INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND SELF-RULE
* In Canada, one million indigenous people have increased their
visibility and attained a level of political power previously
unimagined. Mohawks, Cree, Inuit and other native Canadian
communities have used their newfound position to protect their
lands and carve out new social and economic gains.
* Governments in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico have
adopted new laws protecting and promoting the rights of indigenous
people.
* In a landmark decision, the High Court of Australia declared in
1992 that the traditional land rights of the Murray Island people
in the Torres Straits had not been extinguished by the arrival of
the British in Australia. Since the very basis of European
occupation of Australia since 1788 has been the doctrine of "terra
nullius", this decision will set a completely new agenda for the
national debate on indigenous rights.
* In New Zealand, the Government and the National Maori Congress
are engaged in constructive dialogue to resolve a number of
disputes, including the issue of self-rule.
Indigenous people in many parts of the world have made important
gains in recent years in their long-standing drive to achieve
autonomy in their ancestral homelands. On the other hand, the
reluctance of many Governments to grant further recognition to the
claims of indigenous peoples to self-rule has impeded progress in
this area for a vast number of indigenous communities.
Discrimination has also stood its ground in many parts of the
world. Indigenous people in some countries are still being
assimilated against their will; old treaties between indigenous
communities and States are being unilateraly abrogated by national
Governments, and economic and social policies are being introduced
that are insensitive to the priorities of indigenous people.
Indigenous people see themselves as the legitimate claimants to
their territories and natural resources, and they consider control
over local economy, social planning, land use and fiscal autonomy
on their homelands essential to their continued existence. Many
States, however, are fearful of separatist tendencies that could
lead to national disintegration and tend to underline the
principle of territorial sovereignty while rejecting demands for
autonomy. Over the years, indigenous people, feeling
short-changed or ignored by national Governments, have placed
their legitimate grievances before the international community
through the United Nations.
In 1990, the General Assembly proclaimed 1993 as International
Year for the World's Indigenous People in order to strengthen
"international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by
indigenous communities in areas such as human rights, the
environment, development, education and health". The
Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights was named Coordinator for
the Year and the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva was made the
coordinating body for the Year's activities. Commenting on the
subject of self-rule, the Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights
said in 1991 that "One of the central issues in the elaboration of
new standards to protect and promote the rights of indigenous
peoples is that of autonomy or internal self-government". He also
noted that "there is as yet no consensus on this important
principle". The International Year seems likely to intensify
efforts to strike a balance between the legitimate aspirations of
indigenous peoples and the genuine concerns of States.
Self-Rule In Action Although a great majority of the nearly 300
million indigenous and tribal peoples live in Asia and the
Americas, progress towards indigenous self-rule has been led by
the Nordic countries, where strong liberal democratic tradition
coupled with effective political organization on the part of
indigenous communities have made self-rule and high levels of
local autonomy a reality.
In 1979, Denmark passed the Home Rule Act granting the local Inuit
population of Greenland wide powers of self-government within a
single state system while maintaining the territorial and legal
unity of Denmark. Although they cannot enter international
treaties on their own, the Inuit of Greenland now have
considerable legislative autonomy on a wide range of domestic
issues.
In 1987, the Norwegian Parliament established the Saami Advisory
Assembly to preserve the life-style and culture of Norway's local
indigenous communities. A year later, a constitutional amendment
obligated the State to develop and protect indigenous culture and
traditions.
Today, 100,000 indigenous people in Greenland, Norway and Sweden
enjoy home-rule arrangements, and the home-rule experiences of the
Saami, Inuit and other indigenous people in these countries are a
model for future self-rule arrangements in other parts of the
world.
Positive steps to foster self-rule by indigenous people have also
been taken in New Zealand, where the Cook Islands and the island
of Niue enjoy a high level of self-rule.
Despite these successes and the increased international attention
given to the issue, self-rule remains an elusive goal for
indigenous peoples in other parts of the world. The legal
frameworks of many countries contain little or no recognition of
the fundamental rights of indigenous people as such. Even in
countries whose laws provide ample protection for indigenous
rights, it is common for national parliaments or other national
bodies to retain the final legislative authority on issues with
strategic implications, such as control over mineral resources on
indigenous lands.
The United Nations and Self-Rule Many indigenous peoples base
their claims for the right to self-rule on the fact that the
principle of self-determination is mentioned in the United Nations
Charter and included in the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. Since its creation in 1919, the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been a pioneer in
issues involving indigenous people. In 1957, ILO Convention No.
107 defined indigenous people as the original inhabitants of lands
subjugated by colonial occupation. ILO Convention No. 169,
adopted in 1989, went further, stating that "irrespective of their
legal status, indigenous people should retain some or all of their
own social, economic, cultural and political institutions".
Together, the two Conventions recognize the historic relationship
between indigenous people and their inhabited land and stress the
rights of indigenous peoples to exercise control over their own
institutions, ways of life and economic development within the
boundaries of states where they live. But international action on
behalf of indigenous people has not been limited to the ILO's
efforts. In the early years of the United Nations, indigenous
representatives made sporadic appeals to the world organization,
but there was no specific reaction. A turning-point came in 1970,
when the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities initiated an inquiry into discrimination
against indigenous people.
