OAS Negotiations on the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Background: Indigenous Rights within the OAS
The Organization of American States was formed in 1948, at about the same time as the United Nations, and is made up of the 35 countries of the Americas. In recent decades, indigenous peoples have urged the member countries (or "states") of the OAS to recognize the human rights of indigenous peoples as distinct peoples. In the 1980s, indigenous communities in Latin America that were threatened by war and genocide brought their human rights claims to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a special branch of the OAS.
In 1989, the OAS leadership directed the Inter-American Commission to draft a document about the human rights of indigenous peoples. This document became the proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. If all the member states of the OAS agree, it will be adopted by the General Assembly of the OAS, and incorporated into the body of developing international standards within the Inter-American legal system. The adoption of the declaration would not only represent an important recognition of indigenous rights in the Americas, but could also serve as the foundation for establishing a more binding legal instrument, such as a convention or treaty on Indigenous rights.
Negotiation of the Draft American Declaration
The current draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples deals with economic, cultural, and political rights. The declaration affirms the right to self determination, education, health, self government, cultural heritage, and the right to lands, territories and natural resources, among others. A copy of the most recent draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can be found on the OAS website: http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_08/CP20518E07.DOC.
In 1999, the OAS established a Working Group to review and make changes to the Declaration. The Working Group is open to all member states of the OAS, although some countries participate more than others. The Working Group meets several times a year to discuss the declaration and to try to reach agreement about its text.
From the very beginning, indigenous representatives insisted that these Working Group meetings be open to them, as well. Many OAS member states strongly opposed this kind of openness. By demanding that they have a say in discussions about their rights, however, indigenous peoples became the first non-state group to participate in high-level OAS meetings like those of the Working Group. Over just a few years, indigenous peoples established their right to take part in these activities.
Currently, indigenous and NGO representatives continue to attend the negotiation sessions of the Working Group to debate the articles and ensure that the Declaration accurately reflects the interests of indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, general awareness of the Declaration and its implications remain relatively low, and increasing indigenous participation remains as important as ever. There is also a need to increase the involvement of indigenous governments as they are representative entities with unique status and influence.
The Working Group negotiation sessions are usually convened at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C., but are sometimes hosted by other OAS countries. There have been nearly a dozen meetings on the OAS Declaration since 1999, including nine Negotiation Sessions, the most recent of which was held April 23nd-27th 2007 in La Paz, Bolivia. Each negotiation session consists of a week of discussions regarding the form and content of the articles of the declaration, with the objective of reaching consensus between State delegations and indigenous representatives. These sessions are not only important for resolving differences regarding the text of the declaration, but also in advancing international thought and collaboration surrounding these fundamental rights.
Getting Involved
Continued participation of indigenous representatives in the proposed American Declaration process is fundamental to developing adequate international standards regarding the rights of indigenous peoples. Indigenous representatives are welcome to participate in all Working Group meetings on the proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without having to previously register with OAS, and can find information regarding the upcoming sessions on the OAS website: http://www.oas.org/consejo/cajp/working%20groups.asp#indigenous.
Indigenous representatives can also participate in the meetings convened by the Indigenous Caucus, which is an ad-hoc gathering of indigenous participants that usually convene two or three days prior to the official Working Group meetings in order to consult with each other and, where possible, develop common strategies and proposals for the negotiation sessions. These meetings are loosely organized and completely open to indigenous representatives.
A special fund administered by the OAS is available to facilitate indigenous participation in the Working Group. Indigenous representatives may seek economic support from this "Specific Fund" for travel and per diem expenses related to their participation in the meetings. The criteria for receiving this support are available at http://www.oas.org/consejo/resolutions/res873.asp. Indigenous representatives who wish to apply should contact Luis Toro or Johanna Salah, OAS Office of International Law at (202) 458 6377 or by fax, (202) 458 3292, or e-mail at ltoro@oas.org and/or jsalah@oas.org.
