Prutehi Litekyan has spent years fighting for the protection and preservation of our island's sacred lands and for the first time in history, the UN is backing it up.

The UN Human Rights Council - through three of its Special Rapporteurs, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, and Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights - have joined Prutehi Litekyan in an allegation letter to the U.S. Government concerning on human rights violations, including the impact of the military buildup, suffered by the indigenous people of Guam. The affirmation letter comes as a response to filings made back in August 2020 by attorney Julian Aguon and Blue Ocean Law and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization on behalf of Prutehi Litekyan to the UN Special Rapporteur and Indigenous Peoples.

It's big progress for the local advocacy group waiting to see what changes can come, Prutehi's Maria Hernandez said.

"We've exhausted so many avenues," she said. "Locally, we've met with military officials. We've met with local officials. We've met with the governor. We have 25,000 signatures on our petition. We were able to lobby our lawmakers through the years to pass two resolutions to pause construction on the firing range complex."

In total, Prutehi Litekyan has moved forward with more than 450 actions since its inception five years ago. Hernandez says they're definitely excited, and that they're feeling energized to move onto the next step and move forward with continued actions.

In the letter, the three UN Special Rapporteurs ask President Joe Biden to address six matters including providing information on any measures taken by the state to initiate a dialogue with the CHamoru people for the resolution of past human rights violations and to prevent further violations.

According to Aguon, "We could not be more pleased with this outcome. It is deeply validating for three Human Rights Council mandate holders to confirm that the way the U.S. military has rolled out this military buildup is wrong. It says to the world, not just to the U.S., that might does not make right, and that the Chamorro people have the right to self-determination, free, prior and informed consent, a clean environment, culture, health and life-rights that should be respected."