5 pages to follow
14 October 1992
Re: Japanese Citizens' Coalition for the International Year of the
World's Indigenous People
Dear Friends,
We would appreciate your opinion regarding the attached prospectus of
the RJapanese Citizens' Coalition for the International Year of the
World's Indigenous People, to be officially inaugurated this November,
and the draft action plans which the coalition will be calling upon the
Japanese national government, political parties, and local governments
to adopt. In particular, we would be interested to know if you would be
willing to be listed as foreign organizations supporting the coalition
and endorsing the contents of the action plans. We would also appreciate
it if you could send copies of this document to indigenous organizations
in your country, in order that we may also receive their opinions and
possible endorsements. We thank you in advance for your help in this
matter.
Sincerely,
Kazuko Matsue
P.S. Please note that our address will be changing to the above as of 26
October 1992. We will inform you of the new fax number as soon as we
know it.
Appeal (Draft)
As is widely known, the International Year of the World's Indigenous
People is about to begin. We, the undersigned, have resolved to form a
group to be known as the "Japanese Citizens' Coalition for the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People," as stated in the
prospectus below, in the hope that the International Year of the World's
Indigenous People will provide an opportunity to heighten the Japanese
people's awareness of indigenous peoples' issues, and to achieve major
advances in safeguarding indigenous peoples' rights.
We hope to maintain close contact with the Ainu people of Japan as well
as indigenous people throughout the world, in order to make this year a
success. We look forward to your participation in the coalition.
Prospectus of the Japanese Citizens' Coalition for the International
Year of the World's Indigenous People (Draft)
The recent celebration of the 500th anniversary of Colombus' "discovery"
of the American continents is symbolic of the manner in which the rights
of the indigenous peoples of the world, both as individuals and as
peoples, have been denied over the centuries. The indigenous peoples of
various regions worldwide have begun to assert their rights under such
severe circumstances. Nonetheless, they often still remain oppressed by
policies which promote genocide or ethnocide. The United Nations has
declared 1993 as the International Year of the World's Indigenous People
in an attempt to ameliorate this situation.
The fact that the indigenous people of the world have suffered as a
result of development projects which destroy the environments upon which
their livelihoods depend, and that indigenous people perform a vital
role in protection of the global environment, received renewed attention
at the Earth Summit held this year in Brazil.
Japan's responsibility for abuses against indigenous people must not be
forgotten. The rights of the Ainu people as a distinct people have not
been recognized by Japan. Neither are there any clear prospects for
enactment of the RLaw Regarding the Ainu People,S which the Ainu people
have strongly demanded for many years. The indifference of the Japanese
government, and of Japanese society as a whole, towards the rights of
indigenous people has given rise to new criticism from around the world
as Japanese economic activities expand on a global scale.
We therefore resolve to form the aforesaid coalition in cooperation with
the Ainu people, citizen's groups working on issues pertaining to the
environment, human rights, and development, researchers, lawyers and
other individuals, in order to publicize 1993 as the International Year
of the World's Indigenous People from a citizen's perspective, and to
use this as an opportunity for joint action to resolve the various
problems faced by indigenous people.
The coalition will engage in the following activities on the basis of
consultation with the indigenous peoples of Japan and the world, in
order to attain the aforesaid objectives:
(1) dialogue with the national and local governments, political parties,
and the like.
(2) exchanging of information and liaison activity pertaining to the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People
(3) other activities and projects required to attain the aforesaid
objectives.
Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Japanese Citizen's
Coalition for the International Year of the World's Indigenous People
(as of 17 August 1992): Yoshihiko Murata (Group KIKI), Akiko Nakagawa
(International Movement Against Racial Discrimination), Ken Arimitsu
(Asian Human Rights Fund), Mieko Suzuki (International Movement Against
Racial Discrimination), Hideaki Uemura (Shimin Gaiko Centre), Takao
Yokoyama (Kanto Ainu Association), Kiyoe Takase (Shimin Gaiko Centre),
Hiroshi Kanda (ODA Study Group/Pacific Asia Resource Center), Hiroaki
Hosokawa (assistant professor of cultural anthropology, Tokyo University
of Foreign Languages), Kohei Yabana (lawyer), Yoichi Kuroda (Japan
Tropical Forest Action Network), Kazuko Matsue (Sarawak Campaign
Committee), Shin Iwai (Amnesty International).