[Editor's Note: For information regarding human rights violations committed against Indigenous Peoples by large corporations and their client governments in the western hemisphere, see our article posted on April 9, 2009 titled Call to Action: Demand OAS Support a Strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And while you're there, do your part by signing a letter calling for a strong draft of the American Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The work has been done for you, with a well-written form letter addressed to the representatives of all the member nations of the OAS. All you have to do is add your own personal comments, if any, and send the letter. You can also send the demand letter without going to the previous article by clicking http://citizenspeak.org/node/1512.
Our thanks to the staff at the Indian Law Resource Center for making this information available to us so that we can make it available to you. They have been working to protect and advance the cause of indigenous rights for more than 30 years. Visit their website and sign up for their free email newsletter. And while you're at it, show your support by making a tax-deductible contribution to the cause. -- Perry Chesnut, Editor, NRN]
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Native Rights News is making this material available with the express permission of the Indian Law Resource Center . This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.
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Native Rights News (NRN) is published by the Alliance for Indigenous Rights, a nonprofit corporation owned and operated by Temple Beit Shem Tov as part of its Peace and Justice Ministry..
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Participate in OAS Working Group and Indigenous Caucus to Ensure a Strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
Call to Action: Demand OAS Support a Strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous rights to life, land, equality, natural resources, self-determination, and religious freedom are under attack. A strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will help prevent human rights violations in the Americas.- Gross violations of human rights are occurring against Indian and other indigenous peoples in North, South and Central America.
- Developers deprive Indians in the United States of their right to religious freedom by desecrating sacred places such as Bear Butte and the San Francisco Peaks.
- One in three Indian women in the United States will be raped in their lifetimes. This epidemic of violence violates Native women’s rights to life, security of the person, and equal treatment.
- The United States continues to try to take Western Shoshone HOMELANDS for military testing, gold mining and nuclear waste disposal in violation of Western Shoshone property rights.
- More than 1,244 indigenous people have been assassinated in Colombia in the past five years.
- Maya Q’eqchi’ people suffer death threats, the burning of their homes, and forced removal for defending their land rights from mining interests in El Estor, Guatemala.
- Canada continues to ignore Innu land rights, resulting in the forced relocation of Innu families and the loss of their traditional hunting grounds and homelands.
- More than 3,000 illegal miners threaten the survival of the Yanomami people in Brazil by invading their lands, contaminating their rivers, introducing fatal infectious diseases, and murdering their people.
This persecution is not unique to particular countries. It is part of an alarming trend of human rights violations against indigenous peoples in North, Central, and South America. Indigenous rights to life, land, equality, natural resources, self-determination, and religious freedom are under attack. The Organization of American States, a regional body made up of the 35 countries of the Americas, is currently negotiating an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Countries of the Americas must commit to the recognition and implementation of indigenous rights by adopting the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
ACT NOW FOR A STRONG AMERICAN DECLARATION by sending letters to OAS member countries urging them to support a strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. [click here to send letter]
Following is a copy of the letter you will be sending to the government of every nation that is a member of the Organization of American States (OAS). (You will also have to opportunity to include any personal comments or statements.)
"Dear Ambassador,
I am seriously concerned about the widespread violation of indigenous peoples' human rights in the Americas and the need for a strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I strongly urge your country to commit to the adoption of a strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by actively engaging in negotiations immediately.
A strong American Declaration is crucial to recognize indigenous human rights, including the right of self-determination, treaty rights, cultural and religious rights, rights to lands and resources, and more. Further, a strong American Declaration will address the particular regional issues in the Americas that are not dealt with in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such as gender equality, violence against Native women, and indigenous peoples under internal armed conflict.
More importantly, we need a strong American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to prevent the grave treaty and human rights violations that Indian and Alaska Native nations currently face in the United States and throughout the Americas. In the United States, the government is allowed to confiscate certain Indian lands in violation of the Constitution, one in three Native women is raped in her life time, and developers deprive Native peoples of their right to religious freedom by desecrating sacred places such as Bear Butte, South Dakota.
