The Tenth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, took place May 16-27 at the United Nations in New York, with numerous side sessions, including Cultural Survival and FAIRA co-organizing a side session: Creating Community Dialog around the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the Use of Community Controlled Media (http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/).Among the events of the first day ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session, 1st & 2nd Meetings (AM & PM)," http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/hr5051.doc.htm), Rebeca Grynspan, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that it was important to put the Forum's past work into the context of broader efforts to promote sustainable human development. Achieving inclusive development that made communities more just and coherent, and that incorporated the views of diverse groups, including indigenous peoples, was essential to that end. More than 20 years after the United Nations Human Development Report first stated that people were the "real wealth of nations", she said, indigenous people still constituted up to one third of the world's poor. The twentieth anniversary of the Human Development Report, in 2010, showed that development metrics were lower for indigenous peoples in both high and low-income countries. Among other measures, they had overall lower rates of educational attainment and income, indicating a gap for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals worldwide. In order to address those issues, countries needed to take action in three key areas. First, they needed more inclusive governance systems. While some progress had been made on that issue in particular in Latin America there was still a lack of cultural understanding and discrimination in too many places. UNDP was working to promote indigenous rights more effectively, including from the perspective of democratic, inclusive governance. It was also ensuring safeguards for all its activities, in order to ensure that they were in line with the principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Its work also incorporated the principle of free and informed consent, she said. A second key area for countries was the need to implement strategies guided by the views and priorities of indigenous peoples, she said. To that end, it was important to overcome "invisibility", including the lack of adequate statistics on indigenous communities, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. UNDP was helping countries to gather better data with the participation of indigenous peoples themselves, she said. It was also rolling out a Millennium Development Goal acceleration framework, which would serve as a tool to help countries identify "real barriers" to achieving the Goals. Finally, Governments needed to strengthen their institutions and capabilities. Harmonizing legislation and organizational objectives with indigenous rights was a first step, she said, but they should also translate those rights into policy and practice. "Our successÉ will depend on our joint work, and a partnership with all the stakeholders represented in this room today," she concluded, calling for action in the spirit of a "common purpose." Dinah Shelton, Commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States, said that indigenous peoples in the 35 member states of the Organization of American States were facing threats to their very existence, including conflict, poverty, violence, structural discrimination and environmental degradation, among others. They continued to be systematically excluded from the social, economic and political life of their countries, to the determinant of their well-being. Indigenous peoplessuffered from lower levels of access to employment and education, distance from decision-making, racism and other threats. Generalized patterns of poverty and exclusion had even led to a form of "contemporary slavery", characterized in some places by labor exploitation and debt bondage. Ancestral territories were under threat from powerful transnational companies that sought their resources, she said. Indigenous communities were still progressively deprived of those lands, and were exposed to environmental degradation. Human rights were limited by the lack of free, prior informed consultation. Exclusion was also evident in the lack of access by indigenous peoples to justice, and in "prevailing patterns of impunity" for the violation of their human rights. Some progress had been made, including legal reforms, but those achievements suffered from a lack of enforcement. The Inter-American Commission had established in the 1970s that indigenous peoples had special rights, and had since dealt with many cases throughout the Americas. The Rapporteurship of the Commission, in particular, protected rights including by granting precautionary measures, producing special reports where necessary, and conducting specialized in-depth studies. Those included, most recently, a study on indigenous and tribal peoples' rights over their ancestral lands and resources. The Inter-American Commission had also been working on the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, she said. Commenting on the analysis report prepared by Permanent Forum's secretariat on economic and social development, the environment and free, prior and informed consent (document E/C.19/2011/13), Forum Chair Ms. Cuningham said that approximately 173 recommendations had been formulated on a broad range of economic and social development issues, with the majority addressed to the United Nations system and to Governments. Over the years, the Permanent Forum had recommended a paradigm shift to Governments and financial institutions, including on the concept of informed consent, as well as the greater participation of indigenous people in decision- and policy-making. She said some progress had been made, notably by the Agricultural Development Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Other notable efforts were made by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Asian Bank and the inter-American Development Bank, among others. There was also a trend to establish indigenous consultations in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She particularly highlighted UNICEF as a "pioneer" in this regard. She said the Permanent Forum was also paying particular attention to the representation of indigenous peoples in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Although some groups had been able to participate in the General Assembly's high-level 2010 summit on those Goals and six references to indigenous peoples had ultimately been included in that summit's final document very few indigenous groups were able to participate in the variety of initiatives aimed at achieving those Goals. Yet, it was clear that the Goals would not be achieved without the full participation of indigenous peoples, who could make significant contributions toward reducing maternal and infant death and ending violence against women, among other things. In that regard, she underlined the need for further data on indigenous communities. The Permanent Forum had also stressed the central function of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by, among other things, affirming that the rights of indigenous peoples must be respected, including through funding support at the United Nations. Nevertheless, indigenous peoples continued to be disproportionately represented among the poor and extreme poor. Further, they were particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. She called on all participants to fully participate in the debate on recommendations for economic and social development. Pavel Sulyandziga, Special Rapporteur, then presented an oral report on indigenous models of development. For the first part of the presentation, he gave the floor to Andrey Galaev Chief Executive Officer of the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company in the Russian Federation's Sakhalin Island, who said the main responsibility of his company was to conduct social welfare projects, including with indigenous peoples on Sakhalin Island. The first inhabitants of the island had struggled against many threats over their history, including the harsh climate, but today they faced the challenges of urbanization and exclusion from a globalizing community, among others. Since 1994, his company had been working with indigenous communities on the Island to provide programmes for their education and health, as well as safeguarding their cultures. "Who knows better the needs of indigenous peoples than indigenous peoples themselves?" he asked, saying that it was impossible to develop effective plans for indigenous communities without their input. A corporate culture based on social responsibility was critical, he said. Work by the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company was conducted alongside councils of indigenous people, and provided examples of the successes that could be achieved if work was participatory and sufficient resources were available. In 2010, the company's second assistance plan for 2010-2015, has been established, and was now being fully implemented. It was based, among other things, on the principle of free and informed prior consent. The company had also been able to create a "solid platform" for living with indigenous peoples, which could serve as a model for others. Turning to research conducted by the Special Rapporteur in the area of indigenous people and business, Mr. Pavel said that the study, conducted with the participation of Forum members, had looked at key international documents and standards in the area of indigenous rights, as well as the experiences of countries around the world. Indigenous peoples today were going through a very difficult time, he said, as broad industrial projects were implemented, including the extraction of resources on indigenous territories. That work impacted soil, water and other land resources, as well as the well-being and cultural survival of their communities. Their future would depend on the actions of Governments, especially on environmental issues and policies around indigenous peoples. In that vein, he said, "paternalistic" policies that had long been in place had led to the assimilation, apathy, loss of values and hopelessness of indigenous communities. Those policies, therefore, stood in the way of indigenous development, he added. Since the 1980s, some progress had been made in indigenous self-governance, as illustrated in cases, such as the Sami people in Norway. However, it was essential to do away with all paternalistic policies, which would allow the growth and diversification of indigenous peoples. Without a "thorough, detailed elaboration of State policies" in each country, he concluded, that development would not be possible. Rodney Cooke, Director of the Policy and Technical Advisory Division of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said that IFAD's new Strategic Framework 2011-2015 had as its goals to enable poor rural people to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes and strengthen their resilience. The Framework underscored that the lack of effective political representation of indigenous peoples often led to policies that did not respond to their needs. In order to address that issue, IFAD would expand its policy engagement with its developing member states by working with Governments, farmers' organizations, indigenous peoples' organizations and other partners to develop comprehensive and coherent rural development policies. IFAD would strive to increase the decision-making and organizational capacity of rural people living in poverty especially women, indigenous people and youth. Emphasis would also be given to increased communication and advocacy in eradicating poverty. Luz Angela Melo, Human Rights Adviser for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that UNFPA was continuing its efforts to mainstream indigenous issues throughout its strategies and programs, and announced that it had elaborated and finished its Corporate Strategy on Indigenous Issues. That strategy, among other things, provided guidance for UNFPA country offices on how to promote the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how to support Governments and indigenous organizations to advance the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples. Cath Halbert, Deputy Secretary, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs of Australia, said her Government was committed to stronger engagement with indigenous communities, in line with its support for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. With support from the Government, the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples would provide a central mechanism for Governments and the corporate and community sectors to engage and partner on reform initiatives. It would also be an informed and strong national voice for the goals, aspirations and values of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The National Congress, which would hold its inaugural session in June 2011, exemplified the goal of full and effective participation of indigenous women in decision-making processes. In other areas, Australia was committed to pursuing recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in its constitution, she said. An Expert Panel had been appointed to gather views on how on that might be achieved and would report to the Government by December 2011 on possible options of constitutional change. Australia remained committed to closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, and it was driven by three important imperatives: overcoming decades of under-investment in services and infrastructure; encouraging personal responsibility as the foundation for healthy, functional families and communities; and building new understanding and respect between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. To that end, significant reforms had been undertaken and, among other things, the gap in mortality rates between indigenous children under five and other groups was closing. A draft Indigenous Economic Development Strategy had also been developed and would be finalized later this year. Aqqaluk Lynge, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and speaking on behalf of the Arctic Caucus, said that the Arctic was a centre of attention due to global climate change and the race to extract natural resources. The people of the Arctic saw changes on a daily basis, and worried about the impact of climate change. Last week, the inter-governmental organization Arctic Council held its seventh Ministerial Meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, he said, and for the first time had developed a legally binding agreement among the foreign ministers of the United States, Canada, Russian Federation, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. That "Nuuk Declaration" was signed on 12 May, and created a standing secretariat of the Arctic Council. There was a growing recognition that the Arctic should be governed by the people in the Arctic, he said. As the Arctic Council expanded and more legally binding instruments were negotiated, members of the Inuit Circumpolar Council believed that they should be allowed to be part of negotiations on an equal footing with States, he said. He also drew the attention of the Forum to the "Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat", presented in Nuuk on 11 May. That declaration, which had been developed at an Inuit Leaders' Summit in Canada, called for the responsible development of the Arctic, prioritization of Inuit involvement in decision-making and greater Inuit economic and cultural self-sufficiency and self-determination. Jacquwline Bwenadette K. Carino of the Asia Caucus affirmed and reiterated the Permanent Forum's prior recommendations regarding social, economic and cultural rights. She particularly recommended that Asian States enact better laws in line with international human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples, including regulating the activities of investors and corporations and mitigating the negative impact of economic liberalization of their territories. Asian States must also take effective measures to halt land alienation in indigenous territories and to ensure the implementation of free, prior and informed consent regarding development projects. United Nations agencies, financial institutions and Member States must take a series of measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change on indigenous communities, as well as protect and nurture their traditional natural resource management practices, biodiversity and cultural diversity. She further stressed the need for Asian States to fully recognize and respect indigenous peoples and cultures and give proportionate attention to reducing the number of indigenous peoples in poverty through implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. International and financial institutions, translational corporations and other businesses must adopt and bide by at least the minimum human rights and environmental standards consistent with the International Labor Organization Convention 169, as well as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Those same States must, along with the United Nations system, support the revitalization and strengthening of indigenous peoples' cultural heritage, while also recognizing their rights to own, control, use and have access to their forests. Finally, they should also support the efforts of indigenous peoples to consolidate their own development models and concepts, and strengthen their capacities in that regard. Laetitia Zobel, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), said the Program had been working over the last 10 years to develop relevant guidelines to allow its staff to address indigenous issues and to engage indigenous peoples as partners in it work. UNEP was also using the development of its fifth Global Environment Outlook (GEO 5), which provided a tool for countries' informed decision-making, by accounting for the views of indigenous peoples through inviting them to participate in ongoing preparatory consultations. GEO 5 would be launched in the run-up to Rio+20, and UNEP was intensively involved in preparing for that conference, which would provide a historic opportunity to take ambitious steps that set the stage for transforming the sustainable development paradigm. Continuing, she said UNEP had launched a report at the Fourth Conference on Least Developed Countries entitled "Why a green economy matters for the least developed countries", where many indigenous peoples lived. Among other things, it recognized that activities practiced by indigenous peoples would be central elements in any green economy strategy. Among other efforts, UNEP was also working to involve indigenous peoples in a dialogue with all the major groups on the green economy.
The third and fourth sessions of the UNPFII Focused on Indigenous Peoples and Forests; Issue of Free, Prior Informed Consent for Development on Indigenous Lands, including continued obstructions to Ð and denial of Ð rights of indigenous peoples to lands, forests resulting in ongoing marginalization, and permanent poverty ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session, 3rd & 4thMeetings (AM & PM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/hr5053.doc.htm). Dalee Sambo Dorough, Permanent Forum member from the United States, said the profound relationship between indigenous peoples and their environment was critical to that concept. This was especially true in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples to lands, territories and resources, and to self-determination. Further, free, prior and informed consent must be understood in all cases as a double right that include both the right to give, or to withhold consent. Joining a number of other speakers, she pointed out that several critical international institutions, such as the World Bank, had not yet fully embraced free, prior and informed consent, while misconceptions of consent predominated among States. That was the case, despite the fact that free, prior and informed consent was essential to all development projects and the principle had emerged as the desired standard in protecting the rights if indigenous peoples. Moreover, it was increasingly recognized that what was at stake was, in fact, the present and future of a people, not simply the specific and limited benefits of a development project. In presenting the report of the International Expert Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Forests, Edward John, Forum member from Canada, said the onus of proof was often placed on indigenous peoples because Governments continued to deny the existence of underlying rights until they had been proved. Even when the courts did make a decision, enforcement mechanisms were often missing, he said. The report recommended that the United Nations provide, to lawyers and other judicial officers, training on the customary laws of indigenous peoples. It also stressed that extractive industries must go further in ensuring respect of indigenous peoples. Echoing many other speakers today, Mr. .John expressed particular concern that many forestry industry groups and corporate social responsibility guidelines were frequently voluntary and too often went unused and un-enforced. Providing an oral summary of a soon-to-be-published study on indigenous peoples and forests, Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said indigenous peoples retained the closest relationship of any humans with forests. Nonetheless, the study which had looked at a broad range of forests, dry land forests in Africa to tropical and other forests revealed that the formulation of national forest laws and programs often systematically undermined the customary rights of indigenous peoples. She said that, while some actions had been taken by Governments in the areas of reforestation and increasing forest cover, on the whole, those actions had not translated into the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples on the ground. The study concluded that, if the tenure rights of indigenous peoples were respected and promoted, forests would be better kept. She also noted that participants to the recent sixteenth Conference of Parties meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun had stressed that countries wishing to implement the UN-Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation In Developing Countries (REDD) must also implement several crucial safeguards related to indigenous peoples to promote: respect for indigenous rights; respect for biodiversity; better forest governance; and the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples. Throughout the debate on the environment, speakers called attention to the lack of participation by indigenous peoples in the international climate change dialogue, with many of them expressing fear, anger and alarm at the consequences of such exclusion. Several speakers said the Permanent Forum must urge the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change to research the full effects of climate change on indigenous peoples, as well as ways to build resilience to its effects. The Forum should also urge States to: use free and prior informed consent and self-determination processes when engaging indigenous peoples in carbon economies; and ban leaching as a mining practice on all lands. Many delegates also called for the appointment of a Permanent Forum member as Special Rapporteur to conduct studies on existing and potential violations of the human rights of indigenous people affected by carbon markets, the Clean Development Mechanism and the REDD+-type projects, and to report to the forum at its 2012 session. Introducing the report of the International Expert Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Forests, Edward John, Forum Member from Canada, recalled the address by the Secretary-General in which he pointed out that an estimated one to two indigenous languages died each week. Mr. John underscored the relation between that remark and forests by highlighting the close relationship between indigenous peoples and everything around them, including forests. He said the report of the Expert Meeting included as its overall recommendation that the report should be endorsed by the Permanent Forum. More specifically, he said thereport's conclusions included 16 individual recommendations on material rights, participation and capacity, good practices and the role of industry. While there had been a fair amount of focus on the material rights of indigenous peoples to forests, there had not been enough focus on the right to land. Among other things, the onus of proof was placed on indigenous peoples because State Governments continued to deny the existence of the underlying rights, until they had been proved. Even when the courts did make a decision, enforcement mechanisms were often missing. The recommendations on participation and capacity included a specific suggestion that the General Assembly include the full and effective participation of the Permanent Forum and indigenous peoples in the preparation for Rio+20, as well as in the Forum on Forests. It also said the United Nations should provide to lawyers and other judicial officers training on the customary laws of indigenous peoples. He said that, in terms of good practices, the report called for greater implementation of the provisions of the United Nations declaration. Regarding the role of industry, the report stressed that extractive industries should respect indigenous peoples and should only enter their territory following a fairly negotiated agreement. He expressed concern that many forestry industry groups and corporate social responsibility guidelines were frequently voluntary and too often went unused and un-enforced. Overall, the goal was to ensure that indigenous peoples had a say in what happened on, and to, their territories, he stressed. Victoria TauliI-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur, orally presented a study on indigenous peoples and forests, which, she said, would soon be ready for publication. She said that the study had looked at a broad range of forests, ranging from dry land forests in Africa to tropical and other forests. The indigenous peoples in forests had been marginalized, mostly because their rights to continue to control and manage had been violated. Today, indigenous peoples retained the closest relationship of any humans with forests. The study hadexamined the formulation of national forest laws and programs, which it found had systematically undermined the customary rights of indigenous peoples. Industrial and commercial forestry, for example, with the pulp and paper industries, were contributing to limiting the multiple uses of forests. While some actions had been taken by Governments in the areas of reforestation and increasing forest cover, on the whole, those actions had not translated into the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples on the ground. The study concluded that if the tenure rights of indigenous peoples were respected and promoted, forests would be better kept. "Indigenous peoples are really the best keepers of the forests," she said. She added that, in Cancun, delegates had stressed that countries wishing to implement the UN-Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation In Developing Countries (REDD) must also implement several crucial safeguards related to indigenous peoples: respect for indigenous rights; respect for biodiversity; better forest governance; and ensuring the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples. Land tenure and gender issues should also be taken into consideration. Moreover, among other recommendations, the Special Rapporteur's study stressed that the Permanent Forum should make sure that the material rights of indigenous peoples to forests should be respected, and that monitoring mechanisms on how those rights were being respected must be implemented. John T. Kris, Chairperson of the Torres Strait Regional Authority