Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Alligator Alcatraz Is Not Just a U.S. Problem — It’s a Global Public Health Emergency

 🌊 Don’t Turn Your Back on a Wave

Alligator Alcatraz Is Not Just a U.S. Problem — It’s a Global Public Health Emergency

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

As Canadians, we often look south and shake our heads at the chaos, but this time, it’s different. This isn’t just political. It’s not just about broken systems or partisan cruelty. It’s about raw sewage, infectious disease, collapsing ecosystems, and people — human beings — being warehoused in swamp tents surrounded by filth, insects, and contaminated water.

The site is being called Alligator Alcatraz — a migrant detention facility hastily erected on swampland in the Florida Everglades. But what’s happening there is far beyond any nickname. It is, by all scientific and humanitarian measures, a public health time bomb.


🚨 No Toilets. No Showers. No Safety.

Reports are flooding out now:

  • Overflowing toilets and sewage running across the floor
  • Worms found in rice and spoiled food served to detainees
  • People not allowed to shower or change their underwear for days
  • No air circulation in tents during heatwaves
  • Swarms of mosquitoes, crickets, frogs, and biting flies
  • People sick, dizzy, fainting, and still detained in these inhumane conditions

And the worst part? Officials admit they have nowhere to put the poop.


💀 It’s Not Just Gross — It’s Deadly

This isn’t just uncomfortable or unsanitary. It’s lethal. In this environment, you create a perfect storm for disease outbreaks — the kind of diseases the world hasn’t seen in decades. Here’s what can happen — and in some cases, already is:

  • Hookworm infections from walking barefoot on feces-soaked soil
  • Trench foot, open sores, gangrene from wet, toxic floors
  • Cholera and typhoid from water contaminated by raw sewage
  • Legionnaires’ disease from mist and standing water
  • Leptospirosis from rat urine in floodwaters
  • Tuberculosis and respiratory disease from overcrowded tents
  • West Nile and dengue fever from mosquito swarms
  • Skin infections, scabies, and staph from constant filth

This is not theory. These diseases are known to emerge in disaster zones, refugee camps, and war-torn slums. The U.S. government is knowingly creating those same conditions on protected wetland, in violation of environmental law, with zero regard for the consequences.


🌍 It Won’t Stay Contained

Viruses and bacteria don’t recognize borders. Neither do mosquitoes or swamp water runoff. A major outbreak of cholera or Legionnaires’ near Miami, in the Florida heat, would not stay in Florida. This is a global risk.

And while the migrants inside Alligator Alcatraz are being treated as expendable, what’s growing inside that camp could impact millions if even one pathogen breaks out and spreads. This is how pandemics start.


⚖️ Violations of Law & Humanity

The construction of Alligator Alcatraz bypassed federal environmental review, trampled over the rights of the Miccosukee Tribe, and violates the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Lawsuits have already been filed.

But lawsuits are slow. And diseases don’t wait.

This camp should never have been opened — not here, not like this, not under these conditions. And now that it is, every hour it remains operational increases the threat to both the people inside and the world outside.


📢 The WHO Must Act. The CDC Must Speak. The UN Must Investigate.

This is no longer just a domestic policy issue. It’s a matter of global health security.

We need:

  • Immediate shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz
  • Emergency sanitation response and safe relocation of detainees
  • Independent international inspection of the site
  • Urgent disease surveillance and outbreak prevention protocols

💔 You Can’t Say You Didn’t Know

We are watching history being written — not in silence, but in neglect.

The warning signs are all there. This wave is swelling. We either act now — or watch another human-made disaster unfold in slow motion.

And when it does, we won’t be able to say it came out of nowhere.


✍️ SHARE & TAG:

Call out the silence. Demand action. Tag:

  • @WHO (World Health Organization)
  • @UNHumanRights
  • @CDCgov
  • @UN_News_Centre
  • Environmental journalists
  • Public health experts
  • Local media and activists

Don’t turn your back on a wave.
Because once it breaks, it’s already too late.



