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Key U.N. committee delays action
on declaration to protect
rights of native peoples
The Associated Press
The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee voted Tuesday to delay action on a declaration to protect the rights of native peoples, dealing a blow to indigenous rights advocates who have been campaigning for a U.N. resolution for many years.
The new U.N. Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, approved the declaration on June 29 and recommended that the 192-member General Assembly adopt it.
The draft declaration asserts that "indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms." It also states that indigenous people should be free from discrimination and have a right "to consider themselves different and to be respected as such."
But the draft failed to pass its first hurdle in the assembly's human rights committee.
Peru, supported by a number of European and Latin American countries, urged adoption of the declaration. But Namibia said some provisions in the draft declaration contradicted the national constitutions of a number of African countries.
On behalf of African nations, Namibia proposed amendments to put off consideration of the declaration to allow further consultations and to conclude consideration of the declaration by the end of the current General Assembly session in September 2007.
The committee adopted the amendments by a vote of 82 to 67 with 25 abstentions.
The amended draft declaration was then adopted by a vote of 83 to 0 with 91 abstentions.
Among developed countries, Finland on behalf of the European Union urged a vote against delaying action on the declaration, saying it would be a groundless delay. But New Zealand, Australia and Canada spoke in favor of a delay. The United States abstained on both votes.
New Zealand said the text was fundamentally flawed and in the face of widespread reservations, a delay was warranted to try to reach consensus.
Mexico, on the other hand, said it seemed strange to ask for additional time since 24 years of negotiations had taken place and the delay would only put off attention to the rights of indigenous peoples.
Adele Wildschut of the Indigenous Caucaus told the Human Rights Council in June that the declaration had its roots in the 1970s when American Indians were asserting their rights.
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General Assembly President, HE Madame Sheika Heya Rashed Al Khalifa, receives greetings from Indigenous delegate, Jose Carlos Morales. The President listened to requests that the Indigenous Peoples be acknowledged in the General Assembly when the Declaration is formally adopted.