of Australia, said that his country's low-lying coastal islands, including those of the Torres Strait, were on the front-line of climate change owing to rising sea levels. Every year those low-lying communities were inundated by rising tides and many communities required the construction of sea walls and critical infrastructure to address those floodwaters. He requested that the Forum's participants consider what would happen to their lands if they were regularly flooded by seawater. "These are the grim realities of climate change," he said, adding that, "This is happening now." He stressed that coastal communities had no retreat. However, thus far, there had been close collaboration between all levels of Government to model for floods and to promote sustainable land planning. He welcomed that collaborative approach. Adding that climate change also affected marine environments, he called attention to the work of the Torres Strait Regional Authority in developing effective policies. He also called for immediate actions and funding to address the impact of flooding in low-lying and coastal areas, pointing out that if action was not swift, there was a potential for a human rights crisis. He also underlined the prospect that unique traditional cultures faced irreparable damage. Pablo Socon (Bolivia) said theGovernment of Bolivia had rejected the "bad agreement" reached at the United Nations Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, which would have serious consequences for many in the world community. Glaciers in Bolivia and other places around the world would disappear, he said, affecting both indigenous and farming communities. Regarding the United Nations Collaborative Initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme, Bolivia did not agree with the "commercialization" of environmental services, stressing instead, that it was necessary to preserve forests and the rights of indigenous peoples. REDD+ would assign prices to the resources of the forests, benefiting transnational companies in the North the most, at the expense of forests in the global South. Bolivia believed that there had to be economic payments made to those countries that preserved forests, but that those payments should not be based on market mechanisms, he said. Instead, they should be drawn from a tax on financial transactions, without any conditions. He recommended to the Forum that it conduct a "bold study" on the consequences of providing certificates for the reduction of carbon emissions, as provided for by the REDD+ program, on indigenous peoples. The commercialization of nature was directly contrary to the values of indigenous peoples, he concluded, as indigenous communities deeply respected forests and wished to preserve the rights of nature. Doug Yaakashima, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said his Organization had held a conference on biological and cultural diversity in June 2010, which resulted in a Declaration on Bio-Cultural Diversity and a draft Joint Program between UNESCO and the Secretariat on the Convention on Biological Diversity. Moreover, at the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity, UNESCO's Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems launched a two-volume publication entitled "Mayanagna Knowledge of the Interdependence of People and Nature". The program had also responded to the Permanent Forum's recommendation that indigenous peoples be fully and effectively included in appropriate processes and environmental conventions, such as those on climate change, by working to bring recognition to the concerns of indigenous peoples. Among other things, the project "On the Frontlines of Climate Change" included an online forum that reached an estimated 60,000 people worldwide. He said UNESCO was also partnering with the United Nations University and other groups to organize expert meetings in Mexico City, Mexico and Cairns, Australia, on the essential role of local and indigenous knowledge in monitoring climate change impacts and adaptation efforts. His Organization had also participated in the follow-up meeting on the International Experts Group Meeting on Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development, held in Monaco in 2009, he said. Ruka Sombolinggi, of the Asia Indigenous People's Caucus, presented the result of the Regional Preparatory Meeting of Asia's Indigenous Peoples on the United Nations Mechanisms and Procedures relating to Indigenous Peoples, held in Chaing Mai, Thailand, in February 2011. Asian indigenous peoples' land, territories and resources continued to be the targets of Governments and multinational companies for resource extraction and other projects, leading to conflicts, displacement, livelihood and health consequences for indigenous peoples. In many Asian countries, Governments also imposed "restrictive policies" and laws in the name of forest conservation and development. Indigenous communities were also now faced with actions related to REDD+ programmes, which could threaten their livelihoods, including their practice of traditional forest management. She said conversion of indigenous peoples' lands and forests for large-scale production of biofuels, as part of climate change mitigation measures, had adversely affected indigenous peoples' food sovereignty and rights to water, shelter and health. The Caucus recognized that the Permanent Forum had made substantive recommendations on environmental and forest issues relevant to indigenous peoples, but noted that gaps still existed in the implementation of those recommendations. In particular, it called the attention of the Forum to the efforts of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to develop a policy of engagement for indigenous peoples. It was urgent that indigenous peoples be fully involved in that process, she said. Edward Wembewa, of the North American Indigenous Peoples, which many called " Turtle Island", called upon the Permanent Forum to encourage all States to conduct cumulative impact studies, and implement the principles of the "precautionary approach" in industrial development, mineral extractive industries, and environmental standards. Recommendations from the group included: the creation of a mechanism to report and provide consistent recommendations directly to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; that existing United Nations indigenous mechanisms be accredited and participate at the Convention at the same level as other United Nations agencies and programmes; the creation of a dedicated fund to support the participation of indigenous peoples in the Convention process; the acknowledgment of the right of indigenous peoples to forests and the compilation of best practices on forests; the full implementation of the right of free, prior and informed consent; and that low- or deferred-interest loans be available to the renewable resource sector. Lori Johnston, of the Southeast Indigenous Peoples' Center, said that cadmium, and other contaminants recently found in the Gulf of Mexico, threatened the health and lives of indigenous peoples in the region, but that the United States Government would not discuss potential remedies with the indigenous communities living there. Additionally, theworld's oceans were becoming more acidic and, in some places, were too dangerous to navigate. All those problems existed because Governments did not apply the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, which would have foretold such negative results. At the recent nineteenth session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, indigenous communities had participated in discussions on many issues, including, but not limited, to mining, chemical management, and others. They had proposed a financial accountability mechanism for the disposal of waste, among other recommendations. However, the speaking time of the indigenous representatives at that meeting had been severely limited. Among other recommendations to the Forum, she asked that it conduct case studies on the application of the principle of free, prior and informed consent. CR Roy Ah-See, of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and a member of Australia's Wiradjuri People, said that despite the "belated" endorsement by Australia of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, it had continued to show passivity in its implementation, in law and in policy. Instead of providing protection for the country's first peoples, the Australian Constitution enabled the Parliament to take discriminatory actions, he said. Indigenous peoples had been excluded from the drafting of that Constitution, and all but excluded from any mention in its text, as well as denied the most basic principle of citizenship. The discriminatory use of "race power", provided for by the Constitution, was confirmed by the highest court in Australia as recently as 1998, he said, citing the Hindmarsh Island Bridge Case as an example. Anita Lee Hong, National Indigenous Higher Education Network of Australia, said significant challenges remained for the effective engagement by indigenous peoples in education in Australia. While the Australian Government's "Closing the Gap" agenda had made notable progress, including through the development of the national educational curriculum, the process of including indigenous educators had been flawed. The indigenous higher education advisory council had collaborated on two significant programmes, including a national indigenous higher education strategy, which aimed at ensuring that indigenous people were represented in the work force. Turing to the work of the Permanent Forum, she said it must urge Member States to ensure that indigenous peoples were allowed to exercise their rights to education without encumbrance. It should also invite UNESCO to participate in a future session and invite the establishment of links among educators in the Pacific region. Opening the discussion of free, prior and informed consent, Dalee Sambo Dorough, Permanent Forum member from the United States, stressed that support for the rights of indigenous peoples benefited all. That was particularly true in the area of free, prior and informed consent, she said, pointing out that generalized trends of poverty and marginalization among indigenous peoples and resulted from the blatant denial and violation of the basic rights of indigenous peoples, including the right to self-determination, to land and resources, to participation and to free, prior and informed consent. Meanwhile,misconceptions of consent predominated among States, despite the fact that free, prior and informed consent was essential to all development projects, she said. Moreover, in a context of increasing recognition of indigenous peoples, the principle of free, prior and informed consent to development projects and plans that might affect indigenous peoples has emerged as the desired standard in protecting their rights. Indeed, a range of international treaty bodies, such as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, had recognized the centrality and significance of free, prior and informed consent. Among other things, it had been recognized that what was at stake was in fact the present and future of a people, not simply the specific and limited benefits of a development project. Jean-Francois Tremblay (Canada) said that the principle of free, prior and informed consent was about "meaningful consultation", and was central to reconciliation. It was about building and strengthening relationships, and moving away from a "divided past", he said. In cases where the particular interests of indigenous peoples were affected by a proposed measure, they should be consulted. That consultation did not give indigenous peoples a veto power, but was aimed instead at building consensus among all the parties concerned, he said. As Canada had previously stated, when operationalizing the concept of free, prior and informed consent, Governments should support the fair and balanced interest of States, communities and development partners, where relevant. Partnerships should be fostered to ensure that indigenous peoples were more fully consulted. In its work to implement the principle, Canada was taking into account lessons learned, and continued to implement a consultation process that was "equitable and reasonable" for all involved parties, he said. Kirt EjesiakJ, speaking on behalf of the Arctic Caucus, said that some Arctic States, having formally recognized the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination, had put forward an unacceptable interpretation on the scope of that right, with Finland, Norway and Sweden only admitting Saami self-determination in affairs that uniquely concern the Saami, and allowing a mere right to consultation in all other matters. That narrow interpretation of the right to self-determination made little sense. It suggested that Saami self-determination was a genuine right only in such instances where the State had no interest in the matter. Further, he said, their second suggestion, that indigenous self-determination amounted to nothing more that a right to consultation did not withstand scrutiny either. He said the submission of Finland, Norway and Sweden on the scope of indigenous self-determination "Constitutes an illogical and illegal attempt to diminish a right to something less than a right." Sabel Ortega, (Bolivia) said that the Government of Bolivia had set up a steering committee on the issue of consultations with indigenous peoples, and that other related grass-roots organizations also existed for that purpose. Those groups, along with other interested parties, had been working together to set up "forums" to consult with the nation's indigenous peoples, especially in rural areas. Consultations were being held in each department of the country, as well as between organizations. Stakeholders were considering, among other things, how to design laws concerning jurisdiction. On 29 December 2010, a new national law on jurisdiction had been passed, he said, concluding, "Justice is a millennium old system" in Bolivia. Saul Vicente Vazquez, a member of the Permanent Forum from Mexico, said that the principle of free, prior and informed consent was a "crucial item" for indigenous peoples. The Forum must tackle the issue and make relevant recommendations, he said. In that vein, a study had been conducted on the manner in which laws were applied in Latin America. It was concerning to note that, despite the ratification and adoption of many related laws and Declarations, many countries in that region did not recognize the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples, nor did they recognize the majority of rights related to free, prior and informed consent. If the situation did not improve, it would prove difficult to apply the necessary processes protecting the rights of people to the "riches" of their natural resources, he said. Addressing the delegate of Mexico, he said work done in the direction of implementing consultation processes was "encouraging". He drew the attention of that delegate to the fact that the Mexican House of Deputies had made "positive efforts" toward Constitutional reforms, recognizing the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent. Parliamentary members attending the session today could take note of that "positive signal", which showed that the Government of Mexico was in support of the rights of indigenous peoples. Doug Nakashima, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that UNESCO would officially launch a process to elaborate a Policy on Engaging with Indigenous Peoples in September 2011. The principle of free, prior and informed consent would be an issue of major importance in that policy. Currently, a variety of approaches and practices with respect to that principle existed within UNESCO, reflecting the diversity of its programs and standard-setting instruments. Some programs and conventions, including the "Operational Directives for the Implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage", addressed the need for free, prior and informed consent directly, he said. Meanwhile, others, such as UNESCO's Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems program, took the approach that the principle should be applied, not only at the start of the programme, but throughout its development. In 2007, the World Heritage Committee added "Communities" to its Strategic Objectives, noting in particular the critical importance of involving indigenous, traditional and local communities in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. The upcoming fortieth anniversary of that Convention would provide an excellent opportunity for indigenous peoples to engage with UNESCO. Yumnam Jiten, Forum for Indigenous Perspectives and Action of the Asia Caucus, said free, prior and informed consent was linked to the exercise of the right to land and resources. Many Asian States, the Asian Development Bank and other actors had refused to recognize the free, prior and informed consent, despite the recommendations of the Permanent Forum in that regard. For the most part, a lower standard had been adopted. At the same time, many countries continued to deny the existence of indigenous peoples in their territories. The pursuit of mining projects, mega-dams and other mega-development projects, which were often pursued forcefully and through use of the military, were contributing to the destruction of indigenous lands and resources, and added to a culture of impunity. Many private parties were also intruding on indigenous territories without full understanding of, or regard for, free, prior and informed consent. Among other things, Asian States must also ensure that free, prior and informed consent was fully implemented and should, alongside all private corporations, consult with indigenous peoples prior to the launch of any development projects. Kim Ngarimu (New Zealand) said that her Government's Treaty of Waitangi commits it to work with Maori in good faith and in a cooperative manner on all aspects of law and policy, particularly on issues which affect them and in which they had an interest, including mineral and other natural resources, as well as all policy and legislative matters. A wide range of approaches, processes and institutions had allowed them to be active in decision-making. Involvement under those approaches ranged from broad guarantees of participation and consultation to particular instances in which a requirement of consent was appropriate. Participation could be achieved through both formal and informal structures, she said. One non-statutory example sought to balance the protection of marine mammals with the Maori claim to a right to harvest beached whales. A statutory example assured participation in decision-making in the legal regime for shared management of the Waikato River. All participatory processes were based on mutual good faith, cooperation and respect, with the range of processes avoiding a one-size-fits-all stance and continuing to develop. A further perspective, she said, would be provided by the outcome of the Waitangi Tribunal on a claim concerning flora, fauna, cultural and other rights, set for release this year. Juan Carlos Jintach, of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organization of the Amazon River Basin, said the Amazon basin was home to some of the largest extractive projects in Latin America, including those under the umbrella of Integration of Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA). He said with regard to the application of free, prior and informed consent, a number of additional recommendations must be set forth, including provisions of ILO Convention No. 169. He also recommended that the Permanent Forum urge Governments and international organizations to develop, in consultation with indigenous peoples, the means to promote free, prior and informed consent. Moreover, he stressed that ILO Convention No. 169 should also be ratified by those Governments that had not yet done so.
The Fifth session of the UNPFII concerned the fact that despite progress in recognizing Indigenous rights, Indigenous peoples continue to face serious human rights violations on a daily basis ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 5th Meeting (PM)," http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/hr5056.doc.htm). Numerous speakers observed that the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples must be regarded as a political, moral and legal imperative without qualification, the Permanent Forum was told today during a half-day discussion on human rights. While applauding the Declaration's 2007 adoption by the General Assembly as an unequivocal victory, Forum members joined by representatives of indigenous organizations, Governments and United Nations agencies said that document must not be seen as an end in itself, but as the beginning of new stage in the fight for indigenous rights. That fight was still critical, they argued, because indigenous peoples continued to suffer serious human rights abuses on a daily basis, including the pillaging of their national resources, their forced removal or relocation, the denial of their land rights, abuse by military forces and a host of other violations. While progress had been made in recognizing indigenous rights at the international level and in many countries at the national level, she stressed that the implementation of the standards contained in the Declaration still remained the biggest challenge. To that end, a number of mechanisms had been established to monitor and promote their implementation, including through the offices of the different Special Rapporteurs. Still, indigenous peoples should be encouraged to engage domestic remedies, such as local commissions, she said. They should also review and implement international instruments, including those of the various international treaty bodies. At the same time, States should evaluate what steps they could take, in concert with indigenous peoples, to ensure that they were able to exercise their rights.
The Sixth UNFII emphasized that global consensus on the Indigenous rights declaration should b celebrated, but strong efforts are needed to make the principles alive on the ground ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 6th & 7th Meetings (AM & PM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5057.doc.htm). It was broadly agreed that while the global consensus that now stood behind the 2007 Declaration on Indigenous Rights should be celebrated, its implementation remained a "constant challenge" and strong efforts were needed, nationally and internationally, to make its principles "alive in the reality on the ground", the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was told today during a full-day discussion of human rights concerns. James Anaya, the Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples since 2008, told delegates to the Forum's tenth session that implementing the Declaration would require good faith from all stakeholders and urged delegates particularly nation States to consider ways to establish that good faith. To that end, he said his travels to visit with indigenous groups had time and again raised several prominent issues namely, the actions of mining and other extractive industries, and corporate responsibility in the context of indigenous rights. Prompted by repeated requests by indigenous organizations, he said he had decided to focus on the relationship between indigenous peoples and extractive industries as the theme for his 2011 annual report to the Human Rights Council. That report would address concerns about extractive industries, such as mining, and explore new models and alternatives to the patterns and practices that he said had deprived indigenous people of a range of human rights. He said the overriding need in that discussion was to give indigenous peoples the ability to make choices on any project that had an impact on their lives and territories. He also stressed the more general need to develop alternative forms of development, in which indigenous peoples themselves could take charge of development programs. Examples already existed around the world, he said, including those involving the extraction of natural resources. On the topic of corporate responsibility, Mr. Anaya said that any policy drafted in the context of indigenous peoples should be based on the principle of "due diligence", which required that companies ensure any activity they carried out did not constitute an infringement on human rights. While his studies had shown that companies were becoming increasingly aware of their obligations with regard to human rights, they sometimes remained unaware that those rights included those of indigenous peoples and their territories. Additionally, the rights of indigenous peoples, which were all too often still regarded as a "fringe" issue, were not considered at a high enough level within corporate structures. Over the past year, he had continued to assist with the advancement of legislative, administrative and programmatic reforms at the domestic level, including with the Governments of Suriname, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Australia, among others. He had also cooperated with Governments, indigenous peoples, business enterprises, United Nations agencies and other international institutions in the promotion of sound policies, guidelines or international standards in the area of development cooperation and financing, the environment and climate change, corporate responsibility and others. In the area of thematic studies, his third report to the Human Rights Council, made public in September 2010, focused on the responsibility of corporations to respect indigenous peoples' rights and excise due diligence that their conduct did not contribute to the infringement of those rights Mr. Anaya reported that over the past year, he had continued to assist with the advancement of legislative, administrative and programmatic reforms at the domestic level, including with the Governments of Suriname, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, and Australia, among others. He had also cooperated with Governments, indigenous peoples, business enterprises, United Nations agencies and other international institutions in the promotion of sound policies, guidelines or international standards in the area of development cooperation and financing, the environment and climate change, corporate responsibility and others. In the area of thematic studies, his third report to the Human Rights Council, made public in September 2010, focused on the responsibility of corporations to respect indigenous peoples' rights and excise due diligence that their conduct did not contribute to the infringement of those rights. Offering a few suggestions for how the Permanent Forum could build on and strengthen its work to that end, he said that he hoped that the Forum would place an even greater focus on the educational and awareness-raising aspect of its mandate, both at the national and international level. As he had seen many misconceptions about indigenous peoples and their rights, he believed that there was a "paramount need" to generate a more "profound and encompassing dialogue" to build understanding between indigenous peoples and others, and to help shift any persistent negative attitudes or misunderstandings about indigenous peoples and their rights. He hoped that the Forum would develop specific and well-coordinated methods to provide, on an ongoing basis, guidance to United Nations agencies and institutions in relation to their work. He also believed that it would useful for the Forum to undertake a comprehensive review of the work of international agencies related to indigenous peoples, both at the international and country level, to assess the extent to which their programming conformed to the standards expressed in the Declaration. That review could be facilitated by assigning specific rapporteurs to the various institutions within the United Nations. A representative of the North American Indigenous Peoples said there was a critical need for a comprehensive discussion of indigenous peoples' understanding and interpretation of treaties.