Draft Action Plan for the International Year of the World's Indigenous
People, Proposed for Adoption by the Government and the Respective
Political Parties of Japan
The International Year of the World's Indigenous People, which has as
its slogan Ra new partnershipS with indigenous peoples, will begin on 10
December 1992, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. It has been repeatedly demonstrated how
indigenous peoples have been robbed of their rights as individuals and
peoples, and placed under oppressive circumstances. The world community
is called upon to urgently address these issues.
As a member of the global community, Japan is also called upon to take
effective measures to ensure that the rights of indigenous people are
respected. Securing of such human rights is essential for safeguarding
the rights of not only indigenous peoples, but also minority peoples,
refugees and others victimized by various economic activities and
political processes.
We call upon the Japanese government to take a stand on the basis of
such an understanding, and to use the International Year of the World's
Indigenous People as an opportunity to urgently undertake the following
measures.
1. To allow representatives of the Ainu people and citizens'
organizations working for indigenous peoples' rights to participate in
the process whereby the Japanese government's action plant for the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People will be decided.
2. To clearly recognise the Ainu people as an indigenous people with all
relevant rights as stipulated in international law.
3. To abolish the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act (Hokkaido
Kyu-dojin Hogo Ho) and enact in its place the RLaw Regarding the Ainu
PeopleS (Ainu Minzoku ni Kansuru Horitsu) without delay, as demanded by
the Ainu people.
4. To educate the Japanese people about the culture and history of the
Ainu people as an indigenous people, through school education as well as
other means.
5. To ratify the following international conventions and the like which
provide minimum international standards for safeguarding the rights of
indigenous peoples.
a. The International Labour Organization's Convention on Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, No. 169
b. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
c. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
d. The First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
6. To prepare guidelines which ensure that the human rights and cultures
of indigenous people, and in particular, the inherent rights of
indigenous people to their lands and resources are respected. In doing
so, to assure that such guidelines go further to ensure the rights of
indigenous peoples than guidelines which have been adopted or are being
prepared by the various international organizations.
7. To review the policies of the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank,
and other international development agencies pertaining to the
development of lands which are occupied by or provide the basis of
livelihood for indigenous people, and to call upon such agencies to
strengthen their guidelines for the protection of indigenous people's
human rights as well as to report on progress in their implementation.
8. To prepare reports documenting the circumstances of indigenous people
who face human rights violations and the danger of ethnocide in nations
to which Japan provides official development assistance (ODA). To
establish a moratorium on ODA to nations in which serious violations of
the human rights of indigenous people are known to occur.
9. To provide administrative guidance to Japanese companies with
overseas investments, requiring them to adopt codes of conduct to assure
that the rights of indigenous people are respected. To monitor adherence
to these codes of conduct, and to make the results of such monitoring
public.
10. To ensure that people who are affected by overseas projects in which
the Japanese government or Japanese companies are involved are provided
an opportunity for their objections and complaints to be heard, and to
establish a system of effectively address the problems thus brought to
attention.
Appeal to Local Governments (Draft)
We appeal to local governments in Japan to:
1. call on the national government to ratify the following international
conventions and the like concerning the rights of indigenous peoples
without delay, on the occasion of the International Year of the World's
Indigenous People:
a. The International Labour Organization's Convention on Indigenous and
Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, No. 169
b. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
c. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
d. The First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights.
2. call on the national government to enact the RLaw Regarding the Ainu
PeopleS (Ainu Shinpo), which secures the rights of the Ainu people as an
indigenous people, without delay.
3. independently undertake activities such as the following on the
occasion of the International Year of the World's Indigenous People:
a. citizens' lecture courses for study of indigenous people's issues and
of measures taken by the world community, and the United Nations in
particular, to deal with these issues.
b. preparation of educational materials and implementation of
educational programs (both in school and for the general public)
regarding the history, culture and rights of the Ainu people and other
indigenous people worldwide.
(opportunities to hear from the concerned indigenous people themselves
should be provided as much as possible in the case of a and b).
c. To actively inform the public of the significance of the
International Year of the World's Indigenous People and related matters,
through public relations and other activities.
4. To actively address the problems faced by indigenous people in Japan
as well as regions affected by Japan:
a. if requested by the Ainu people, to provide facilities which the Ainu
people can use freely to develop or pass on their culture to future
generations.
b. to encourage exchanges with indigenous people who are adversely
affected by Japanese economic activities, and to provide financial
support for travel and accommodation expenses for inviting indigenous
people to Japan.
5. To assess their contribution to logging, golf course development, and
other activities which lead to destruction of the lands in which
indigenous people live; to take measures so that they will no longer
contribute to such human rights violations.
ENDS.