30 June 2006
Statement
Social Justice Commissioner praises United Nations Human Rights Council for adopting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, has welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva on 29 June 2006.
"This is a very significant day for Indigenous peoples worldwide in the struggle for recognising their rights" said Commissioner Calma. "Adoption by the Council brings to a close nearly twenty years of negotiations on this text in the United Nations human rights system".
The Declaration was passed with 30 votes in favour, 2 against, 12 abstentions and three voting countries absent. The Declaration will now be forwarded to the highest body in the United Nations, the General Assembly, for consideration at its next session. The Declaration could be in force by the end of 2006.
The Draft Declaration was negotiated through the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From 1995, it was the subject of intense negotiation in a working group of the Commission on Human Rights.
Following the conclusion of the 11th session of negotiations in February 2006, the Chairman of the Working Group (Ambassador Luis Enrique Chavez of Peru) proposed a compromise text for adoption by the new Human Rights Council.
"Approximately two thirds of the Chairman"s text had reached consensus in the negotiation process. The remaining third was still subject to ongoing differences but with only a handful of governments objecting to the articles proposed. Those governments were insisting on amendments to the text that were either discriminatory in their impact or unnecessary".
"In particular, governments such as our own have insisted on changes to those provisions of the Declaration that recognise the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination. They seek to ensure that Australia"s territorial integrity is secure and not open to threats of secession".
"Indigenous peoples have demonstrated that the Declaration, as now approved by the Human Rights Council, protects against this possibility. In fact, preambular paragraphs 14, 15 and 16, combined with Articles 3 and 45 of the Declaration provide ample guarantees of this".
On the adoption of the Declaration by the Human Rights Council, the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus made the following comments:
The roots of the present Declaration go back to 1974. In 1977, the pivotal gathering of Indigenous peoples here at the United Nations prompted the world community to turn their attention to Indigenous Peoples in the Americas.
We persisted in our efforts and remained vigilant against some of the most formidable state forces in the world.
We relied upon our ability to engage in substantive debate, with positions that remain consistent with international law.
One of the most important outcomes has been that throughout all of our expressions, sometimes in our own languages, we have succeeded in educating the international community about the status, rights and lives of Indigenous peoples in every corner of world.
The true legacy of the Declaration will be the way in which we, the Indigenous peoples of the world, in partnership with states, breathe life into these words.
The real test will be how this will affect the lives of our people on a daily basis.
While these are distinct and fundamental individual and collective human rights, it is their implementation at the community level, which will have an impact and give our children hope for a future where their lives and identity will be respected globally.
We express our wish as Indigenous Peoples for harmony in accordance with the natural world and hope that our multiple futures as Indigenous Peoples and States are brought together to embrace the positive contribution that we make to humankind.
"I look forward to the Declaration being adopted by the General Assembly in the latter half of 2006" said Commissioner Calma.
"And I agree fully with the comments of Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues, when earlier this week he stated to the Human Rights Council that:
"In response to the concerns of some states regarding issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Special Rapporteur considers that no country has ever been diminished by supporting an international human rights instrument; rather the contrary is the case."
"It is my hope that the Australian government will join with the overwhelming majority of nations around the world in endorsing the Declaration at the General Assembly and work with Indigenous peoples in Australia to faithfully implement its provisions".
For further information:
The Declaration can be downloaded from the HREOC website at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/drip/index.html
Media contact: Paul Oliver (02) 9284 9880 or 0408 469 347
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Last updated 22 June 2006.
