Welcome to our online forum on the proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Bienvenidos a todos! Producer Dialogue Between Nations Dialogo Entre Naciones

Martha Ture (marthature@earthlink.net)
from Fairfax, California, USA wrote

Greetings to all. I am a senior editor at Native News Online and a board member of CERTAIN, Coalition to End Race-based Targeting of American Indian Nations. I am concerned about the marketocracy's destruction of the earth and of human rights; I am concerned that the reduction of nation states to sports teams by the multinationals - the marketocracy - may or may not benefit indigenous people. The World Bank online forum on globalization revealed that people around the globe saw the consequences of the World Bank's projects as devastating for land and people, and feel powerless to persuade the World Bank to either go away or change its ways. I look for solutions to these problems. .

Liz Clarke (lclarke@pixie.co.za)
from Ulundi wrote

I am working with indigenous African communities very much threatened by globalisation and AIDS as not enough is being done to protect the tradtional lifestyles of indigenous people

Natalie Drache (dialogo@home.com)
from Vancouver wrote

Thank you, Martha and Liz, for sharing your concerns. The forthcoming Third Summit of the Americas will be addressing three themes/baskets: Strengthening Democracy, Creating Prosperity, and Realising Human Potential across the Americas. There has been considerable civil society input into the preparatory phases. Documents and press releases of interest can be found by clicking onto the link above of the Summit of the Americas Information Network (Home Page) and going into the section on the blue menu bar called OAS Summit Management Committee, where you will be able to access Documents of the Special Committee on Inter-American Summits Management. Scroll to November 7, 2000 and perhaps after reading some of this material, you can evaluate how different, if at all, this process is, from the World Bank initiatives.

Information Office International Indian Treaty Council (iitc@igc.apc.org)
from San Francisco wrote

---------- > From: International Indian Treaty Council > To: natalie@mx3.redestb.es > Cc: Andrea Carmen ; Tom Goldtooth > Subject: Dialogue on the OAS draft declaration > Date: Saturday, December 16, 2000 1:30 PM > > Dear Natalie, > > thank you for the invitation to join the dialogue. As you may be aware, the > IITC has had an interest and worked on the UN draft as well as the > Permanent Forum. > > Generally, the Organization of American States has had a draft declaration > on the rights of indigenous peoples on the table for some time, since about > the same time that the UN started considering its UN draft declaration. The > OAS draft has gone through its InterAmerican Human rights Commission and > now awaits action by the member states of the OAS, all of the American > states from Canada to Chile, and the Carribbean (I think Cuba was expelled, > but maybe not). > > One major complaint has been that only the Indigenous Institutes (the BIA, > the Mexican Indigenous Institute, all charter governmenta organizations of > the OAS) have had input. I understand now that the OAS has an accreditation > process (new) for NGOs that it never had before, due much to the complaints > about the OAS draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. > > The declaration itself is an ILO 169 rehash, with the same disclaimer on > "peoples" (the word does not have the same significance that normally > enures to the term under international law) and is therefore no recognition > of the rights of peoples at all. Although it says that traditional lands > and territories are "impriscriptable and inalienable" it also provides that > the states may be the owners of the resources of the soil and subsoil, and > that when the state requires, by necessity, to move indigenous peoples from > these lands, that they should be compensated by lands of equal extent and > value. > > We don't believe that the declaration should be used to establish the > rights of states to Indigenous natural resources. Article 1 of the UN > International covenant on Civil and Political Rights (in common with > Article 1 of the ICESC) establishes the right of all peoples to their > natural resources and development. This OAS declaration would establish a > lesser standard than already recognized by these UN conventions with regard > to Indigenous Peoples. Why should only Indigenous Peoples not have this > right, when all other peoples do? > > We also believe that Indigenous Peoples should not be removed from their > traditional lands for any reason. We also do not believe that compensation > should be in the form of other lands or money. We believe that adequate > reparations for the loss of lands can only be the return of the land > itself, or restitution. > > The IITC is against the passage of this declaration primarily for the above > reasons. If the American States want to have ILO 169 as the standard, they > should adopt that convention, but not make it the ceiling for all > indigneous rights. We are not against ILO 169, and like many other > Indigenous Peoples and thier organizations, support universal adoption of > 169. But it has many shortcomings, and should not be the final word on > international recognition of indigenous rights. > > With the UN declaration, we are seeking that the full rights of peoples be > recognized as the rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes the right of > self-determination. Since 1982 in the Working Group on Indigenous > Populations, and since 1994 at the Commission on Human Rights, thousands of > Indigenous representatives of hundreds if not thousands of Indigenous > Nations and organizations, have remained steadfast and strong in our > insistence that the UN draft declaration recognize the full scope of all > collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right of Self > Determination. We would be foolish indeed to accept a lesser standard from > the OAS. > > Although the OAS draft does provide for local autonomy in some matters, > this part has been qualified or amended recently. A Canadaian NGO, IORD, > had a forum a few years ago, where the draft was reworked, with regard to > the points above, I think, as well as defining intellectual property rights > with more precison. > > The IITC welcomes the opportunity to exchange views with other Indigenous > organizations and Nations, because we believe that the rights of peoples > fully recognized are necessary for our survival as peoples. > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > ! INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL ! > http://www.treatycouncil.org/ > > sent by: Information Office Administrative Office > 2390 Mission Street, #301-302 456 N. Alaska Street > San Francisco, California 94110 Palmer, Alaska 99645 > Telephone: (415)641-4482 Telephone: (907) 745-4482 > Fax: (415)641-1298 Fax: (970) 745-4484 > email: iitc@igc.apc.org email: iitcak@ak.net > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

oscar gonzalez (amdah@laneta.apc.org)
from mexico wrote

Desde Quebec reiteramos invitacion para charlar sobre derechos de los pueblos indigenas en la Cumbre de las Americas.

Margarita Diaz (info@dialoguebetweennations.com)
from Vancouver wrote

The next meeting on the OAS Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be held in Washington, D.C. at the OAS headquarters from March 11-15, 2002.

Cheryl Smith (a1b00207@axion.net)
from BC wrote

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dragonfly blue (ndrache@cs.com)
from Vancouver wrote

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