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DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS
OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
1.AFFIRMING that indigenous peoples
are equal in dignity and rights to all other peoples, while
recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider
themselves different, and to be respected as such.
2.AFFIRMING ALSO that all peoples
contribute to the diversity and richness of civilizations and
cultures, which constitute the common heritage of humankind.
3.AFFIRMING FURTHER that all
doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating
superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national
origin, racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are
racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable
and socially unjust.
4.REAFFIRMING also that indigenous
peoples, in the exercise of their rights, should be free from
discrimination of any kind.
5.CONCERNED that indigenous peoples
have been deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,
resulting, inter alia, in their colonization and dispossession of
their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from
exercising, in particular, their right to development in
accordance with their own needs and interests.
6.RECOGNIZING the urgent need to
respect and promote the inherent rights and characteristics of
indigenous peoples, especially their rights to their lands,
territories and resources, which derive from their political,
economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual
traditions, histories and philosophies.
7.WELCOMING the fact that
indigenous peoples are organizing themselves for political,
economic, social and cultural enhancement and in order to bring an
end to all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they
occur.
8.CONVINCED that control by
indigenous peoples over developments affecting them and their
lands, territories and resources will enable them to maintain and
strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to
promote their development in accordance with their aspirations and
needs.
9.RECOGNIZING also that respect for
indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices
contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper
management of the environment.
10.EMPHASIZING the need for
demilitarization of the lands and territories of indigenous
peoples, which will contribute to peace, economic and social
progress and development, understanding and friendly relations
among nations and peoples of the world.
11.RECOGNIZING in particular the
right of indigenous families and communities to retain shared
responsibility for the upbringing, training, education and
well-being of their children.
12.RECOGNIZING ALSO that indigenous
peoples have the right freely to determine their relationship with
States in a spirit of coexistence, mutual benefit and full respect.
13.CONSIDERING that treaties,
agreements and other arrangements between States and indigenous
peoples are properly matters of international concern and
responsibility.
14.ACKNOWLEDGING that the Charter
of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights affirm the fundamental importance of the
right of self-determination of all peoples, by virtue of which
they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development.
15.BEARING IN MIND that nothing in
this Declaration may be used to deny any peoples their right of
self-determination.
16.ENCOURAGING States to comply
with and effectively implement all international instruments, in
particular those related to human rights, as they apply to
indigenous peoples, in consultation and cooperation with the
peoples concerned.
17.EMPHASIZING that the United
Nations has an important and continuing role to play in promoting
and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
18.BELIEVING that this Declaration
is a further important step forward for the recognition, promotion
and protection of the rights and freedoms of indigenous peoples
and in the development of relevant activities of the United
Nations system in this field.
solemnly proclaims the following United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
PART I
ARTICLE 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full and effective
enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms
recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law.
ARTICLE 2
Indigenous individuals and peoples are free and equal to all other
individuals and peoples in dignity and rights, and have the right
to be free from any kind of adverse discrimination, in particular
that based on their indigenous origin or identity.
ARTICLE 3
Indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue
of that right they freely determine their political status and
freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
ARTICLE 4
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their
distinct political, economic, social and cultural characteristics,
as well as their legal systems, while retaining their rights to
participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic,
social and cultural life of the State.
ARTICLE 5
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.
PART II
ARTICLE 6
Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom,
peace and security as distinct peoples and to full guarantees
against genocide or any other act of violence, including the
removal of indigenous children from their families and communities
under any pretext.
In addition, they have the
individual rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty
and security of person.
ARTICLE 7
Indigenous peoples have the collective and individual right not to
be subjected to ethnocide and cultural genocide, including
prevention of and redress for:
a. any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of
their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values
or ethnic identities;
b. any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of
their lands, territories or resources;
c. any form of population transfer which has the aim or effect of
violating or undermining any of their rights;
d. any form of assimilation or integration by other cultures or
ways of life imposed on them by legislative, administrative or
other measures;
e. any form of propaganda directed against them.
ARTICLE 8
Indigenous peoples have the collective and individual right to
maintain and develop their distinct identities and characteristics,
including the right to identify themselves as indigenous and to be
recognized as such.
ARTICLE 9
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an
indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions
and customs of the community or nation concerned. No disadvantage
of any kind may arise from the exercise of such a right.
ARTICLE 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands
or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free
and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after
agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with
the option of return.
