STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

More documents

Recommendations

Info

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionMember of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and Australian of the Year, 2008 ProfessorMick Dodson said the government should not be afraid of the contents of the Declaration, adding thatAustralians should embrace it as a framework for policy. Prof Dodson also said that supporting humanrights was not a barrier to progress. “Human rights do not dispossess people. Human rights do notmarginalize people. Human rights do not cause problems. Human rights do not cause poverty. Humanrights do not cause life expectancy gaps,” Prof Dodson said. “It is the denial of rights that is the largestcontributor to these things”.Source: Speeches made by both Ms Jenny Macklin and Mr Mick Dodson at Parliament House, Canberra, Australia3 April 2009.OAS Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesOn a regional basis, the Organization of American States (OAS) has a history of dealing with indigenous peoples’issues dating back to the first Inter-American Indian Congress, held in Patzcuaro (Mexico) in 1940. 34 Since thattime, the Inter-American Indian Institute has become one of the specialized agencies of the OAS and has playeda primarily advisory role to the OAS on matters concerning indigenous peoples, including the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 35 The OAS is currently considering a proposed American Declaration onthe Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 36 This development emerged in early 1989 and was almost certainly promptedby both the revision of ILO Convention No. 107 and the elaboration of the Declaration by the United Nations. 37Since 1989, procedural issues and inadequate measures for indigenous peoples’ participation have triggeredthe development of a wider discussion within the OAS around the use of a “civil society” accreditation systemmodelled on the UN’s non-governmental organization procedures. As with the changes in indigenous participationwithin the United Nations, this has been a significant turning point in the history of the OAS.Unfortunately, at this stage, the fundamental matters of self-determination, lands, territories and resource rights,plus a host of other articles, remain unresolved and contentious. Like the UN, the OAS does have the competenceto deal with political rights. One of the most troubling issues to emerge is therefore the potential for languagethat attempts to “qualify” the term “peoples”, similar to the misinterpreted debate within the context of ILOConvention 169 (see below).Re-drafting of the text continues in earnest. With work ongoing, it is difficult to speculate upon the final outcome.Nonetheless, this is another strand that can be woven into the overall trend of the international community’swillingness to visit, or re-visit, the human rights of indigenous peoples.34 Created under the 1940 Pátzcuaro International Convention, the basic objectives of the Inter-American Indian Institute are to assistin coordinating the Indian affairs policies of the member States and to promote research and training of individuals engagedin the development of indigenous communities. The Institute has its headquarters in Mexico City.35 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has a long history of dealing with indigenous matters under the AmericanDeclaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, adopted by the Ninth Conference of American States (Res. XXX, 1948). See OAS(1948). For a brief discussion of the work of the Commission in regard to the Yanomami and other indigenous peoples of theOriente, see Shelton (2001), 240-242.36 See the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Annual Report (1988-9), 245-52. As an ICC representative, the author ofthis chapter participated in a number of consultations leading up to the OAS decision to prepare this “juridical instrument.”See also Hannum (1990) for a discussion on the overall Inter-American system and the “protection of Indigenous human rights”through the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, country reporting procedures and the proposed Declaration.37Anaya (1996), 54. See also Suagee (1997), 365.HUMAN RIGHTS | 199
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionThe ILO ConventionsDating back to 1921, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is one of thefew intergovernmental organizations to have concerned itself with indigenousand tribal peoples and the issues facing them. In June 1957, the ILO adoptedConvention No. 107 concerning the Protection and Integration of Indigenousand Other Tribal and Semi-Tribal Populations in Independent Countries. ThisConvention 38 has been ratified by only 27 States and came into force in June 1959(and remains in force for some). The 1957 instrument encourages the gradualassimilation of indigenous individuals into national societies and economies, thuslegitimising the gradual extinction of indigenous peoples as such. Moreover, theConvention presupposes complete state control over the affairs of indigenouspeoples. As one might guess, many indigenous peoples have strongly criticizedthe ILO and its early interest in the area of indigenous conditions for being"paternalistic” in its approach to “protecting these groups”. The ILO itself hasacknowledged this criticism. 39setting aside the criticismsabout ConventionNo. 169, it has proveduseful to indigenouspeoples in domesticpolicy development andlitigation, as well as informal human rightscomplaints to the Inter-American Commission onHuman RightsThe Convention does not deal with political matters such as self-governmentor other political dimensions of self-determination. The ILO has made it clearthat these matters fall outside the “competence of the ILO” and that, as aninternational organization, they cannot deal with political rights, in the context ofthe Convention or otherwise.However, the revised ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous andTribal Peoples in Independent Countries, 1989, 40 substantiates and reinforcesindigenous rights. This updated instrument, which remains open for stateratification, provides standards and protections relating to the environment,development and direct participation of indigenous peoples in matters affectingtheir rights, lives and territories.Conventions Nos. 107 and 169 are the only legally binding international treatiesthat deal specifically with indigenous rights and, furthermore, include a recoursemechanism: the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Reviewof Recommendations. If the Committee is actively used, it is an effective method foroverseeing government behaviour and actions toward indigenous peoples in thosecountries where the Convention has been ratified. 41 This aspect of ILO ConventionNo. 169 cannot be underestimated. Because of the efforts of trade unions andsupport groups such as Survival International and Amnesty International, evenapplication of the outdated Convention No. 107 has saved lives.38328 UNTS 247.39 Swepston (1978), 450, explained this as follows: “The problem with the Convention stemsfrom the ethos of the period in which it was adopted, i.e., at the height of the paternalisticera of the United Nations system, the heyday of the “top down” development approach…the ILO did something perfectly acceptable at the time…but they omitted to ask the underprivilegedthemselves what they thought of the idea.”40 ILO Convention No. 169 was adopted in Geneva on 26 June 1989 and came into force on 5September 1991. Reprinted in 28 ILM 1382 (1989). See Barsh (1990), 209; Swepston (1990),677 and (1998), 17.41ILO Convention No. 169 has been ratified by 20 countries (source: ILOLEX 30.11.08)Ed.200 | CHAPTER VI
Page 1 and 2:
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010Not
Page 3 and 4:
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STAT
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Bolivia Ecuador Guatemala Mexico Pe
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161: EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STAT
Page 250: EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010Not
show all

STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?