The most significant event of 2014 was the High Level
Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly known as the World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples. After four years of planning, the September 2014 gathering
at United Nations headquarters in New York attracted thousands of Indigenous
peoples' representatives and supporters, who took part in two days of
deliberations alongside leaders and delegates from UN Member States.
Following an inspirational opening ceremony, the Outcome
Document, Resolution A/Res/69/2, was passed by acclamation. This UN General
Assembly resolution reflects a wide array of solemn commitments by all UN
member states. The significant reaffirmation of the purposes and principles
of the UN Charter as well as their reaffirmation of support for the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as formal commitments, are
crucial to the future of Indigenous peoples, nations and communities.
Through these few words, it is safe to say, that the general
international law and customary international law principles and norms are
essential and constant parameters for all future dialogue, negotiation and
operationalization of the individual and collective human rights of Indigenous
peoples. Furthermore, the content of the right of Indigenous peoples to free,
prior and informed consent, and the continuing importance of Indigenous
peoples’ rights to their lands, territories and resources, which were all
referenced in the Outcome Document, remain urgent and necessary features for
the survival and sustainability of Indigenous peoples, nations and communities.
Among the most important priorities for Indigenous peoples
in the Outcome Document are the explicit member state commitments to take
action at the national level to “acknowledge, advance and adjudicate the rights
of Indigenous peoples pertaining to lands, territories and resources”1 as well
as to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples in
relation to projects affecting Indigenous “lands or territories and other
resources.”2 Furthermore, the Outcome Document makes specific reference to UN
member state commitments “to prevent abuses of the rights of Indigenous
peoples”3 in relation to the impact of development, extractive industries and “transnational
corporations and other business enterprises”.4
In addition, the UN member state commitments “to achieve the
ends of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” through
specific action, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, “to
develop and implement national action plans, strategies or other measures” are
highly significant. Indigenous peoples are acutely aware of the “implementation
gap” and these UN member state commitments to undertake concrete action at the
national and domestic level are crucial to closing this gap. And, the post-2015
development agenda, Indigenous elders, women’s rights, health, the rights of
persons with disabilities, and inclusion of youth and children are all clearly
important areas of concern for Indigenous peoples and were fortunately
addressed by the Outcome Document.
Though this achievement should be celebrated by all, I have
observed an inconsistency between member state policy at the international
level and their actions and policy at the national or domestic level.
Fortunately, the Permanent Forum and Indigenous peoples generally enjoy support
from UN member states at the international level. However, too often, little
support or prioritization to implement Indigenous human rights norms at the
national and domestic level is shown. And, in some extreme cases, we have
member state support in key areas internationally, while at home, in these same
states, Indigenous peoples are being forcibly removed from their lands and
their very survival and security threatened both individually and collectively.
As Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, I have felt the enormous challenges facing Indigenous peoples. There is
no time or room for complacency. Collectively, we must work even harder to make
a difference on the ground for Indigenous peoples. These priorities and the
corresponding UN member state commitments affirmed by the Outcome Document are
now more urgent than ever and the solemnity with which these commitments were made
must prompt immediate action at the domestic and national level. We need to see
the real “outcomes” of the Outcome Document – we need to see the action-
oriented work that UN member states iterated and reiterated in the drafting
process of this General Assembly resolution.
I make this call to action because every Indigenous person
that I have met in every community and every meeting that I’ve been engaged in
over the past year, I have only heard of the enormous and horrific problems
that they face, ranging from assassinations and killings to displacement and
eviction from their lands, territories and resources to criminalization for
attempts to defend their basic human rights to lack of access to education,
health and other social services to extreme poverty and food insecurity to
soaring suicide rates and continuing discrimination and marginalization to the
loss of Indigenous languages.
Not once have I met an Indigenous person that stated that
everything is going well for them and their community. And, though Indigenous
peoples are receiving more attention
than ever in the media, through human rights groups and through Indigenous
peoples’ own networks, at the same time, injustices are perpetrated against
Indigenous peoples on a daily basis.
The Outcome Document and the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples are the framework for the genuine implementation of our
rights at the national and domestic level and more important, in the actual
homelands of Indigenous peoples. The work
before us and in particular for UN member states, must be done at home,
in member state capitols and within Indigenous homelands – not in the halls of
the UN in New York, Geneva, Nairobi or elsewhere. I want UN member states to
breathe life into the strong and solemn commitments that they made in the
Outcome Document. I do not want member states to feel that the World Conference
was the end of an international process -- it is only the beginning of sorely
needed domestic processes and dialogue. And, such processes and dialogue with
Indigenous peoples domestically are URGENT.
In addition to this message and call to action, I want to
share a few words about the Thirteenth Session of the Forum in May 2014 and my
engagements as the Chairperson of the Permanent Forum in recent months.
