The United States must do more to heal the wounds of indigenous peoples caused by more than a century of oppression, including restoring control over lands Native Americans consider to be sacred, according to a U.N. human rights investigator. 

James Anaya, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, just completed a 12-day visit to the United States where he met with representatives of indigenous peoples in the District of Columbia, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. He also met with U.S. government officials.  

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"I have heard stories that make evident the profound hurt that indigenous peoples continue to feel because of the history of oppression they have faced," Anaya said in a statement issued by the U.N. human rights office in Geneva Friday. 

That oppression, he said, has included the seizure of lands and resources, the removal of children from their families and communities, the loss of languages, violation of treaties, and brutality, all grounded in racial discrimination. 

Anaya welcomed the U.S. decision to endorse the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010 and other steps the government has taken, but said more was needed.

'History of oppression'
His findings will be included in a final report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council. While not binding, the recommendations carry moral weight that can influence governments. 

"It is clear that this history does not just blemish the past, but translates into present day disadvantage for indigenous peoples in the country," Anaya said. 

 "There have still not been adequate measures of reconciliation to overcome the persistent legacies of the history of oppression, and that there is still much healing that needs to be done," he said. 

Game hunt for sacred white buffaloes riles Native groups

In Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, where some Native Americans depend on hunting and fishing, Anaya said tribes face "ever-greater threats ... due to a growing surge of competing interests, and in some cases incompatible extractive activities, over these lands and resources." 

"In Alaska, indigenous peoples complain about a complex and overly restrictive state regulatory apparatus that impedes their access to subsistence resources (fish and wildlife)," he said. 

Native American tribe gets permit to kill bald eagles

Mining for natural resources in parts of the country has also caused serious problems for indigenous peoples. 

"Past uncontrolled and irresponsible extractive activities, including uranium mining in the Southwest, have resulted in the contamination of indigenous peoples' water sources and other resources, and in numerous documented negative health effects among Native Americans," he said. 

Mount Rushmore
He said indigenous peoples feel they have too little control over geographic regions considered sacred to them, like the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Anaya suggested such lands should be returned to Native peoples. 

"Securing the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands is of central importance to indigenous peoples' socioeconomic development, self-determination, and cultural integrity," Anaya said. 

"Continued efforts to resolve, clarify, and strengthen the protection of indigenous lands, resources, and sacred sites should be made," he added. 

How genocide wiped out a Native American population

Mount Rushmore, a popular tourist attraction, is located in the Black Hills, which the Sioux tribe consider to be sacred and have territorial claims to based on an 1868 treaty. Shortly after that treaty was signed, gold was discovered in the region. U.S. Congress eventually passed a law taking over the land. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the seizure of the land was illegal and ordered the government to pay compensation. But the Sioux rejected the money and has continued to demand the return of the now public lands. 

Anaya said he will make specific recommendations on these and other issues in a full report later this year. 

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Arizona lawmakers appear close to sending to Gov. Jan Brewer a tea party-backed bill that proponents say would stop a United Nations takeover conspiracy but that critics claim could end state and cities’ pollution-fighting efforts and even dismantle the state unemployment office.

A final legislative vote is expected Monday on a bill that would outlaw government support of any of the 27 principles contained in the 1992 United Nations Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, also sometimes referred to as Agenda 21.

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Senate Bill 1507 was passed by the state Senate last month and received an initial House affirmation Wednesday. It is sponsored by state Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, who also sponsored a state birther bill that Brewer vetoed last year.

"The bill is designed to protect the rights of Arizona citizens and prevent encroachment on those rights by international institutions," Burges told msnbc.com in an email. "We have three branches of government and when one branch preempts the process through executive orders, the balance of power is lost in the process. It is that simple -- no more, no less."

At a March 15 hearing on the bill, Burges said an executive order signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993 started the implementation of Agenda 21 after the Senate refused to pass a treaty ratifying it.

"Any way you want to describe it, Agenda 21 is a direct attack on the middle class and working poor" through "social engineering of our citizens" in "every aspect" of their lives," she told the hearing. 

But House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, has a different view.

“It’s the most poorly crafted bill in this state,” Campbell told msnbc.com. “It’s so broad and overreaching, we’re not sure what it could impact.”

Among the U.N. declaration’s non-binding principles are calls for sustainable development, environmental protection, eradicating poverty, eliminating unsustainable production and consumption patterns, economic growth and the participation of women in government decisions.

“We wouldn’t be able to use CFL light bulbs in state buildings because that would be considered energy efficiency,” Campbell said.

Campbell also said that the state’s Economic Security Department, which handles unemployment and welfare benefits, could be outlawed because it has to do with eradicating poverty.

Also, Arizona universities have sustainability programs that could be banned if the bill becomes law, Campbell warned.

Arizona State University has a School of Sustainability, Northern Arizona University offers a master's in sustainable communities, and the University of Arizona has an environment and sustainability portal.

Watch US News videos on msnbc.com

Brewer, who last spring vetoed Burges' bill to require presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship, typically does not comment on legislation until it reaches her desk, her spokesperson told msnbc.com Thursday.

About the Rio declaration, SB1507 says “the United Nations has enlisted the support of numerous independent, shadow organizations to surreptitiously implement this agenda around the world.”