The 8th session of the UBPFII was concerned with finding strategic means for correction and urgent revision of the underdevelopment and poverty of Latin America and the Caribbean's Indigenous people stemming from historic wrongs. ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 8th Meeting (AM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5058.doc.htm). It was noted that the uneven development and persistent socio-economic gaps suffered by indigenous populations across the Latin America and Caribbean region undoubtedly stemmed from the historical wrongs committed on its first peoples and the strategic means for correcting those wrongs needed urgent revision. Making introductory remarks, Pauline Sukhai, Minister for Amerindian Affairs of Guyana, said the current situation of indigenous peoples varied from State to State throughout the region, but despite incremental activism to change the status of indigenous peoples, socio-economic gaps between them and non-indigenous citizens remained visibly pronounced, while their livelihood options were extremely restricted. Given the dynamic geopolitical, economic and social environment in the Latin America and Caribbean region, national Governments should have no difficulty in focusing increased and targeted investment on providing resources to educate and train indigenous peoples, she said. Indeed, doing so would yield results in resolving many existing social shortcomings. It would also create opportunities for indigenous populations to effectively respond to their evolving circumstances. "As leaders and facilitators, we must be able to articulate our position as indigenous peoples in a focused manner," she said, stressing that, "to remain relevant, we should re-examine our approach and identify useful strategies to advance our struggles to achieve the objectives and goals of our people". Stressing that exclusion and poverty prevented indigenous peoples from enjoying their rights, Heraldo Mu–oz, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), underlined the need for tax-funded social programs to "break with intergenerational poverty and inequality" among indigenous communities. Outlining the depth of that inequality, he said the regional Human Development Report for Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrated that indigenous peoples and people of Afro-Caribbean descent were in the worst situation, with many living on less than $1 per day. Among those, women and young people, as well as those with disabilities and of Afro-Caribbean descent, were especially vulnerable. Noting that the Millennium Development Goals and poverty reduction in general would not be possible without addressing the needs of indigenous peoples, he saidimproved governance and increased decision-making for their communities were also needed. While the United Nations system had made significant progress in those areas, he stressed that further work must also encourage South-South cooperation, allowing people to apply those rights more effectively. Speaking on behalf of several indigenous organizations, Adolpho Chavez of the Amazon Basin Caucus emphasized the role of democracy in giving indigenous peoples more control over their futures. While noting that democracy was very different in practice for indigenous communities, as compared to States whose systems were based strictly on economic power, he nevertheless noted that democratic processes were the only way to bridge the divide between those who governed and those who were governed. Also speaking on behalf of indigenous organizations, Margarita Guitierrez suggested affirmative action was needed to show that it was a new era of inclusion, rather than exclusion, for indigenous peoples. To that end and echoing many participants from earlier in the week she called for the United Nations to review the name of the Permanent Forum and the Special Rapporteur in order to consider changing the phrase "indigenous issues" to "indigenous peoples". She also called for more training and capacity-building for United Nations staff to heighten awareness of indigenous rights throughout the Organization. A representative of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said health data from the region showed "deep inequalities". For example, an indigenous child ran a 70% higher risk of dying before the age of five than a non-indigenous child. In addition, there was less professional care for indigenous women giving birth, less vaccinations of indigenous children and lower rates of treatment for childhood diseases. Similarly, a representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said one socio-demographic study on indigenous and afro-descendant youth in Latin America conducted by UNFPA had highlighted inequalities and policy challenges. Against that backdrop, she said the Population Fund had, since 2008, carried out a regional program to empower and strengthen indigenous women's organizations. It was also supporting constitutional processes within the framework of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia and Ecuador, and it had contributed to health policy and protocol development in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. Tania Parona Tarqui of Conclave Global de JovŽnes Ind’genas said there was a lack of continuous and good information from demographic censuses on the diversity of indigenous peoples. She also noted that indigenous women and children suffered daily from violence. She expressed concerns over the lack of participation by indigenous youth at the United Nations and other international forums. She said indigenous youth, who were forced to leave their communities to pursue work, were slowly losing touch with their roots and history. She recommended working with the United Nations agencies to promote specific programmes aimed at improving health education of youth from indigenous communities. Funds should also be provided to create policies and programmes for indigenous youth. She called for the Forum to intensify its focus on indigenous youth by focusing on the issues they faced, including cultural diversity, suicide and a loss of their roots. She also noted the problem of trafficking in children and child pornography. Donors should create special funds to boost the participation of indigenous peoples in the Forum.
The 9th and 10th UNPFII 2011 sessions centered on developing a framework strategy for the UN children's fund to address challenges for children facing a 'lifetie of exclusion' ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 9th & 10th Meetings (AM & PM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5060.doc.htm). Delegates to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues meeting with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representatives stressed that a strategic approach was urgently needed to address "disturbing" gaps between the world's richest and poorest children in particular indigenous children. Facing a "lifetime of exclusion", indigenous children were more likely to die before the age of five, less likely to be in school and more likely to drop out of school if they did attend, said Richard Morgan, UNICEF Director of Policy and Practice, as he opened an interactive dialogue with the Forum. Citing the regional example of Latin America and the Caribbean, where it was estimated that child mortality was 70%, and higher for indigenous children than for non-indigenous children, he stressed that not enough was being done to defend the rights of some of the world's most marginalized people. UNICEF's main interventions continued to be in the areas of multicultural and bilingual education, birth registration, culturally appropriate health care and related basic services. In 2009, a report to take stock of UNICEF's work with indigenous children had identified areas that could be strengthened, he said. "We can do better," he stressed. During the dialogue, Forum members and UNICEF representatives heard impassioned appeals from delegates relating the "tragic" situation of indigenous children and young people in their home countries. Many pointed to shocking statistics that demonstrated poor health indicators, violence, high rates of suicide and prevalent discrimination that acted as a barrier to both education and political participation. The situation was further exacerbated by a lack of reliable data, some said, as well as the absence of a holistic, strategic approach to tackling the crisis, both at the national and international level. To address those challenges, Mr. Morgan told the Forum that UNICEF was developing a framework strategy to guide its work with indigenous children. It would aim to address both the immediate manifestations of marginalization, as well as its root causes, and would work to identify "bottlenecks and barriers" in indigenous access to basic services, he said. It would also act as a guide for UNICEF country offices both in issues of practice and principle. Daniel Seymour, Chief of UNICEF's Gender and Rights Unit, said that the agency's work with indigenous children was not only about marginalization and exclusion. UNICEF understood that the rights of the indigenous communities were pertinent to everyone, he stressed, adding that indigenous knowledge and insight were essential to all people around the world. As part of the process towards fully developing its framework strategy, he said, UNICEF would set up working groups to draw on regional experiences, as well as a group of organizations outside of the United Nations. For his part, Mr. Morgan agreed that the strategy was being drawn up with the input of a diverse group of stakeholders, and stressed that UNICEF would continue to rely on consultations with Permanent Forum members before the framework strategy was launched for an initial "pilot" year. Many delegates took the opportunity presented by the dialogue to offer concrete recommendations to both UNICEF and the Permanent Forum. A representative of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, for example, urged UNCIEF to "translate written words into action" by conducting regional and international indigenous youth training programmes, with the aim of building their capacity to effectively respond to current and emerging human rights challenges. It should also prepare a report on the policies, guidelines and programmes of United Nations agencies on the ways in which they address the specific needs of indigenous children, she said, as requested by the Forum during its first session. Additionally, she called for a specific international study on the situation of the rights of indigenous children, and asked UNICEF to appoint an indigenous rights specialist or body as a focal point for indigenous children and youth. Rina Gill, Associate Director of the Gender, Rights and Civic Engagement Section of UNICEF, also stressed the fact that the agency was taking a two-pronged approach to its work with indigenous children. First was the integration of issues related to indigenous peoples into the focus areas of UNICEF's medium-term strategic plan, including child survival, HIV/AIDS, policy advocacy, and others. The second approach, which had so far been the stronger of the two, was to implement "special initiatives" for indigenous children. Both of those approaches demonstrated the need to address not just issues facing indigenous populations, but the "intersectionalities of exclusion" namely, how larger issues, such as poverty, were connected with indigenous peoples. RaviI Karkar, Participation Specialist from UNICEF Headquarters, said the strategy to date had been to strengthen work where it was already taking place and to magnify existing best practices. He said one of its biggest successes was to work with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on General Comment No. 12 on the right of the child to be heard, which spelled out what could be done to increase the participation of indigenous youth. As part of its programmes during the current International Year of Youth, UNICEF had last week jointly co-hosted a side panel with the Youth Caucus and the Permanent Forum on youth-led initiatives to highlight indigenous issues. It was also working to heighten youth voices, he said, further underlining the need to strengthen integration of indigenous issues, including those relevant to indigenous youth. Acknowledging the significant number of gaps in the participation of youth in policy development, he stressed that UNICEF was currently drafting a number of handbooks, including one for parliamentarians, which had specific sections on indigenous children. Other initiatives included education on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the development of youth networks, and an annotated bibliography on good practices on the participation of indigenous youth. UNICEF was also using new media, such as YouTube, in its outreach efforts, he said. Some national delegates also shared work being undertaken on indigenous youth issues in partnerships with UNICEF, as well as actions taken by their own Governments. The representative of Mexico reported that her Government had set up special indigenous schools in local homes and shelters, providing free bilingual education, basic nutrition, rights workshops and other services, while the representative of Australia described her country's "Closing the Gap" policy, which sought to provide education to all indigenous four-year-olds. In contrast, however, some representatives of indigenous groups raised serious concerns about the challenges still facing their people. A representative of the Indigenous Peoples Organization of Australia, for example, said that her country's aboriginal groups faced some of the largest challenges of any group in any context, and had the poorest health outcomes in the world. In the following afternoon session, the Forum also considered its future work, including issues of the Economic and Social Council and emerging issues, the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), planned for 2012. Underscoring the importance of including indigenous peoples at all levels, a representative of the Pacific Caucus stressed that during the World Conference, indigenous peoples should be on an equal footing with Member States. Making a similar call for the full participation of indigenous peoples at that meeting, a member of the Permanent Forum from the United States suggested that, if such meaningful participation was not achieved in line with the provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples the conference "might not be worth the effort" of indigenous peoples after all.
The 11th 2011 Indigenous Forum session dealt with the disproportionate violations of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation suffered by Indigenous people, similar to the disproportionate suffering of Indigenous people of rights, in general ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session, 11th Meeting (AM)http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5061.doc.htm). The Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation told the Permanent Forum that with nearly a billion people living without access to an improved water source and 2.5 billion lacking access to improved sanitation facilities, the world faced a "true crisis". Asking who exactly did not have access and why, Catarina de Albuquerque said it was always the same people the marginalized, the poor and those without a political voice. In countries with indigenous populations, it too frequently included indigenous peoples. "Like so many other human rights, indigenous peoples suffer disproportionate violations of their rights to safe drinking water and sanitation," she told the gathering of Member States, indigenous organizations, civil society and local and indigenous Governments." haring a lesson from her first country visit to Costa Rica after she took up her mandate in 2008, she said she had been dismayed by the lack of attention to improving the situation of that country's indigenous peoples. With nearly universal access in urban areas and good access in many rural areas, Costa Rica was on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. However, its focus on that general "positive" trend overlooked the fact that indigenous people living in its two dozen indigenous reserves lacked access to safe drinking water or sanitation services, and specific, targeted and deliberate policies were needed to ensure such access was granted to them. Noting that the activism of indigenous communities had been crucial in bringing such situations to light, shehighlighted the Forum as another avenue for exposing human rights violations and pressuring Governments to ensure that indigenous rights were fully protected. She further encouraged participants to fight for indigenous peoples' right and to continue to engage with the international human rights system, including through the special procedures system and its network of Special Rapporteurs, of which she was only one part. When violations of the right to water are being experienced, sadly, a host of other deprivations and violations are also reported," she said, suggesting that indigenous communities could go further in using the United Nations mechanisms including the mandates of the other special rapporteurs, the treaty monitoring bodies and the Universal Periodic Review to claim their rights. Aicha Cheik Salah, of the Tidawt Organization in Niger, highlighted the complexities at the intersection of State approaches to water rights and the understanding of water among indigenous peoples. "How can we legislate a resource that is constantly moving?" she asked, pointing out that ideas of water ownership among the nomadic Toureg and Peulh peoples of the Sahara were based on oral traditions and differed from those of the State. Indeed, those nomadic communities were often confused by the written statements of companies or Governments, she said. Echoing many speakers throughout the morning debate, she said it was critical that traditional practices be borne in mind in any water policy. She further stressed that water needed to be accessible and free according to the nomadic code, while monitoring the quality and quantity of the water available was also absolutely crucial. Recalling the debate that surrounded the General Assembly's adoption of a resolution in 2010 that confirmed the right to water and sanitation, Pablo Sol—n, Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the United Nations, stressed that it was irrelevant to talk about "derivative rights" in the case of water, since it was a right on the same level as all other rights. Citing the so-called Cochabamba "water wars" fought in his country in 2000 over proposals for privatizing water, he said "it would be suicide to go down the road of a privatization and mercantilization of water and other resources". That was particularly true, he suggested, with respect to the "green economy" concept, which was one of themes of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as " Rio+20". He was the first of many speakers to call for a new understanding of water and rights, saying that, "at Rio+20, we must begin to speak of the rights that water has". He further underscored that water had its own laws and life cycle, adding that, paradoxically, water did not belong to anyone, although it belonged to everyone. A number of speakers expressed alarm over increasing attacks on water or what some called "aquacide" from mega-projects such as dams, extractive industry practices and privatization schemes. This aggression towards water resources threatened indigenous peoples' existence, several said, noting that water was traded, access was restricted and water sources were blocked. A number of speakers called on the Forum to conduct a study on indigenous peoples and water, including the impact of water resource use for industry. Calls were also made for a full investigation of the possible impacts of projects under reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) and other low-carbon or green economic strategies. Many speakers emphasized the need to monitor human rights compliance by multinational corporations, requesting the Forum to implement a process to assess, evaluate and, as needed, propose measures for States to monitor corporations carrying out activities that affected the right of indigenous peoples to water. A number of speakers said that approach must specifically address free, prior and informed consent and the treaty right to water. Some also recommended the appointment of a special rapporteur to examine the privatization of water by multinational corporations. Juan Pablo de LaIglesia (Spain) said that indigenous peoples suffered particularly strongly the effects of the prevalent economic and environmental models that were in place. In 2010, he recalled, the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council had explicitly recognized the right to safe water and sanitation. Those actions were the culmination of a process begun by Germany and Spain in Geneva, he added. In the indigenous context, the right to water must be considered in the context of Articles 25 and 32 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which guaranteed their right to maintain traditional and spiritual relationships with waterways. Additionally, from a development perspective, access to potable water and sanitation drastically improved health outcomes, lowered mortality and improved quality of life. It was important that development approaches did not lose a human rights perspective, he noted, and that they ensure accountability, non-discrimination and other critical principles. Progress towards the achievement of the water- and sanitation-related MDG had been slow. Therefore, the donor community must make additional efforts to incorporate water and sanitation in their development agenda, focusing on the most vulnerable and indigenous communities in particular. The Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean, founded by Spain, had as its goal the attainment of the Millennium Development targets. Spain had allocated $1.5 billion to that Fund, which gave priority to rural areas, as well as areas around urban centers that lacked access to safe water or sanitation. A credible policy for water rights could begin with awareness-raising, he stressed. In many cases, indigenous peoples had a culture of water management in which their whole communities took part and the international community could learn much from those traditional methods.
