INTRODUCTION

This consolidated text has been prepared by the Chair of the Working Group to Prepare the Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, based on the original proposal by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and taking into account the contributions, comments, and proposals presented by the States and the indigenous peoples since the process of preparing the Draft American Declaration began.

The consolidated text has not been subject to consultations or negotiation. The Chair hopes that this document will be broadly disseminated and that the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) can use it for the domestic consultations with the respective indigenous peoples.

The Chair proposes that the beginning of the final stage of negotiations of the Draft American Declaration will be carried out starting from this consolidated text, and considering the draft Declaration submitted by the IACHR, as well as the proposals of the States, the representatives of the indigenous peoples, specialized agencies, and other entities. With that purpose in mind, to date the following documents are available: the original proposal by the IACHR, the written proposals from the States and indigenous peoples up to 2001 and the previous proposal by the Chair that appear in the three-column document (GT/DADIN/doc.53/02), as well as the proposals by the States and the indigenous peoples from 2002 (document GT/DADIN/doc.71/02), and those corresponding to 2003 document GT/DADIN/doc.122/03 rev. 1). Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003.

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