Indigenous reps at UN consider walking out

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A veteran supporter of the rights of Indigenous peoples at the international level told the Indigenous Bar Association's (IBA) annual meeting in Vancouver that Indigenous representatives are so frustrated with the lack of progress on international recognition of their rights that they are seriously considering abandoning the process.

The chair of the UN working group on the rights of Indigenous populations, Dr. Miguel Alfonso Martinez, professor of international law at the University of Havana, Cuba and author of the United Nations treaty study that was released two years ago, spoke to the IBA on Oct. 20.

The working group's progress on a draft declaration on Indigenous rights has been slowed by the objections of nation-state representatives who, for political reasons, are not anxious to take concrete steps to undo the ravages of the colonial era. Martinez said progress has been made on only three or four of the 40 articles that a sub-committee of nation-state and Indigenous representatives agreed would be in the declaration seven years ago. Although it was originally hoped the declaration could be completed before the end of the international decade of Indigenous peoples in 2004, Martinez said it would take 102 years to complete at the present pace.

He said the group's work would be rendered irrelevant if there is no Indigenous representation and, although Indigenous representatives still believe the process could be very important for their people and are reluctant to let the process die, there is increasing sentiment that a dramatic gesture is needed to break the stalemate.

"This is a state of opinion which is growing," he said. "It is not decreasing."

He said nation-state officials are "just playing games" with the more contentious Indigenous issues only making it "clear that present day structures are incapable of solving the problem."

Martinez spoke of the need for a "new jurisdiction" that would reconcile the conflicting world-views of Indigenous peoples and the colonial nation-states.

He reported that he hoped to organize an international conference on Indigenous land issues before the end of the decade. He also said he was engaged in a new study for the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on "human rights and human responsibilities" and he said he was "determined to connect Indigenous ideas" to the new study even though the ECOSOC mandate didn't require it.

The newly established UN permanent forum for Indigenous issues is also coming into focus at an overly slow pace, he said, and there is still pressure to have the working group replaced by the permanent forum even though Indigenous leaders believe both bodies are necessary to their cause.

He also criticized the UN for putting little effort into marking its decade of Indigenous peoples saying there were "no funds and little activity" related to marking the decade.