The 13th and 14th UNPFII sessions were a day long discussion of what role the Forum can play in support of Indigenous communities attempting to resolve land and rights conflicts (" Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 12th & 13th Meetings (AM & PM),http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5062.doc.htm). It was noted that while the United Nations system is well versed in overseeing the implementation of peace accords, it had much less experience in supporting indigenous peoples and communities in conflict resolution, and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues should consider what kind of role it could play in addressing those gaps, as it took up the report of its Special Rapporteur on the status of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997. Framing the discussion this morning, Forum Chairperson Mirna Cuningham said land was among the most critical and highly sensitive issues of the 1997 Accord, which had been signed by the Government of Bangladesh and a local indigenous political party and ended 25 years of low-intensity guerrilla warfare. She said the case was intricately related to the mandate of the Forum, not simply because the Accord's two objectives aimed to re-establish peace and to provide institutional arrangements for regional autonomy, but because indigenous peoples around the world similarly found themselves in conflict with the dominant society, due to the loss of their land or the deprivation of their rights. Introducing his report on the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord, Forum Special Rapporteur Lars-Anders Baer said the study attested to, among other things, the challenges of implementing peace agreements when political will was overridden by other interests. Indeed, 14 years after its signing, many critical clauses of the Accord which aimed to establish a regional system of self-government remained unimplemented, or only partially addressed. One reason for that failure, he said, was a general lack of political support for its implementation, which resulted in a lack of motivation to implement its provisions. In addition, the region was still heavily militarized and there were reports that the military was carrying out gross violations of indigenous human rights. Expressing deep concern over the practice of impunity that had seemed to prevail in the area, he underscored the responsibility of the Bangladesh State to protect its people and to bring violators to justice. Responding with his own list of provisions his Government had implemented, the representative of Bangladesh expressed serious concerns about the report's contents, as well as the way in which it was formulated. Stressing that Bangladesh did not, in fact, have an indigenous population, he suggested that Forum members tended to consider the words "indigenous" and "tribal" or "ethnic minorities" as synonymous, which was not the case, at all. "The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord is an internal arrangement for improving administration and quality of governance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region," he said, adding that, "the Accord has nothing to do with 'indigenous issues'". Reiterating the position of the Government of Bangladesh that the Forum did not have any locus standi in discussing issues related to the Accord, he emphasized that the report was a sadly "lopsided" opinion on a non-indigenous issue. He further suggested that its "cherry-picking" approach might not be beneficial for the Forum in the long run, given the demise of even higher bodies on allegations of selectivity. A representative of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samithi Samiti, the local indigenous political party to the Accord, said that while a task force had been formed and tribal refugees had been repatriated as per the Accord's provisions, the lands of all returned refugees had not been returned, and internally displaced Jumma families had yet to be rehabilitated. He agreed that a lack of sincere political commitment, in addition to de facto military rule and hostile bureaucracy, were the main elements hindering the Accord's implementation. In the ensuing debate, many representatives of indigenous organizations expressed solidarity with the people of the region and called for their recognition as indigenous people. Several stressed that, with hundreds of army camps scattered across it, the region was still reeling under militarization. A number of other speakers said the Special Rapporteur's report could be a basis for future initiatives. Several Forum members underlined the potential inherent in the original Accord to resolve the ongoing tensions, with Raja Devasish Roy, a member of the Permanent Forum from Bangladesh, saying he hoped that "door of dialogue" which had been opened by today's discussion remained open, as the parties to the conflict were not talking enough whether in the Forum itself or in the cafeteria. Further underlining the potential of the day's dialogue, Dalee Sambo Dorough, Forum member from the United States, stressed that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provided a "new, key point of departure" for the region. Rather than focusing on article 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on acts of violence and genocide, she emphasized article 8 and the real opportunity for the Government of Bangladesh to provide mechanisms of redress for the peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region. She suggested that implementing certain provisions would be a far more effective route for the Government than denying the indigenous identity. Indeed, the Accord, which had already been agreed on, provided a road map and seemed a far more preferable route to follow than that of forced displacement, which could eventually fall under the portfolio of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The issue of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord was among several issues discussed in this Forum session, as it heard presentations four other reports of its Special Rapporteurs, on international criminal law and the judicial defense of indigenous peoples' rights; the international regime on access and benefit-sharing; forced labor and indigenous peoples; and the impacts of the global crisis on indigenous peoples. As it took up other reports, the Forum was urged to use the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to shape laws at the national level. Presenting the technical review of the international regime on access and benefit-sharing, Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz stressed that despite a number of weaknesses regarding the rights of indigenous peoples, the Protocol could be used to reduce the bio-piracy in indigenous communities. Ms. Tauli-Corpuz also introduced the report on the impacts of the global crisis on indigenous peoples. Eva Biaudet, a permanent forum member from Finland, presented a Special Rapporteur's study on forced labor and indigenous peoples. The report on international criminal law and the judicial defense of indigenous peoples' rights was introduced by Megan Davis, a permanent forum member from Australia. Megan Davis, a permanent forum member from Australia, then introduced the report of a study, entitled "International criminal law and the judicial defense of indigenous peoples' rights" (document E/C.19/2011/4), which the Permanent Forum had decided to conduct during its ninth session. The study examines the crime of genocide in light of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, she said. It had been necessary for the Declaration to include a specific mention of genocide against indigenous peoples, the study found, as those peoples had been deprived of international criminal protection of even those most basic of their rights. Among the limitations of the Convention to which the report refers, she said, is its "narrow definition" of genocide. According to the report, in light of that shortcoming, other concepts began to emerge, including the concept of "ethnocide", which replaced "cultural genocide". However, "ethnocide" did not provide for a legal defense of indigenous peoples. The study also analyses and discusses the statute of the International Criminal Court in relation to indigenous peoples. For practical purposes, genocide was no longer considered an exclusive matter between States, she said. Additionally, according to the study, under the statute of the International Criminal Court, genocide was no longer the only crime defined under international law under which indigenous people could argue crimes against humanity. There were a number of acts that could be considered international crimes or crimes against humanity, including forced displacement, seizures of territories, collective imprisonment and inhumane policies that caused suffering, including sexual assault. Any type of widespread or systematic attack against indigenous peoples could now be reported to and taken up by the Court without a formal complaint. Further, unlike the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court had its own prosecutor's office, which could act of its own accord. Indigenous peoples or human rights organization might provide evidence of such crimes directly to the prosecutor's office. The report concluded that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Statute of the International Criminal Court had opened many avenues for criminal protection of the rights of indigenous peoples under international law. Those were still unexplored avenues, owing primarily to the persistence in international criminal law of a position established in the past, especially under the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, whereby indigenous peoples did not qualify for criminal protection. That explained the need for the Declaration to refer to the right of indigenous peoples not to be subjected to "any act of genocide". The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples called for a change in perspective, to the effect that the fundamental right of indigenous peoples to existence and dignity could and must be protected against the still-common policies and actions by any type of agent not only State agents which constituted virtual genocide or crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court was the court with competence in cases concerning such crimes of which indigenous peoples continued to be victims and involving States parties to the Statute of the Court. Its prosecutor's office must also act propio motu in the most egregious cases. In that regard, Ms. Davis also mentioned the case of her native Australia, in which genocide had been designated a crime under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, providing welcome protection against future instances of genocide. However, problems remained where cases of genocide were brought against the State, she said. While the International Criminal Court retained jurisdiction to prosecute crimes of genocide where the State had been unwilling or unable to do so, Australia' primacy in that regard had been confirmed nationally, and the State could choose whether or not to release a case to the Court. In any case, and especially for matters that lay beyond the jurisdiction of the Court, under article 42 of the Declaration, the United Nations was under the obligation to establish mechanisms to redress any serious violation of the rights of indigenous peoples and to provide reparation for those that have been committed. Special Rapporteur Victoria Talui-Corpuz reported on how the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity addressed the rights of indigenous peoples. Providing some background, she said the Protocol aimed to implement the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The first two were the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, she recalled. Highlighting the importance of the Nagoya Protocol as the first legally-binding instrument adopted after the General Assembly's passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, she acknowledged that it was not a human rights instrument, stressing that it was still pertinent to consider how the Protocol addressed the indigenous peoples' rights. Among the protocol's weaknesses was its use of the Convention's terminology in referring to the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly in terms of a lack of explicit recognition of the rights to genetic resources. That was, she suggested, a "historical trap" that indigenous peoples found themselves in. Never-the-less, some of the Nagoya Protocol's provisions could be interpreted as requiring protections from States parties of the right of indigenous peoples to their biological resources. In addition, she pointed out that indigenous peoples had not been deterred from actively participating in the negotiation process, and it was to their credit that there were many references to indigenous peoples in the final draft. Specifically, 6 of its 28 preambular paragraphs referred to indigenous peoples and communities and as the first legally-binding, multilateral environmental agreement referencing indigenous peoples, it helped in making the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples international customary law. Outlining a number of other terms that touched on indigenous rights, including its treatment of free, prior and informed consent, she noted that the reference to domestic law in that context was still a weakness. Nonetheless, free, prior and informed consent was required in terms of both access to genetic resources and to traditional knowledge. Further, the Nagoya Protocol required actions in domestic law to give effect to its provisions, thus providing the opportunity for indigenous peoples to work with national Governments to enshrine not only the rights recognized in the Protocol, but also in the Declaration. The compliance mechanisms clearly stated that rules must to be set nationally. It also calls for measures to be taken when the right to free, prior and informed consent was violated. This meant that the Protocol could be used to reduce the bio-piracy in indigenous communities. However, it was up to indigenous peoples to use it to shape laws at the national level. In the end, it would be a "battle of interpretations", she said, noting that if indigenous peoples were strong at the national level, they could use the Protocol to further their rights. She stressed that because the Nagoya Protocol was not cast in stone, and the Conference of Parties would continue to discuss it, there was an opportunity for indigenous peoples to refine it. Eva Baiudet, a permanent forum member from Finland, presented a Special Rapporteur's study, commissioned at its ninth session, on forced labor and indigenous peoples (document E/C.19/2011/CRP.4). According to that report, ILO estimates that some 12 million people around the world were victims of forced labor. Other estimates range up to 27 million "perhaps more than ever", she noted, adding that the situation was a growing challenge in all countries. Those estimates included victims involved in labor, crime, begging and sexual and other forms of slavery. Women and children, and persons in migration who were not familiar with the local language or customs, were particularly vulnerable. Forced labor was also often linked to long-standing patterns of discrimination, she added. Historically, indigenous peoples had suffered greatly from forced labor, due to their poverty and lack of livelihoods, as well as to discrimination against them and other factors. ILO estimated that a large percentage of those affected were trafficked for sexual labor, but, as it was a clandestine criminal activity, the practice was unlikely to be visible or reported. Indigenous children, in particular, were disproportionately affected by human trafficking. In Brazil, for example, children cut trees or worked in mines. In Peru, they made up a large percentage of goldmine workers. While the Convention on Child Labor had been in force since 1999, the problem continued. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 150 million children were working around the world, with the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. With the number of children and youth growing worldwide, that was a particular concern, she said. The study presented a brief overview of the global situation, but focused largely on the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Among other things, it showed that, while forced labor was often related to the private sector, States too were involved, as in the case of the sugar industry in Mexico. Facing social exclusion and discrimination, and often possessing little or no information about their rights, indigenous people were particularly affected by forced labor. On that issue, a mission had gone to Paraguay and Bolivia in 2009 to study the situation of indigenous peoples in forced labor there. Among challenges faced were the lack of sufficient labor laws, the lack of criminalization of forced labor, and, more often, the fact that laws were not being implemented. While the number of countries that had officially criminalized trafficking in human beings had doubled in recent years, very few cases were pursued and more remained to be done. According to an ILO study, entitled "The Costs of Coercion", more than $20 billion were gained by the perpetrators of forced labor worldwide. States, in collaboration with the United Nations and other international organizations, must increase their efforts to fight forced labor, and should put in place instruments to protect victims, paying particular attention to indigenous peoples. Introducing the report on the impacts of the global crisis on indigenous peoples, Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said the study looked at the global financial and economic crisis of 2008 and concluded that it was not a fluke, but the result of a systematic weakness in the global financial system. Moreover, it was clear that the crisis had impacted the world's most vulnerable people, including indigenous communities, particularly hard. Unemployment had soared to between 50 and 90% among indigenous peoples, largely because of the collapse of the construction sector. While some Native Americans benefited from the stimulus funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, however, in the rest of the Americas many communities saw remittances drastically reduced. Turning towhat must be done in the fact of the crisis, which was not really going away if the world proceeded with business as usual, she emphasized that it was not an aberration, but a direct result, of the system itself. Further, the pursuit of unlimited growth had clearly resulted in widespread degradation. Quoting the Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, which was chaired by Joseph Stiglitz, she said: "The rapid spread of the financial crisis from a small number of developed countries to engulf the global economy provides tangible evidence that the international trade and financial system needs to be profoundly reformed to meet the needs and changed conditions of the early twenty-first century. The crisis has exposed fundamental problems, not only in national regulatory systems affecting finance, competition, and corporate governance, but also in the international institutions and arrangements created to ensure financial and economic stability." She said evidence showed that both developed and developing countries continued to feel the effects of the crisis, although that was just one side of the coin. On the other side was environmental degradation and climate change, which also directly resulted from the liberal economic model. As a result, development had exceeded the carrying capacity of the world's ecosystems. In addition, the financial and economic crisis was succeeded by the food crisis, which included massive land-grabs, among other things. It was estimated that the current food crisis had pushed roughly 150 million people back into poverty, making it harder to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In March 2011, the world's food index remained 36 per cent above its level a year earlier. Indeed, staple foods had seen double digit cost increases. Against that backdrop, the report sought to identify ways in which indigenous peoples were coping with the interlocking crises, she said. She further stressed that the situation must be addressed at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. "We must come up with more bold proposals to address the changes that are very much needed," she said, recommending that the Forum support the efforts of indigenous peoples to develop their own reports in relation to "Rio+20", which should include concrete descriptions of how they were developing green economies that were appropriate to their culture. ichele Kelin-Solomon of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the nexus between migration and indigenous peoples was unique, because of their especially close link to their communities and lands. Migration of indigenous peoples, whether voluntary or forced, often had a "deep collective and cultural impact", she stressed. Traditional policies of integration and assimilation promoted for other migrants were, therefore, often problematic and potentially harmful in the case of indigenous peoples. Additionally, environmental degradation, climate change, poverty and a lack of sustainable livelihoods in their communities could become very strong push factors for indigenous peoples to consider migration as a means of survival and ensuring a better future for the next generations. Indigenous peoples migrated to urban areas, or abroad, in search of employment, educational prospects and opportunities, improved access to health services and housing, increased political participation, social recognition or visibility they may lack in their native communities. While migration would be empowering for some indigenous communities, for others it brought risks of exploitation and abuse, she said. The link between human trafficking and social marginalization meant that indigenous peoples particularly women and children were most at risk of being trafficked. For its part, IOM paid special attention to the impacts of migration on indigenous peoples. For example, all IOM projects in Colombia incorporated a strategy for the inclusion of an ethnic focus for indigenous and Afro-Caribbean communities. IOM had undertaken research and work related to both indigenous peoples' issues and climate change, including mapping the nexus between them. Measures were needed to address the particularities of indigenous migration, including its push factors. It was important to prevent the dilution of their customs and ways of life, by empowering them against discrimination, encouraging education in their native tongue, training in traditional crafts and skills, and promoting a "different but equal" approach to indigenous migrants within host communities. Turning to comments on issues from countries, among others, Nastasia Chuckman, of the Association of Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation, noting that the Russian Federation had three special regulations on the rights of indigenous peoples, said that in 2009, the Government approved a blueprint for sustainable development of the North, Siberia and Far East, including protections for the traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples. However, many of those protections had not been implemented. Further, there were no mechanisms to do so, which, in some cases, further exacerbated their lack of rights. Indigenous organizations had sought protection for their right to use traditional natural resources. Yet, none of the domestic courts had recognized that right in court cases litigated from 2002 to 2005. This year, the indigenous people of the Russian Federation celebrated the 10 year anniversary of their decision to set up areas of natural resource use, despite the lack of official recognition. She further noted that national fishing and hunting legislation did not recognize the particular situation of indigenous peoples and stressed that the indigenous peoples were being punished for exercising their rights. Finally, she highlighted the rise in court cases in which indigenous peoples were required to prove their indigenous identity. Raphael Thangmawia, of the Zo Reunification Organization, said that, while 118 years had passed since the wrongful territorial division of the Zo people had been finally acknowledged, the current generation was still trapped in the agony of being one people, of the same culture and heritage, which was separated by the borders of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. Kimura Makiko, speaking on behalf of the Shilin Gaikou Centre, Forest Peoples' Programme, and the Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact, said that, despite the progress that had accompanied Japan's recognition of the Ainu people as indigenous peoples, violations of their rights continued to take place. She was concerned about the reluctance of the Japanese Government to protect the rights of the Ainu, including one proposal to build a waste dumping site near their land. She further noted that the Okinawan people had not yet been recognized as indigenous peoples by the Japanese Government, and the presence of the United States military on Okinawa was infringing on the rights of those peoples. She recommended the Government of Japan establish local mechanisms to protect the rights of these indigenous communities. To that end, city governments must also respect the free, prior and informed consent of the local people concerned. Sana Ibn Bari, of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, said that since the creation of Israel in 1948, Bedouins had lived as internally displaced persons in that country. Among other things, they were denied electricity, medical services, schools and other public institutions. Moreover, they were not secure in their own homes, which were regularly declared illegal by the State and could be demolished in a moment. Indeed, in the last 12 months alone, one village had been demolished 21 times, leaving their residents victim to the hot desert days and the freezing nights. She drew attention to a new governmental plan to deal with the Bedouin. While the full document plan had not yet been released, leaked portions indicated that the Israeli State would recognize less than a third of the land the Bedouin traditionally considered their own. Stressing that it would have a severe impact on the lives of the Bedouin, she said it was clear that the Government was moving to disinherit the Bedouin from their ancestral lands.
The 14th meeting of the Forum worked on the preliminary agenda for its 2012 session ("Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Tenth Session 14th Meeting (AM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5063.doc.htm). UNPFII solidified its plans to hold discussions in 2012 on food security, human rights and the session's proposed special theme, the "Doctrine of Discovery" which some members stressed would be a "forward thinking" dialogue. To that end, the Forum's discussion during its eleventh session would analyze national constructs, as reflected in constitutions, and would help to establish guidelines for making the Declaration a "specific element" of those texts. Other elements of the draft agenda, including organizational matters, a comprehensive dialogue with United Nations funds and agencies and a discussion on the session's proposed regional focus area Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia were outlined by the Forum's Chair, Mirna Cuningham. On a related matter, Helen Kajulate, a Forum member from Estonia, said the proposed theme for the Forum's next expert group meeting was "combating violence against women" with respect to Article 22 of the Declaration. Noting the Forum's previous work on women and conflict, she also expressed hope that the various parts of the United Nations system engaged in that issue would further their focus on the protection of indigenous women in armed conflict. A representative of the Asia Caucus took the floor to strongly urge the Forum to organize an expert workshop on indigenous peoples and sustainable development. That workshop should gather views on, and concrete examples of, ways that sustainable development was being operationalized in indigenous communities, to be presented at the next year's Rio+20 conference and its preparatory process. Also, a representative of the Organization of American States reported progress in negotiations on a draft of the Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He said that nine articles of that draft's 42 provisions had been agreed by consensus and that 10 others had also been adopted. Although a lack of funds did not allow for further negotiations this year, he expected that the meeting of the Organization on 7 June would authorize two further negotiating sessions. Several speakers also made comments relating to the Forum's mandate and working methods. In that regard, a representative of the indigenous organization Habitat Pro said he was "very concerned" that the Economic and Social Council had made comments to the effect that the Forum was overstepping its mandate in the area of treaty monitoring. He said that the Forum which was established to serve as an advisory body to the Council on indigenous issues within the Council's mandate, including those relating to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights should indeed step in to ensure that treaty bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, were effectively dealing with indigenous peoples. That did not mean that the Permanent Forum was invading their competences, he stressed, adding that the Forum should continue to discuss how best to interact with those bodies. Other speakers offered concrete suggestions for streamlining the Forum's work, with the representative of Colombia proposing that the annual sessions could hold commissions or working groups to deal with special items in order to analyze problems among countries with a view to proposing solutions. At the meeting's outset, theForum commemorated Australia's "National Sorry Day", which honors the members of that country's "stolen generations" and their families, with a moment of silence.
