In A Symbolic Demonstration of Sovereignty the Haudenosaunee Fields a Team at Lacrosse World Championship Four Years after Being Denied the Right to Play the Creator’s Game

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Managing Editor

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America –  As they take the field to play the sport they call the Creator’s Game at the Lacrosse World Championships, the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois National Lacrosse Team is playing for much more than a title, they are playing for their standing in the International Community. The team, whose players represent the six Haudenosaunee nations — the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora — is the world’s only indigenous team competing as a sovereign nation for the World Lacrosse Championships in Denver. The Iroquois men’s lacrosse team has been competing internationally under the Haudenosaunee flag since 1987 and is the only Native American team officially sanctioned to compete internationally as an independent entity.

Four years after being denied entry into the United Kingdom under Haudenosaunee Passports to compete at the World Lacrosse Championship in Manchester England the Iroquois Nationals, the world’s only international sanctioned indigenous team is competing at the World Championships in Denver, defeating England 15 to 4 on Friday. (Photo Courtesy of Lacrosse Magazine)

For the Haudenosaunee Lacrosse is much more than a game, it is a way of life. Called the Creator’s Game, Lacrosse is a deeply spiritual game and is frequently used for healing purposes and can be summoned by clan mothers on behalf of any person or people who is in need of its healing powers.

“We play for the creator, and the game was put here to please the creator,” said team goalie Marty Ward who grew up in Syracuse New York just outside of the Onondaga Nation reservation and is playing for his third world team. “Every time we pick up a stick, it is a medicine game first.”

Although Lacrosse was born on Haudenosaunee land, the road to representing their people at the Lacrosse world Championships has not been easy for the Iroquois Nationals. Four years ago, the Iroquois Nationals made international headlines when the British government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Haudenosaunee Passports under which the team was traveling despite the fact that the Haudenosaunee passports have been recognized abroad since 1923 when delegates from the Six Nation’s visited the League of Nations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded by offering the team members one-time travel waivers. While they team was offered expedited United States passport the they refused to accept the offer; Wishing not only to play, but also to travel under their own flag.

As a result of being denied the right to play their own sport at the lacrosse World Championships in Manchester the Iroquois nationals fell in the international rankings and the Federation of International Lacrosse stripped the team of  its ability to compete in the coveted top-flight blue division against fellow lacrosse powerhouses including the United States and Canada.  The Iroquois Nationals successfully appealed the federation’s decision and regained entry into the blue division in the 2014 world championships. “We’re going to play to win,” Marty Ward said. “We’re going to play with a clear mind, clear heart and a free spirit when we’re out there.”

For more information please see:

ABC News – Iroquois Lacrosse Team Playing for Redemption – 11 July 2014

Al Jazeera America – Fighting For More Than a Win: Iroquois Lacrosse Team Back In Championships – 9 July 2014

Denver Post – Brothers Playing For Nation, Redemption in World Lacrosse Championships – 10 July 2014

Indian Country Today Media Network – Iroquois Nationals Gearing up For World Lacrosse Championships in Denver – 4 July 2014

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Conflict Zones

Syria Justice and Accountability Centre

“For decades – if not centuries – there has been a near-total absence of justice for survivors of rape and sexual violence in conflict. We hope this Protocol will be part of a new global effort to shatter this culture of impunity, helping survivors and deterring people from committing these crimes in the first place.” – Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

As SJAC has noted before, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) is widespread in conflict zones all over the globe, and Syria is no exception.  Women and men in Syria have been subjected to sexual, physical, and psychological assault and abuse while in detention, during home raids, or even while walking on the street.  When SGBV is committed as part of a broad pattern of violations, as is almost certainly occurring in Syria, it can constitute a crime under international law: namely, a war crime, a crime against humanity, or genocide.  The effects of SGBV on individual victims and entire communities have had a dramatic impact on the Syrian people’s sense of security, and they have been a major force in driving families out of the country and into refugee camps in neighboring countries.

SGBV can be difficult to document due to the lack of evidence available following the violence, the stigma often associated with the violence, and victims’ corresponding reluctance to disclose.  In Syria, women in particular are hesitant to disclose sexual violence due to cultural, social and religious beliefs related to marriage and sexuality.  Moreover, even where SGBV in conflict zones has been documented, the incidents have systematically been ignored or downplayed in post-conflict justice mechanisms and courts.  Perpetrators of SGBV in conflict zones have rarely been held accountable for their crimes.

Last month, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, co-chaired the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.  The gathering was held in London and brought together 1700 delegates and 129 country delegations to focus on ending impunity for sexual violence in conflict.  Meetings were held on a wide range of issues related to sexual violence in conflict, including conflict prevention, international justice, women’s rights and participation, men and boys, and children affected by conflict.  The Summit corresponded with the launch of an International Protocol on the Documentation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, aimed at establishing international standards for documenting and investigating sexual violence in conflict zones.  The Protocol uses current best practices to provide guidance to investigators, activists, national policymakers, prosecutors, counselors, and medical professionals.

SJAC is in the process of integrating many of the best practices from the Protocol into its own polices, methodology, and operations manual for documenting SGBV in Syria.  Other organizations documenting SGBV in Syria and in other conflict zones should make use of this comprehensive document to further our shared goals of documenting SGBV and holding perpetrators of these crimes accountable.

California Court Loosens ‘Three Strikes’ Law

By Lyndsey Kelly
Desk Reporter, North America  

Washington D.C., United States of America – The California Supreme Court has loosened the states infamous “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” law. The law was originally passed as a part of the national trend to get “tough on crime” in the 1990’s.

California Supreme Court rules that under the state’s “three strikes” law a defendant cannot be given two strikes from charges which stemmed from the same incident (Photo Courtesy of L.A. Times).

Under the three strikes law, an individual whom committed a violent crime and who had been convicted of two prior felonies was sentenced to a mandatory 25 years. The law was recently amended in 2012, as a result of a ballot vote, requiring the third strike to be a violent felony. Prior to this amendment the law allowed the third strike to be a misdemeanor.

The ruling came about in a case regarding a woman, Darlene Vargas, who had been charged with two prior felonies, car jacking and robbery. Both charges came out of the same incident. The Court decided that Vargas’ two prior felonies stemmed from the same act- taking a car by force. The unanimous decision by the court will overturn a 25-years-to-life sentence for the woman.

Associate Justice Kathryn Werdegar likened the situation to America’s favorite pastime, baseball. “The voting public would reasonably have understood the ‘Three Strikes’ baseball metaphor to mean that a person would have three chances – three swings of the bat if you will – before the harshest penalty could be imposed,” “The public also would have understood that no one can be called for two strikes on just one swing,” Justice Werdegar wrote for the court.

In making their ruling, the judges stated that the legislature and the voters intended for criminal defendants to have three separate chances to redeem themselves before they are sentenced to 25-years-to-life.The Court’s decision marks the second time the rules regarding imprisoning career criminals have been softened in recent years.

The justices sent the case back to the trial court for resentencing.

 

For more information, please see the following:

CBS – State Supreme Court Rules On Three Strikes Law – 13 July 2014.

L.A. TIMES – Multiple Convictions From One Act Count As One ‘Strike,’ Court Rules – 13 July 2014.

REUTERS – California High Court Softens ‘Three Strikes” Law – 13 July 2014.

YAHOO – California high Court Softens ‘Three Strikes’ Law – 13 July 2014.