FORUM-ASIA and the Centre for Organisation Research and Education have expressed its disappointment with the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decision for a non-action motion on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A resolution put forward by the Namibian delegation to the UNGA which called for the deferment of action on the Declaration was supported by a majority of 82 nation states

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the Centre for Organisation Research and Education receive with great disappointment the news that the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted for a non-action motion on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

A resolution put forward by the Namibian delegation to the UNGA which called for the deferment of action on the Declaration was supported by a majority of 82 nation states in favour, 67 governments not in favor and 25 abstained.

We view this latest development as a deplorable setback to the struggle for the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups in particular and to the struggle for the realization of human rights for all worldwide.

We reiterate that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a landmark document in the history of human rights and global quest for social justice. It is the result of more than 20 years of hard work by various indigenous and human rights movements and a significant step towards achieving and reclaiming the fundamental rights and entitlements for about 370 million indigenous peoples around the world.

The Declaration affirms the right of self-determination of indigenous peoples and other rights fundamental to their existence. The Declaration also draws its inspiration and substance from the distilled experiences and advances in other international human rights instruments as well as other international conventions, including certain regional and national standards and protection mechanisms, such as those in place in certain Asian countries. It therefore represents an important achievement in developing a truly universal human rights protection system that specifically addresses the indigenous peoples and their issues.

We are therefore saddened that the non-action motion by the UNGA on the Declaration and certain issues repeatedly raised against it such as the right to self-determination and to free prior and informed consent— severely undermine the rights of the indigenous peoples and perpetuate a climate of injustice, historical inequities and the increasingly precarious human rights situation of the indigenous peoples in Asia and worldwide.

Our common vision for “all human rights for all” will never be achieved for as long as there are sections of the world’s humanity such as the Indigenous peoples, minorities and other disempowered and excluded groups and persons—who remain discriminated and have the least in rights and basic entitlements.

This latest developments also call upon all human rights defenders and the Asian and global human rights movements to strengthen their solidarity and continue to find common cause with the struggle for human rights of the Indigenous Peoples.

November 29, 2006

Mr Subodh Raj Pyakurel
Chairperson
FORUM-ASIA