In its15th and 16th closing session, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues adopted a draft report on that session, looking to its future work, welcoming the opportunity and full responsibility in playing a central role in preparations for the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and underlining the need for the equal, direct and meaningful participation of indigenous communities during all stages. (Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Tenth Session, 15th & 16th Meetings (AM & PM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/hr5064.doc.htm). The Forum's draft report, adopted as orally amended, was composed of eight texts. Meeting without a special theme this year, the Forum conducted follow-up reviews of a number of its recommendations on economic and social development, the environment and free, prior and informed consent, as well as human rights. The human rights review focused on implementation of the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which, the Forum concluded, remained a big challenge in most regions around the world. Affirming that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was the primary guide for its collective work, the Forum underscored that text's relevancy to the forthcoming World Conference in an orally revised draft text related to its future work (document E/C.19/2011/L.9). It further expressed the views that all stages of the preparatory process for the 2014 World Conference should be conducted in equal partnership between Member States and indigenous peoples, and that the most feasible time to have a broad-based, interactive dialogue between those constituencies would be during, after or before its forthcoming annual sessions. Further by that text, the Permanent Forum acknowledged and supported the strong appeal made by indigenous peoples' representatives to Member States, United Nations agencies, in particular the Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and others to secure funding for the participation of indigenous peoples in the preparatory process and the World Conference itself. In other areas of its future work, the Permanent Forum welcomed the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) as the prime opportunity for the world community to reaffirm the role of all key segments of humanity, including indigenous peoples, and to strengthen their roles in achieving sustainable development. It called upon Member States to ensure equal, direct, meaningful and substantive indigenous participation at Rio+20 by including indigenous peoples' representatives in official delegations to the Conference and in the preparatory regional implementation meetings. In other action, the Forum recommended that the Economic and Social Council decide that the Forum's eleventh session be held in New York, from 7 to 18 May 2012 and authorize a three-day international expert group meeting on the theme "Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: Article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples". By other terms of that text (document E/C.19/2011/L.8), the Forum recommended that the Council approve the provisional agenda for its eleventh session. The Forum also adopted an orally revised draft report on matters brought to the attention of the Economic and Social Council regarding follow-up to its recommendations on economic and social development, environment and free, prior and informed consent (document E/C.19/2011/L.2). By that text, the Forum requested that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) involve it in the development of voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. It also requested to participate in the Committee on World Food Security and to gain membership in the Committee's advisory group. Further to that text, the Permanent Forum recommended that the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the secretariat of the Forum continue to work with the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples' Issues to develop a common framework for monitoring the situation and well-being of indigenous peoples and the implementation of the Declaration, including through the identification of indigenous-appropriate indicators, possible data sources and linkages to relevant mechanisms. It further recommended that the Inter-Agency Support Group compile a database on case studies showing the progress made by Member States and organizations regarding indigenous youth rights in implementing the Declaration. In matters related to the environment, the Forum decided, among other things, to appoint Kanyinke Sena, Mirna Cuningham, and Bertie Xavier to conduct a study on indigenous peoples' rights and safeguards in projects related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, also due at its twelfth session. It called on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and States parties thereto to develop mechanisms to promote the participation of indigenous peoples in all aspects of the international dialogue on climate change. Emphatically rejecting any attempt to undermine the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent, the Forum affirmed that the right of indigenous peoples to such consent can never be replaced by or undermined through the notion of "consultation". Further deciding to prioritize free, prior and informed consent, the Forum said it would explore the potential for the development of guidelines on the implementation of free, prior and informed consent in collaboration with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. It also recommended that States and international financial and aid institutions systematically monitor, evaluate, assess and report on how that right has or has not been recognized and applied. Drawing attention to serious implementation gaps regarding the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Permanent Forum, in a set of orally revised recommendations on human rights matters (document E/C.19/2011/L.3), called upon States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to establish national initiatives, programs and plans of work to implement the Declaration with clear timelines and priorities. It also called upon indigenous parliamentarians to promote necessary legislative reforms for the Declaration's implementation. The Forum thanked the Government of Colombia for its support during the Forum's mission to that country and requested that the Government, the United Nations country team and the United Nations agencies involved in the mission implement the recommendations contained in the mission report. In that context, it expressed its intention to assess that implementation at its eleventh session, in 2013. The Forum adopted a set of recommendations related to its special focus region, Latin America and the Caribbean (document E/C.19/2011/L.5). Among those, it recommended that Member States implement precautionary measures provided by the Forum, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to prevent irreparable harm to indigenous peoples, their authorities and indigenous organizations. Reiterating a recommendation from its second session related to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Forum invited OHCHR to report on the situation of indigenous children at its eleventh session. The Permanent Forum decided to appoint Forum member Saœl Vicente V‡squez to conduct a study on extractive industries in Mexico and the situation of indigenous peoples in the territories where those industries were located. It further recommended that States take measures to advance indigenous women's right to intercultural health. Noting that indigenous people had a profound relationship with their environment including a distinct right to water the Forum urged States to guarantee those rights, ensuring access to safe, clean, affordable water for personal, domestic and community use in a text related to its half-day discussion on the right to water (document E/C.19/2011/L.6). It recognized treaty rights, including associated rights to water, as a key element in the discussion of indigenous peoples' understanding and interpretation of treaties, agreements and constructive arrangements with States. In that vein, the Forum urged States to recognize and protect indigenous peoples' right to water and related resources. It urged them to include indigenous peoples in all decision-making processes related to water management, and to increase the provision of funding to indigenous peoples for water and wastewater systems. The Forum made various recommendations to UNICEF emerging from its interactive dialogue with that agency (document E/C.19/2011/L.7). Recognizing UNICEF's equity policy and its development of a strategic framework on indigenous peoples, the Forum requested that it operationalize and implement that framework and report to the Forum in 2012 on measures undertaken to that end. It further urged the Fund to include indigenous youth as it completed the framework's design. In support of the agency's country-level programming, the Forum asked UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to undertake a study on the social, cultural, legal and spiritual institutions of indigenous peoples and how those affected the rights of women and children in local, regional and global frameworks. It also requested UNICEF to prepare a report on the state of the world's children, with a thematic focus on indigenous children, giving special attention to how States were implementing the Declaration and general comment No. 11 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Among additional recommendations, the Forum said that UNICEF should establish a particular budget to strengthen programs and projects for indigenous children and youth. The Forum also adopted the draft report, as orally revised, of its tenth session (document E/C.19/2011/L.4), which contains a procedural summary that will be adjusted to reflect the final session's action on recommendations and decisions. The Secretary informed the Forum that its decisions and recommendations did not entail financial implications for the programme budget for the biennium 2010-2011 and the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2012-2013. She pointed out that, while its three-day international expert group meeting on violence against women and girls would carry additional costs of $64,500, efforts would be made by the secretariat to absorb those costs. Further, it was expected that funding for the implementation of recommendations made by the Forum would be met through voluntary contributions. For further information on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, including more details of its tenth session, encompassing fact sheets on: The Half-Day Discussion On Central and South America and the Caribbean; ?Forced Labor and Indigenous Peoples; and the Right to Water and Indigenous Peoples, go to: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/session_tenth.html#prensa.
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The United Nations Indigenous Peoples Partnership (UNIPP) was launched at the UN in New York t, 20 May 20, 2011, as a joint initiative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labor Organization [ILO], UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] and UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund], following the Permanent Forum's recommendation that [the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights], ILO and UNDP strengthen their partnership for the promotion and implementation of indigenous peoples' rights through joint country programs. This new partnership demonstrating the UN's commitment to Article 41 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which calls on the entire United Nations system to do its part, including by mobilizing financial cooperation and technical assistance, is meant to serve as a framework to facilitate the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. That framework is based on the rights enshrined not only in the Declaration, but also in the ILO Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries and other international human rights standards. UNIPP is, therefore, strongly grounded in principles that align with indigenous peoples' vision of self-determination, consultation, participation and free, prior and informed consent. The primary aim of UNIPP is to create joint United Nations country programs for indigenous peoples, which are designed in partnership with indigenous communities (http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/dsgsm550.doc.htm).
The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, on November 16, 2010, adopted a resolution on indigenous issues, including a decision to organize a world Indigenous Peoples Conference in 2014 in order to share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of Indigenous peoples, including to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The venue and other modalities of the conference will discussed at open ended consultations between Member States and indigenous peoples« representatives (The Message Stick, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, December 2010, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/MS_Dec_2010.pdf).
The UN Secretary General's report on the Midterm assessment of the progress made in the achievement of the goal and objectives of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (A/65/166) was discussed at the Sixty-fourth Session the UN General Sixty-fourth Session the General Assembly. The report was developed from information received from 19 organizations of the United Nations system, international organizations and the United Nations Secretariat, from 11 Member States and from 11 indigenous peoples' organizations. The report provides an analysis and examples of the progress made towards the achievement of the goal and objectives of the Second Decade. The report concludes that substantive advances have been made towards achievement of the goal and objectives of the Decade, although activities implemented in the area of indigenous peoples' issues are typically not directed specifically towards achieving the goal and objectives of the Second Decade, but to a large extent they are aligned with them. The report finds that at the end of the first Decade (1995-2004), although indigenous peoples had been effective in utilizing the United Nations system for dialogue and awareness-raising, they had achieved only sporadic impact on the policies of United
Nations agencies and affiliated institutions and on the actual implementation of programs and projects. Thus the adoption in 2007 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples must be identified as one of the major gains during the first half of the Second Decade. The role the Declaration has had in the consolidation of a human rights-based approach to indigenous peoples' issues at the intergovernmental and national levels is substantial. However, a substantial gap is still to be identified between intentions at the policy level and the actual implementation of specific objectives of the Second Decade. The report stresses that
further efforts must be made to transform initiatives at the policy level into effective action for and with indigenous peoples. Other areas of progress are in relation to the engagement of indigenous peoples' organizations in advocacy for equality, application of international normative instruments, including the Declaration and in challenging governments, the private sector and international organizations to implement international norms on indigenous people's rights. In that respect some international and inter-governmental organizations have developed and launched specific institutional policies on indigenous peoples. In relation to development issues it is also significant how the indigenous peoples' movement has proposed alternative approach to the understanding of development and progress. The United Nations system and some Member States have initiated a dialogue around the concept of development with culture and identity to which the Permanent Forum made a considerable contribution at its ninth session. At thenational level, applications of culturally adapted approaches have mainly occurred in the educational and health sectors, but some countries, notably Ecuador and Bolivia have engaged in a redefinition of the concept of development. However, the fundamental issue of free, prior and informed consent and its full application remains a challenge in the majority of States and also in international development programs. The report also found that within the United Nations system, the establishment of specific task forces on indigenous peoples' issues and the inclusion of indigenous peoples' issues in the common country assessment and United Nations Development Assistance Framework processes, including through the issuance of the United Nations Development Group Guidelines on Indigenous Peoples' Issues in 2008, have contributed significantly to increased institutional awareness of indigenous peoples' issues and to the operationalization and initiation of
programs and initiatives specifically targeting those issues. However remains a substantial challenge, and one of the central recommendations of the report is that programs and activities must be strengthened so as to meet the needs of the world's indigenous peoples, as one of the most politically, socially and economically
marginalized groups worldwide. Along with the full application and implementation of the Declaration, Governments are also called upon to further the recognition of the indigenous peoples in their countries and to establish national legislative frameworks for indigenous peoples' individual and collective rights, and to develop institutional policies and mechanisms so as to engage effectively on indigenous peoples' issues, taking as a point of reference the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Full report is online at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/Second_decade_midterm.pdf. All information presented by Member States, UN agencies and intergovernmental bodies and from indigenous people's organizations is available at:http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/second_mid_term_eval.html (The Message Stick, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, December 2010, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/MS_Dec_2010.pdf).
Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Forests took place at UN Headquarters in New York,
January 12-14, 2011, attended by international indigenous experts whose findings were submitted to the tenth session of the Permanent Forum in May 2011. All documents of the meeting are posted on the EGM page, including the report of the EGM, and all of the papers submitted by the experts: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/EGM_IPF.html.
Survival International warned on the eve of World Health Day (April 7) that uncontacted tribes face massive population loss if their land is not protected. Around 100 tribes worldwide are uncontacted. Almost all are at risk of being wiped out by logging, oil exploration,hydroelectric dam construction and other projects. Uncontacted tribes have little immunity to diseases like flu and measles, and epidemics caused by contact can be devastating. In Brazil, the Panar‡ tribe's territory was invaded and bulldozed by road-building crews in the early 1970s. Waves of disease followed, and by 1980, 80% of the Panar‡ were dead. The population of the Great Andamanese of India's Andaman Islands was around 5,000 when the British arrived in 1858 Ð there are now just 52 individuals. The nomadic Nukak in Colombia numbered around 1,300 when they were contacted in 1988. Only 420 survive today. In the Peruvian Amazon, more than 50% ofthe Murunahua tribe have died since illegal loggers forced contact on them in the mid-1990s. One of the Murunahua survivors, Jorge, told Survival, 'The disease came when the loggers made contact with us, although we didn't know what a cold was then. The disease killed us. Half of us died. My aunt died, my nephew died. Half of my people died.' Around 50% of the Nahua in Peru died, mainly from colds, flu and other respiratory infections, within a few years of Shell's oil exploration on their territory in the early 1980s. The Matis in Brazil were contacted in 1978 Ð half of them died soon after. Five years later, only 87 Matis survived. The northern AchŽ in Paraguay numbered 550 when they were contacted in 1970. 200 had died by 1975. The Tupari in Brazil numbered 3,000 when they were first contacted in 1927. Seven years later, only 250 were still alive.? Brazil's Mebengokre tribe were contacted in 1936. Six months later their numbers had been reduced from 350 to 85. The Surui of Brazil were first contacted in the early 1970s. In 1971 there were at least 363 Surui, but three years after contact 193 of them had died. Survival's director Stephen Corry said, "Unless it's handled with extraordinary care, contact with these peoples means the eradication of over half their numbers. This has been documented again and again, so it's difficult to believe that governments and companies remain in ignorance of it. If they persist in operating in uncontacted tribes' territories, it's equally difficult to see why they Ð and those of us who buy their products Ð shouldn't be judged guilty for what happens" ("World Health Day: Uncontacted tribes at risk of massive population loss," Survival International, April 6, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7164).
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chair of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and Survival International reported that the development of palm oil plantations used for biofuels, detergents, toothpaste, foods, cosmetics and some other products is causing massive deforestation, land grabs Ð often by paramilitary groups Ð and extensive displacement of Indigenous people. "Hundreds are murdered and thousands are forced off their land of origin to grow the palm oil that goes in your cosmetics," said Tauli-Corpuz. The setting up of palm oil plantations in Columbia has caused great s deforesting of land for palm oil and has fueled a ruthless land grab by paramilitary groups in Colombia's rural areas. In a desperate bid to protect themselves Colombia's Internally Displaced People have set up "Humanitarian Zones" on small patches of collective land. In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, as of December 2010, the hunter-gatherer Penan and other tribes are under serious threat from new plans to expand palm oil The Sarawak government has announced plans to double the area used for palm oil by 2020 using indigenous land that it says is "mostly under-utilized and without titles." The government target for 2020 is two million hectares. Sarawak's land development minister James Masing told Malaysian newspaper The Star that palm oil had emerged as the state's third largest foreign exchange earner after petroleum and liquefied natural gas. He said his ministry was working to remove red tape and look into a "more aggressive development"' of indigenous land. A Dec. 20 Survival release that followed said logging companies have destroyed much of the rainforest that the Penan rely on, and now their homelands are being sold off for palm oil plantations. Indigenous people have filed more than 100 land rights cases in the Sarawak courts. Palm oil is also being developed in other areas, and even when it is not accompanied by land theft and deforestation, it often involves displacing food production at a time increased food production is needed (see Other Environmental Developments above) to feed the world's people at affordable prices (Terri Hansen, "Palm Oil Pushes Indigenous off Land," Indian Country Today, December 27, 2010, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2010/12/palm-oil-pushes-indigenous-off-land/)
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) of Canada and the U.S. National Congress of the American Indian (NCAI) concluded a three-day International Indigenous Summit, at the end of June, on Energy and Mining, with the heads of the AFN and NCAI issuing a joint statement outlining a variety of measures on which they will cooperate on a comprehensive plan to put North America's indigenous peoples in charge of their resource development, particularly concerning energy and mineral development on Indigenous lands. Initiatives include establishing a North American Indigenous Task Force on Energy; increasing participation in global leadership forums focusing on promoting awareness of strategies that take indigenous peoples into account; creating an Indigenous Virtual Institute on Energy and Mining to build expertise, literacy and education on tribal energy and mining development, especially among indigenous nations and peoples; assisting indigenous nations build and strengthen their business acumen; tapping the expertise of industry and federal agencies to help aboriginals improve their own; and providing tribes and indigenous nations with better access to information on market trends, debt financing, carbon markets and other opportunities ("AFN and NCAI to Collaborate on Resource Development," Indian Country Today, July 1, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/07/afn-and-ncai-to-collaborate-on-resource-development/).
Canada endorsed the UN Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples in November 2010, with Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs department stating, "The Government of Canada would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal men and women who played an important role in the development of this Declaration" ("Canada endorses UN Declaration on indigenous peoples," Survival International, November 16, 2010, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6689).
The southern Yukon Teslin Tlingit Council expanded its self-governance to adopt its own justice system, under the agreement, signed by the Tlingit, Canadian Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs John Duncan and Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie, in February 2011, following which the "Tlingit will enact its own laws in wildlife protection, control of its settlement land, zoning, adoption and other civil matters. A peacemaker court will be created to impose penalties and resolve disputes for legislative violations, and corrections programs and services will be set up for those sentenced in the court." Criminal law cases or federally regulated matters such as national security are not covered. Out of 14 First Nations in the Yukon, 11 have entered into self-government agreements, with the Teslin Tlingit are the first to sign administration of justice agreements ("Pioneering Teslin Tlingit Council Adopts Own Justice System," Indian Country Today, February 22, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/pioneering-teslin-tlingit-council-adopts-own-justice-system/).
For the first time, a First Nations person became a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) division leader, in December, when RCMP Chief Superintendent Russ Mirasty of the Lac La Ronge First Nation in northern Saskatchewan took over as the commanding officer of the force's F Division in mid-December and was sworn in officially in February ("First Aboriginal RCMP Leader to Take Office," Indian Country Today, December 28, 2010, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2010/12/first-aboriginal-rcmp-leader-to-take-office/).
Canada's aboriginal peoples, in addition to registering the country's highest rates of tuberculosis, have much higher-than-mainstream diabetes rates, running about 20%. To meet this problem, The Chippewas of the Thames First Nation have partnered with the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC) and the pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-aventis Canada to establish a community greenhouse next to the SOAHAC medical clinic in Munsee, Ontario, to improve access to healthy foods, as part of a program, including education, to promote healthy eating and lifestyle changes to encourage First Nations to better self-manage their diabetes. Canada's 2010 federal budget allotted $110 million over two years to help combat aboriginal diabetes. Inuit communities may soon following suite, as a recent study published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ) screened Inuit for diabetes, correlated the findings with the obesity rates and showing that, contrary to previous opinion, that these northern people also suffer from diabetes in relationship to being obese ("High Aboriginal Diabetes Rate Sparks Innovative Solutions," Indian Country Today, May 16, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/high-aboriginal-diabetes-rates-sparks-innovative-solutions/).
The stillbirth rate among Inuit people is triple that of the general Canadian population of 3.3 Canadian babies of every 1,000 (in 2009), largely because of poor access to prenatal health care that puts children in general at risk ("Inuit Stillbirth Rate Triple that of Canada's Mainstream Population," Indian Country Today, May 13, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/inuit-stillbirth-rate-triple-that-of-canada's-mainstream-population/).
In the face of the unsolved murders and disappearances of hundreds of aboriginal women languishing in cold-case files across Canada, the federal government is giving C$2 million to the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) for Evidence to Action II, an initiative that helps communities understand, prevent and respond to violence against aboriginal women and girls ("Canadian Government Invests C$2 Million to Combat Violence Against Aboriginal Women," Indian Country Today, February 26, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/canadian-government-invests-c2-million-to-combat-violence-against-aboriginal-women/).
For the first time there are two aboriginal members of the Canadian the cabinet. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq of Nunavut will stay on in her post in the new Conservative government. The Inuk minister will also oversee the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency as part of her cabinet duties. The new Intergovernmental Affairs Minister is Peter Penashue, an Innu Nation leader from Newfoundland and Labrador, who has served in Canadian politics since the 1980s ("Two Aboriginal Cabinet Members Mark Historic First,"Indian Country Today, May 23, 2011). In an action to update language, Stephen Harper's Conservative Canadian government renamed the minister of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC), currently John Duncan, as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (Gale Courey Toensing, "Indian and Northern Affairs Is Now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development," Indian Country Today, May 19, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/indian-and-northern-affairs-is-now-aboriginal-affairs-and-northern-development/). In addition, for the first time there are 7 aboriginal members of the Canadian House of commons, while with the Liberals losing their official opposition status to the New Democratic Party (NDP), some commentators believe that country's indigenous peoples may fair much better in national policy making ("New Political Landscape Could Benefit Aboriginals," Indian Country Today, May 11, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/new-political-landscape-could-benefit-aboriginals/).
Nunavik voters in northern Quebec voted no, in April, to forming a regional government, with indications that the referendum failed because the plan did not provide sufficient autonomy. Approval would have created a 20-member body called the Nunavik Assembly, comprised of the Kativik Regional Government, the Kativik School Board and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services. The assembly would have contained a representative from each of the 14 communities in the region, four executive council members and a leader, and a member from the Naskapi nation, the Nunatsiaq News said. There are efforts underway to develop a plan with increased regional autonomy and decision-making power for the Inuit involved ("Nunavik Nixes Regional Government Proposal in Referendum,"Indian Country Today, April 28, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/04/nunavik-nixes-regional-government-proposal-in-referendum/).
In a drug raid in the Kanesatake and Akwesasne territories, as well as some in the MontrŽal and North Shore regions, June 14, 2011, 500 police officers from First Nations Police of Quebec and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, worked with the RCMP and the SžretŽ du QuŽbec, as part of the Aboriginal Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (A-CFSEU), a partnership designed in 2004 to combat aboriginal-based organized crime. 38 people were arrested, and marijuana, its cultivating equipment, pharmaceutical drugs, and some cocaine were seized ("Tribal Police Satisfied with Outcome of Drug Raid," Indian Country Today, June 15, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/06/tribal-police-satisfied-with-outcome-of-drug-raid/).