Conducted by Special Rapporteur Jose Martinez Cobo, the report
offered a bold and unprecedented assessment of the plight of
indigenous people. Among other things, it presented the view that
"indigenous people have a natural and inalienable right to keep
territory they possess and claim the lands which have been taken
from them" and that self-determination is a basic right to be
enjoyed by indigenous people "expressed in different forms of
autonomy within the State".
These and other conclusions, proposals and recommendations helped
to improve global recognition of the important role of indigenous
people in the human rights field and in areas such as environment,
development and culture. Perhaps most significantly, the Martinez
Cobo study, as the report has come to be known, was well received
by indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
many member States, and it generated momentum for the creation of
yet another focused body within the United Nations human rights
programme -- the Working Group on Indigenous Populations. The
Working Group was set up in 1982 as a subsidiary organ of the
Sub-Commission to develop international standards concerning the
rights of indigenous peoples and to review national developments
pertaining to the promotion and protection of their rights. Under
Chairman/Rapporteur Erica-Irene Daes, the Working Group has become
both the focal point in the United Nations system for activity
relating to indigenous people and one of the largest United
Nations forums in the field of human rights. The group's annual
meetings in Geneva have attracted large numbers of indigenous
peoples' organizations, Government representatives, scholars and
academics. Currently, the Working Group is drafting a Universal
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which it hopes to
complete by the end of 1993 for eventual proclamation by the
United Nations General Assembly.
Meeting for Self-Rule Two recent meetings sponsored by the United
Nations dealt with the issue of self-government for indigenous
people. In January 1989, at the request of the United Nations
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a seminar was organized in
Geneva to study the effects of racism and racial discrimination on
the social and economic relations between indigenous people and
States. An indigenous expert, Chief Ted Moses of the Grand
Council of the Crees of Quebec, Canada, served as Rapporteur for
the gathering -- the first time an indigenous person had served in
this capacity for a United Nations meeting. One of the main
topics on the agenda was the right of indigenous people to
self-government and autonomy. The session concluded, among other
things, that without recognition of their collective rights, the
individual freedoms of indigenous people could not be guaranteed.
A September 1991 United Nations "Meeting of Experts" stands as a
milestone in the struggle by indigenous people for self-rule.
Authorized by the General Assembly as part of the plan of
activities being implemented during the Second Decade to Combat
Racism and Racial Discrimination, the Experts assembled in Nuuk,
Greenland, where indigenous people have realized home-rule and
internal self-management, in order to review schemes of internal
self-government in several countries and to issue a set of
recommendations. Nominated by a number of Member States, the
participants included lawyers, representatives of indigenous
groups, human rights officials, anthropologists, government
figures and other experts in the field. Representatives of United
Nations Member States and United Nations specialized agencies,
indigenous peoples' organizations and NGOs attended as observers.
Recognizing that "indigenous peoples are historically
self-governing, with their own languages and cultures, laws and
traditions", the experts stated that self-determination is a
"precondition for freedom, justice and peace, both within States
and in the international community". They also stressed that
there can be no single, universal solution since the situation of
each indigenous group is unique.
The Nuuk Meeting of Experts also recognized the concerns of States
by emphasizing that the realization of political rights "should
not pose a threat to the territorial integrity of the State" and
that "within states, autonomy and self-government for indigenous
peoples contribute to peaceful and equitable political, spiritual,
social and economic development". Noting that many States had not
yet ratified ILO Convention No. 169, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Experts recommended that
these States do so and that they take additional measures to
promote indigenous self-rule.
Self-Rule and the Draft Universal Declaration The draft Universal
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples contains similar
language concerning the principle of self-rule. As of the most
recent draft, paragraph 27 states that indigenous peoples have the
"right to autonomy in matters relating to their own internal and
local affairs, including education, information, mass media,
culture, religion, health, housing, employment, social welfare in
general, traditional and other economic and management activities,
land and resources administration, environment, and entry by
non-members as well as internal taxation for financing these
autonomous functions". Draft paragraph 31 states that indigenous
peoples "have the right to claim that States or their successors
honour treaties and other agreements concluded with indigenous
peoples."
To further encourage Governments to support the United Nations
formula, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations has stressed
repeatedly that the draft Universal Declaration will deal only
with autonomous arrangements within the territorial integrity of
States; some indigenous people have considered full national
independence or secession as an option for self-determination.
Ultimately, as the Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights has
stated, international human rights instruments such as a
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples "can only be built
on mutual understanding and respect, and consensus". History has
shown that constitutions, standards and statutes alone do not by
themselves guarantee freedom from discrimination or the enjoyment
of human rights. Rather, the persistent efforts of all groups --
including Governments, indigenous organizations and international
bodies -- will be required if the world's indigenous people are to
satisfy their aspirations for self-rule.