Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Berlin, Germany - On October 12, 1999 indigenous peoples day, about 20 members of FIAN, the Society of Threatened Peoples and a Berlin solidarity group for American indians gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Berlin. With banners "No ethnic cleaning in Arizona", "Respect human rights in America", they drew the attention to the threatening situation of the Dineh in the Big Mountain area.

The embassy of the USA is hidden in a small side street behind fences barriers and rolls of barbed wire. Demonstrations in front of the building are not allowed. A Berlin policeman mentioned that they would not open the door even if a US-citizen in danger would ring the bell. Nevertheless the Hamburg FIAN group and the Society of Threatened Peoples succeeded with the help of the embassy's employees - after a phone call - to submit an open letter to US ambassador Kornblum. In the letter they demand - supported by more than 500 undersigners - that the reprisals on the Dineh, as e.g. confiscation of livestock and the freeze for construction and repair, should be stopped immediately and the dislocation date of February 1st, 2000 should be set aside. It is hoped that this protest will reach the US-authorities in charge and contribute to a reconsideration of their policy.

The vigil itself was than located a corner away from the embassy, at the big street "Unter den Linden", where many interested people learned about the fate of the Dineh people, many of them for the first time.