The Thirteen Session, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, May 12-23, 2014
The two-week session was attended by over 1200 participants,
with a large number of representatives of Member States, including high-level
officials, UN agencies, funds and programmes, Indigenous peoples’ delegates and
NGOs. There were also a significant number of indigenous women and youth, and
Indigenous persons with disabilities.
The theme of “principles of good governance consistent with
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People” gave voice to Indigenous
legal traditions that emulate and represent good governance. There were also
examples of member state and Indigenous cooperation to develop governance
structures that improve conditions within indigenous communities and where
indigenous peoples’ direct involvement in every stage of project design were
highlighted. Such instances helped to emphasize the importance of Indigenous
participation in decision-making and the design of meaningful and effective
governance approaches.
My interest in the use of this theme was to highlight the
relevant of transparency; responsiveness; consensus oriented; equity and
inclusiveness; effectiveness and efficiency; accountability; participation;
consultation and consent; human rights; and the rule of law in order to
influence both the high level plenary meeting and the ongoing dialogue
concerning the Sustainable Development Goals. For Indigenous peoples, far too
often, the principles of good governance, which are interlinked and mutually
reinforcing, are rarely practiced by UN
member states. Again, my desire was to emphasize these important dynamics
necessary for advancing Indigenous peoples’ human rights at the national and
domestic level, where good governance should be practiced as a norm and not
merely an ideal.
Under the agenda item of Human Rights, the Permanent Forum
congratulated Professor James Anaya on the successful conclusion of his service
as Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. We also welcomed the
appointment of Ms. Victoria Tauli- Corpuz as the new Special Rapporteur and we
look forward to working closely with her. We had the honor of the presence and
words of Mr. Wilton Littlechild on behalf of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights
of Indigenous Peoples; Francisco Cali, President of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination; Ms. Soyata Maiga, on behalf of the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Mr. Emilio Alvarez, Executive
Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and Mr. Kenneth
Deer on behalf of the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. It was important
for the Permanent Forum to publicly
congratulate Mr. Cali and acknowledge his appointment as the first Indigenous expert to be appointed as
President of a United Nations treaty body.
Our half-day discussion on Asia yielded a range of
recommendations to Asian States as well as to the United Nations system and
Indigenous peoples’ organizations from the region. The Forum has expressed
concern that most of those recommendations are yet to be implemented. At the
same time, some positive developments concerning Asian Indigenous peoples must
be noted. In particular, the legal recognition of the Ainu as the indigenous
people of Japan; the decision of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia in recognizing
the customary rights of Indigenous peoples with regard to forests; and the
increased engagement and partnerships of national human rights institutions and
agencies of the United Nations system with indigenous organizations and
institutions were all notable outcomes of this half day focus.
However, the Permanent Forum and its members remain
concerned about the increasing adverse impacts of climate change, the large
hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, biofuel plantations, windmills and
geothermal plants, which are all adversely impacting Asian Indigenous peoples’
territories and being pursued without the free, prior and informed consent or
the full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples.
For 2015, among many other objectives, we are preparing for
our Fourteenth Session [April 20 - May 1]; a forthcoming Expert Group Meeting
on a voluntary optional protocol to the UN Declaration [January 27-29]; an
inter-sessional meeting in Salekhard, Russia to focus upon reform of our
methods of work to strengthen the role of the Permanent Forum within the UN
system [February 25-28]; and ensuring that the human rights and concerns of
Indigenous peoples are explicitly reflected in the 2015 sustainable development
goals.
In conclusion, I want to stress the importance of the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to this future work. As an
international human rights instrument, the UN Declaration forms the framework
for all of the Permanent Forum’s work – it firmly guides our activities and our
objectives within the UN system and beyond. As noted, we cannot afford to
divert from our continued effort to address the implementation gap in regard to
all of the inter-related, inter-dependent, indivisible and inter-connected
provisions of this pivotal human rights instrument. Through the UN Declaration
and our collective work, we must ensure that there is a real difference being
made on the ground for Indigenous peoples.
In this spirit, I would like call upon UN member states and
UN agencies to collaborate with Indigenous peoples and to re-affirm their
commitments towards genuinely attaining the exercise and enjoyment of human
rights by Indigenous peoples in the coming year and beyond. As individuals,
when you see violations, tragedy or
violence being committed toward
Indigenous peoples, don’t remain complacent, don’t remain silent, take
action. And, as member state
representatives, please recall your solemn commitments to promote and encourage
respect for the human rights of Indigenous peoples.
I wish each of you the best for 2015. Thank you for your support over the past year.
May our ancestors guide us well into the coming New Year.
December 2014
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1 Paragraph 21, Outcome Document, Resolution A/Res/69/2
2 Paragraph 20, Outcome Document, Resolution A/Res/69/2
3 Paragraph 24, Outcome Document, Resolution A/Res/69/2
4 Paragraph 23, Outcome Document, Resolution A/Res/69/2
