Rights of U.S. indigenous leader must be respected – UN experts
GENEVA (15 December 2020) – UN human rights experts* today expressed concerns about charges brought against a U.S. indigenous leader and human rights defender who will appear in court later this week in connection with peaceful demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s political rally at the iconic Mount Rushmore earlier this year.
“Obviously we cannot pre-judge the outcome of the case against Nicholas Tilsen, but we are seriously concerned about his arrest and the charges brought against him in connection with the exercise of his rights as an indigenous person, particularly the right to assembly,” the experts said. “We call on the U.S. to ensure that Mr. Tilsen’s due process rights are respected during the criminal prosecution and recall the obligation to ensure equal protection of the law without discrimination.”
Tilsen, a human rights defender of the Oglala-Lakȟóta Sioux Nation and president of the indigenous-led NDN Collective, was one of 15 peaceful protesters arrested when a political rally was organised – without the consent of the indigenous peoples concerned – to celebrate U.S. Independence Day in July. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, with its colossal sculptures of former presidents, is located on treaty lands of the Great Sioux Nation.