A/HRC/36/46/Add.1 68. While many of the circumstances surrounding the protest constitute examples of poor practices, there were also a number of positive developments. The Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation stated that the protest brought together all seven bands of the Great Sioux Nation for the first time in the last 150 years and galvanized indigenous peoples nationally and from around the globe, who came by the thousands to show their support for the Standing Rock Sioux and other affected tribes. 69. Another positive development was the series of consultations held by the federal Government with Indian tribes to better integrate tribal views on infrastructure decisions. The consultations 32 sought to better inform federal agencies about tribal involvement in decision-making that implicates their rights and resources. In December 2016, the Army Corps announced that it would conduct a full environmental review of the pipeline’s impacts to determine the basis on which to grant the final easement needed to complete the pipeline. 70. These positive steps were overshadowed when newly-elected President Donald Trump issued a memorandum which called for the expedited review and approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline, circumventing the ongoing environmental review. The Army Corps executed the President’s directive, cancelled the environmental impact statement and granted the last easement necessary to begin construction of the pipeline under Lake Oahe. On 1 June 2017, the pipeline became fully operational, transporting oil through traditional tribal lands and underneath the water supply of the Sioux tribes. 71. The tribes continued to battle for the protection of their rights in domestic courts and in June 2017, a United States Federal Court agreed with the Standing Rock Sioux that the Army Corps had not adequately considered environmental justice issues nor the risk of oil spill, which could have impacts on treaty reserved hunting and fishing rights. The Special Rapporteur will continue to monitor the situation and expresses concern that issues raised by the tribes remain unresolved. 72. As is well-documented, the controversy surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline drew thousands of people to the boundaries of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation as they sought to protect their land and water and uphold tribal sovereignty. While the actions that took place were mostly non-violent and peaceful, there has been a militarized, at times violent, escalation of force by local law enforcement and private security forces. The previous Special Rapporteur noted that indigenous peoples had the right to oppose extractive activities that impacted their land and resources, free from reprisals, acts of violence or undue pressure to accept or enter into consultations about extractive projects. 33 73. The Special Rapporteur noted with particular concern the aggressive manner in which peaceful demonstrations were met by local, state, private and national guards. She heard testimonies of war-like conditions and cases of blunt force trauma and hypothermia as a result of battery with batons, attack dogs and water cannons blasting individuals at freezing temperatures. She was concerned about protestors being strip searched and placed in kennels as temporary holding cells during various and frequent mass raids by local, state and federal enforcement officials, sometimes in the middle of a spiritual and cultural energy cleansing ritual. According to information received, over 700 indigenous and nonindigenous people were arrested during the protests, some of whom remain in custody. 74. Given the impacts of the Dakota Access Pipeline on indigenous peoples, the Special Rapporteur remains deeply concerned by the Presidential memorandum of 24 January 2017, which resulted in the granting of the last easement necessary to begin construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline under Lake Oahe and the Notice of Termination of the Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. 32 33 Unites States of America, Departments of the Interior, the Army and Justice, Improving Tribal Consultation and Tribal Involvement in Federal Infrastructure Decisions, January 2017. Available at https://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/idc2-060030.pdf.. A/HRC/24/41. 15