PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF
AMERICAN STATES
COMMITTEE ON JURIDICAL AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS |
OEA/Ser.K/XVI
GT/DADIN/doc.34/01
29 October 2001
Original: Spanish |
Working Group to Prepare the
Proposed American Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
DECLARATION OF MACHU PICCHU ON DEMOCRACY,
THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
AND THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY
(Lima - Machu Picchu, July 28-29, 2001)
(Document presented by the Chair of the Working Group)
We, the Presidents of the member states of the Andean Community, in the
presence of the Presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica,
Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, the Prince of
Asturias, and the Secretary General of the Andean Community, meeting on
the occasion of the swearing-in of Dr. Alejandro Toledo as President of
Peru, have adopted the following:
DECLARATION OF MACHU PICCHU
ON DEMOCRACY, THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, AND THE FIGHT AGAINST
POVERTY
BEARING IN MIND that our
political systems are based on democracy, respect for human rights; and
fundamental freedoms;
MINDFUL that democracy, human rights, peace, social development, and the
fight against poverty are interrelated concepts with each implying the
others;
CONSIDERING that the variety of cultures and ethnic groups in our nations
has been a key factor in forging nationalities and the historical identity
of our countries; and that today, as in the past, it continues to be an
essential feature of the human and social wealth of our societies;
AWARE of the poverty and extreme poverty endured by most indigenous
peoples, and of the need to guarantee and promote their rights, including
the right to diversity;
CONSIDERING the determination of our governments to channel resources to
social and economic development, and, in particular, to the fight against
poverty and extreme poverty and to the task of generating decent,
productive employment; and
CONSIDERING that all efforts to achieve Latin American integration share a
common desire to establish mechanisms for political cooperation, to combat
poverty, and deregulate trade,
DECIDE:
To advance the defense of democracy and observance of human rights
1. To express our firm conviction that democracy, development, and
observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and
mutually reinforcing. Accordingly, we reiterate our resolve to strengthen
democracy as a system of government and as an irreplaceable component of
our political identity, to promote democratic values as a way of life, and
to defend democratic institutions and the rule of law in Latin America and
the Caribbean. We also reaffirm that the effective exercise of democracy
presupposes strengthening citizen participation.
2. To reiterate our decision to adopt an Inter-American Democratic Charter
during the special session of the OAS General Assembly to be held in Lima
in September, as an instrument destined to contribute to the promotion,
stability, preservation, and defense of democratic institutions.
3. To renew our governments' commitment to the effective exercise and
observance of human rights, as well as our resolve to strengthen the
inter-American system of human rights, possibly by gradually introducing
permanent sessions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and to foster universal
adoption of the inter-American system to safeguard human rights.
4. We, the presidents of the Andean countries, pursuant to the Act of
Carabobo adopted on the occasion of the Thirteenth Andean Presidential
Council, instruct our ministers of foreign affairs to draft the text of
the Andean Charter of Human Rights for presentation to the next meeting of
the Andean Presidential Council. Said Charter shall contain the principles
and central elements of a community policy in this field, including issues
such as the rights of women and of indigenous peoples.
5. We, the Andean presidents, hereby decide to instruct our ministers of
foreign affairs to prepare a proposal designed to strengthen programs for
the promotion of democracy and of citizen participation in all its
manifestations; to prepare, propose, and execute activities educating
people in democratic values; exchange experiences among political parties
in the subregion; and develop policies to promote and disseminate
democratic values in line with existing national policies.
The rights of indigenous peoples
6. We consider that the cultural and ethnic diversity characteristic of
our nations is a source of great wealth and a bond uniting our societies.
Practicing democracy in our peoples entails respecting and fostering
diversity. Accordingly, we state our intention to continue devising
strategies and policies designed to underscore the value of the ethnical
plurality and multicultural nature of our nations, in order to promote
full participation by indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities.
7. Accordingly, we firmly support every effort to promote and safeguard
the rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, including: the
right to their identity and spiritual, cultural, linguistic, social,
political, and economic traditions; individually and collectively; the
right not to be displaced, as peoples, and moved from their lands;
collective copyright and the right to maintain and develop their
historical cultural heritage; the right to their traditional medical
systems, knowledge, and practices, including the right to protect their
ritual and sacred places; the right to education in diversity; to be
elected and to hold public office. We state our resolve to safeguard these
rights as part of public policy and pursuant to the constitutional and
legal provisions in force in our countries.