The situation is even more appalling in Central and South America. Extractive industries threaten the survival of many indigenous nations, including the Yanomami in Brazil and the Maya Q'eqchi' in Guatemala, and indigenous peoples are being assassinated in Colombia. A strong American Declaration will help to secure Indian rights and prevent further human rights abuses. The OAS and OAS member countries must commit to the adoption of a strong American Declaration.
It is more important than ever to have a strong American Declaration which enjoys widespread support. In 2007, 143 countries affirmed their commitment to indigenous rights through their historic adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Only four countries voted against the Declaration. Three of those four -- the United States, Canada, and Colombia -- belong to our region, which has some of the largest indigenous populations in the world. All countries of the Americas must take their obligations to respect and promote indigenous rights seriously.
Thank you in advance for your country's commitment to the negotiation and adoption of a strong American Declaration.
Sincerely,
[Your Name, Organization, Address, Phone & Fax]"
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The Indian Law Resource Center is a non-profit law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. We provide legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environment and cultural heritage. Our principal goal is the preservation and well-being of Indian and other Native nations and tribes.
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__________________________________________________________This article has been adapted from Indigenous Notes
the newsletter of the Indian Law Resource Center
Native Rights News is making this material available with the express permission of the Indian Law Resource Center . This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.
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Native Rights News (NRN) is published by the Alliance for Indigenous Rights, a nonprofit corporation owned and operated by Temple Beit Shem Tov as part of its Peace and Justice Ministry.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
OAS Condemns FARC Assassination of AWA Indians and Demands Return of Bodies
Media-Newswire.com
Released February 26, 2009
THE OAS UNANIMOUSLY CONDEMNS THE ASSASSINATION BY THE FARC OF THE INDIGENOUS GROUP AWÁ AND DEMANDS THE HANDING OVER OF THE BODIES
The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States ( OAS ) passed with unanimity a Declaration in which it expressed its "most energetic condemnation of the assassination of Colombians from the indigenous group AWA by the FARC ( Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ), which occurred at the beginning of this month.
The document emphasizes, "the need to hand over the bodies of the AWA indigenous people that have not yet been recuperated" and demands an investigation and adoption of the necessary actions to "sanction those responsible of this crime."
Simultaneously, the Permanent Council offered "its solidarity and most sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the indigenous community AWA, the citizens, and the Colombian government for this atrocious crime."
The Declaration was submitted for consideration to the Council by the OAS permanent representative of Colombia, Ambassador Camilo Ospina, and after the document’s approval, the diplomat thanked the "firmness in which the hemisphere condemns barbarian acts, such as the massacre on the AWA people. The world must know that such serious events cannot occur without the firm condemnation of all the OAS States," he said.
It must be recalled that in a press release delivered last February 18th, OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, expressed his most energetic repulse and condemnation for the assassination of the indigenous group AWA that took place in the locality of Barbacoas, in the Colombian department of Nariño.
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(c) Media-Newswire.com 2009
Native Rights News is making this material from Media-Newswire.com available in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine codified at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Recent Legal Victories Uphold Indigenous Land Rights
Recent legal victories affirm rights of indigenous peoples to ownership and control of their ancestral lands - pressure on holdout nations mounts
by Perry H. Chesnut, Editor NRN
Published January 14, 2009
On January 8, 2009, we published the UN press release in which the special rapporteur for indigenous rights praised the Nicaraguan government for demarcating and granting legal title to ancestral lands belonging to the Awas Tingni Community, an indigenous people who occupy an area on the Atlantic Coast of the country.
This victory of a small indigenous community came after more than a decade of struggle and is important for indigenous people not only in the Americas, but around the world because, as stated by the press release, "This was the first case in which an international tribunal with legally binding authority found a Government in violation of the collective land rights of an indigenous group, setting an important precedent in international law."
Although the United States and Canada are members and purport to be staunch supporters of the Organization of American States (OAS), both have failed to ratify the organization's American Convention on Human Rights. Such ratification not only adopts the articles of the convention that define the duties and obligations of nation-states to indigenous peoples, but also serves as a legally binding acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.
