[R-G] Native Peoples Score Historic Political Victory

[Anthony Fenton]

RIGHTS:  Native Peoples Score Historic Political Victory
By Haider Rizvi

Credit:UN Photo/Ryan Brown

Delegates at the opening of the sixth session of the Permanent Forum  
on Indigenous Issues at UN Headquarters in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 (IPS) - After 22 years of long and cumbersome  
negotiations, leaders of the world's 270 million indigenous people  
have won a powerful symbolic victory in their fight for recognition  
of the right to self-determination and control over their land and  
resources.

On Thursday, an overwhelming majority of the 192-member U.N. General  
Assembly said "yes" to a resolution calling for the adoption of the  
Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"It's a triumph for indigenous peoples around the world," said U.N.  
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the General Assembly vote. "This  
marks a historic moment when member states and indigenous peoples  
reconciled with their painful histories."

In her comments, General Assembly President Haya Al Khalifa described  
the outcome of the vote as a "major step forward" towards the  
promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms  
"for all".

While pleased with the General Assembly's decision, indigenous  
leaders told IPS they had hoped the declaration would be adopted by  
consensus, but since certain countries remained unwilling to  
recognise their rights until the end, a majority vote was the only  
possible option left.

"If a few states did not accept the declaration, then it would be a  
reflection on them rather than the document," said Les Malezer, an  
aboriginal leader from Australia, before the resolution was presented  
to the General Assembly.

As expected, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand  
refused to accept the declaration endorsed by as many as 143 countries.

The nations that neither supported nor objected to the declaration  
were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Columbia, Georgia,  
Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa and Ukraine.

Before the vote, many indigenous leaders accused the United States  
and Canada of pressuring economically weak and vulnerable nations to  
reject the calls for the Declaration's adoption. Initially, some  
African countries were also reluctant to vote in favour, but later  
changed their position after the indigenous leadership accepted their  
demand to introduce certain amendments in the text.

The Declaration emphasises the rights of indigenous peoples to  
maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions  
and pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and  
aspirations.

It also calls for recognition of indigenous peoples' right to self- 
determination, a principle fully recognised by the Geneva-based Human  
Rights Council, but deemed controversial by the United States and  
some of its allies who fear that it could undermine the sovereignty  
of states.

In return for their support, the African countries wanted the  
declaration to mention that it does not encourage any actions which  
would undermine the "territorial integrity" or "political unity" of  
sovereign states.

Despite the fact that the African viewpoint has been incorporated  
into the amended version, the draft declaration remains assertive of  
the indigenous peoples' right to self-determination and control over  
their land and resources.

"It is subject to interpretation, but we can work with this," Les  
Malezer, chair of the Global Indigenous Caucus, told IPS last week.  
Like many other indigenous leaders, Malezer, a longtime aboriginal  
rights activist, initially did not approve of amendments in the draft.

"We would not have gone for the amendments," he said. "But presented  
with the amended declaration, presented with the agreement made  
between approximately 130 states, then we have a very good result."

Thursday, Malezer and his colleagues in the U.N. Permanent Forum on  
Indigenous Issues described the world body's decision as "a major  
victory".

"The 13th of September 2007 will be remembered as an international  
human rights day for the indigenous peoples of the world," said Vicky  
Tauli-Corpus, chairperson of the Permanent Forum, in an emotional  
tone filled with joy.

"This is magnificent endeavour which brought you to sit together with  
us to listen to our cries and struggles and to hammer out words which  
will respond to these is unprecedented," she told U.N. diplomats  
after the vote.

But in the same breath, Tauli-Corpus also raised the question of  
"effective implementation of the Declaration," saying it will "the  
test of commitment of states and the whole international community"  
to protect, respect and fulfill indigenous peoples collective and  
individual human rights.

"I call on governments, the U.N. system, indigenous peoples and civil  
society at large to rise to the historic task before us and make the  
U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a living  
document for the common future of humanity," she said in a statement.

International civil society groups working for the rights of  
indigenous peoples also expressed their joy.

'We are really very happy and thrilled to hear about the adoption of  
the declaration," said Botswana Bushman Jumanda Gakelebone of First  
People of the Kalahari, who works with an independent advocacy group  
called Survival International.

"It recognises that governments can no longer treat us as second- 
class citizens, and it gives protection to tribal peoples so that  
they will not be thrown off their lands like we were," Cakelebone  
added in a statement.

Survival's director Stephen Corry said he hoped the declaration would  
raise international standards in the same way as the universal  
declaration on human rights did nearly 60 years ago.

"It sets a benchmark by which the treatment of tribal and indigenous  
peoples can be judged, and we hope it will usher in an era in which  
abuse of their rights is no longer tolerated," he added.

Though pleased with the General Assembly's decision, some indigenous  
leaders seemed unhappy about the fact that the U.S., Canada,  
Australia and New Zealand did not accept the Declaration.

"Canada has shown its true colours on our human rights," Arthur  
Manuel, a leader of Canada's indigenous peoples, told IPS. "It is  
caught up in the contradictions of not following the recommendations  
of the all the U.N. human rights bodies that have told it to base its  
indigenous policy on 'recognition and coexistence'."

Those in opposition see the Declaration as "flawed", mainly because  
of its strong emphasis on the right to self-determination and full  
control over lands and resources. In their view, they would hinder  
efforts for economic development and undermine the so-called  
established democratic norms.

Meanwhile, threats to indigenous lands and resources continue to go  
on in the form of mining, logging, toxic contamination,  
privatisation, and large-scale development projects, as well as the  
use of genetically modified seeds.

"The entire wealth of the United States, Canada, and other so-called  
modern states is built on the poverty and human rights violations of  
their indigenous peoples," Manuel said. "The international community  
needs to understand how hypocritical Canada, Australia, New Zealand  
and the United States are."

Recent scientific studies have repeatedly warned of devastating  
consequences for indigenous communities as changing climates are  
likely to cause more floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and melting of  
glaciers all across the world.

(END/2007)