8. Our states are duty-bound to safeguard and guarantee the enforcement of
all the provisions of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of
Man, the American Convention on Human Rights and the other regional and
international instruments in force, in order to ensure the full and
effective exercise of the human rights of indigenous peoples in accordance
with the principle of nondiscrimination. Accordingly we shall expedite the
drafting and adoption of the American Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.
9. Consolidating democracy and the rule of law in our countries
presupposes policies to ensure the active participation of indigenous
peoples in every aspect of national life. To that end, the ministers of
foreign affairs shall propose the establishment of a round table on the
rights of indigenous peoples in the institutional framework of the Andean
Community of Nations, with the participation of indigenous organizations,
human rights organizations, civil society, and representatives of each of
the member states, with a view to integrating indigenous peoples fully in
the economic, social, and political life of our countries, while at the
same time respecting and promoting their cultural diversity. The round
table will meet at the earliest possible opportunity in Cuzco.
An alliance in the fight against poverty
10. Sensitive to the fact that genuine and full democracy is a
prerequisite for an effective war on poverty, we the heads of state
reiterate our decision to take actions to reduce poverty by 50 percent by
the year 2015.
11. Social justice is an essential ingredient in democracy and a necessary
condition for guaranteeing the political stability and legitimacy of our
governments. We are therefore committed to achieving economic growth with
social equity to overcome inequalities, poverty, and the challenges that
our societies endure.
12. We affirm our resolve to strengthen political cooperation in the
subregional integration process, and thereby to attach special priority to
the social agenda.
13. We believe that good governance and efficient and transparent
administration, accompanied by mechanisms for citizen participation, are
essential features of a proper use of resources geared to overcoming
social inequality.
14. Aware that corruption erodes democratic stability and impairs the
struggle against poverty, we reiterate the need to increase actions
designed to combat corruption and to cooperate in as many joint activities
as may be necessary pursuant to international law and regional agreements
on this subject.
15. We welcome the agreements reached by the Group of 8 in Genoa and urge
that they be implemented effectively, especially with respect to external
debt relief and the fight against poverty and extreme poverty.
16. We point, in this connection, to the advisability of reaching
agreements, in particular, regarding increases in the amounts of
cooperation grants under the policies set by international financial
organizations and the governments of the industrialized countries, along
with an increase in the volume of project financing in critical areas of
the fight against poverty. We attach special priority to debt for
development project swaps for the most vulnerable segments in our
societies.
17. We state our firm resolve to adopt a new common external tariff before
the next Andean Presidential Meeting. That, combined with fulfillment of
our commitments in respect of the free movement of persons, an Andean
passport, and border integration and development will ensure that the
Andean Common Market will be established in 2005.
18. Pursuant to the agreements reached at the Carabobo Summit and with a
view to advancing the social agenda and inducing all sectors of society to
participate in the fight against poverty and to generate employment, we
the presidents of the Andean Community instruct the ministers of foreign
affairs to draw up a proposal for the establishment of a round table on
consensus-building in society, within the framework of the Andean forum
approved at the Carabobo Summit, aimed at expanding in-depth citizen
participation in the integration processes. The round table will yield
ideas for the design of an "Integrated Plan for Andean Social
Development."
We Presidents of the Andean Community congratulate Dr. Alejandro Toledo on
his election as the Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru, and
for the leading role he played, from the ranks of civil society, in
restoring democratic institutions in Peru. We pay tribute, too, to
President Valentín Paniagua and his government for having held free and
fair elections and for the outstanding part he played in consolidating
democracy in Peru and in restoring the effective exercise of human rights
and fundamental freedoms.
Lima - Machu Picchu, July
28-29, 2001
Jorge Quiroga Ramírez
Acting President of the Republic of Bolivia Colombia
Andrés Pastrana Arango
President of the Republic of Columbia
Gustavo
Noboa Bejarano
President of the Republic
of
Ecuador
Alejandro Toledo Manrique
President of the Republic of
Peru
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