Elisa Burchett: U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Due for Formal Adoption

2007-08-08 | “Many governments are less than seventy years old. While states may collectively represent and exercise the economic and military power of the world they do not necessarily represent the collective wisdom of the world and, as the climate crisis shows, might sometimes place the peoples of the world in grave danger.” Les Malezer Les Malezer, the Chairperson of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, recently announced that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is due to be formally adopted by the U.N. General Assembly shortly…provided former commitments made by the General Assembly to complete the task before the end of the 61st session are met. Mr. Malezer expressed his concerns about the continuing opposition to the adoption of the declaration by some Member States, seven of which now want to restart the drafting of the Declaration - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Suriname, Guyana and Colombia. “We would like to see the human rights records of these states, in relation to treatment of Indigenous peoples, and in particular the most recent reports of the human rights treaty bodies, to be taken into account in conjunction with their views on the Declaration”, Mr. Malezer said. Mr. Malezer posed the questions, “Why should the most blatant and long term violators of Indigenous rights be able to participate in vital discussions and to vote on the rights of Indigenous peoples? Why shouldn’t the human rights records of states be held equally accountable in the General Assembly as they are in the Human Rights Council?” The United Nations itself has been betrayed, he said, by some states that refuse to be held accountable for their performance and actions in relation to Indigenous Peoples. We are appalled, he said, expressing grievances on behalf of all Indigenous Peoples of the world, at the way the persons, peoples and institutions who have given their lives to this work have been shown “utter disrespect” i.e. the Working Group on the Declaration and the Chairperson of the Working Group, in light of their efforts to comply with General Assembly resolutions 59/174 and 60/172. Shockingly, some states (which passed the aforementioned resolutions unanimously and in some cases by consensus) in the General Assembly have even claimed, odd though it may sound, that they do not understand the importance of the Declaration and that they have not had enough opportunity to participate. Some African States (better known as the “African Group”) have come to be viewed as a barrier throughout the adoption process and Mr. Malezer acknowledged their concerns that some tribal groups in Africa might misuse the Declaration to falsely declare themselves as “Indigenous Peoples’ and misuse the right of self-determination to claim the right to secession. Even though their concerns are valid and the possibility of misuse by some entities would be obviously undesirable, Mr. Malezer believes fears of misinterpretation as well as possible misuse of the Declaration should not be a basis for denying equality and rights to Indigenous Peoples. His suggestion to cautious African States is to develop a regional solution in the framework of the African Charter and African Commission. This framework could enable the identity of Indigenous Peoples to be duly acknowledged and ensure that governments and Indigenous Peoples are able to find the spirit of partnership and establish true cooperation as already extensively promoted by the United Nations’ Programme of Action for the Second Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, he advised. The Indigenous Peoples Caucus has been acting as an observer for the past few weeks and says it can report no detection of a genuine effort by Canada and its six allied states (Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Guyana and Suriname) to reach a consensus with the majority of states. Canada and its allies are attempting to delay the adoption even further through what Mr. Malezer describes as “groundless” calls for procedural delays and “formless” discussion of thematic concepts. As opposition to the Declaration continues, Mr. Malezer is equally unrelenting in his hopes that the United Nations will represent and guarantee the rights of all peoples, including Indigenous Peoples and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus is now calling upon the United Nations General Assembly to vote in favor of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in good faith with its resolution of December. Mr. Mazeler spoke on behalf the Indigenous Peoples of the world, “We are the People who were colonized after Columbus found his way to the Americas, and the European merchants and the European rulers conspired to dominate and exploit the rest of the world. We are the people the United Nations overlooked when it set an agenda to de-colonize the world. We are peoples. We have our own societies and laws. We have our own languages. We have our own lands and territories. We have a unique relationship with the natural world that can only be achieved through eternal bonding and we have a ceaseless will to survive as Indigenous Peoples.” Mr. Malezer is a descendent of the Gubbi Gubbi and Butchulla peoples of the region of the Mary River and Fraser Island on the sub-tropical eastern coast of Australia. He is also the chairperson of the Foundation for the Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (FAIRA) http://www.faira.org.au , an Indigenous rights organization duly accredited in Australia, in the Common Wealth and the United Nations. Elisa Burchett U.N. OBSERVER & International Report PLEASE ALSO SEE: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People http://www.un.org/events/indigenous/2007/index.shtml The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/index.html