring them out of poverty.

Taking control of the US is the ultimate prize for the UN and keeping the Obama administration in power guarantees it. The UN was invited to oversee the elections by the State Department. The UN is the driving force behind the "migrant" financial gutting of this country and they WANT them to vote to keep the puppets in power. This is of course, only my opinion.

This is the International Organization for Migration, Office of the Permanent Observer to the United Nations home page and it reveals the intent of the UN's agenda on migration.
http://www.un.int/iom/IOM%20at%20UN2.htm


Many municipalities are beginning to openly reject the Agenda 21 initiatives as more people become aware of he actual intent and the UN is showing t's hand.

For example this from Mississippi.

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Resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21

October 17, 2012

AS PRESENTED BY JACKSON COUNTY, ON AUGUST 8TH,
TO THE STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992; and,
WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is being covertly pushed into local communities throughout the United States of America through the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) through local “sustainable development” policies such as Sustainable Communities, Comprehensive Plans, Smart Codes, Smart Growth, Wildlands Project, Resilient Cities, Regional Visioning Projects, and other “Green” or “Alternative” projects; and
WHEREAS, this United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called “sustainable development” views the American way of life of private property ownership, single family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms; all as destructive to the environment; and,
WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy, social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment which would be accomplished by socialist/communist redistribution of wealth; and,
WHEREAS, according to the United Nations Agenda 21 policy National sovereignty is deemed a social injustice; now therefore be
RESOLVED, the Mississippi Republican Party recognizes the destructive and insidious nature of United Nations Agenda 21 and hereby exposes to the public and public policy makers the dangerous intent of the plan; and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that the U.S. government and no state or local government is legally bound by the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty in that it has never been endorsed by the (U.S.) Senate, and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that the federal and state and local governments across the country be well informed of the underlying harmful implications of implementation of United Nations Agenda 21 destructive strategies for “sustainable development” and we hereby endorse rejection of its radical policies and rejection of any grant monies attached to it, and therefore be it further
RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Mississippi Republican Party shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of the Mississippi Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, all Republican candidates for President who qualify for RNC sanctioned debates, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.

Resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21 « Republican Party Marshall County, MS

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Reading the INSTRAW Documents Gender and Migration Virtual Community is like reading a speech by Obama.

High speed rail? Anither UN Agenda 21 idea, part of ending property rights.

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Government Funded Bullet Trains Will Connect American Agenda 21 Megacities

Susanne Posel Aug 20th, 2012 0 Comment
http://occupycorporatism.com/wp-cont...il-300x168.jpgSusanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
August 20, 2012
To boost infrastructure and build Agenda 21 high-speed rail systems (HSRS) across America, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated last week that $470 million in unspent funds are still available to states for such projects.


Government Funded Bullet Trains Will Connect American Agenda 21 Megacities

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This is not a Democrat Republican issue, it is a CONSERVATIVE issue.

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SOUNDS LIKE SCIENCE FICTION...OR SOME CONSPIRACY THEORY...BUT IT ISN'T.


UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is implemented worldwide to inventory and control all land, all water, all minerals, all plants, all animals, all construction, all means of production, all information, and all human beings in the world. INVENTORY AND CONTROL.

Have you wondered where these terms 'sustainability' and 'smart growth' and 'high density urban mixed use development' came from? Doesn't it seem like about 10 years ago you'd never heard of them and now everything seems to include these concepts? Is that just a coincidence? That every town and county and state and nation in the world would be changing their land use/planning codes and government policies to align themselves with...what?

First, before I get going, I want to say that yes, I know it's a small world and it takes a village and we're all one planet etc. I also know that we have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and that as cumbersome as that can be sometimes (Donald Rumsfeld said that the Chinese have it easy; they don't have to ask their people if they agree. And Bush Junior said that it would be great to have a dictator as long as he was the dictator), we have a three branch government and the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and self-determination. This is one of the reasons why people want to come to the US, right? We don't have Tiananmen Square here, generally speaking (yes, I remember Kent State--not the same, and yes, an outrage.) So I'm not against making certain issues a priority, such as mindful energy use, alternative energy sponsorship, recycling/reuse, and sensitivity to all living creatures.