ARTICLE 11
Indigenous peoples have the right to special protection and
security in periods of armed conflict. States shall observe
international standards, in particular the Fourth Geneva
Convention of 1949, for the protection of civilian populations in
circumstances of emergency and armed conflict, and shall not:
a. recruit indigenous individuals against their will into the
armed forces and, in particular, for use against other indigenous
peoples;
b. recruit indigenous children into the armed forces under any
circumstances;
c. force indigenous individuals to abandon their lands,
territories or means of subsistence, or relocate them in special
centres for military purposes;
d. force indigenous individuals to work for military purposes
under any discriminatory conditions.
PART III
ARTICLE 12
Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their
cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to
maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future
manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and
historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and
visual and performing arts and literature, as well as the right to
the restitution of cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual
property taken without their free and informed consent or in
violation of their laws, traditions and customs.
ARTICLE 13
Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop
and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and
ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in
privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the
use and control of ceremonial objects; and the right to the
repatriation of human remains. States shall take effective
measures, in conjunction with the indigenous peoples concerned, to
ensure that indigenous sacred places, including burial sites, be
preserved, respected and protected.
ARTICLE 14
Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and
transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral
traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to
designate and retain their own names for communities, places and
persons.
States shall take effective
measures, whenever any right of indigenous peoples may be
threatened, to ensure this right is protected and also to ensure
that they can understand and be understood in political, legal and
administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision
of interpretation or by other appropriate means.
PART IV
ARTICLE 15
Indigenous children have the right to all levels and forms of
education of the State. All indigenous peoples also have this
right and the right to establish and control their educational
systems and institutions providing education in their own
languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of
teaching and learning.
Indigenous children living outside
their communities have the right to be provided access to
education in their own culture and language.
States shall take effective
measures to provide appropriate resources for these purposes.
ARTICLE 16
Indigenous peoples have the right to have the dignity and
diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations
appropriately reflected in all forms of education and public
information.
States shall take effective
measures, in consultation with the indigenous peoples concerned,
to eliminate prejudice and discrimination and to promote tolerance,
understanding and good relations among indigenous peoples and all
segments of society.
ARTICLE 17
Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in
their own language. They also have the right to equal access to
all forms of non-indigenous media.
States shall take effective
measures to ensure that State- owned media duly reflect indigenous
cultural diversity.
ARTICLE 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to enjoy fully all rights
established under international labour law and national labour
legislation.
Indigenous individuals have the
right not to be subjected to any discriminatory conditions of
labour, employment or salary.
PART V
ARTICLE 19
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate fully, if they so
choose, at all levels of decision-making in matters which may
affect their rights, lives and destinies through representatives
chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as
well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous
decision-making institutions.
ARTICLE 20
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate fully, if they so
choose, through procedures determined by them, in devising
legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.
States shall obtain the free and
informed consent of the peoples concerned before adopting and
implementing such measures.
ARTICLE 21
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their
political, economic and social systems, to be secure in the
enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and
to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic
activities. Indigenous peoples who have been deprived of their
means of subsistence and development are entitled to just and fair
compensation.
ARTICLE 22
Indigenous peoples have the right to special measures for the
immediate, effective and continuing improvement of their economic
and social conditions, including in the areas of employment,
vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health
and social security. Particular attention shall be paid to the
rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth,
children and disabled persons.
ARTICLE 23
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop
priorities and strategies for exercising their right to
development. In particular, indigenous peoples have the right to
determine and develop all health, housing and other economic and
social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to
administer such programmes through their own institutions.
ARTICLE 24
Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines
and health practices, including the right to the protection of
vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals.
They also have the right to access,
without any discrimination, to all medical institutions, health
services and medical care.
PART VI
ARTICLE 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their
distinctive spiritual and material relationship with the lands,
territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources which
they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and
to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this
regard.
ARTICLE 26
Indigenous peoples have the right to own, develop, control and use
the lands and territories, including the total environment of the
lands, air, waters, coastal seas, sea-ice, flora and fauna and
other resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise
occupied or used. This includes the right to the full recognition
of their laws, traditions, and customs, land-tenure systems and
institutions for the development and management of resources, and
the right to effective measures by States to prevent any
interference with, alienation of or encroachment upon these
rights.
ARTICLE 27
Indigenous peoples have the right to the restitution of the lands,
territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or
otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated,
occupied, used or damaged without their free and informed consent.
