National Strategy to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons LaunchedToday, President signs an executive order to create a taskforce to help address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous womenBy MARY KAUFFMAN
November 26, 2019
Attorney General Barr made the announcement during a visit to the Flathead Reservation in Montana, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). In addition, the Attorney General met with the CSKT MMIP working group and the CSKT Tribal Council. He was joined by U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, vice chair of the Attorney General’s Native American Issues Subcommittee (NAIS), whose office has been in the forefront of this issue. In welcoming Barr to Montana Friday, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairman Ronald Trahan said, “We’re honored to host Attorney General William Barr to the homeland of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.” Trahan said, “There are many issues we’d like to discuss including one that is particularly important, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons efforts. Knowing that Attorney General Barr is working to secure the safety of our people brings us comfort in the face of a challenging issue.” “American Indian and Alaska Native people suffer from unacceptable and disproportionately high levels of violence, which can have lasting impacts on families and communities. Native American women face particularly high rates of violence, with at least half suffering sexual or intimate-partner violence in their lifetime. Too many of these families have experienced the loss of loved ones who went missing or were murdered,” said Attorney General Barr. “This important initiative will further strengthen the federal, state, and tribal law enforcement response to these continuing problems.” “The FBI recognizes the violence that tribal communities face and is fully committed to working with our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners to provide support to those impacted by these crimes,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “We are dedicated to delivering justice and to the FBI’s mission to protect all the people we serve. We reaffirm our focus on allocating resources to serve Native American needs.” Echo-Hawk said, "This action is a step in the right direction, but we look forward to seeing additional steps that are inclusive of urban Indian people.” “Addressing the crisis of missing, trafficked, and murdered Indigenous women has been a high priority of mine in the Senate. I applaud the administration for this announcement and for making proactive, directed initiatives to improve the federal response to this epidemic. I was glad to host Attorney General Barr and his team in Alaska to show him first-hand the role that the lack of public safety plays in this heartbreaking epidemic. The urgency and attention he has placed on this issue is truly critical,” said U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Murkowski said, “Understanding the extent of the problem and how we implement solutions is imperative. With the Senate Indian Affairs Committee advancing Savanna’s Act and Not Invisible Act this week, coupled with this announcement today, we are showing women across the nation, and those who love them, that we will not sit idly by as our sisters, our mothers, our neighbors, and our friends continue to go missing - that we are with them in this fight.” The initiative mirrors much of the efforts of Savanna’s Act, legislation introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and cosponsored by Sullivan. Murkowski’s legislation was incorporated into the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that was introduced by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sullivan earlier last week. U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) also praised U.S. Attorney General Barr’s announcement Friday of a new national strategy to address missing and murdered Native Americans. “No U.S. attorney general in history has shown greater commitment to the safety and well-being of indigenous people in Alaska than Bill Barr,” said Senator Sullivan. “The initiatives being undertaken and support being offered by Attorney General Barr and the Trump Justice Department are simply unprecedented. I believe his meetings with Alaska tribal leaders and visits to some of our most challenged villages this summer had a lasting impact on the attorney general. He is clearly determined to put the full weight of the federal government behind addressing the lack of justice for missing indigenous persons and safety in many rural communities. I want to thank Attorney General Barr for launching this comprehensive missing persons initiative that can bring hope to so many Alaskans who’ve mourned the loss of loved ones without answers and without justice being served.” “American Indian and Alaska Native people suffer from unacceptable and disproportionately high levels of violence, which can have lasting impacts on families and communities. Native American women face particularly high rates of violence, with at least half suffering sexual or intimate-partner violence in their lifetime. Too many of these families have experienced the loss of loved ones who went missing or were murdered,” said Attorney General Barr. “This important initiative will further strengthen the federal, state, and tribal law enforcement response to these continuing problems.” The launch of the MMIP Initiative comes just one month after Attorney General Barr’s announcement at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, in Fairbanks, of $42 million for Alaska Native tribes, tribal consortiums, and shelters to increase law enforcement presence and improve public safety in the state’s rural communities, with an additional $7 million being sent to the Denali Commission to tackle this issue in the form of micro-grants. And, in June, Barr declared a law enforcement emergency for rural Alaska following his visit to a number of communities. Barr’s emergency declaration provided another $10.5 million in resources dedicated to training and equipping rural law enforcement officers, acquiring mobile holding cells, and funding 20 officer positions. Earlier last week, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee advanced legislation led by U.S. Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Masto (D-NV) to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Native women. The bills, Savanna’s Act and Not Invisible Act, aim to combat the epidemic by improving the federal government’s response to the crisis. Savanna’s Act increases coordination among all levels of law enforcement, increases data collection and information sharing, and empowers tribal governments with access to law enforcement databases they need in cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, wherever they occur. The Not Invisible Act engages law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, and service providers and improves coordination across federal agencies. The bill designates an official to coordinate efforts across agencies and also establishes a commission of tribal and federal stakeholders to make recommendations to the Department of Interior and Department of Justice on best practices to combat the epidemic of disappearances, homicide, violent crime and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. In September of 2019, the Senate passed a funding package which included the Appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2020 on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; and Commerce, Justice, Science which provide for the first time, funding to address the crisis of missing, trafficked, and murdered indigenous women. Specifically, $6.5 million is included for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to take a comprehensive look at the issue across the BIA and Indian Health Service (IHS), which includes funding for cold case work, background checks, equipment needs, training, and a directive for the IHS regarding forensic training. The bill also includes language directing coordination and data collection among Tribal, local, state, and federal law enforcement. And today, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a taskforce to help address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The executive order follows Friday's Department of Justice announcement launching a nationwide strategy to respond to the crisis. In a prepared statement Murkowski said, “I applaud the President for this action, building on Attorney General Barr’s recent announcement, which is a signal of the urgency and importance that has been placed on this issue. Alongside the notable efforts of the administration, I will continue to push enduring policy to bring prevention, awareness, and justice to the many women and girls that have fallen victim to this heartbreaking reality.” The national strategy has three parts: Establish MMIP coordinators:
Specialized FBI Rapid Deployment Teams:
Comprehensive Data Analysis:
More broadly, the MMIP Initiative will involve a coordinated effort by more than 50 U.S. Attorneys on NAIS, the FBI, the Office of Tribal Justice, with support from the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Friday’s announcement by Barr in Montana follows the August NAIS meeting in New Mexico and OVW listening session in Michigan, where Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons and violence against women in Indian country were prevalent topics of discussion by U.S. Attorneys, OVW officials, and tribal representatives.
Source of News:
|
||||