But then you have UN Agenda 21. What is it? See our videos and radio shows at the bottom of this page (or search YouTube for Rosa Koire) or buyBEHIND THE GREEN MASK: U.N. Agenda 21 by Rosa Koire click here

CLICK TO PRINT OUT FLYER: WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT UN AGENDA 21?

Considering its policies are woven into all the General Plans of the cities and counties, it's important for people to know where these policies are coming from. While many people support the United Nations for its peacemaking efforts, hardly anyone knows that they have very specific land use policies that they would like to see implemented in every city, county, state and nation. The specific plan is called United Nations Agenda 21 Sustainable Development, which has its basis in Communitarianism. By now, most Americans have heard of sustainable development but are largely unaware of Agenda 21.

In a nutshell, the plan calls for governments to take control of all land use and not leave any of the decision making in the hands of private property owners. It is assumed that people are not good stewards of their land and the government will do a better job if they are in control. Individual rights in general are to give way to the needs of communities as determined by the governing body. Moreover, people should be rounded up off the land and packed into human settlements, or islands of human habitation, close to employment centers and transportation. Another program, called the Wildlands Project spells out how most of the land is to be set aside for non-humans.

U.N. Agenda 21 cites the affluence of Americans as being a major problem which needs to be corrected. It calls for lowering the standard of living for Americans so that the people in poorer countries will have more, a redistribution of wealth. Although people around the world aspire to achieve the levels of prosperity we have in our country, and will risk their lives to get here, Americans are cast in a very negative light and need to be taken down to a condition closer to average in the world. Only then, they say, will there be social justice which is a cornerstone of the U.N. Agenda 21 plan.

Agenda 21 policies date back to the 70's but it got its real start in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro when President Bush signed onto it. President Clinton signed it later and continued the program in the United States. A non-governmental organization called the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives, ICLEI, is tasked with carrying out the goals of Agenda 21. Over 600 cities in the U.S. are members; our town joined in 2007. The costs are paid by taxpayers.

It's time that people educate themselves and read the document and related commentary. After that, get a copy of your city or county's General Plan and read it. You will find all sorts of policies that are nearly identical to those in U.N. Agenda 21. Unfortunately, their policies have advanced largely unnoticed and we are now in the end game. People need to identify their elected officials who are promoting the U.N.'s policies and hold them accountable for their actions. Only when we've identified who the people are and what they are trying to do will we be able to evaluate whether or not we approve of the policies they are putting forward. Some people may think it's appropriate for agencies outside the United States to set our policies and some people will not. The question is, aren't Americans able to develop their own policies? Should we rely on an organization that consists of member nations that have different forms of governments, most of which do not value individual rights as much as we do? It's time to bring U.N. Agenda 21 out in the open where we can have these debates and then set our own policies in accordance with our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
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Ok, you say, interesting, but I don't see how that really affects me. Here are a few ways:

No matter where you live, I'll bet that there have been hundreds of condos built in the center of your town recently. Over the last ten years there has been a 'planning revolution' across the US. Your commercial, industrial, and multi-residential land was rezoned to 'mixed use.' Nearly everything that got approvals for development was designed the same way: ground floor retail with two stories of residential above. Mixed use. Very hard to finance for construction, and very hard to manage since it has to have a high density of people in order to justify the retail. A lot of it is empty and most of the ground floor retail is empty too. High bankruptcy rate.

So what? Most of your towns provided funding and/or infrastructure development for these private projects. They used Redevelopment Agency funds. Your money. Specifically, your property taxes. Notice how there's very little money in your General Funds now, and most of that is going to pay Police and Fire? Your street lights are off, your parks are shaggy, your roads are pot-holed, your hospitals are closing. The money that should be used for these things is diverted into the Redevelopment Agency. It's the only agency in government that can float a bond without a vote of the people. And they did that, and now you're paying off those bonds for the next 45 years with your property taxes. Did you know that? And by the way, even if Redevelopment is ended, as in California, they still have to pay off existing debt--for 30 to 45 years.