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, March 14, dismissed a 2007 case alleging that First Nations children were being discriminated against by discrepancies in funding between federal services to aboriginals living on reserves, and provincial services to non-reserve children. The tribunal said that the federal government, which attends to at-risk on-reserve children under the auspices of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), does not have to match the services provided by individual provinces, which oversee children not living on-reserve ("Human Rights Tribunal Dismisses Discrimination Complaint; First Nations to Appeal," Indian Country Today, March 16, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/human-rights-tribunal-dismisses-discrimination-complaint-first-nations-to-appeal/).
The Canadian Supreme Court in Ottawa, July 22, 2011, upheld the tax exemptions of two First Nations men who deposited their off-reserve interest income into on-reserve financial institutions. "It is probably the most important decision involving Native fiscal rights in Canada over the last 150 years, since the adoption of the Indian Act," Huron-Wendat Nation Chief Konrad Sioui told the Globe and Mail("Key Victory in Tax Exemption for First Nations," Indian Country Today, July 22, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/07/key-victory-in-tax-exemption-for-first-nations).
British Columbia Supreme Court judge Justice Catherine Bruce ruled, March 4, in 20-year battle over the Sun Peaks Mountain Village Resort's very existence, that the village should have consulted with the Adams Lake Indian Band before its recent incorporating, but does not have to dissemble. Justice Bruce stated that the band had presented a good prima facie case for aboriginal title to the land at Sun Peaks, but did not order the quashing its incorporation, instead ordering the province to begin a new consultation process with the band because the Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality has been incorporated since June 28 and such a decision would "invite chaos." Bruce found in her 80-page judgment that the province had not only breached its constitutional duty in not accommodating the interests of the band but that it also had been unreasonable in the way it conducted consultations. The Adams Lake Indian Band welcomed the decision, calling it a "significant milestone in this process as the courts have now confirmed that the Crown has continued to breach its basic constitutional duties," and that "the time has come for the province to sit down with the Adams Lake and the other Secwepemc and seriously negotiate proper mechanisms to recognize and affirm Secwepemc aboriginal title and rights." A tribal spokesperson said that the band's goal is to protect habitat and areas of spiritual significance, as well as "make sure the First Nations aren't bystanders to the development of their lands." Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine stated that such negotiation is what he'd wanted all along, rather than fighting in court ("Judge to Adams Lake Band and Sun Peaks Resort: Work It Out," Indian Country Today, March 9, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/judge-to-adams-lake-band-and-sun-peaks-resort-work-it-out/).
Under a June 20 agreement between the MŽtis Nation of Ontario (MNO) and the government of Ontario, the Ontario government will put $3 million a year for 10 years into the MŽtis Voyageur Development Fund, a just created Ontario MŽtis economic development arm that supports MŽtis entrepreneurs and businesses, the MNO said in a media release. The fund's purpose is to make strategic investments that contribute not only to Ontario's economy but also to the welfare of its MŽtis peoples and communities. It is patterned after similar funds and capital corporations run by MŽtis in western Canada, including the Louis Riel Capital Corporation in Manitoba, the Clarence Campeau Development Fund in Saskatchewan and the Apeetogosan Capital Corporation in Alberta. The current arrangement grew out of the MO-Ontario Framework Agreement signed in November 2008. The two parties will also work together to procure fund contributions from the federal government ("Ontario Boosting MŽtis Economic Development to the Tune of Millions," Indian country Today, June 23, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/06/ontario-boosting-metis-economic-development-to-the-tune-of-millions/).
The Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs and the 12-member Association of Atlantic Universities in Atlantic Canada signed a memorandum of understanding, March 17, to increase educational opportunities for aboriginal young people. The increased post-secondary education is expected to enhance economic opportunity for Canada's first Nation youth, who comprise the fastest-growing segment of the country's population, especially in the north. The federal government and aboriginal groups have made education a priority, pushing ahead with various programs to enhance educational opportunities at all levels. That has included meetings between provincial, First Nations and administration officials from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's administration ("Atlantic Universities Pledge to Reach Out to Aboriginal Students," Indian Country Today, March 22, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/atlantic-universities-pledge-to/).
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the bureau of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the government of Saskatchewan signed a memorandum of understanding, March 11, agreeing to work together on the federation's number one goal of increasing the employment of Aboriginal youth ("Saskatchewan First Nations Sign Employment MOU with Canadian Government," Indian Country Today, March 14, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/first-nations-sign-employment-mou-with-canadian-government/).
The United Chief and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM) under the auspices of Mnidoo Mnising Power (MMP) have contracted with Canadian utility Northland Power to build a wind power farm on Lake Huron Island ("Mnidoo MnisingÐNorthland Pact Allows Lake Huron Wind Farm," Indian Country Today, March 3, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/mnidoo-mnisingÐnorthland-pact-allows-lake-huron-wind-farm/).
The Canadian Aboriginal affairs Working Group, a consortium of the ministers of aboriginal affairs of each territory and province, and leaders of the Canada's aboriginal organization, have launched a new web site focusing on the achieved and promising successes of First Nation businesses: http://www.aawgeconomicdevelopment.ca/aawg-news.html.
A Work Readiness in Training Program for Aboriginal Peoples in mining, pilot program, held at Northwest Community College (NWCC), to help mining and exploration companies better connect with alternative sources of labor as the baby boomer generation heads into retirement, was so successful that it will soon be offered across Canada. In February, 22 graduates completed the 12-week program ("Northwest Community College Pilot Mining Program Goes National," Indian Country Today, May 11, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/05/northwest-community-college-pilot-mining-program-goes-national/).
The British Columbia Supreme Court, May 18, upheld the lower court decision of Justice Nicole J. Garson, of November 3, 2009, ruling that Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations have the aboriginal right to fish any species of fish within their traditional territories and that they have the right to sell that fish within their own commercial fishery structure. Some commentators have said that the decision representsa major win for aboriginal peoples in Canada, the equivalent to the 1974 Boldt Decision (upheld in 1979) that reaffirmed the rights of Indian tribes in Washington to fish (Lisa Wilcox , "B.C. Supreme Court Upholds Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations Fishing Rights," Indian Country Today, August 2, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/08/b-c-supreme-court-upholds-nuu-chah-nulth-first-nations-fishing-rights/).
Under a settlement of a 1987 law suit, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band of north-central Saskatchewan is finally receiving $950,000, in back pay and restitution for annual allowances of twine and ammunition that were promised for hunting in 1889 at the signing of Treaty 6. The amount includes $660,000 in cash plus several properties valued collectively at $290,000, with the settlement factoring in income lost when the tribe could not hunt or fish for lack of the materials ("Lac La Ronge Band Gets $950,000 Twine-and-Ammo Restitution," Indian Country Today, March 31, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/lac-la-ronge-band-gets-950000-twine-and-ammo-restitution/).
"The inability for the indigenous communities to have access to food, the violations on the right to food are the result of political marginalization and not just the result of natural disasters," said Olivier de Shutter, UN special Rapporteur on the right to food during ameeting to discuss strategies to fight against hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region where 53 million people suffer from malnutrition and hunger, with Indigenous peoples considered among the most vulnerable, held the June 9 and 10, 3010, in Bogota, Colombia. According to de Shutter, except from Bolivia or Ecuador which have managed to gain a position in this issue, Indigenous Peoples are usually a minority or are politically marginalized, so they are not capable of influencing the decisions that affect them. Moreover, while Indigenous peoples were quite adaptable to natural changes before being impinged upon by European colonialism,today, indigenous communities are in a very fragile situation because their ways to access food by hunting, collecting and by using the services of the forests is being threatened by the way food systems have evolved in the past 50 years. "Traditional food systems are now being put aside and instead commercialized systems are substituting them," de Shutter pointed out, and, their land is under pressure from the market, which is one of the main reasons why they are extremely vulnerable. Also, as they depend on natural resources, they are also facing the challenges of climate change. "When I was in Guatemala in 2009 I spoke to many indigenous communities and they told me that the floods usually occurred every 12-15 years. Now they occur every three years. They said the forest has become unpredictable and they don't know when to cultivate or harvest. These people depend on the land and they are at risk of climate change. We need to support them, create food systems that are resilient to climate change," he said. He also talked about the need to give them more political power and allowed them to participate in the decisions that affect them and protect them from "a situation that is really worrying." Carmen Rosa Villa, Latin American Representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said her office is doing a study on the impact of mega projects (mines and other) in indigenous peoples in Central America and the outcome of these projects in the development of the communities; the impact in the right to food and fishing, for example. She stated, "We have done this work with an advisory group from Indigenous peoples, putting together their realities. This is a fundamental element because it is not just about land and territory. Since the adoption of the U.N. legislation on the rights of indigenous peoples it is very important to analyze the impact of all these mega projects on climate change, in the use of their territories and their natural resources." According to Ricardo Zepeda, coordinator of the Institute on Rural and Agrarian studies in Guatemala, 50% percent of the country's children suffer from malnutrition, but in indigenous communities who are half of the country's population, the numbers in some areas increases up to 80%. He said, "We are trying to include the indigenous communities as a priority in the programs to combat poverty, but we have not been able to do it." Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples in Guatemala have undertaken their own efforts regarding food sovereignty, trying to rescue the use of traditional agriculture, and these initiatives have had some positive impacts, but Zepeda said that his organization wants a political recognition of their food sovereignty and of the impact of commerce in their communities, and is trying to strengthen small producers chains for them to be self-sustainable. Nazareno Fontelis, a Brazilian federal deputy and food security coordinator in the Senate, explained that Brazil has pioneered in this matter, creating a strategy to combat hunger in 2004. The program called 'Bolsa Familia,' provides electronic cards to families in need. "With this card they don't need intermediaries to buy food and other things. The conditionality is that children must go to school and have their vaccines done on time. The ones who have more children receive a little bit more and now with President Dilma [Rousseff], the program grew from three children up to five," Fontelis said. "Today 13 million families have access to a total of about 15 billion reales (about $9 billon)," he added. This program works in conjunction with other government sponsored programs, such as school feeding programs and incentives to farmers. According to Fontelis, the next step is to include additional poor families, with the budget of this project about one percent of the national budget, making indigenous and black communities are a priority because these populations are in more need. For instance, the school feeding project Ð that feeds about 47 million people Ð gives more money (sometimes double) to the schools with black or indigenous students. For Indigenous people still outside of mainstream society, other strategies are necessary. Jaime Abril, assembly member of Ecuador and president of the commission for food security and agricultural development, said that Ecuador took the decision to solve the problem of indigenous and peasants in the new Constitution, signed four years ago. "We built the food sovereignty Law to make their products profitable. "To protect them against hunger, the government subsidizes their harvests when they are not profitable against foreign markets so that they can keep working the land; there's also an insurance for climate-related disasters," he said. "We also have a credit option for small farmers called 555, that lends $5,000, to be paid back in five years with a 5% interest rate, while the market offers a 14 percent interest rate." The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food commented that such efforts should be reproduced in Latin America, adding, "Over the past years countries have invested in exportation agriculture and they depend on international markets to feed themselves. One goal is to rebuild the capacity of countries to feed themselves, they should invest in agriculture that allowed them to feed themselves" (Maria Clara Valencia, "Indigenous Peoples, One of the Most Vulnerable to Food Insecurity in Latin America," Indian Country Today, June 30, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/06/indigenous-peoples-one-of-the-most-vulnerable-to-food-insecurity-in-latin-america/).
The UN's Intellectual Property Tribunal ruled, April 1, 2011, that South American Indians should receive 1% of the profits from potato sales worldwide, 'in recognition of the fact that potatoes as we know them are effectively an indigenous creation'. The head of the tribunal, Dr. Desiree Dauphinoise, said that tribal peoples in Peru were the first cultivators of potatoes between 3000 and 2000 BC, and 'as creators of the world's fourth-largest food crop, we believe it is only right that the debt the world owes indigenous people is finally acknowledged. With anticipated annual revenue of $200 million, Sante will be able to purchase much of the lands that are currently occupied by businesses operating in and around the Amazon. This has led to speculation that major oil companies like Repsol YPF and ranching company Yaguarete Pora will themselves be threatened. However, part of the royalties will be set aside to produce a potato growing manual, as well as a recipe book, to help businessmen in the Amazon become self-sufficient. Survival's Director, Stephen Corry, said, "We are very pleased with the decision of Dr. Dauphinoise to give due credit to tribal peoples for a food so many people rely on. We also want to reassure everyone that companies operating in the Amazon will not be left behind. While they may no longer be able to rely on the destruction of the rainforest for their livelihood, they will be able to grow potatoes" ("South American Indians to receive royalties from potato sales," April 1, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7144).
Laura Carlsen, "Beyond the Drug War: Building a Stronger Bilateral Relationship for Peaceful Co-Existence," Americas Program, March 18, 2011, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4159, commented, "Today's newspapers are filled with news of yesterday's summit between presidents Obama and Calderon, so it's an auspicious occasion to discuss the binational relationship and where it's headed. I've been disappointed to see that most commentaries on the visit seek to gauge how close or distant the relationship is. Again it's as if proximityphysical or metaphoricalwere the only defining feature of the US-Mexico relationships. Many fellow analysts here and in Washington have also focused only on whether the summit served to reduce recent tensions or smooth over friction in the relationship. From this short-term and superficial perspective, US-Mexico government relations seemed to have dipped to another low point. It's true that the bilateral relationship suffered some blows in the weeks preceding the meeting. Just to mention the most important: 1. Wikileaks: Thousands of Wikileaks cables released between the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the State Department reveal U.S. officials' deep concerns regarding the Mexican government's capacity to carry out its high-risk war on drug cartels and wavering public opinion. Cable 10MEXICO83, for example, states: "the GOM's (Government of Mexico's) inability to halt the escalating numbers of narco-related homicides in places like Ciudad Juarez and elsewhereÉ has become one of Calderon's principal political liabilities as the general public has grown more concerned about citizen security." The cable cites "official corruption", inter-agency rivalries, "dismal" prosecution rates and a "slow and risk averse" Mexican army. In an interview with El Universal, Calderon responded angrily to the cables, calling the statements exaggerated and the ambassador (Pascual) "ignorant", and counter-accusing the U.S. government for a lack of inter-agency coordination. Continued releases of the cables by the Mexican daily La Jornada promise more embarrassments for both governments as they attempt to portray a confident and united front in the drug war. 2. Murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in San Luis Potos’ on Feb. 15, in an ambush. Although the Mexican government has arrested the alleged attackersÐmembers of the Zetas drug cartelÐthe incident highlighted the risks of the drug war cooperation and the power of the cartels. The Mexican government's contradictory statements on what happened and the army's absurd hypothesis that the assassins did not know they were attacking U.S. agents (the agents' car bore US diplomatic plates) only deepened perceptions of a lack of transparency. Within Mexico, the incident heightened fears that the U.S. government will demand more direct involvement, in particular lifting the ban on foreign agents bearing arms within Mexican territory. 3. The recent spate of comments from high-ranking U.S. officials that increased concerns that the U.S. government is pressuring for deeper military involvement in Mexico. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's speculated out loud of possible links between Mexican drug cartels and Al Qaeda, and Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal characterized organized crime in Mexico as an "insurgency", while openly raising the specter of U.S. troops being sent in. Historically these kinds of exaggerated risk assessments have been a prelude to invasions and other forms of intervention. Mexican columnists and anti-militarization activists responded with criticism of growing U.S. involvement in the country's national security. Declarations that seem to be "off-script" has been a recurring problem (both Hillary Clinton and Westphal were forced to retract their "insurgency" comments), which either indicates a lot of loose-lipped leaders in Washington or a real window into contradictory interpretations and strategies on Mexico, which I'm afraid is more the case.While these appear on the surface to be neighbors' spats, they actually arise from the tensions in carrying forward the shared commitment of both governments to deepen and reinforce a military alliance based on a drug war that is rapidly losing the support of their populations and raising doubts. The central concern of the presidential summit wasn't the public frictions between the countries, but the desire to bolster the beleaguered drug war. Although the presidents discussed other issues, the drug war dominated the visit just as it has grown to dominate bilateral relations." "The drug war violence today is a direct outgrowth of the US-Mexico drug war strategy. When we look at the sudden rise in deaths, it correlates with the launch of the enforcement/interdiction model against drug trafficking. Given all the doubts that exist and the lack of success, the decision in Washington to reinforce Calderon's drug war is difficult to understand or justify. Yet that is what is happening. Despite talk of a deteriorating relationship, in fact the Calderon and Obama administrations are overseeing the birth of historically unprecedented cooperation between the two nations. The problem is that almost all that cooperation centers on this severely flawed approach to confronting transnational drug trafficking. The Mexico City US Embassy has expanded into a massive web of Washington-led security programs and infrastructure. The controversial Merida Initiative, up for another round of funding in Congress, has allocated more than $1.5 billion to help fight Mexico's drug war with devastatingly negative effects. The shared drug war imposes a national security framework on what by all logic should be seen as a far more nuanced and complex bilateral relationship. In addition to the rise in violence, the binational relationship has been hijacked by proponents of a war model aimed ostensibly at reducing illicit drug flows to the U.S. market and confronting organized crime where it's most powerfulin brutal battle. The Pentagon is thrilled to finally achieve access to the Mexican security apparatus and security decision-making, and the Calderon governmententering election modeneeds the political and economic support from the U.S. to shore up its flagship crusade against organized crime. The new relationship forged in war rooms is bad news for the Mexican people. Executions, femicides, torture, political violence and corruption cases have skyrocketed. The No Mas Sangre (No More Blood) movement has taken hold throughout the country and regions like Ciudad Juarez, where militarization has been heaviest and not coincidentally violence has taken the highest toll, have seen the rise of grassroots movements to defend human rights, call for an end to militarization and put forward alternative strategies. Among their demands is to rechannel scarce resources away from the attack on cartels to address social needs, restore the armed forces to their constitutional mandate of national defense, and end impunity for crime by fixing the judicial and public security systems and attacking government corruption. But it's also bad news for the U.S. public. Opening up a war front in Mexico has not only destabilized our closest neighbor, but also drains resources needed in U.S. communities. The government-funded contracts granted Blackwater and Blackhawk to fight Mexico's war could be used for schools in crisis. With an on-going economic crisis and two wars across the ocean, the prospect of long-term involvement south of the border hurts all but the flourishing war economy. We need to re-orient our efforts toward building a rich and multi-faceted bilateral relationship, that does not see Mexico as a problem but affirms its role as a partner through the principles of mutual respect and self-determination that President Obama proclaimed in the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad and Tobago. A relationship focused on building stability, social justice, prosperity and peaceful co-existence, not obsessed with using military and police force to address a single issue." "Are There Alternatives? We are seeing the first phase of an insidious and possibly longterm war; UNICEF just reported that far more people have died in three years of the Calderon drug war in Mexico than in the decade of conflict in Afghanistan. Before we get in any deeper, we need to rethink the strategy. Both Obama and Calderon have at times indicated a need to defuse the drug war by turning to health-oriented approaches to drug consumption and backing off the cops-and-robbers persecutions, in addition to adopting more sophisticated methods of dismantling financial structures and carrying out more focused intelligence operations. Confrontation by force does not stop the cartels. As long as a lucrative market exists, they will find a way to serve it. Eliminating operatives, even high-level leaders, merely diversifies and redistributes the business. Cartels have years of experience building flexible structures, with new leaders or rival gangs replacing displaced or weakened ones. At the lower levels, they draw from an inexhaustible pool of young men with few prospects in life who have adopted the slogan, "Better to die young and rich, than old and poor." If the war on drugs is unwinnable, does that mean we have to resign ourselves to the unbridled power of the drug cartels? No. The other tragedy of the war on drugs is that it rules out potentially more effective strategies by positing militarization as the only option. As the U.S. government spends millions of taxpayer dollars to pay U.S. private security and defense firms to "fix" Mexico, it has done little to nothing to address the parts of transnational organized crime that exist within its own bordersdemand, transport and distribution, corrupt officials, gunrunning and money laundering. Rethinking the drug war is not tantamount to surrender. Here are a few key elements of an alternative strategy: a) A major binational pact or operation to attack money laundering and illicit financial flows through large financial institutions. These operations must receive more funding, planning and inter-agency support in both countries. b) Support for a youth opportunities program in Mexico that generates employment and educational opportunities for at-risk youth. c) Anti-poverty programs and programs to avoid displacement, including an in-depth look at the impact of NAFTA and needed reforms. d) Public safety, police training programs. We already have sister city exchanges and inter-agency cooperation agreements between the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico needs to look for best practices around the world and adapt them to its own needs. We don't need a drug war policy to do this and the US Congress does not have to take this patriarchal attitude of helping Mexico build institutions within the framework of a militarized drug war that is actively eroding those already extremely weak institutions. e) Regulation of drugs The U.S. government owes it to the American people to resolve the problem of illegal drug trafficking and consumption within its borders. At some point very soon, we as a society simply have to face up to the social costs of the war on drugs: young lives ruined through early incarcerationpredominantly, and shamefully, the poor and people of colorÐ; the human and health costs of untreated addictions and unsafe conditions; the lack of meaningful life projects for young people that often make them more vulnerable to addictions; immense community resources devoted to persecution of victimless crimes; prohibitionist policies that studies have shown to be ineffective; the violence generated by a black market that is never going to go away through moralizing. The regulation of drugs salesÐespecially marijuana, which is the cash cow of drug-traffickersÐ deserves at the very least a serious debate. Any new binational strategy should adhere to two overarching principles: Place human rights at the center. We need to support mechanisms to protect human rights defenders in Mexico, and work to comply with international standards in Mexico and the US. Demilitarize the binational relationship. The Defense Department should not be in charge of the definition and management of the US-Mexico relationship. Mexico is a neighbor, a major trade partner, and a nation with close intercultural ties, shared environmental and social issues. These linkages should guide a peace-oriented relationship toward longterm stability. A wide range of alternative policies exists to supplant the endless drug war. Human rights concerns, along with long-term effectiveness, and peace-building options should dominate in considering which of these to adopt. Mexico's drug war has generated death, an erosion of rule of law, increased gender-based violence and has significantly altered daily life in many parts of the county. This crisis in the model should elicit self-criticism and a willingness to consider reforms from the leaders who developed the strategy. Instead, public relations efforts take precedence over public safety in an attempt to continue to justify the model."
