On 13 September the General Assembly (GA) finally adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as a result of more than 22 years of debate among governments and indigenous peoples. In 46 articles, the declaration sets out the rights of indigenous peoples, including their rights to self-determination, land ownership, use of resources, identity, culture, education and legal and political institutions. The document, which is non-binding, outlaws discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them. It is regarded the most important instrument for the protection of indigenous rights worldwide. The declaration has been adopted by the Human Rights Council already in June 2006, but especially Canada, Australia, New Zeeland and the United States have been lobbying against it, preventing its adoption in the GA. This year, however, they were the only opposing votes, with the majority of 143 countries voting in favour.
The major reason for the year-long dissensions is the right to self-determination, depicted in article 4. For the indigenous delegates this constitutes the fundamental cornerstone of the declaration, whereas governments consider it a threat to their national and territorial integrity. Hence, the Canadian government said it appreciates the "spirit" of the declaration, but refuses its support because it "contains provisions that are fundamentally incompatible with Canada's constitutional framework."
Another sensitive issue concerns the restitution or compensation for land and resources, "traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used" by native peoples, "and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent." (Article 28). In the case of New Zealand, as the government stated, "this covers potentially the entire country." For the more than 370 million indigenous people worldwide the declaration marks a historic milestone for their rights – its effective national implementation, however, will be the test of commitment of the international community to actually fulfil those rights. (Christiane Roettger)

The whole text of the Declaration as well as the statements and press releases can be found at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html

Further information on the rights of Indigenous Peoples is available at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/studyguides/indigenous.html  

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, October 2007