So, what does this have to do with Agenda 21?

Redevelopment is a tool used to further the Agenda 21 vision of remaking America's cities. With redevelopment, cities have the right to take property by eminent domain---against the will of the property owner, and give it or sell it to a private developer. By declaring an area of town 'blighted' (and in some cities over 90% of the city area has been declared blighted) the property taxes in that area can be diverted away from the General Fund. This constriction of available funds is impoverishing the cities, forcing them to offer less and less services, and reducing your standard of living. They'll be telling you that it's better, however, since they've put in nice street lights and colored paving. The money gets redirected into the Redevelopment Agency and handed out to favored developers building low income housing and mixed use. Smart Growth. Cities have had thousands of condos built in the redevelopment areas and are telling you that you are terrible for wanting your own yard, for wanting privacy, for not wanting to be dictated to by a Condo Homeowner's Association Board, for being anti-social, for not going along to get along, for not moving into a cramped apartment downtown where they can use your property taxes for paying off that huge bond debt. But it's not working, and you don't want to move in there. So they have to make you. Read on.

Human habitation, as it is referred to now, is restricted to lands within the Urban Growth Boundaries of the city. Only certain building designs are permitted. Rural property is more and more restricted in what uses can be on it. Although counties say that they support agricultural uses, eating locally produced food, farmer's markets, etc, in fact there are so many regulations restricting water and land use (there are scenic corridors, inland rural corridors, baylands corridors, area plans, specific plans, redevelopment plans, huge fees, fines) that farmers are losing their lands altogether. County roads are not being paved. The push is for people to get off of the land, become more dependent, come into the cities. To get out of the suburbs and into the cities. Out of their private homes and into condos. Out of their private cars and onto their bikes.

Bikes. What does that have to do with it? I like to ride my bike and so do you. So what? Bicycle advocacy groups are very powerful now. Advocacy. A fancy word for lobbying, influencing, and maybe strong-arming the public and politicians. What's the conection with bike groups? National groups such as Complete Streets, Thunderhead Alliance, and others, have training programs teaching their members how to pressure for redevelopment, and training candidates for office. It's not just about bike lanes, it's about remaking cities and rural areas to the 'sustainable model'. High density urban development without parking for cars is the goal. This means that whole towns need to be demolished and rebuilt in the image of sustainable development. Bike groups are being used as the 'shock troops' for this plan.

What plan? We're losing our homes since this recession/depression began, and many of us could never afford those homes to begin with. We got cheap money, used whatever we had to squeak into those homes, and now some of us lost them. We were lured, indebted, and sunk. Whole neighborhoods are empty in some places. Some are being bulldozed. Cities cannot afford to extend services outside of their core areas. Slowly, people will not be able to afford single family homes. Will not be able to afford private cars. Will be more dependent. More restricted. More easily watched and monitored.

This plan is a whole life plan. It involves the educational system, the energy market, the transportation system, the governmental system, the health care system, food production, and more. The plan is to restrict your choices, limit your funds, narrow your freedoms, and take away your voice. One of the ways is by using the Delphi Technique to 'manufacture consensus.' Another is to infiltrate community groups or actually start neighborhood associations with hand-picked 'leaders'. Another is to groom and train future candidates for local offices. Another is to sponsor non-governmental groups that go into schools and train children. Another is to offer federal and private grants and funding for city programs that further the agenda. Another is to educate a new generation of land use planners to require New Urbanism. Another is to convert factories to other uses, introduce energy measures that penalize manufacturing, and set energy consumption goals to pre-1985 levels. Another is to allow unregulated immigration in order to lower standards of living and drain local resources.

All of this sounds unbelievable until you have had direct experience with it. You probably have, but unless you resisted it you won't know it's happening. That's why we'd like you to read our blog 'The Way We See It' (click here). Go to the section in the blog (look on the right side under Categories) called Our Story. You'll get a look at how two unsuspecting people fell into a snake pit and survived to tell about it.

