United States Threatening Indigenous Rights

Intent to fuse the Special Rapporteur and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
 

Designing strategies to strengthen the EMRIP

States’ obligation to fulfill the Declaration: UN High Commissioner

Genaro Bautista/AIPIN

April 26, 2016

Palais des Nations, Geneva

United States launched a threat with the objective of reducing the rights of indigenous peoples, in the seven geopolitical regions in the United Nations Organization.

During the Seminar reviewing the mandate of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the US government, in its intervention advances the assault, which, in the specialists’ opinion, is a setback in terms of the recognition of Native populations and the rights they have won through struggle in the last thirty years.

The North American provocation got questioned in the same way by States and by Indigenous representatives, as well as by other UN instances such as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the High Commissioner for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and FAO, since the initiative intends to fuse the Expert Mechanism with the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous rights.

Andrea Carmen from the International Indian Treaty Council had previously alerted about this intention.

In an interview, the well experienced Kenneth Deer, Mohawk from Kahnawake in Canada, highlighted the importance of broadening the mandate of the Mechanism, which would entail to increase its budget for an efficient monitoring of the application of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The discussion took place past April 4 and 5 en the complex named “Palais des Nations”, which houses the UN offices in Geneva, considered the second Headquarter of the UN after New York.

There, the UN has its Human Right Council and the offices of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Assisting to the Caucus were countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Denmark, Greenland, Sweden, Venezuela, amongst others, which expressed their concern regarding the intention of United States, of cutting short the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Also participating were Indigenous delegates from Mexico, Guatelama, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia, Spain, Denmark, Greenland, Sweden, Venezuela, Finland, Noriega, Africa, United States, Ecuador and Peru.

According to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, instead of limiting the rights of Indigenous peoples, these need to be strengthened, and doors should be opened for their representatives to participate in the UN.

There are currently three UN instruments regarding Indigenous rights: the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Expert Mechanism on Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples , the subject of the meeting, was created in 2007 by the Human Rights Council, the principal human rights organ of the UN.

James Anaya, ex-Special Rapporteur, recognized the work of the Expert Mechanism, which, since 2007, made important contributions to the fulfillment of the Declaration’s objectives, and to the final document of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference realized in September of 2014.

On his part, Alexey Tsykarev, President-Rapporteur of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, mentioned that the group needs stronger support in order to fulfill the expectations of its mission.

Tsykarev, who is from the Karelia Republic, part of the Russian Federation, commented on the limits of the Expert Mechanism, which, on top of financial shortage, also faces the difficulty of translating to the UN languages different documents that are mandatory part of its work, and the lack of online transmission of its debates.

The Russian saw positively the revision of the Expert Mechanism’s mandates to have greater impacts with its resolutions, but he also expressed his concern regarding the lack of technical, human and financial resources that hinder the work of the Expert Mechanism.

These opinions were shared with the Canadian Chief Wilton Littlechild, who said that the Expert Mechanism needs to be able to structure its own agenda, without waiting for the UN Human Rights Council to determine it on their behalf.  He pointed that a new mandate should create the adequate context for the success of their work.

In particular, Russia asserted that the priority is to guarantee the adequate financial resources for the Mechanism.

In general, the attendees of the meeting on the revision of the mandates all agreed en demanding the UN to strengthen the Expert Mechanism, since its role might be determinant in the application of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

In that sense, Tracey Xanthaki, from Indigenous Rights Trust, in New Zealand, posed the importance of a greater Indigenous participation in the UN, in order to influence the resolutions about their Peoples and Communities.

On that issue, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, highlighted the fact that, as long as the States don’t have the political will, it will be difficult to fulfill the Declaration.

Tauli-Corpuz was clear: the States are the ones who have the obligation to fulfill the Declaration.

The Philippian, who maintain the hope of an invitation by President Enrique Peña Nieto to visit México in 2016, argues that the countries are responsible for the Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations.

For the seminar participants, the Expert Mechanism has to have the capacity to respond to the violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, emitting serious, effective and clear measures. Indigenous Peoples’ realities are frightening, they said. Indigenous leaders’ murders are constant, they asserted.

In Otilia Lux Coti’s opinion, the Mechanism differentiates itself from other UN instances regarding this issue. According to this Mayan leader from Guatemala, it has to push beyond the advising of the Human Rights Council.

Clearly, he says, States’ political will is fundamental.

Otilia Lux, from the Indigenous Women’s International Forum (FIMI), thinks that the Expert Mechanism should include, in its principal functions, the protection, monitoring and following with the implementation of the UNDRIP, which commitments were assumed by the States in the UN World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference, in September 2014.

The latter, he assures, will allow to advance the promotion and and fulfillment of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, which in turn allows the possibility of a better governance in Indigenous Peoples’ territories.

It is with this objective, says the ex-member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Mechanism will promote coordinated and programmed meetings, both virtual and face-to-face, with the members of the Permanent Forum and the Special Rapporteur, to establish strategies of influence in terms of States commitment regarding the fulfillment of the UNDRIP, and to realize proposals to the Human Rights Council regarding breeches in the existing standards or norms in term of Indigenous Peoples’ rights protection.

Accordingly, spaces of political dialogue will be impulse, with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights of each country and State, in order to foster politics of implementation of the UNDRIP and national legislation in this area.

Otilia expressed the importance of increasing the number of members of the Expert Mechanism in proportion to the indigenous population numbers in the different regions, with transparent data based on demographic census.

Tomás Alarcón of the Judicial Commission for the auto-development of the Original Andena Peoples (Capaj) considers that, in order to strengthen the current mandate of the Expert Mechanism, the Human Rights Council must authorize its realization of profound studies on the decisions adopted by the treaty bodies, when they resolve specific cases under their jurisdiction.

According to the South American Indigenous leader, the Expert Mechanism has demonstrated its capacity to produce studies and has examined cases of violations or complaints of States’ violation, committed against Indigenous Peoples, and each agreement has its own parameters.

This is why the mandate includes the realization of studies and the bringing of recommendations about self determination, land and territories and resources, as well as the right to Free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.

The Seminar in Geneva was thus convened to propose recommendations of how the Expert Mechanism on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights can promote more efficiently the respect of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples, which includes a better assistance to the Member States, supervising, assessing and improving the fulfillment of the Declaration’s objectives.

• Evaluating the work of the Expert Mechanism since its creation, including its best practices, challenges, limits and the lessons learned.

• Gather, discuss and propose the recommendations of the distinct interests regarding the revision of the Expert Mechanism’s mandate.
 

Path to the revision of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

-           June pending report of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights

-           July, discussion on the subject during the Expert Mechanism session

-           September the Human Rights Council analyzes the revision

Recommendations to broaden the work areas of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

-           Technical advising to the States

-           Following up with other Mechanism such as the Permanent Forum and the Special Rapporteur

-           Visit to countries

-           Offer interpretation of the UNDRIP

-           Training

-           Coordination of the work with UN Working Groups on Business and Human Rights.

(Translation:TONATIERRA)