Tuesday, June 21, 2016

UN Arrives in Nochixtlán, Oaxaca

Update:


http://www.nvinoticias.com/nota/17481/llega-la-onu-oaxaca-para-investigar-violacion-de-derechos-humanos-de-pf-en-nochixtlan 

Un grupo de relatores del Alto Comisionado de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos en México, llegó a Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, la mañana de este martes, para recolectar testimonios de las víctimas por supuestos abusos cometidos por la Policía Federal en este municipio de la Mixteca, durante el enfrentamiento que protagonizaron el pasado domingo cuando trataban de liberar el bloqueo de la carretera federal 190.

en su visita, los relatores buscan recolectar testimonios de las víctimas, de las familias de las víctimas, así como recopilar documentación en fotografía y videos para robustecer su investigación con la que buscan establecer cuáles fueron las violaciones a los derechos humanos cometidas por la policía federal durante el operativo, según informó una de las integrantes de esta comisión especial enviada a Nochixtlán.

Además, que las oficinas del Alto Comisionado de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos en México intentan establecer si fue la policía federal la que disparó primero durante la refriega, por lo que recorren los sitios donde fotografiaron a los uniformados mientras disparaban, de acuerdo a lo que se percibe en las fotos subidas a la cuenta oficial de esta oficina de la Naciones Unidas.

Además, en su página de internet publicaron un documento en el que llaman a las autoridades mexicanas para que realicen una investigación exhaustiva de los hechos violentos ocurridos en Oaxaca y a privilegiar el diálogo.

Sorry if it's incorrect- it's Google Translate:
A group of rapporteurs of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico, came to Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, the Tuesday morning to collect testimony from victims for alleged abuses committed by the Federal Police in this municipality of the Mixteca, during the confrontation they staged last Sunday when they tried to release the lock of the federal highway 190.

during his visit, the rapporteurs seek to collect testimony from victims, families of victims and collect documentation in photography and videos to strengthen their research with seeking to establish what were the violations of human rights committed by federal police during the operation, as reported by one of the members of this special commission sent to Nochixtlán.


In addition, the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico are trying to establish whether it was the federal police who fired first during the fray, so walking the places where they photographed the soldiers while firing, according to perceived in photos uploaded to the official account of the office of the United Nations.


In addition, on its website they published a document calling on Mexican authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the violent events in Oaxaca and to focus on dialogue.

 
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico, came to Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, the Tuesday morning to collect testimony from victims for alleged abuses committed by the Federal Police



Sunday, May 1, 2016

"Discriminated Against Indigenous Children for Generations"- Justin Trudeau

VICE Canada spent the day with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Shoal Lake 40: http://bit.ly/1VWSdSF

The prime minister went on to discuss his government's plans to repeal the Indian Act — the piece of controversial federal legislation that dictates the way First Nations reserves govern themselves. Earlier this month, the justice minister told Parliament the Act was akin to shackles on First Nations peoples.

For Trudeau, the Act does not make sense for Canada.

 "The fact that the federal government controls so completely Indigenous peoples from when they're born, to executing their will, there are things that simply make no sense anymore in a modern and free country."



In an interview with VICE News during his Shoal Lake 40 visit, Trudeau was asked about a recent ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, that found the federal government discriminates against First Nations children living on reserves by not providing the same level of child welfare funding that children living off reserve are entitled to.


Justin Trudeau: 'We Have Discriminated Against Indigenous Children for Generations'



Read More Here.
https://news.vice.com/article/justin-trudeau-we-have-discriminated-against-indigenous-children-for-generations?utm_source=vicenewstwitter

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Red Road Delegation Leaves for Paris

Indigenous Environmental Network Delegation 
Travels to Paris 
for 
UN Climate Talks

Over 45 Frontline Leaders Will Participate 
Inside and Outside COP21

http://indigenousrising.org/indigenous-environmental-network-delegation-travels-to-paris-for-un-climate-talks/

MEDIA ADVISORY
November 24, 2015
Press Contacts:
Dallas Goldtooth, IEN Media-Comms Coordinator, ienpipeline@igc.org
Tom Goldtooth, IEN Executive Director, ien@igc.org