Rep. Terri Proud, R-Tucson, told supporters in an email that the U.N. declaration “will take away our rights as Americans by allowing the United Nations to mandate laws on our soil,” the AzCapitolTimes.com reported. “It’s very real and it is happening.”

The Times also reported that during House debate Wednesday, Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, said the declaration is connected to the “occult” of sustainability.

"The tea party and conspiracy theorists run the state now, Campbell told msnbc.com.

See video from the March 15 House Judiciary committee meeting on SB1507 here.

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Updated 9:55 a.m. ET: The U.S. does not want to "militarize the situation" in Syria, but fears this may be unavoidable, according to a report citing an un-named State Department official.

The White House is seeking a diplomatic solution but the debate in Washington has shifted toward more robust action following the deadlock over a United Nations resolution, according to the report in Britain's Daily Telegraph.

 

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The report said the Pentagon’s Central Command has begun a preliminary review of U.S. military capabilities in the region, which one senior official called a “scoping exercise” that would provide options for Barack Obama if necessary.

“The decision-makers have not determined we are at a point of no return,” the senior official was quoted as saying. “There is still a window, it is just that that window is closing," the official said, adding that "nothing is off the table."

“We definitely don’t want to militarize the situation. If it’s avoidable, we are going to avoid it. But increasingly it looks like it may not be avoidable,” the official if reported to have said.

Observers agree that outright Western military intervention in Syria is unlikely as such a mission would be more difficult and risky than last year's operation in Libya. Its complex geography and ethnic mix make the removal of President Bashar Assad's regime difficult, and one option could be to arm rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army.

While the West and Arab allies discuss options, the humanitarian crisis inside Syria has worsened, with hundreds of rebels killed in recent days in the city of Homs. Assad's army fired mortars and rockets Thursday, the latest salvo in a weeklong bombardment aimed at crushing pockets of dissent.

Mood of 'despair' as Syria bombards city of Homs for 5th day

The United Nations chief on Thursday condemned the ferocity of the government assault on Homs. "I fear that the appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons firing into civilian neighborhoods, is a grim harbinger of things to come," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said after briefing the Security Council in New York.

Activists and residents report hundreds of people killed over the last week as Assad's forces try stamp out opposition in Homs and as Thursday dawned, rocket and mortar fire rained down again on Baba Amro, Khalidiya and other districts. Armored government reinforcements also poured into the eastern city.

The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Commission said at least 30 civilians in Homs were killed in bombardments on Thursday morning on mainly Sunni Muslim neighborhoods that have been the focus of attacks by the government forces led largely by members of Assad's Alawite religious minority.

Such sectarian divisions have been coming to the surface as killings have increased on either side of the conflict.

The main street in Baba Amro was strewn with rubble and at least one house was destroyed, according to YouTube footage broadcast by activists from the district who said troops had used anti-aircraft cannon to demolish the building.

The video showed a youth putting two bodies wrapped in blankets in a truck. What appeared to be body parts were shown inside the house.

Hussein Nader, an activist in Baba Amro, told Reuters: "Silence reigns for four to five minutes, then another barrage of tank fire or rockets or mortar rounds comes in."

"Whole houses have come down and we do not know how many more have been killed. They are not advancing and it seems that they are content by continuing to shell Baba Amro until every inhabitant is killed."

The U.N. estimates that 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising agains Assad began in March 2011. But that figure is from January, when the U.N. stopped counting because deteriorating security prevented verification of the figures.

The White House said it was talking to allies about holding a “Friends of Syria” meeting in the near future and was considering delivering humanitarian aid to affected areas in the country.

“We are, of course, looking at humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, and we have for some time. We’re consulting with our international partners, and we anticipate this being one of the focuses of the discussions that we’ll have,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said, according to the Telegraph.

Influential figures in Washington have recommended setting up a “humanitarian corridor” or safe haven, while others, such as Senator John McCain, have said it was time to consider arming the rebels of the Free Syrian Army.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday the Arab League chief told him he intends to revive an Arab League monitoring mission in Syria, which has collapsed amid continuing violence there.

Hillary Clinton lambastes 'travesty' of UN veto on Syria

The U.N. chief provided no specifics, but the idea appears aimed at giving the regional group a boost after the league's earlier mission was pulled out of the country because of security concerns.

"In the coming days we will further consult with the council before fleshing out details," Ban said. "We stand ready to assist in any way that will contribute toward improvement on the ground."

Ban also reiterated his "deep regret" over the council's inability to speak in one voice to stop the bloodshed. Russia and China used their veto powers on Saturday to block a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League peace plan that calls for Assad to step aside.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expessed fury after Saturday's veto by Russia and China at the United Nations blocking action against the continuing violence in Syria, describing it as "a travesty."

Libya has given Syria's charge d'affaires and his staff in Tripoli 72 hours to leave the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) officially recognised the Syrian opposition council in October as the legitimate authority in Syria after months of unrest against President Bashar al Assad.

Germany said on Thursday it is expelling four Syrian diplomats following the arrest earlier this week of two men accused of spying on Syrian opposition groups in Germany.

The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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