Despite their much-trumpted claims of being champions of human rights, the U.S. and Canada have a long history of rejecting international declarations of the rights of indigenous peoples. As everyone who follows these issues knows, out of the entire UN General Assembly, only the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand voted against the UN DRIP that was enacted on September 13, 2007. And as we reported recently in OAS Moves Forward on DRIP Tailored to Needs of Indigenous Peoples in Western Hemisphere - U.S. Expresses "Reservations", the "U.S. government has submitted statements to the [OAS] working group outlining its general reservations about the outcome of each negotiation session" in the drafting of an OAS American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It seems obvious that the U.S. and Canada are unlikely to ratify any human rights treaty that would allow aggrieved Indian tribes and nations to bring cases against them in any international tribunal - for the very reason that such tribunals are not captive instruments of the powerful global corporations that control U.S. and Canadian policy. For the present, U.S. and Canadian indigenous groups must resort to their own national courts and legislatures, which are riddled with obvious conflicts of interest and hardly unbiased.
Having said this, however, I should note that of the OAS' thirty-five member nations, twenty-four have ratified the Convention on Human Rights and twenty-two have officially accepted the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. For these nations, the decision is a legally binding precedent that upholds the right of indigenous peoples to ownership and control of their ancestral homelands. As James Anaya, who was present at the land titling ceremony said, "In addition, it provides a model for other Governments to comply with their international legal obligations to recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoples to their traditional lands and resources in practice."
This landmark decision upholding Indigenous land rights is the first to come from an international tribunal. But there have been similar decisions won by indigenous groups in the supreme courts of their own countries (Mayan Indians in Belize in October 2007, and Indians in Brazil in December 2008). One suspects that a tidal wave of international public opinion recognizing the important role that indigenous peoples play in the protection of the planet and its ecosystems, as well as the growing global demand for basic human rights is now beginning to drive court decisions. If so, it will not be long before countries that refuse to sign and live up to human rights and indigenous rights treaties will be seen as pariah states that intend to continue their past practices of genocide, colonialism and exploitation of their native populations. Eventually, the citizens of hold-out countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand will demand that their governments sign and ratify the various human rights treaties and live up to their responsibilities as members of the greater global community.
One final point I would like to make regarding the Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua case. The Awas Tingni Community would not have made it to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights had they not received the ongoing legal assistance of the Indian Law Resource Center with offices in Helena, Montana and Washington, D.C. Mr. James Anaya, Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and member of the Indian Law Resource Center; Ms. Maria Luisa Acosta, associate attorney in Nicaragua; and Mr. Todd Crider of the firm Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett all assisted the Awas Tingni in bringing their case before the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and served as "Legal Advisors to the Commission" in its pursuit of the case in the international court.
For more information about this landmark case in international law upholding the land rights of indigenous peoples, you can find links to copies of the complaint and the court's decision, as well as an archive of articles that have been written about the case on this page at the Indian Law Resource Center.
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© Copyright Alliance for Indigenous Rights 2009
Native Rights News hereby grants permission for this article or portions of it to be copied and republished on condition that the author and Native Rights News is given attribution. In addition, if the article or a portion of it is published over the Internet, a link to this page must be included.
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Posted By Perry Chesnut, Editor to Native Rights News at 1/14/2009 09:41:00 AM
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OAS Moves Forward on DRIP Taylored to Needs of Indigenous Peoples
Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples moves forward
By Gale Courey Toensing
Story Published: January 9, 2009
Story Updated: January 9, 2009
Around 50 indigenous representatives from the Americas attended the special session Dec. 9-12 at OAS headquarters in the Simón Bolívar Room. The OAS is an international body comparable to the United Nations that consists of 35 nations in the Americas. It is the region's principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy, promoting human rights, and dealing with shared problems such as poverty, terrorism, illegal drugs and corruption, and carries out mandates established by the hemisphere's leaders. Visit the group's Web site at http://oas.org/.
