WCAR - NGO FORUM
WORKING DRAFT DECLARATION OF THE NGO FORUM
PART B
EXCERPT RELATED TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Excerpt:
61.
Indigenous Peoples live in every region of the
world, including the Arctic,Africa, Russia, the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Pacific amongst other areas, and everywhere they suffer gross discrimination and marginalization. The belief in the inferiority of Indigenous Peoples, in addition to the lack of consultation on matters that effect them, remains deeply embedded in the legal, economic and social fabric of many States and has resulted in the dispossession and destruction of Indigenous territories and resources, political, religious and social systems.
62.
Indigenous Peoples continue to suffer the loss of their territories and
resources, the destruction of their cultures, and violence directed at their peoples. Indigenous women and children, in particular, endure multiple forms of discrimination. This dispossession, violence and discrimination constitute flagrant violations of our human rights in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
63.
Indigenous Peoples are peoples within the full meaning of international law.
Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination by virtue of which they freely determine their economic, social, political and cultural development and the inherent right to possession of all of their traditional and ancestral lands and territories. The knowledge and cultures of Indigenous Peoples cannot be separated from their unique spiritual and physical relationships with their lands, waters, resources and territories. The denial or qualification of the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples is racist and lies at the root of Indigenous suffering. Structural racism in past and current manifestations of colonialism, invasion, apartheid, ethnocide and genocide has denied, and continues to deny Indigenous Peoples their fundamental right to self-determination.
64.
Racism against Indigenous Peoples manifests itself in discriminatory laws and policies
that perpetuate and exacerbate racism against Indigenous Peoples. These laws and policies include the denial of the status of Indigenous Peoples with the right to self determination under international law; the militarization of indigenous lands and territories; doctrines that allow Indigenous territories to be taken without due process of law or adequate compensation; the unilateral extinguishment of indigenous land rights; the doctrine of plenary power; discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the civil and criminal justice systems of States; failure to recognise the justice systems of Indigenous Peoples; the lack of equal participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making processes in matters that may affect their cultural, spiritual or physical integrity; the lack of respect for treaties, agreements and laws between Indigenous Peoples and States with no legal resource for Indigenous Peoples; the denial of protection of the religious freedom for Indigenous prisoners; the disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous Peoples; policies that deny, suppress or destroy Indigenous languages; and the presumption that Indigenous Peoples do not own subsoil resources under their lands.
65.
Racism against Indigenous Peoples also manifests itself in many
forms, including: forced and covert displacement; forced assimilation; forced removal of indigenous children from their communities; economic policies which exploit Indigenous resources without Indigenous consent and without returning any benefit to Indigenous communities; the use of sexual violence against Indigenous women as a weapon of war; misinformation and lack of reproductive information, imposition of dangerous contraceptives on Indigenous girls and women, and forced sterilisation of Indigenous girls and women; the appropriation of Indigenous intellectual and cultural property, including genetic property , and the use of the images of Indigenous peoples and individuals without their consent
66.
Religious Intolerance towards Indigenous spiritual practices
and the profaning of indigenous sacred sites and objects has been a fundamental instrument in the subjugation of Indigenous Peoples since the invasion and the beginning of colonialism, and is a persistent evil that States must take action to end.
67.
Environmental racism
-- an historical form of racial discrimination -- has led to and continues to lead to the ruination of indigenous lands, waters and environments by the implementation of unsustainable schemes, such as mining, biopiracy, deforestation, the dumping of contaminated waste, oil and gas drilling and other land use practices that do not respect indigenous ceremonies, spiritual beliefs, traditional medicines and life ways, the biodiversity of indigenous lands, indigenous economies and means of subsistence, and the right to health.
WCAR - NGO
FORUM
WORKING DRAFT DECLARATION OF THE NGO FORUM
PART B |