The Water Protector Legal Collective delivered this letter to Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation ING Group, calling for immediate divestment from the Dakota Access Pipeline.
March 10, 2017
ING Bank N.V. (ING Bank)
Head Office
Amsterdamse Poort Bijlmerplein 888 1102 MG Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Re: Divestment from the Dakota Access Pipeline
Dear Board of Directors:
We write on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective (formerly the Red Owl Legal Collective), which is the on-the-ground legal support team for the past and current encampments that have formed in opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).1
We request that ING immediately withdraw its lending commitments to the Dakota Access Pipeline, as the Pipeline’s construction and use violates fundamental human rights, violates treaty-based customary “good faith” international law, policy, and the rights of indigenous peoples as expressed by the United Nations, violates the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie Treaties between the government of the United States and the Great Sioux Nation (the Oceti Sakowin), and conflicts with numerous international human rights standards, norms, and principles.
Click here to continue reading the full letter, which includes a thorough breakdown of the principles of international and U.S. law of which DAPL is in violation, as well as its conflicts with ING’s stated values and the historical context of this case.