There is evidence that members of the Mexican military, as well as of the police, are involved in the drug trade in Mexico (Randal C. Archibold, "Rights Groups Contend Mexican Military Has Heavy Hand in Drug Cases," The New York Times, August 3, 2011). In addition, there are numerous reports of troops and police undertaking alleged "drug raids" during which they engage in large scale theft.
The aggressive crackdowns on criminal organizations in Mexico and Colombia, coupled with gains in limiting smuggling across the Caribbean, have increasingly led drug syndicates to increase their operations deeper into small Central American countries incapable of combating it, with 84% of known cocaine shipments moving north crossed through Central America last year, up from 44% in 2008 and 23% percent in 2006, the year President Felipe Calder—n of Mexico took office and began his assault against the drug gangs in his country. Five of Central America's seven countries are now on the United States' list of 20 "major illicit drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries." Three of those, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, were added just last year. Meanwhile, management of the drug industry has changed. Mexican cartels have taken over from Colombians in recent years, recruiting local gangs to help bolster shipments, increasing consumption by paying with drugs and expanding extortion and kidnapping networks to round out their enterprise(Randal C. Archibold and Damien Cave, "Drug Wars Push Deeper Into Central America," The New York Times, March 23, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/americas/24drugs.html?_r=1&ref=world).
Laura Carlsen, "Mexican Youth Mobilize to Protest Drug War Violence," Americans Program," March 18, 2011,http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4164, speaks of "Thousands of young people, men and women, who have come out of their classrooms and homes to demand an end to the violence that has become the hallmark of the society they inherit. For them, the war on drugs launched by President Felipe Calder—n has created a bloody present that portends an uncertain and risky future. Besides the daily violence, today's young Mexicans Ð as they state in the declaration read on Feb. 17 Ð live in "a society strangled by poverty, injustice, inequality, unemployment, corruption and indifferenceÉ The No More Blood protest is made up of contingents of university students from across the city, preparatory school students and women organized against femicides that have increased under the cover of drug war violence. Other groups that have confronted militarization and repression by the state or paramilitary elements linked to it march with the students: the Mexican Union of Electricians, the National Coalition of Education Workers, indigenous Triquis from San Juan Copala in Oaxaca, among others."
Gloria Mu–oz Ram’rez, "Zapatistas March in Solidarity Against Calderon's Drug War," AmericasProrgram, May 28, 2011,http://app.streamsend.com/c/14018249/81337/jqRxY60/iKs8?redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cipamericas.org%2Farchives%2F4673, reported that an anti-drug war march by thousands took place, May 8, 2011 in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico with Zapatistas and organizations of The Other Campaign in Chiapas, united in their rejection of Felipe Calder—n's drug war, marking the reemergence of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) after more than five years since it last staged a public demonstration outside its territory. Repression of the opposition Ð encompassing many Indigenous people - including political killings, are continuing in Honduras("Camasinos Rising," In These Times, March 2011).
A Chinese dam project on the Patuca River in Honduras threatens Central America's largest, Moskitia tropical rainforest and its Indigenous populations, the Tawahka, Pech, Miskitu, and Garifuna, whose fishing, farming and transportation will likely be impacted. In January, 2011, the Honduran congress approved a contract with a Chinese company to build the first of three dams on the Patuca River. In February, 2011, the four Indigenous groups and Afro-Hondurans who share the Moskitia formed a united movement to save the river, their livelihoods, and their unique cultures ("Honduras: Don't Dam the Patuca River!", Cultural Survival, May, 2011, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/honduras-dont-dam-patuca-river).
In a historic ruling in favor of Indigenous Peoples' rights, Colombia's Constitutional Court, in its T-129 ruling of March 3, 2011, halted three industrial projects for not properly consulting affected Indigenous communities nor gaining their consent. The three projects are construction of a highway, an electric power line, and a mine. The court found that the Ministry of Transportation had not obtained an environmental impact statement nor consulted with two Indigenous communities that would be affected by construction of the four-kilometer Acandi-Unguia highway. It found that engineers for a company that is building a binational electric line between Panama and Colombia had entered into Indigenous territories to take measurements without obtaining the people's consent. ? ?The court also halted explorations by Gold Plata Corporation in Acandi, overturning rulings by lower courts that found in favor of the mining project because it served the "general interest" and "progress." The Constitutional Court ruled that, "The abstract general interest and majority vision of development or progress that infrastructure projects bring cannot be imposed when such projects are developed in Indigenous Peoples' territories." The court further stated:? "Under consideration here is not just the expectation of receiving certain economic benefits from a development project, but to understand and recognize that what is at stake is the present and future of a people, a human group that has the right to self-determination and to defend its physical and cultural existence."? "An Indigenous community cannot be obligated to renounce its way of life and culture for the mere arrival of a development or infrastructure or extractive project"? ?("Colombian Court Confirms Indigenous Peoples' Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent," Cultural Survival, May 10, 2011,http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/colombia/colombian-court-confirms-indigenous-peoples-right-free-prior-and-informed-consent).
President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, while insisting that the United States, long considered Colombia its top ally in the region, remains a "great partner," even as some in Colombia's establishment grow increasingly frustrated with a stalled trade deal and a steady reduction in American counterinsurgency aid, in early March, emphasized that Colombia engaged in a major foreign policy shift, with stronger relations in Asia, repairing ties with Venezuela and Ecuador, and adopting a measured posture within Latin America that stands in stark contrast to the hawkish style of Santos' conservative predecessor, çlvaro Uribe. The new foreign policy includes a plan by Chinese and European investors to build a city for 250,000 people near the Caribbean coast, and a Chinese proposal to build a $7.6 billion rail system that includes a land-based rival to the Panama Canal, while Santos foreign minister has circled the globe in the seven months that Mr. Santos has been president, visiting places such as Cambodia, but not Washington. In a reconciliation that has taken many in Latin America by surprise, Mr. Santos is now so friendly with President Hugo Ch‡vez of Venezuela, who just last year was accusing Mr. Santos of plotting to assassinate him, that he takes delight in referring to Mr. Ch‡vez as "my new best friend." Santos is also engaged in domestic policy development, including initiating projects aimed at reducing Colombia's great income inequality. This encompasses expansion of a program to return land to thousands of farmers who were forced to flee their homes during the country's long civil war, improvements in tax collection and a broad upgrade in Colombia's infrastructure (Simon Romero, "Colombia Leader Seeks Wide-Ranging Changes, and Looks Beyond the U.S.," The New York Times, March 5, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/world/americas/06colombia.html?_r=1&ref=world).
The Civil war in Columbia continues to take a toll of Indigenous people, caught in the middle. The Awa in particular have been hard hit. In March a sixteen-year-old Aw‡ boy was killed by left-wing guerrillas in the south-west Colombian town of Barbacoas, when he stepped on a mine. Also in March, local indigenous organization, UNIPA, reported violent clashes between the Colombian army and the main rebel group, FARC, just 100 meters from a school in an Aw‡ reserve close to Barbacoas. In February, an Aw‡ youth died, and his companion was severely injured, by a landmine laid by the guerrillas. In 2009 alone, more than 33 of the Indians were brutally massacred by left-wing rebel groups, who have taken over much of the land inhabited by Colombia's indigenous peoples. According to recent reports by both the United Nations and national indigenous organization ONIC, the tribe is one of more than 30 at risk of extinction in Colombia ("Guerrillas kill Colombian Indian boy, 16," Survival International, March 25, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7125). In December, a leader of the Nukak tribe from the Colombian Amazon that has been forced off its territory by FARC fighters, made a desperate appeal for his people's survival before Columbia's top human rights committee ("Nukak's desperate plea to return home," Survival International, December 21, 2010, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6804).
The deaths of 6 children in less than two weeks of malnutrition, disease and poor healthcare the Warao Warao of Cambllache in eastern Venezuela highlights the serious continuing problems of the community close to a rubbish dump and polluted rivers that are spoiling the environment and detrimental to their health. As reported previously in these pages, while there has been some government assistance, new housing and other programs have failed to develop sufficiently over the last several years. Survival International reports that "The Warao of Cambalache community in eastern Venezuela live in appalling conditions close to a rubbish dump, upon which they now depend for food and materials for shelter. They have little access to clean water. Oil exploration in the area has led to the pollution of the Warao's rivers, the spoiling of their environment and a marked deterioration in their health. The Warao were not consulted when the oil concessions were granted." ("Indigenous Children in Venezuela Dying," Indian Country Today, April 27, 2011,http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/04/indigenous-children-in-venezuela-dying/; and "Wave of child deaths strikes indigenous community in Venezuela, "Survival International, April 22, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7243).
Europe's largest bank, Santander, stated, in May, that it has suspended its funding for Brazil's controversial Santo Antonio dam, citing environmental and social concerns. The decision is a serious blow to the project, one of a series of dams planned for the Amazon that have prompted protests in Brazil and around the world. Earlier in 2011, three indigenous leaders from the Amazon traveled to Europe to protest against the dams. Santo Antonio and another dam, Jirau, are both being built on the Madeira River, at an estimated cost of US$15 billion. Both dams will devastate large numbers of indigenous people, including isolated Indians whose presence near the damshas been documented. Santander (parent bank of Sovereign in the US) had reportedly been due to provide approximately US $400 million for the scheme, but has now suspended its funding pending further environmental and social impact studies from the Brazilian authorities ("Santander Bank reports suspension of funding for controversial Brazilian dam," Survival International, May 5, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7255).
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in April, ordered the Brazilian government to suspend construction of the Belo Monte dam until the rights of the thousands of indigenous people in the area are respected. The Belo Monte dam, if built, would devastate over 1500 km2 of land and reduce fish stocks upon which numerous tribes in the area depend for their survival. The Commission has asked the Brazilian authorities to consult all the indigenous communities that will be affected by the dam before construction can continue, in accordance with Brazilian and international law. It has also urged that the Brazilian authorities adopt 'comprehensive measures' to protect the lives of the uncontacted Indians in the area and to prevent disease from spreading. The dam particularly threatens the uncontacted Indians, whose lives are at risk from the wave of immigration the dam construction would bring. Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the Commission's demands by stating that the authorities were 'perplexed' by the Commission's 'unjustified' demands. The IACHR decision is available in English at: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/590/iachr-letter-belo-monte-english-04abr2011.pdf, or Portuguese at: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/591/iachr-bm-1-april-2011-portugues.pdf("Inter-American Commission orders Brazil government to halt controversial dam," Survival International, April 6, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7175).
The Enawene Nawe tribe of Brazil began their unique annual fishing ritual, in March, amid fears that the 80 dams planned for the Juruena river basin are destroying their fish. The tribe's extraordinary 'Y‹kwa' ritual is recognized by Brazil's Ministry of Culture as part of the country's cultural heritage. But in 2009, for the first time, the ritual could not be practiced, as the tribe found almost no fish in the rivers. The Enawene Nawe faced a catastrophic food shortage, and the dam construction company was forced to buy three thousand kilos of farmed fish for the tribe. In 2010 fish numbers were again low. Some of the planned dams are funded by the Grupo André Maggi company, one of the world's largest soya producers. The tribe did not give their consent for the dams. They have mounted blockades and invaded a dam construction site, warning that the dams would cause irreversible damage to their way of life. The Enawene Nawe's letter to the UN is available in PDF in English at: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/572/enawenetoanaya.pdf and Portugueseat: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/574/enaweneletterport.pdf) ("Amazon tribe's unique fishing ritual could be their last," Survival International, March 28, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7118).
The three men on trial in Brazil for the murder of internationally respected Guarani Kaiow‡ leader Marcos Veron, while acquitted of homicide, were convicted of kidnapping, torture and criminal conspiracy in relation to his death from a beating in 2003, in February 2011. The men, allegedly working for the owner of the Brasilia do Sul ranch, Jacinto Honorio da Silva Filho, whose ranch occupies the traditional territory of Veron's Guarani community, were sentenced to just over 12 years' imprisonment, but as they have served more than four years in prison, they have the right to go free pending an appeal ("Indian leader's killers convicted of kidnapping and torture," Survival International February 28, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7044).
Indigenous advocates are warning that isolated peoples living near part of the Madeira dam complex in Brazil are in grave danger of contracting malaria due to an outbreak in the region. Malaria and other diseases can be fatal to the isolated people as was documented in a 2008 report by Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI); investigators found numerous cases of malaria, hepatitis B and other diseases were affecting isolated people among others in Amazonas state. (The report focused on violence against isolated and "lesser" contact people in the area but noted the presence of the diseases as well) (Rick Kearns, "Malaria Outbreak Could be Fatal to Isolated People," Indian Country Today, April 16, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/04/malaria-outbreak-could-be-fatal-to-isolated-people/).
José Teixeira, a state deputy and a Brazilian rancher supplying sugarcane to a joint venture partner of energy giant Shell has reportedly issued a death threat against a political opponent. Teixeira is renting out part of his ranch for sugarcane production to convert to ethanol, even though the Government has confirmed that the land belongs to Guarani Indians. Survival International has urged Shell and Cosan to stop using sugarcane grown on the Guarani's land, but the companies continue to use it. The current boom in sugarcane production is squeezing the Guarani onto tiny patches of land. The chemicals used on the sugarcane plantations are polluting the rivers the Guarani use for drinking, bathing and fishing, and provoking acute diarrhea. They report that the vinhoto Ð the by-product of ethanol production Ð is causing intense headaches amongst adults and children ("Death threat from Shell supplier on Brazilian tribe's land," Survival International, May 31, 2011, http://survival-international.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=e7c92d6159&e=CqQTrZoCrQ).
The Guarani Indians of Laranjeira Nanderu community in Brazil have retaken part of its ancestral land, stolen from them for cattle ranching, in an act of desperation, having lived by the side of a highway for a year and a half. The Guarani marched back to their land, in late May, unwilling further to endure the appalling living conditions they have been subject to on the roadside. They returned to their land in 2008, but were evicted again in September 2009 Ð soon after, their village was brutally attacked and burned down. Since then, the Guarani have been living under tarpaulin sheeting, with little access to clean water, food, or medical care, and subject to intense heat and flooding, by the side of a highway. Large trucks and cars thundered past day and night, and one Guarani was run over and killed. The community is now urging the government officially to protect their land so they are not evicted again. Following the loss of almost all their land to ranches and soya and sugarcane plantations, thousands of Guarani are living in overcrowded reserves, and some are camped by the side of highways. Some Guarani leaders who have led their communities' reoccupations of their land, such as the internationally-renowned Marcos Veron, have been assassinated. Survival's report on the situation of the Guarani, sent to the United Nations in 2010 is available in pdf, in English at: http://survival-international.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=29d31ed6f0&e=CqQTrZoCrQ, and Portuguese at: http://survival-international.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=4bd4144952&e=CqQTrZoCrQ>e ("Tension mounts as Brazilian Indians retake land," Survival International, May 27, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7319).