The working group is involved in final revisions of the text, working out issues related to the process of negotiation, and pinpointing the particular issues unique to the hemisphere's indigenous peoples that should be reflected in the declaration.
December's special session was not a negotiating session, but nevertheless presented challenges, said Leonardo Crippa, a Kolla member from Argentina, and staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center, which has been participating in the process of developing the American Declaration since its beginning in 1989. The center's Web site can be viewed at http://indianlaw.org/.
"In negotiating sessions we usually negotiate the language that will be in the text of the American Declaration, but this time even though there were no negotiations there were some challenges, for instance, the identification of the particularities of the region that this American Declaration should reflect. That was challenging because we needed to reach some sort of agreement between the indigenous representatives and the state representatives," Crippa said.
There is consensus among the indigenous representatives, but one of the major challenges has been to get the U.S. government under the Bush administration to ratify any human rights treaty. The U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia were the only four nations that voted against adoption of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 13, 2007.
The U.S. government has submitted statements to the working group outlining its general reservations about the outcome of each negotiation session. It also submitted 10 principles of the rights of indigenous peoples that it believes were already achieved in the negotiation process.
"And by doing this the U.S. basically said, 'Well, since we are submitting our general reservations on this with the 10 principles, we're not going to be involved actively in the discussions,' and that's what they've been doing for almost one year."
Canada and Columbia fall in line with whatever the U.S. wants.
The U.S. still sends representatives to the sessions, but they are observers only and not actively involved. There is hope that will change with the Obama administration, he said.
The American Declaration will complement the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Whereas the U.N. Declaration makes a universal and broad statement of rights, the American Declaration will address the particular needs of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Crippa said the special session in December was successful in defining the articles of the Draft American Declaration that are close to agreement and will become part of the negotiation sessions this year, and in identifying the regional particularities that should be reflected in the Draft American Declaration.
In Columbia, for example, there is an internal armed conflict that is imposing human rights violations on indigenous peoples there, Crippa said. Another regional particularity is the regularity with which states fail to comply with treaties they've signed with indigenous peoples. And there is the case of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation in the Amazon and regional countries like Peru, Columbia and Ecuador.
The sensitive areas basically relate to property rights, land uses, natural resources, self government and self determination.
Indigenous peoples are threatened by destructive industrial projects on or near their territories – mining, oil drilling, construction and logging. This is an issue faced both by American Indian tribes and indigenous peoples in developing countries.
"And a big particularity is the existence of indigenous peoples with their own judicial system, with their own government, with their own legislative organizations which is something that is occurring here in the U.S.," Crippa said.
These issues often end up in U.S. courts with rulings against the tribes. The American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will provide the standards for the administration of justice and the OAS to provide the international venue to adjudicate these cases.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the OAS and is one of two bodies in the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The other human rights body is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is located in San José, Costa Rica.
"Both the Inter American Commission and the court will interpret the American Declaration because they will have jurisdiction to do that legal work whenever they have a case concerning human rights violations of indigenous peoples," Crippa said.
That means the American Declaration will, in fact, be more effective on the ground than the U.N. Declaration because it will be implemented through an already existing court system. At the U.N. level, there is no international human rights court.
"It's a big difference," he said.
He said the Inter-American Court and domestic courts in Mexico and central and South America have already used the standards of the Draft American Declaration in deciding indigenous cases, so a body of case law is being built that will set precedent for future legal actions.
Just as most international human rights laws started out as declarations, the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the first step toward becoming an international convention or treaty.
The working group will hold meetings in Washington Jan. 26-30 and March 23-27. Once the indigenous and state representatives agree on the language of the declaration, the working group will submit the text to the OAS General Assembly for adoption by a vote of all the American member states.
"I think some time in 2010 it will be adopted."
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Native Rights News is making this material from Indian Country Today available in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine codified at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.
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Posted By Alliance for Indigenous Rights to Native Rights News at 1/13/2009 08:42:00 AM
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