American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

HISTORY: WHY A DECLARATION

Twenty-three years ago, Indigenous leaders and other experts went to Rotterdam to accuse their governments of racism, ethnocide and genocide. In November, 1980, they presented their cases to an international jury at the IV Russell Tribunal on the Rights of the Indians of the Americas. The Tribunal asserted its moral right "to demand that governments and international organizations comply with the accepted norms relating to human rights in general as well as to the specific rights of the Native Peoples of the Americas."

It is widely accepted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must be considered as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. However, Indigenous peoples are not recognized as peoples. Their sovereign nations have never been invited to sit alongside the other nation states of the world in international decision making bodies.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Read about the creation of this Declaration:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
A Magna Carta for All Humanity

Official United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Home Page with 300 language options

Dalee Sambo Dorough Inupiaq Indian Law Resource Center


Kelly McBride Senior Specialist OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy


L-R Armand McKenzie Innu Council of Nitassinan Cara Currie Cree International Organisation of Indigenous Resource Development Carlos Ayala Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples Rights OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

JOINT PANEL DISCUSSION International Indigenous Rights in the New Millennium hosted by the National Congress of American Indians and the Assembly of First Nations, 1999 A transcription of selections from this panel discussion will be available soon.

In commemoration of the IV Russell Tribunal, let's examine the Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), with a view towards the possible adoption of a Declaration. For the first time in the organization's history, there has been dialogue in high level meetings within the OAS, between representatives of the member States and an Indigenous Committee of the Americas. A Working Group to prepare the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been created.

WORKING GROUP CHARGED WITH CONSIDERING
THE PROPOSED AMERICAN DECLARATION
ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS
November 8-12, 1999
OAS Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Resource:
Summit of the Americas Information Network

A special meeting of this Working Group took place in the Hall of the Americas at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington, D.C. in April 2001. This special session was chaired by Ambassador Ronalth Ochaeta Argueta, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the OAS, President of the Working Group, Commission on Juridical and Political Affairs, Permanent Council of the OAS.

Ambassador Eduardo Ferrero Costa, Permanent Representative of Peru to the OAS, President of the Working Group, Commission on Juridical and Political Affairs, Permanent Council of the OAS, chaired the subsequent Special Meetings of the Working Group in 2002 and 2003 at the OAS in Washington.

INITIAL MEETING OF NEGOTIATIONS
IN THE QUEST FOR POINTS OF CONSENSUS
ON THE AMERICAN DECLARATION
November 10-12, 2003

The Initial Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for Points of Consensus of the OAS Working Group to Elaborate the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be held on November 10-12, 2003 in the OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C. Negotiations will be based upon the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the IACHR in 1997 and a Consolidated Text of the Draft Declaration provided by the Chair of the Working Group, Ambassador Ferrero Costa of the Permanent Mission of Peru.

Excerpt from the Document presented
by the Chair of the Working Group

Indian Law Resource Center
Complete information for Participation
in the first Negotiation Meeting
OAS Working Group 2003

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES