STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

More documents

Recommendations

Info

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionIndigenous peoples living in voluntary isolationThe Programme of Action for the Second International Decade of the World’sIndigenous People calls for the establishment of a global mechanism to monitorthe situation of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and recommends thatStates adopt special measures to ensure their protection and rights. 29 The UnitedNations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has also prioritized the needsof indigenous peoples in isolation because these peoples and their cultures arefacing imminent danger and extinction, and require the implementation of urgentmeasures to guarantee their survival. 30Although the term “indigenous peoples in isolation” is currently under discussion,there is a general understanding that these indigenous peoples share commoncharacteristics and face recurrent situations and threats regardless of theirgeographic location or cultural affiliation.Characteristics and challenges of indigenous peoples inisolationIndigenous peoples in isolation are population groups that limit theircontact to members of their own peoples and, in some cases, to theindigenous communities in the vicinity of their territories, refusing toestablish sustained relationships or interactions with indigenous or nonindigenouspopulations that could endanger their physical and culturalintegrity. They may be indigenous peoples in their own right, with theirown culture, values and practices, or they may be segments of otherpeoples that have developed sustained relationships with national society.Indigenous peoples in isolation practice hunting, fishing, gathering andsmall scale sowing, for which purpose they cover a wide territory. Theylive exclusively from the resources provided by the forests and rivers,which are essential to their subsistence. aMost indigenous peoples in isolation are nomadic. They establish travellingcamps in areas where they find the necessary means for survival fora period of time. This production system requires a large area of landand so the invasion of small portions of their land can mean changes insettlement patterns and in their supply of products. bmany of thesecommunities are now onthe brink of what somedescribe as genocide,owing to oil exploration,timber extraction, theintroduction of vastcommercial plantations,infrastructure works,missionary activity,drug trafficking andinternational tourismSmall indigenous communities that shun all contact with modern societyand prefer to live in isolation and devote themselves to their traditional29See United Nations Organization (2005), paras. 45 and 51.30 OHCHR (2007) Report of the Regional Seminar on Indigenous Peoples in Isolation andInitial Contact in the Amazon and Gran Chaco Region. See also the reports of the Fourth,Fifth and Sixth Sessions of the UNPFII.EMERGING ISSUES | 233
EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionsubsistence economy are to be found in different parts of the equatorial forests that still exist in the world.Contrary to the image portrayed by some media, these groups are not the original settlers “who have neverhad contact with civilization”, but population groups that for generations have been avoiding contacts thathave been extremely violent and deadly for them, leading them to seek refuge in forests. Many of thesecommunities are now on the brink of what some describe as genocide, owing to oil exploration, timberextraction, the introduction of vast commercial plantations, infrastructure works, missionary activity,drug trafficking and international tourism. The few contacts that may take place can turn violent and thediseases carried by the new settlers continue to wipe out a large number of these population groups. cSources: a Huertas Castillo (2004), 176-177; b OHCHR (2007); c Stavenhagen (2007a), 15.Of the many factors that contribute to the vulnerability of indigenous peoples in isolation, the pressure to whichtheir lands and territories are being subjected is the most significant. Experts and indigenous leaders attendingthe Expert Seminar on Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact in the Amazon Region and the GranChaco, held in Bolivia in November 2006, agreed that in most cases this pressure is attributable to an influx ofprivate individuals and corporations, who are driving a rapacious effort to access and extract the wealth ofnatural resources from indigenous territories, resulting in the exploitation, expulsion and, increasingly, extinctionof indigenous peoples living in isolation. In many cases, States have authorized and legalized these incursions,facilitating extractive industries (logging, mining, and oil) and tourism, pastoral uses and oil palm production. 31The infrastructure development related to globalization that is proceeding in the South American Amazon hashad tragic and irreversible consequences for the indigenous peoples living on the remote rainforest frontiers ofPeru, Brazil and Ecuador, including indigenous peoples in isolation or in initial contact.In the oil-producing regions of Ecuador’s northern Amazon, thirty years of Texaco oil operationshave left a dangerous toxic legacy for indigenous communities. Oil and toxic waste spills andseepages, and toxic air pollution, have caused the deterioration of terrestrial and aquaticecosystems. Indigenous people who live, fish, bathe and drink from the region’s rivers reporthigh incidents of cancer, skin rashes and sores, stomach ailments and respiratory problems.Recent investigations indicate that cancer rates among indigenous communities living inEcuador’s oil-producing areas of Sucumbíos and Orellana provinces are three times higher thanthe national average. For certain types of cancer, this figure rises dramatically: the risk of throatcancer is thirty times greater than the national average; kidney and skin cancer is fifteen timesgreater; and stomach cancer is five times greater.This story is repeated throughout oil-producing areas of the Amazon. In October 2000, aPluspetrol oil spill on the Marañon River in the Peruvian Amazon contaminated Peru’s largestprotected area, the Pacaya Samiria Reserve. The area’s twenty thousand inhabitants, manyfrom the Cocamas-Coacamillas people, suffered diarrhoea and skin diseases and saw theirfood and water supply decimated by toxic pollution. Many medicines provided by Pluspetrolnever reached the affected communities, and food provided by the company did not meet theirbasic needs.31OHCHR (2007), paras. 19 and 20.234 | CHAPTER VII
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:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195: 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?