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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
POLITICAL DECLARATION
PrepCom IV, Indonesia, Bali, 6 June 2002
TEBTEBBA FOUNDATION
The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe and
the Arctic region, present here reaffirm the Kari-oca Declaration of
Indigenous Peoples signed at Rio in 1992 and Agenda 21. United in one
voice, we express our collective views on the proposed WSSD Programme of
Action and Political Declaration.
The results of the negotiations to gain consensus and mutual support for
the protection of the environment and sustainable development have been
very discouraging. We are disappointed that our fundamental rights and the
specific language of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES have not been honoured. We fear
that our territories and the natural world will continue to be plundered
by governments and corporations. For example, the text on mining as
contained in the Chairman's text is a license for mining corporations to
further plunder and devastate our lands. We urge you, the leaders of the
United Nations, to work with us and not against us, at this critical time.
For as long as you continue to make war against Mother Earth there can
never be peace. Humanity must work together, not just for survival, but
for quality of life based on ethical, cultural and spiritual values to
protect the sacred inter-relatedness of life that serves us all. We remind
us all of our responsibilities to future generations.
Indigenous Peoples have consistently called for international recognition
of our rights as a pre-condition for our empowerment for sustainable
development. We reaffirm that self-determination and sustainable
development are two sides of the same coin. We underline our inherent
rights to:
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Self-determination and recognition as
indigenous peoples;
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Ownership, control and management of our
traditional territories, lands, oceans and resources;
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Exercise our customary law and represent
ourselves through our own institutions;
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Free, prior and informed consent to
developments on our land;
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Control, and share in the benefits of
the use of our traditional knowledge.
Indigenous Peoples have something to offer
the world in this equation for survival. We call for a World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development as a culmination to the UN
Decade for Indigenous Peoples (1995-2004) and as a concrete follow-up to
the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Indigenous Peoples consider
this conference as necessary, to develop a concrete programme of action,
embodying WSSD outcomes and concrete partnerships together with
governments, regional bodies, the United Nations, international
organisations and others in civil society.
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