GUAM-BASED international law firm Blue Ocean Law on Wednesday filed a submission to two United Nations independent human rights experts detailing numerous rights violations caused by the United States’ ongoing militarization in Palau.
The filing was submitted to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment on behalf of the Ebiil Society, a Palauan grassroots environmental organization, along with seven Palauan high-school students, aged 14-18, who have dedicated the past year to documenting the impacts of militarization in their homeland.
The submission was joined by the Center for Constitutional Rights and builds on a previous joint submission to a U.N. treaty body outlining the incompatibility of U.S. colonization and militarization of island territories with human rights.
The United States is militarizing Palau from its northernmost tip to its southernmost edge: on Kayangel Atoll, on the main island of Babeldoab, on Peleliu Island, on Angaur Island, and in the Southwest Islands of Hatohobei.
Over the past year, the students traveled to each site and spoke with local communities about the way the U.S. military’s activities are affecting them. Their efforts revealed that the military has already undermined human rights by, among other things, clearing huge swathes of pristine forest, destroying resources essential to community subsistence and well-being, and imperiling species of great cultural significance.
In Ngaraard, for example, the military site abuts a critical feeding ground for Mesekiu, the critically endangered Palauan dugong.
“We are worried that militarization will impact these ecosystems and harm our Mesekiu,” say the students. “The Mesekiu is not only an endangered species of great specialness globally, it also plays an important part in our culture. The first Mesekiu was a woman, and so Mesekiu are members of our family.”
Under international law and Palau’s domestic law, the U.S. military was required to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of impacted indigenous communities prior to beginning these projects. Yet communities near each site report that they have received virtually no information about how the U.S. intends to use the land or what the impacts will be — let alone been given an opportunity to provide or withhold consent. In a show of deep disdain for Palau’s sovereignty, the U.S. military has further violated Palau’s laws by failing to conduct adequate environmental impact assessments and obtain necessary permits prior to breaking ground on their projects.
Many fear that the military presence is making Palau a target of war. Ann Singeo, Ebiil Society’s founder, shares this concern:
“I fear that our small island and our people may be used as a war shield. Definitely can make one feel insignificant and disposable, but that is not us. Women of Palau historically fought hard for this land and her people, by defending our values. We are the descendants of these strong women.”
The students say they are submitting this filing in order to protect their homeland: “Belau is Our Home. Belau is Our Mother. It saddens us to see our environment being destroyed just for the use of a foreign power. As youth, we are the ones who will feel the consequences of the choices made today. That is why we feel that our voices should be heard in making these decisions.”