It is the intended goal of IEN to influence the climate negotiations for the explicit purposes of achieving four core demands from the COP21:
  • Establish a mandatory and legally-binding agreement to cut carbon emissions at the source.
  • Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground by establishing moratoriums on future fossil fuel developments.
  • Recognize, respect, and observe the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the climate agreement text.
  • Reject false solutions, which are market-based mechanisms to address climate change and support Just Transition economies.
As a means to accomplish this goal, IEN will be performing a series of cultural demonstrations and public events throughout Paris to raise awareness of critical issues affecting frontline communities. Some of which are as follows:
  • Sunrise Ceremony, November 29th,
  • Global Climate Action, November 29th, location TBD
  • Rights of Nature Tribunal, December 4-5, Maison de Metallos
  • Keep It In the Ground & Women’s Treaty Press Event, December 6th, Bassion De La Villette.
  • Natives in Paris Concert Event, December 10th, “la Halle aux Oliviers” at la Bellevilloise
  • Indigenous Water Ceremony, December 11th, location TBD
A critical component of the IEN delegation is the emphasis on Indigenous women and youth leadership. The Indigenous Environmental Network is one of the founding signatories of the Indigenous Women of the North and South – Defend Mother Earth Treaty Compact 2015. 

This historic document will be presented at a press event on December 6th, 2015. IEN will also be bringing 13 Lummi youth from the Puget Sound area of the United States to encourage in-depth participation by our future leaders and generations. 

Current list of key spokespeople and their respective focal issues:
Kandi Mossett Fracking, Just Transition, Renewable Energy
Alberto Saldamando Human Rights and Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Pennie Plant California Fracking, Women’s Treaty
Tantoo Cardinal Tar Sands, Women’s Treaty
Frank Waln Youth Climate Justice, Keystone XL, Native Hip-hop artist
Casey Camp Women’s Rights
Faith Gemmill Alaska Offshore Oil, ANWR
Jihan Gearon Just Transition, Coal
Princess Johnson Alaska Offshore Oil
Eriel Deranger Tar Sands, UNDRIP
Crystal Lameman Tar Sands, Women’s Rights
Oren Lyons Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Wahleah Johns Coal, Just Transition
Xiuhtexcatl Martinez Youth Climate Justice
Itzcuauhtli Martinez Youth Climate Justice
Allison Warden Arctic Issues
Clayton Thomas-Mueller Tar Sands, Stop It At the Source
Tom Goldtooth Climate Justice, Extractive Economy, Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We are in a historic moment wherein world leaders will continue drafting a new global treaty agreement on climate change this year in Lima at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference on Parties (COP). The final agreement is then expected to be signed in 2015 at the COP 21 in Paris.

INDIGENOUS RISING | OUR MESSAGE for events at and surrounding the UNFCCC COP 20 in Lima, Peru Dec. 2014 from Indigenous Environmental Network on Vimeo.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Indigenous Climate Activist Speaks to UN

If you watch just one video today, LET IT BE THIS ONE!!

"Just months ahead of the next Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place in Paris, today's event has been convened in support to the process that will ultimately result in an agreement intended to succeed to the landmark Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Only by acting now and standing together can we achieve the results we need in the time we have left. Only by acting now and standing together can we tip the scales and change the course of history.
Among the participants, Academy Award-winning actor and long-time conservationist Robert Redford, and 15-year-old indigenous climate activist Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez, are expected to join the broad call for action to energize multilateral cooperation on climate change.

Raised in the Aztec tradition, Mr. Roske-Martinez is Youth Director of a non-profit organization called Earth Guardians"




 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51283#.VZlPHPmPzVJ




I have been following this young man and he is a brave, eloquently spoken, highly intelligent young person with a great deep awareness of the world need right now.

We need action from EVERYONE and his speech clearly demonstrates this.

These other videos are very eye opening as well. He is a great leader of youth already and I believe he will rise to great power because of his wisdom and deep respect for the earth. He has been on his path since he was 6. Maybe he will be the president one day, if presidents exist.

Who know what will happen in the near future if things do not turn around. As the earth breaks down we could see many changes good and bad. 

There have been many great ideas and videos, speeches and leaders but when will the change happen.
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2012/11/can-we-change-world-in-four-years.html

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Earth Guardians
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTM0VbrlY7YtIXdcgSaUMdA

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I know in my heart it will happen. I had a vision many years ago and I have to have faith it will happen. Will it happen in my lifetime is the question I have? Who is that old lady in my vision, is it me? my child? her child? What does the future hold...only the future knows. But I do know we can't just sit around wait for someone else to do it, we each have to do our part! WHAT IS YOUR PART?




Can we change the World? Where do we start? What can we accomplish? What is Urbanarium? And what does it have to do with Vancouver? These are some of the questions proposed here and a small collection of data to support it? Where it goes....we will find out...won't we....

http://thechangerzz.blogspot.ca/p/the-facts.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------