UN's new Special Rapporteur for human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people
From the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples
On 26 March 2008, the Human Rights Council appointed Prof. S. James Anaya, for an initial period of three years, as new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people. Prof. Anaya is James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona (United States).
Visit the web site to see how to learn about the roles and responsibilities of the Special Rapporteur and to learn more about Prof. S. James Anaya. As well, TurtleIsland.org has an article posted about Prof Anaya which describes some of his previous work including the following:
"Most recently, he helped support two Central American Maya villages – Conejo and Santa Cruz – that filed lawsuits in the Belize Supreme Court. Last year, the villages alleged that the government of Belize violated their customary land rights by approving logging and oil exploration on traditional lands. The consolidated cases were heard in June and in October, the court ruled in favor of the villages.
Anaya and several of his students worked on the case, which is said to have been precedent-setting because, by affirming the land rights of indigenous peoples, the case could have a ripple effect around the world ...
The solutions, he said, are “not simply the assimilation of indigenous community into the broader state and social structures that have engulfed them and grown up around them, but solutions that involve indigenous peoples’ continuing as distinct, culturally differentiated communities with their own institutions and with their own decision making capacities so they can enjoy a real condition of equality.”
Everyone is invited to Submit Information concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples to the Special Rapporteur. Click here to learn what information to submit so the Special Rapporteur is able to respond in a timely manner.