UN Passes Treaty on Native Rights

It was 22 years in the making, but today, in a strictly symbolic move (in other words, it has no enforcement) the United Nations has passed a resolution protecting the rights of indigenous peoples around the world.

From BBC News:

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples after 22 years of debate.

The treaty sets down protections for the human rights of native peoples, and for their land and resources...

There are estimated to be 370 million indigenous people in the world.

Only four nations opposed the treaty: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. This despite the fact the resolution doesn't even have any teeth. Phil Fontaine, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, a group representing Canada's native communities, criticized the failure of the nations to support the resolution:

We're very disappointed... It's about the human rights of indigenous peoples throughout the world. It's an important symbol.

The resolution was already adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2006, but a final vote was deferred because of initial opposition by African nations. Those differences were resolved and the resolution went to a final vote today.

Here is a summary of the resolution from the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs:

The text recognises the wide range of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. Among these are the right to unrestricted self-determination, an inalienable collective right to the ownership, use and control of lands, territories and other natural resources, their rights in terms of maintaining and developing their own political, religious, cultural and educational institutions along with the protection of their cultural and intellectual property. The Declaration highlights the requirement for prior and informed consultation, participation and consent in activities of any kind that impact on indigenous peoples, their property or territories. It also establishes the requirement for fair and adequate compensation for violation of the rights recognised in the Declaration and establishes guarantees against ethnocide and genocide.

The Declaration also provides for fair and mutually acceptable procedures to resolve conflicts between indigenous peoples and States, including procedures such as negotiations, mediation, arbitration, national courts and international and regional mechanisms for denouncing and examining human rights violations.

You can read the full text of the resolution here.

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