The Following is the text of the new "Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" from the UN site, as adopted yesterday by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The vote was 143-4 with 11 abstentions. There were 9 amendments made by negotiation between the Sponsors of the resolution last December (2006) and the African Group who led the charge to delay its adoption and to do further negotiations. For those who are interested, the documents relating to the 22 years of drafting, as well as the amendments made prior to its adoption yesterday can be found at www.docip.org The most significant amendment to last year's text is in article 46 where a statement was inserted that nothing in the Declaration supported threats against the territorial integrity or political unity of a state governing in accordance with human rights standards -- which arguably now includes the standards of the Declaration.
Professor G. William Rice
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 E. 4th Place
Tulsa, OK 74104
Tel: (918) 631-2456
Fax: (918) 631-2194
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (document A/61/L.67) was adopted by a recorded vote of 143 in favour to 4 against, with 11 abstentions, as follows:
In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Against: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States.
Abstain: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa, Ukraine.
Absent: Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Montenegro, Morocco, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Tajikistan, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.
Source for vote information: PR_AdoptionDeclarationfn.pdf
(this document contains additional relevant information.)
The International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004) was proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 48/163 of 21 December 1993 with the main objective of strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as human rights, the environment, development, education and health. The theme for the Decade is "Indigenous people: partnership in action". In the same resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to appoint the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights as the Coordinator of the Decade and established the Voluntary Fund for the Decade to assist the funding of projects and programs which promote the goals of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. In its resolution 52/108, the General Assembly appointed the High Commissioner for Human Rights as Coordinator of the Decade.
In its resolution 49/214 of 23 December 1994, the General Assembly adopted the short-term program of activities for 1995. The comprehensive program of activities was adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 50/157 of 21 December 1995. The General Assembly also authorized the establishment of the Voluntary Fund for the International Decade for the purpose of financing projects and programmes during the Decade.
The General Assembly adopted resolution 59/174 on 20 December 2004 which proclaims a second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People to commence on 1 January 2005.
The Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs has been appointed as the coordinator of the second Decade and a voluntary fund has been established as a successor to the already-existing Voluntary Fund of the first Decade.
Please note that the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as Coordinator of the first Decade, will therefore not be considering requests for funding of new projects this year.
Draft resolution on the Second Decade (document A/C.3/59/L.30)
See also:
Report of the Secretary-General on the preliminary review by the Coordinator of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People on the activities of the United Nations system in relation to the Decade (E/2004/82).
Working Group on Indigenous Populations: working_group_on_indigenous_populations.pdf