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UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues fights for Declaration of Rights

May 15, 2007 - 11:10am | by Anonymous

Indigenous Peoples Distinct Cultures Erode Without Respect For Rights Over Lands, Territories, Natural Resources, Forum Told

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Sixth Session
1st & 2nd Meetings (AM & PM)

Two-Week Session Opens at Headquarters with Speakers Stressing Importance of General Assembly Adoption of Declaration on Indigenous Rights

With delicate ecosystems that support millions of native peoples being wiped out at astonishing rates, representatives of indigenous groups from all over the world gathered today in New York to begin two weeks of discussions with top United Nations officials, Government representatives and members of civil society on the struggle of indigenous peoples to defend their rights to access and use the land and natural resources in their territories.

“Without access to and respect for the rights over their lands, territories and natural resources, indigenous peoples’ distinct cultures -- and the possibility of determining their on development -- become eroded,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as she opened the Forum’s sixth session, which will run through 25 May and will consider solutions to end the senseless exploitation of traditional lands and natural resources, a key issue at the heart of indigenous people’s efforts to gain recognition of their rights

Paying tribute to “ancestors and the thousands of indigenous activists who had sacrificed their lives in defence of traditional lands and territories”, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz, who is from the Philippines, and was re-elected Chairperson at the opening of the meeting, said that it was no surprise that most local and national indigenous peoples’ movements had emerged from struggles against their customary land tenure and resource management systems, which expropriated their lands, extracted their resources without their consent and which led to their displacement.

Highlighting new developments, she said one of the major thrusts for 2007 would be to press for the General Assembly’s adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, approved by the Human Rights Council last year. Indigenous peoples worldwide had been “deeply disappointed” by the Assembly’s decision to defer action on the Declaration last year. Noting that amendments had been made to the text in the meantime, she said that every effort should be made to ensure that what was put before the Assembly was the Council-approved version, not one “which mangled the Declaration beyond recognition.” “The fate of this Declaration is in your hands and the Governments who are here today,” she said.

In his opening statement, José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that the United Nations had long recognized that indigenous peoples had a profound spiritual and material relationship with the land, on which they often depended both for their physical and cultural survival. Indigenous sacred sites, foundations of indigenous traditional knowledge, indigenous religions, languages and ways of life were all tied to land. “Yet, all too often, indigenous peoples have been forcibly displaced from their traditional territories for economic, military or other interests, without any compensation or other means to sustain themselves,” he said.

Indigenous persons had joined the ever-increasing numbers of migrants that lived fragile lives in cities, at home and abroad. Urban indigenous issues, to which the Forum would devote special attention, were a contemporary reality that Governments, indigenous communities, and the whole society needed to urgently consider. The Forum’s recommendations on its special theme -- land, territories and natural resources -- should serve to enhance positive and constructive action at all levels, while this year’s regional focus on Asia would provide another way to promote action closer to indigenous communities, he said.

Welcoming the Forum, General Assembly President, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, agreed that while the Forum had been the source of thought-provoking dialogue and produced concrete recommendations, there was more to be done. “Indigenous peoples continue to face marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations, and are often dragged into conflicts that threaten their survival,” she said, adding that they also suffered from a lack of access to healthcare and education.

Indigenous peoples were not victims, however, but were rather a “dynamic collection of communities” whose knowledge, culture and environmentalism offered valuable lessons, she continued. She assured the representatives of indigenous peoples of her continued commitment to reaching common ground on that important matter. “The doors of the United Nations will always be open to indigenous peoples and their presence would continue to enrich the Organization,” she said.

Among the many expert presentations and reports by representatives on United Nations agencies and Funds that made up the bulk of the Forum’s work today, Erica-Irene A. Daes, of Greece, an elected member of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People’s Land Rights, said one of the most acute and complex situations facing the world’s indigenous peoples was the refusal by certain Governments to promote and protect their rights to land and natural resources. To understand the profound relationship of indigenous peoples to their lands and natural resources, cultural differences between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples should be recognized.

The doctrines of dispossession that had emerged in developing modern international law, particularly the concepts of “terra nullius” and “discovery”, had well-known adverse effects on indigenous peoples, she continued. Other problems included the State’s failure to acknowledge indigenous rights to territories lands and resources; to demarcate indigenous lands; to enforce or implement laws protecting indigenous lands; and the State’s expropriation of indigenous lands for national interest without the prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. Also, the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and the scope of indigenous peoples’ right to own, develop and manage their territories, lands and resources, should be reviewed, she added.

In other business, the Forum adopted the provisional agenda of its sixth session, and elected by acclamation Vice-Chairpersons from among its membership: Otilia Lux de Coti from Guatemala, William Langeveld from South Africa, Mr. Aqqaluk from Greenland and Ida Nicolaisen from Denmark. Michael Dodson from Australia was elected as Rapporteur.

Dalius Čekoulis of Lithuania, President of the Economic and Social Council, and Luis de Alba of Mexico, President of the Human Rights Council, also addressed the Forum.

As is the Forum’s tradition, the sixth session was opened with an invocation from Tracy L. Shenandoah, Chief of the Onondaga Nation, Eel Clan. Acknowledging Red Willow as the leader of medicines, he said the creator had planted medicines, including berries, for people to use. He also gave thanks to the birds, especially the eagle, and to the “three sisters” of all foods: corn, beans and squash. He also gave thanks to the waters for their help in creating peace. His statement was followed by a performance by the Laihui cultural group from Manipur, India.

The Forum was also addressed by the representatives of the following United Nations agencies, associated funds and programmes and intergovernmental organizations: International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the Food And Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Forum on Forests.

Also addressing the Forum were representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); the International Labour Organization (ILO); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); International Land Coalition (ILC); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).

A representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also spoke.

Taking the floor on behalf of the Forum were Wilton Littlechild from Canada, Aqqaluk Lynge of Greenland and Hassan Id Balkassm from Morocco.

The Forum will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 15 May, to begin its dialogue with indigenous peoples and representatives of indigenous groups on the special theme “indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and natural resources”.

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