Where this is not possible, they have the right to just and fair
compensation. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the peoples
concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories
and resources equal in quality, size and legal status.
ARTICLE 28
Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation, restoration,
and protection of the total environment and the productive
capacity of their lands, territories and resources, as well as to
assistance for this purpose from States and through international
cooperation. Military activities shall not take place in the lands
and territories of indigenous peoples, unless otherwise freely
agreed upon by the peoples concerned.
States shall take effective
measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous
materials shall take place in the lands and territories of
indigenous peoples.
States shall also take effective
measures to ensure, as needed, that programmes for monitoring,
maintaining and restoring the health of indigenous peoples, as
developed and implemented by the peoples affected by such
materials, are duly implemented.
ARTICLE 29
Indigenous peoples are entitled to the recognition of the full
ownership, control and protection of their cultural and
intellectual property.
They have the right to special
measures to control, develop and protect their sciences,
technologies and cultural manifestations, including human and
other genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the
properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures,
designs and visual and performing arts.
ARTICLE 30
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop
priorities and strategies for the development or use of their
lands, territories and other resources, including the right to
require that States obtain their free and informed consent prior
to the approval of any project affecting their lands, territories
and other resources, particularly in connection with the
development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or
other resources. Pursuant to agreement with the indigenous peoples
concerned, just and fair compensation shall be provided for any
such activities and measures taken to mitigate adverse
environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact.
PART VII
ARTICLE 31
Indigenous peoples, as a specific form of exercising their right
to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or
self-government in matters relating to their internal and local
affairs, including culture, religion, education, information,
media, health, housing, employment, social welfare, economic
activities, land and resources management, environment and entry
by non-members, as well as ways and means for financing these
autonomous functions.
ARTICLE 32
Indigenous peoples have the collective right to determine their
own citizenship in accordance with their customs and traditions.
Indigenous citizenship does not impair the right of indigenous
individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they
live.
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and
to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with
their own procedures.
ARTICLE 33
Indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and maintain
their institutional structures and their distinctive juridical
customs, traditions, procedures and practices, in accordance with
internationally recognized human rights standards.
ARTICLE 34
Indigenous peoples have the collective right to determine the
responsibilities of individuals to their communities.
ARTICLE 35
Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international
borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts,
relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual,
cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with other
peoples across borders.
States shall take effective measures to ensure the exercise and
implementation of this right.
ARTICLE 36
Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance
and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements concluded with States or their successors, according
to their original spirit and intent, and to have States honour and
respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements. Conflicts and disputes which cannot otherwise be
settled should be submitted to competent international bodies
agreed to by all parties concerned.
PART VIII
ARTICLE 37
States shall take effective and appropriate measures, in
consultation with the indigenous peoples concerned, to give full
effect to the provisions of this Declaration. The rights
recognized herein shall be adopted and included in national
legislation in such a manner that indigenous peoples can avail
themselves of such rights in practice.
ARTICLE 38
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to adequate
financial and technical assistance, from States and through
international cooperation, to pursue freely their political,
economic, social, cultural and spiritual development and for the
enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized in this
Declaration.
ARTICLE 39
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to and prompt
decision through mutually acceptable and fair procedures for the
resolution of conflicts and disputes with States, as well as to
effective remedies for all infringements of their individual and
collective rights. Such a decision shall take into consideration
the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous
peoples concerned.
ARTICLE 40
The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system
and other intergovernmental organizations shall contribute to the
full realization of the provisions of this Declaration through the
mobilization, inter alia, of financial cooperation and technical
assistance. Ways and means of ensuring participation of indigenous
peoples on issues affecting them shall be established.
ARTICLE 41
The United Nations shall take the necessary steps to ensure the
implementation of this Declaration including the creation of a
body at the highest level with special competence in this field
and with the direct participation of indigenous peoples. All
United Nations bodies shall promote respect for and full
application of the provisions of this Declaration.
PART IX
ARTICLE 42
The rights recognized herein constitute the minimum standards for
the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of
the world.
ARTICLE 43
All the rights and freedoms recognized herein are equally
guaranteed to male and female indigenous individuals.
ARTICLE 44
Nothing in this Declaration may be construed as diminishing or
extinguishing existing or future rights indigenous peoples may
have or acquire.
ARTICLE 45
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpretd as implying for any
State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to
perform any act contrary to the Charter of the United Nations.
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