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UN:
UNITED NATIONS ADOPTS DECLARATION ON RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: 13/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.)
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UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 13 September 2007 – The
General Assembly today adopted a landmark declaration outlining the rights of
the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing
discrimination against them – a move that followed more than two decades of
debate.
The
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been approved
after 143 Member States voted in favour, 11 abstained and four – Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and the United States – voted against the text.
A
non-binding text, the Declaration sets out the individual and collective rights
of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language,
employment, health, education and other issues.
The
Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and
strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their
development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.
It also
prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and
effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to
remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social
development.
General
Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have all welcomed today’s
adoption.
Sheikha
Haya said “the importance of this document for indigenous peoples and, more
broadly, for the human rights agenda, cannot be underestimated. By adopting the
Declaration, we are also taking another major step forward towards the promotion
and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.”
But she
warned that “even with this progress, indigenous peoples still face
marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations. They are
often dragged into conflicts and land disputes that threaten their way of life
and very survival; and, suffer from a lack of access to health care and
education.”
In a
statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban described the Declaration’s
adoption as “a historic moment when UN Member States and indigenous peoples
have reconciled with their painful histories and are resolved to move forward
together on the path of human rights, justice and development for all.”
He
called on governments and civil society to ensure that the Declaration’s
vision becomes a reality by working to integrate indigenous rights into their
policies and programmes.
Ms.
Arbour noted that the Declaration has been “a long time coming. But the hard
work and perseverance of indigenous peoples and their friends and supporters in
the international community has finally borne fruit in the most comprehensive
statement to date of indigenous peoples’ rights.”
The UN
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates there are more than 370 million
indigenous people in some 70 countries worldwide.
Members
of the Forum said earlier this year that the Declaration creates no new rights
and does not place indigenous peoples in a special category.
Ambassador
John McNee of Canada said his country was disappointed to have to vote against
the Declaration, but it had “significant concerns” about the language in the
document.
The
provisions on lands, territories and resources “are overly broad, unclear and
capable of a wide variety of interpretations” and could put into question
matters that have been settled by treaty, he said.
Mr.
McNee said the provisions on the need for States to obtain free, prior and
informed consent before it can act on matters affecting indigenous peoples were
unduly restrictive, and he also expressed concern that the Declaration
negotiation process over the past year had not been “open, inclusive or
transparent.”
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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