DEMOCRATS* AGAINST* U. N.* AGENDA* 21 - OK, So what is Agenda 21? And why should I care? Part 1

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DEMOCRATS* AGAINST* U. N.* AGENDA* 21 - OK, So what is Agenda 21? And why should I care? Part 1

The UN has morphed into a enemy of the sovereignty of this country and the freedom of her people JMO.

Agenda 21. Don't miss Chapter 7.


Core Publications
Agenda 21

• Cover
• TOC
• Preamble
• Sec I
• Sec II
• Sec III
• Sec IV
• Rio Declaration
• Forest Principles
• Order

عربي | 中文 | English | Français | Русский | Español

Table of Contents

Chapter		Paragraphs
1.	Preamble	1.1 - 1.6
SECTION I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS *see A/CONF.151/26/REV.1(VOL.I) عربي | 中文 | English| РусскийA/CONF.151/26/REV.1(VOL.I)/CORR.1 عربي | 中文 | English| Français| Русский | Español
Chapter		Paragraphs
2.	International cooperation to accelerate sustainable development in developing countries and related domestic policies	2.1 - 2.43
3.	Combating poverty	3.1 - 3.12
4.	Changing consumption patterns	4.1 - 4.27
5.	Demographic dynamics and sustainability	5.1 - 5.66
6	Protecting and promoting human health conditions	6.1 - 6.46
7.	Promoting sustainable human settlement development	7.1 - 7.80
8.	Integrating environment and development in decision-making	8.1 - 8.54

SECTION II. CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES FOR DEVELOPMENT *see A/CONF.151/26/REV.1(VOL.II) عربي | English
Chapter		Paragraphs
9.	Protection of the atmosphere	9.1 - 9.35
10.	Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources	10.1 - 10.18
11.	Combating deforestation	11.1 - 11.40
12.	Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought	12.1 - 12.63
13.	Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development	13.1 - 13.24
14.	Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development	14.1 - 14.104
15.	Conservation of biological diversity	15.1 - 15.11
16.	Environmentally sound management of biotechnology	16.1 - 16.46
17.	Protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources	17.1 - 17.136
18.	Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the development, management and use of water resources	18.1 - 18.90
19.	Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, including prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products	19.1 - 19.76
20.	Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes, Including Prevention of Illegal International Traffic in Hazardous Wastes	20.1 - 20.46
21.	Environmentally sound management of solid wastes and sewage-related issues	21.1 - 21.49
22.	Safe and environmentally sound management of radioactive wastes	22.1 - 22.9
SECTION III. STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS *see A/CONF.151/26 Vol. III
Chapter		Paragraphs
23.	Preamble	23.1 - 23.4
24.	Global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development	24.1 - 24.12
25.	Children and youth in sustainable development	25.1 - 25.17
26.	Recognizing and strengthening the role of indigenous people and their communities	26.1 - 26.9
27.	Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations: partners for sustainable development	27.1 - 27.13
28.	Local authorities' initiatives in support of Agenda 21	28.1 - 28.7
29.	Strengthening the role of workers and their trade unions	29.1 - 29.14
30.	Strengthening the role of business and industry	30.1 - 30.30
31.	Scientific and technological community	31.1 - 31.12
32.	Strengthening the role of farmers	32.1 - 32.14
SECTION IV. MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION *see A/CONF.151/26 Vol. III
Chapter		Paragraphs
33.	Financial resources and mechanisms	33.1 - 33.21
34.	Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building	34.1 - 34.29
35.	Science for sustainable development	35.1 - 35.25
36.	Promoting education, public awareness and training	36.1 - 36.27
37.	National mechanisms and international cooperation for capacity-building in developing countries	37.1 - 37.13
38.	International institutional arrangements	38.1 - 38.45
39.	International legal instruments and mechanisms	39.1 - 39.10
40.	Information for decision-making	40.1 - 40.30

DSD :: Resources - Publications - Core Publications