United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Serious Jeopardy

UNITED NATIONS DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY

Please sign the petition below before 20 February 2005

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INTRODUCTION

For twenty years, Indigenous Peoples and their support organisations have been pressuring the United Nations to adopt a declaration to explicitly elaborate the fundamental rights of the world's Indigenous Peoples. It is feared that - due to possible blocking attempts most notably by the UK and the USA - the UN could now stop this process and abandon the human rights standard-setting process relating to Indigenous Peoples.

The draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is to become an internationally recognized legal instrument setting the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the Indigenous Peoples of the world. To a large degree, existing international human rights law including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two international human rights Covenants is oriented in favour of the recognition and protection of individual human rights. The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is urgently needed as a major first step for the protection of the collective human rights of Indigenous Peoples. These include their rights to self-determination, culture, spirituality, language, lands, territories and natural resources. The safeguarding of their collective human rights and treaty rights is essential for the continued existence and well-being of the more than 5,000 distinct Indigenous Peoples, totalling over 300 million Indigenous persons in the world.

The present draft of this Declaration is composed of 45 Articles. Its adoption by the United Nations highest body, the General Assembly, was a major objective of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004). However, at the end of this Decade, only a mere two Articles of the Declaration had been provisionally approved. The other 43 Articles, relating to the core issue of the affirmation and protection of the collective human rights of Indigenous Peoples, have yet to be adopted.

The failure of the UN system thus far to establish and implement human rights standards relating to Indigenous Peoples constitutes a significant setback. The mandate of the UN Working Group entrusted with the elaboration of this Declaration has now expired. Indigenous Peoples are presently gravely concerned that this process will be terminated without the desired result - despite the many efforts by Indigenous Peoples and many Governments to work towards consensus on this Declaration. We must ensure that the twenty years of hard work in this standard-setting process will not be in vain.

Presently, it is up to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to determine whether this crucial process will continue. The adoption of the draft U.N. Declaration is one of the most pressing issues facing Indigenous Peoples globally. It is important that an urgent message is sent to the United Nations, making it clear that this process must continue.


It is useful to also go to the official UN website to find out more about the Working Group and the Draft Declaration at: http://www.unhchr.ch/indigenous/main.html

To learn more on the follow-up of this petition, please visit WWW.SPEAKING4EARTH.COM


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BACKGROUND


Origin of the Problem

Largely as a result of colonization, Indigenous Peoples were subjected to widespread discrimination, rampant dispossession of lands, territories and resources, exclusion and marginalization. International and domestic laws denied Indigenous Peoples adequate protection through the adoption of relevant human rights standards. Today, throughout the world, Indigenous Peoples continue to be victims of gross human rights violations, including genocide and ethnocide.

They are the one of the most marginalized, politically disenfranchised and impoverished peoples in the world. Many States continue to deny the very existence of Indigenous Peoples. For these and other reasons, it is critical to adopt uplifting norms in an international human rights instrument specifically relating to the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The most urgent issues

The main issues of contention within this Declaration continue to be those relating to the affirmation of Indigenous peoples rights to self-determination; lands, territories and natural resources; and collective human rights.

As individual human rights already have extensive safeguards under international human rights law, it is the explicit protection of their collective human rights that Indigenous Peoples need most to have recognized. In the nations, communities and cultures of Indigenous peoples, the rights are predominantly collective and are vital to sustaining their ways of life. An ongoing critical aspect relates to Indigenous lands, territories and resources. Only when collective title over such areas are recognized can Indigenous Peoples have the legal means to protect themselves against the encroachment by governments, corporations and others with the principal objective of engaging in development activities, such as hydroelectric or mining projects, that often substantially degrade the environment.

Moreover, the sites designated for such activities may also be used by Indigenous peoples for their cultural and spiritual practices or burial sites. Thus their destruction can be equated with the very destruction of Indigenous cultures.

Major challenges facing Indigenous Peoples

A principal reason for the failure of the draft U.N. Declaration to be adopted during the International Decade was the lack of political will by a number of key governments. These countries have managed to block the emerging consensus between Indigenous Peoples and most States. The achievement of a Declaration that both Indigenous Peoples and States can accept is still possible. While significant positive momentum has been generated, progress has most recently been undermined by a number of European Union States led by the United Kingdom and supported by the Netherlands. Their main objective is to ensure that the collective rights of Indigenous peoples are not recognized as human rights in the draft U.N. Declaration. These States unjustly claim that Indigenous peoples collective rights are a threat to the enjoyment of individual human rights of Indigenous persons. This unsubstantiated and discriminatory argument persists, despite being refuted by international human rights experts and advisors, including the Advisory Council on International Affairs in the Netherlands.

Another major problem is the ineffectiveness of the present Chairperson of the Working Group, Mr. Luis-Enrique Chбvez (Peru). In particular, Mr. Chбvez has not been an effective facilitator and has been unable to successfully bridge the remaining gaps between States and Indigenous Peoples.

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HOW CAN I HELP?

Currently, we urgently need your help in putting political pressure on the United Nations body overseeing this Declaration, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. Indigenous Peoples need your support in calling for the extension of this Working Group, so that it may continue and be able to have the necessary time to finalize this essential human rights instrument. The letter you are being asked to sign, will go to each of the 53 State Members of the Commission on Human Rights, who are the decision-makers on this issue.

We will also be sending this to other key UN persons of influence, such as U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan; the Honourable Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mr. Luis-Enrique Chбvez, Chairperson of the Working Group on the Draft Declaration; as well as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Should you wish to support this action, kindly sign onto the letter with your name, e-mail address, nation/organization/institution, and your country. In this way, we can include you as a signatory.


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SIGN-ON PETITION

We, the undersigned, Indigenous Peoples, nations, non-governmental and other organizations, institutions and individuals urge the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to renew the mandate of the Working Group established in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/32.

As you are aware, in December 2004, the General Assembly approved a Second International Decade of the Worlds Indigenous People, which began on 1 January 2005. A stated goal is the further strengthening of international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by Indigenous Peoples, in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment and social and economic development.

A major objective of the first International Decade was the adoption by the U.N. General Assembly of a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This crucial objective has not yet been achieved and should be pursued to its successful conclusion.

In all regions of the world, Indigenous peoples continue to be subjected to rampant violations of their human rights, including racism and racial discrimination and the widespread dispossession of their lands, territories and resources. In view of this ongoing urgent situation, it would be unconscionable for the United Nations to not extend the mandate of the intersessional Working Group and terminate the current standard-setting process.

In our respectful view, it is reasonably possible to achieve consensus on a strong and uplifting Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. For this essential purpose, States and Indigenous peoples require an extended opportunity to continue to work together so as to further reach common understandings on Indigenous peoples human rights and, where required, clarify and strengthen the existing draft text.

Since there remain significant differences among States on Articles vital to the protection of Indigenous Peoples' rights, we urge the establishment of a reasonable and productive timetable for the continuation and completion of this important work.