U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations July 30,1996 Agenda Item 4: Standard-Setting

International Indian Treaty Council

CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

	“WORKING FOR THE RIGHTS AND RECOGNITION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES"

U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations
July 30,1996
Agenda Item 4: Standard-Setting

The International Indian Treaty Council extends our warm and respectful greetings to the members of the Working Group, its distinguished chairperson Madame Daes, and to the esteemed delegates representing Indigenous Peoples from every part of our Mother Earth.

With regards to the vital mandate of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in the area of standard setting, the IITC delegation to this session of the Working Group would like to call the attention of this body to our concerns in several key areas which directly impact the ongoing process and substance of discussion regarding the development and adoption of standards recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples internationally.

First Madame Chair, the IITC would like to express our grave concern regarding the concerted attempts by the United States of America, as well as other nation-state governments, to “nationalize” or relegate as matters subject to existing domestic laws and policies, certain fundamental international principles vital to the standard-setting activities currently under way . Some of these governments have attempted to assert the right to redefine key internationally-accepted, well-defined principles as they apply to Indigenous Peoples. These are most notably “Peoples” and “the right of self-determination” as they appear in the Draft Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This practice of selective definition and application calls into question the principles upon which international standard-setting is based and indicates a very disturbing level of insincerity at best, and a blatantly self-serving hypocrisy at worst. Certainly other international principles are not considered subject to the whims of national law and policy. Genocide, for example, is well defined and its meaning accepted in each and every county. “Peoples” and “self-determination” can not mean one thing when it comes to non-Indigenous Peoples and nations, and another when applied to Indigenous Peoples' rights, fundamental freedoms and very identity as recognized by the international community

To allege that Indigenous Peoples are for some reason not really Peoples , or if so, can be defined in a different category as other Peoples with lesser rights subject to national agendas which have included genocide upon Indigenous Peoples for hundreds of years, violates both the letter and spirit of the Declaration for the International Decade of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This is especially harmful at this crucial moment in the process of implementing the new relationship between States and our Peoples called for by the Declaration for the Decade through the adoption of an international Declaration endorsed by Indigenous Peoples that could make this new relationship based on the potential for real change at long last..

The IITC has made many statements in recent international forums in response to the fears expressed by some States that to recognize Indigenous Peoples' right of self-determination would contribute to internal conflicts, which was also addressed yesterday in the opening discourse by our Chairperson. On the contrary, distinguished delegates, we believe without any doubt that it is the denial of the basic rights of Peoples which is the cause of strife, oppression and conflict to prevalent in the world today. We look forward to the day in the very near future when Indigenous Peoples can take our rightful place within the family of Nations in the context of mutual recognition and respect.

Unfortunately the attitude expressed some governments in discussions regarding the UN Draft Declaration as well in the current text of the Draft Declaration of the Organization of American States for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, notably in Section one paragraph 3, demonstrates their deep reluctance to reach this point of mutual and equal participation.. In the face of nearly universal support among Indigenous Peoples for the current text of the Draft Declaration and its full application utilizing the existing definitions and rights expressed in the United Nations Charter, such attitudes do not encourage us to believe that this day will come soon or without continued struggle.

The second point the IITC delegation would like to make at this time regards the continued misleading use by governments of the tern “negotiation” as applied to the ongoing discussions of the Draft Declaration , as demonstrated by the letter IITC received dated July 15 th sent by the United States Department of State to tribal governments referring to “ongoing negotiations” within the U.N. regarding the Draft Declaration.

As the IITC delegation stated in its interventions to the Expert Seminar on Practical Experiences regarding Indigenous Land Rights and Claims in Whitehorse Canada, the term “negotiation” should only be applied to a process defined as the full participation of equal parties . Since the nation-state governments will ultimately make the final decision regarding adoption of the Declaration in the UN General Assembly , we beleive that they should also take full responsibly for any alterations they may decide to make in the current text which has been endorsed by hundreds of Indigenous Peoples' organizations and two expert bodies of the United Nations.

To quote the U.N.'s final conculsions and report on the Whitehorse Seminar, dated April 25 1996, the IITC was recorded in paragraph 55 as stating that “

The IITC delegation requests in this regard that governments engaging in dialogue with Indigenous tribes, Peoples and organizations regarding the Draft Declaration be very clear as to the terminology they use as well as the history of participation and the views of Indigenous Peoples as expressed to date, so as not to create a situation which appears as an attempt to “divide and conquer” or to confuse or mislead Indigenous tribal leaders who may wish to begin participating in this ongoing process of dialogue.

To conclude Madame Chair, the IITC would like to congratulate and thank you for your important contributions in the area of standard setting regarding protection of the cultural rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples as well as your insightful paper regarding the issue of the definition of Indigenous Peoples. We look forward to participating in further discussions on these important concerns. We are also thankful and grateful for the broad participation and imput of so many Indigenous Peoples in the vital discussions throughout this week. For all our relations.