Ricardo Verdum, "Suicide Taking Heavy Toll on Brazil's Indigenous Youth," AmericasProgram, May 21, 2011,http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4598, reports that in the face of extensive Violence against indigenous peoples in Brazil, in the forms of Physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence, destruction of natural resources, political domination and institutional violence, the study, Mapa da Violncia 2011: Youth of Brazil, released in February 2011, by the Sangari Institute with the support of the Justice Ministry, found unusually high rates of suicide in a group of cities with very high Indigenous suicides rates, especially among native youth. In 2008, of the 17 suicides in Amambai, 15 were indigenous and 9 were youth. In Dourados, also in Mato Grosso do Sulm, 25 suicides were documented, 13 of which were indigenous and 8 of which were youth. In the state of Amazonas, the city of S‹o Gabriel da Cachoeira stands out. Located near the Brazilian border with Colombia and Venezuela, more than 90% of its inhabitants are of native origin. In 2008, nine suicides were reported. Seven of the victims were youth and all of them were indigenous. The problem there seems to be something other than a land conflict, because that issue has largely been resolved there. Preliminary analysis points to a feeling ofdisplacement as a central cause, which itself is caused by family breakdown, the lack of opportunity, poor sanitation and living conditions in the city's periphery, difficulties entering the urban job market, lack of healthy recreation, and other factors. Tabatinga, which is near the Brazilian border with Colombia and Peru, is another Amazonas city with high suicide rates in 2008; of 14 reported suicides, nine were indigenous and five of those were youth. In 2009, indigenous suicides were reported in 12 of Brazil's 27 states and four states had more than one: Mato Grosso do Sul, with 54; Amazonas, with 27; Roraima, with 9; and S‹o Paulo, with 2. Based on demographic data from the National Indigenous Foundation and mortality data from the Health Ministry, the suicide rate for Brasil's indigenous people comes to 20 per 100,000 people, roughly four times the national average. With 81% of indigenous suicides, and suicide levels many times the national average, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas have been hit hardest by this tragic phenomenon; when calculated for each state individually, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas have suicide rates of 32.2 and 166 per 100,000 respectively. With regard to indigenous youth suicide specifically, rates are extraordinarily high and without international precedent: in Amazonas, there are 101 youth suicides per 100,000 natives and 446 per 100,000 in Mato Grosso do Sul. "These numbers make clear that action and prompt, urgent revision of public policy are needed, especially in Mato Grosso do Sul, which has received a significant share of resources from the federal and state government, as well as from United Nation agencies. It's not enough to simply hand out basic foodstuffs and enroll indigenous families in conditional income redistribution programs (e.g. Bolsa Familia). According to Gersam Luciano Baniwa, an indigenous leader of the Baniwa people of the Brazil-Colombia border region, 'the cultural issues faced by indigenous youth today are the consequence of a clash of world visions that causes anguish, uncertainty, culture shock and even existential emptiness, all of which has led indigenous youth to take extreme measures, including suicide, as was the case recently in S‹o Gabriel Cachoeira, Amazona.' Moreover, while the right to land is not resolved, especially in the Southern Cone of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, home to cities with Brazil's highest concentration of indigenous people and alarming levels of violence, the violent situation documented last year is unlikely to change under the new administration of President Dilma Roussef."
An alert was raised at the beginning of 2011 by the Brazilian NGO, the Center for Indigenous Work (Centro de Trabalho Indigenista- CTI), that 15% of the recently contacted Korubo Indians in Brazil have died since the year 2000, as a result of inadequate health care. The Korubo are one of the tribes living in the Javari Valley indigenous territory in the western Brazilian Amazon, where outbreaks of disease, particularly Hepatitis B and D, are devastating the indigenous population. CTI has revealed that 8% of all the Indians of the Javari Valley have died in the last decade, as a result of health problems and suicide: an average of one death every 12 days. Youths and babies are most seriously affected, and there is a desperately high infant mortality rate: almost half of the deaths in the past decade were amongst babies less than one year old. The report warns that despite having been aware of the alarming health situation for at least 15 years, the Brazilian government has not acted to provide adequate health services to the Indians. CTI's report is available in Portuguese as a pdf file at: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/530/CTIdocumento_saude_javari_final.pdf ("Disease kills 15% of recently contacted tribe in past decade," Survival International, January 3, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6818).
The Brazilian guard post along the Envira River protecting uncontacted Indians has been over-run by heavily-armed men, suspected to be drug-traffickers. The was post ransacked, and vital equipment destroyed. Fears were raised for the welfare of the Indians after workers found one of the traffickers' rucksacks with a broken arrow inside. It is feared the Envira River has become an entry point into Brazil for cocaine smugglers from Peru ("Guard post for uncontacted Indians over-run by 'drug traffickers'," Survival International, August 8, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7571).
Survival International's report, "39 things Repsol doesn't want you to know," released in Mid-April, provides evidence that giant oil company Repsol-YPF could be threatening the existence of two of the world's last uncontacted tribes. The Spanish-Argentine oil company has been targeted for its work in 'Block 39' in northern Peru, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. More than 75 pieces of evidence have been collected showing the tribes' presence in the region, including abandoned gardens, crossed spears and sworn testimonies of sightings. But Repsol claims it is not enough to prove the Indians exist. In the past, oil companies' work in the Amazon has had catastrophic consequences for the uncontacted tribes who live there. Both oil workers and isolated Indians often react violently if contact is made, and any disease brought by the outsiders could be fatal for the Indians. Repsol is working with US oil company ConocoPhillips, which holds a 45% share in Block 39. Another company, Anglo-French Perenco, plans to build a pipeline from Block 67 inside Repsol's concession, which will cut directly through the Indians' land. To download the report in English go to: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/598/repsol-report-39things.pdf or in Spanish at:http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/596/si-repsolreport2011.pdf ("Uncontacted Indians: report exposes 'untold story' of Repsol's exploration," Survival International, 14 April 14, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7202). Meanwhile, transnational oil company ConocoPhillips announced it is pulling out of the controversial oil block 39 in the northern Peruvian Amazon, following global outrage over the risk oil companies pose to the lives of two uncontacted tribes living in the area (See Ongoing Activities, above) ("Oil giant ConocoPhillips 'pulls out' of controversial Amazon project," Survival International, May 13, 2011, http://survival-international.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b14580b05b832fb959c4ee444&id=9a92243874&e=CqQTrZoCrQUS.
Peru's authorities have announced, at the end of February, that they will work together with Brazil to stop loggers entering isolated Indians' territory along the two countries' joint border. The move is the first success of Survival's campaign to protect the uncontacted Indians of the Peru-Brazil border. In a statement released February 2nd, Peru's Foreign Ministry announced that they will 'establish contact with Brazil's FUNAI institute [Department of Indian Affairs]É to preserve these peoples and avoid the incursion of illegal loggers and the depredation of the Amazon' ("Success: Peru acts to save uncontacted tribes," Survival International, March 1, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6956). However, it was discovered at the end of May, 2011, that Peru planned to close the reserve for the uncontacted Indians along its border with Brazil. A publicity campaign by Survival and others brought Peru's Culture Ministry, on June 8th, 2011, to publicly announced that the Murunahua reserve will not be closed and said it plans to do more to protect uncontacted tribes, especially from illegal loggers.("Peru in shock move to abolish uncontacted tribe's reserve," Survival International, June 1, 8, 2011, www.survivalinternational.org/news/7337). The need for increased protection was exemplified, in March, 2011. Peruvian Indians were forced to set up a guard post to protect an uncontacted Indians' reserve from illegal loggers, after the authorities ignored their repeated pleas for action ("Indians take on Amazon loggers," Survival International, March 29, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7128).
A gold Rush is destroying one of the most biologically diverse region of Madre de Dios in the Amazon in Peru. Up to 10,000 gold miners are working illegally in a 60-square-mile area in Guacamayo, and Guacamayo is just one of dozens of illegal mining sites that have sprung up over the past three years considerably enabled by the new, 1,600-mile Trans-Oceanic Highway connecting Brazil's Amazon ports with those of Peru. There were also more than 2,600 legal mining operations, as of February, up from 500 in 2004. The rush is fueled by record-high gold prices, which on February 27 were $1,408 per ounce, according to the website Goldprice.org. On February 20 the website AllMediaNY.com reported that the Peruvian government mobilized nearly 1,000 military and police personnel to destroy 300 pieces of illegal mining equipment, including 200 Chinese-made dredgers, along a stretch of nearly 200 miles of the Inambari River. Environment Minister Antonio Brack said, "We cannot afford to let rivers get destroyed, with fish subjected to three times the amount of mercury tolerated internationally." While the $9 million highway is one of South America's major infrastructure improvements, it also is proving to be a conduit for 300 people a day who rush to Madre de Dios, daily, two thirds of whom travel to illegal gold-mining sites like Guacamayo. Illegal gold mining has risen to become a $600 million industry in Peru, employing 100,000 people, up from just a few thousand several years ago, and the practices have already destroyed at least 2,000 square miles of forest. Moreover, Madre de Dios is the source of the Amazon, so that any disruption or pollution of this upper watershed can be destructive to the entire Amazon region("Amazon Gold Rush Laying Waste to Peruvian Rainforest's Madre de Dios," Indian Country Today, February 27, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/amazon-gold-rush-laying-waste-to-peruvian-rainforest's-madre-de-dios/).
A military Court in Peru found three high-ranking Peruvian police and army generals guilty of "omission in the compliance of duty while in an operating function" in relations to the deaths and injuries amongst Indigenous People at the hands of the authorities in the June 2009 operation to remove protestors blocking corporate access to extraction sites in the Amazon forest where the tribal people lived. The three were given suspended prison sentences and fined. Police general Elias Muguruza Luis Delgado was sentenced to a suspended 3-year prison term and fined 10,000 nuevo soles (U.S. $3,600). Police General Luis Uribe Javier Altamirano received a suspended sentence of 2 years and was fined 7,000 nuevo soles ($2,528). Army General Raul Silverio Silva Alvanfue received a 1-year suspension and a fine of 4,000 nuevo soles ($1,440) (Renzo Pipoli, "Peru Generals Sentenced, Fined Over Native Killings," Indian Country Today, March 17, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/peru-generals-sentenced-fined-over-native-killings/).
More than 70% of the Peruvian Amazon has now been allocated to oil companies, and a series of hydroelectric dams threaten to displace tens of thousands of indigenous people from their homes. Paraguay's Indigenous Institute, INDI, recently declared that a separate plot of 34,000 hectares bought from ranchers would be handed over to the Ayoreo, but a date is yet to be set. Negotiations with other companies, including another Brazilian firm, Yaguarete Pora, have so far been unsuccessful as the beef barons refuse to sell back the Ayoreo's ancestral lands. Survival's director, Stephen Corry, said today, 'These ranchers, much like the Totobiegosode, have nowhere left to hide. Satellite imagery makes it almost impossible for widespread deforestation to go unnoticed, but authorities must act before this happens, not after the forests have already been torn down' ("Police charged for role in Bagua massacre," Survival International, April 7, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7160).
Wealthy landowners in Paraguay, Brazilian-owned companies, River Plate S.A. and BBC S.A, have been caught red-handed in a secret operation by state and indigenous authorities in the Chaco region of northern Paraguay after satellite images, released in April, showed their destruction of almost 4,000 hectares of forest which is inhabited by the uncontacted Ayoreo-Totobiegosod Indians. The majority of the Indians' ancestral land has been taken over by private landowners for cattle ranching. Now settled members of the tribe fear for the lives of their uncontacted relatives ("Ranchers caught red-handed Ð from space," Survival International, April 11, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7187).
Pepe Luis Acacho, an indigenous Shuar leader, was arrested in January 2011, just two days after he was chosen as leading candidate for the presidency of CONAIE, Ecuador's main indigenous organization, along with two other Shuar men, Fidel Kaniras and Pedro Mashiant, on accusations of 'organized terrorism,' leading to large scale protests by Indians and other supporters. However, the three were released from jail on February 9, following a court ruling in which, Justice Narv‡ez called their detention "illegal, arbitrary and illegitimate." According to CONAIE, the government is persecuting 189 Indian leaders on the grounds that they are saboteurs and terrorists. The claim follows a series of indigenous protests held in May last year against a water reform bill the Indians said would limit their access to water in favor of mining companies. CONAIE announced that it will request a meeting with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon to inform him about ongoing hostilities between the government and indigenous peoples in Ecuador ("Hundreds protest against Ecuador leader's arrest," Survival International, February 8, 2011).
Save Rapauni, http://saverapanui.org/, has been reporting over the past months (see archived press releases on the web site) that the Rapanui, the indigenous inhabirans of Rapanui (aka Easter Island) have been engaged in a struggle with the Chilean government since the Rapanui non-violently re-occupied the land illegally taken from their grandparents, asking for their legal title to be restored. It is reported that Chilean troops and police have forcefully removed Rapnui people, including, on December 29, 2010, when 200 armed police violently dislodged the Rapanui Parliament from their headquarters in the center of the town of Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui, beating dozens of Rapa Nui with clubs, including children and women, while arresting at least two dozen people. The Rapanui also complain that during the Pinochet regime transferred title to some Rapanui property, including a hotel, in violation of Chilean and International law. They say also that Chile has refused to conduct serious and meaningful peaceful negotiations and has criminalize all the Rapanui claimants in violation of human rights and of the Universal Declaration of Indigenous Rights, to which Chile is a signatory. The Rapanui have also undertakenprotest marches, including one on February 26, 2011 through the central streets of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in support of the Hitorangi Clan's struggle to retain title to the Hanga Roa Hotel.
What began as a peaceful protest demanding that President Muammar Al-Qadhafi step down as head of state in Libya, accompanied by democratizing reforms and an improved economy, as it spread across Lybia, was turned into an armed rebellion, after Qadhafi attempted to put it down by force. Because Qadhafi kept power on a divide and conquer basis, playing off the Libyan tribes against each other in all institutions including the armed forces, when the armed struggle began, many members of the army joined the insurgency. The rebels, over all, however did not have the weaponry, the training or the unity that the President's forces had, which Ð given that he maintained great wealth, despite international efforts to block his overseas resources Ð were significantly bolstered by mercenaries. With the rebels strong in the east, they took over that area quickly, and moved west, taking main towns, while Qadhafi's forces violently suppressed nonviolent demonstrations in the capitol of Tripoli. Shortly, however, Qadhafi's forces began a counter attack, supported by tanks, artillery and some aircraft, retaking town after town (except one in the West, while in the mountains southwest of Tripoli, a few hundred Berber rebels took a border post), until they threaten the insurgent capitol of Benghazi, where Qadhafi said he would wipe out his opponents and noncombatants who supported them. For some days, in the face of a possible bloodbath, international actors struggled to negotiate an intervention. At the beginning of March, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he was investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed in Libya, including by President Muammar Al-Qadhafi and members of his inner circle, following a request from the United Nations Security Council to probe the violent crackdown on protesters. On March 16, as Qadhafi's forces overcame the last rebel held city west of their capital in Benghazi, the G8 ministers failed to reach agreement on establishing a "no-fly" zone, agreeing only to increasing undefined pressures on Qadhafi, passing on the question of any military action to the UN. After the Arab League voted that it wished a no-fly zone to be established to block Qadhafi's air attack, the United Nations Security Council voted, March 17, to authorize military action, including airstrikes against Libyan tanks and heavy artillery and a no-fly zone, recommending that member states "take all necessary measuresÉto protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack," implementing the UN's "responsibility to protect". While the United States, which had pushed for joint international military action in Libya, did not wish to lead the action against Qadhafi, the U.S. was the only nation with enough of the appropriate weaponry and logistics to be very effective, so it took the actual initial lead in the aircraft and missile attacks (later supported by special force reconnaissance on the ground, and then attacks by drone aircraft), though after difficult negotiations NATO eventually took over command of anti-Qadhafi operations, led by France (who recently has asserted a more active role in international military operations) and England. NATO operations initially reversed the situation on the ground, with the rebel forces returning to the offensive and retaking a number of cities. However, Qadhafi's forces soon adapted to the new conditions, bringing a virtual stalemate, as his still superior forces see-sawed for control of several cities, while NATO sought additional ways of supporting the insurgents, short of putting combat troops in Libya. This included sending some advisors and trainers, but, as of late April, there was on going debate about the wisdom of providing arms for the insurgents, who did seem to acquire some new weaponry. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to have Qadhafi leave have been continuing. At the International Conference on Libya in London, in March, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States has been proud to stand with its NATO, Arab and European partners in protecting Libya's people. A senior U.S. diplomat identified three main goals in Libya, delivering humanitarian assistance, pressuring and isolating Moammar Gadhafi's regime, and supporting Libyans' efforts for political change. Germany and China had been calling for renewed effort toward a political, nonviolent solution in Libya. A delegation from the African Union was trying to negotiate a cease-fire in Libya, in mid-April, meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and members of the rebel Transitional National Council. However, The African Union and Turkey, which is also pushing a diplomatic solution to end the conflict, are widely viewed with suspicion in eastern Libya as being too close to Colonel Gadhafi and the oil wealth his government represents. It was reported that with the international military action, a much larger amount of humanitarian aid has reached civilians in Libya ("International Criminal Court, investigates Libya violence in response to UN request," GlobalSecutity.net, March 3, 2011, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2011/03/mil-110303-unnews03.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e134%2exk0ao00c4l%2e4cf; Berbers Face Long Odds In Fight Against Quaddafi," The New York Times, April 25, 2011; "Steven Eranger, "G-8 Ministers Fail to Agree on Libya No-Flight Zone," The New York Times, March 15, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/africa/16g8.html?ref=world); Ethan Bronner and David E. Sanger, "No-flight Zone In Libya Backed By Arab League," The New York Times, March 13, 2011; Mark Bilefsky and Mark Landler, "As U.N. Backs Military Action in Libya, U.S. Role Is Unclear," March 17, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/africa/18nations.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper; Steven Erlanger and David D. Kirkpatrick, "Allies in Libya Airspace to Stop Assaults," March 19, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/africa/20libya.html?_r=1&hp1; Mark Landler and Steven Erlanger, "Obama Seeks to Unify Allies as More Airstrikes Rock Tripoli," The New York Times, March 22, 2011, ttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/africa/23libya.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper; "Steven Lee Myers and David D. Kirkpatrick, "Allies Are Split on Goal and Exit Strategy in Libya, The New York Times, March 24, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/world/africa/25policy.html?ref=todayspaper; Karen Parrish, "Clinton Urges Aid to Libya, Pressure on Gadhafi," GlobalSecurity.org, March 29, 2011, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2011/03/mil-110329-afps01.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e157%2exk0ao00c4l%2e539; "Libya: Barack Obama 'Signed Secret Order Allowing Covert Operations',"the Telegraph/UK, March 30, 2011, http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/03/30-4 1; Karen Laub and Maggie Michael, "U.S. Predator strike hurts Khadafy efforts in Misrata," San Francisco Chronicle, April 24, 2011; "Fighting Continues In Libya As Qaddafi 'Exit' Talks Reported," Global Security.org, April 1, 2011, http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/libya/2011/libya-110401-rferl01.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e160%2exk0ao00c4l%2e571; Kareem Fahim, "Rebel Leadership in Libya Shows Strain," The New York Times, April 3, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/world/africa/04rebels.html?ref=todayspape; Elizabeth Arrott, "AU Leaders Call for Libya Ceasefire," GlobalSecurty.org, April 10, 2011, http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/libya/2011/libya-110410-voa01.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e167%2exk0ao00c4l%2e5f2; and John Feffer, "Endgame for Gaddafi?" World Beat, March 22, 2011,http://www.fpif.org/articles/endgame_for_gaddafi).
Libyan forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, at the end of April, trying to reclaim a border crossing, in the western Wazin mountain region seized by Berber rebels the preceding week, crossed into Tunisia, clashing with Tunisian troops who pushed them back across the border. The fighting at the border post has cut the large flow of refugees crossing into Tunisia ("Libyan Forces Clash with Tunisian Soldiers," VOA News, April 29, 2011, posted on GlobalSecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2011/04/mil-110429-voa02.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e184%2exk0ao00c4l%2e5yw; and "Fighting near Libyan-Tunisian border leaves refugees at risk Ð UN," UN News Service," April 29, 2011, posted on GlobalSecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2011/04/mil-110429-unnews02. More recently, Berbers have become a major force in the insurgency against Gadhafi. After years of repression, they are expressing a new spirit of self-determination (C.J. Chivers, "Amid a Berber Reawakening in Libya, Fears of Revenge," The New York Times, August 9, 2011).
In a momentous decision, Botswana's Court of Appeal, January 27, quashed a ruling that denied the Kalahari Bushmen access to water on their ancestral lands. With support from Survival, the Bushmen appealed a 2010 High Court judgment that prevented them from accessing a well which they rely on for water. The panel of five Appeal Court judges has found that: the Bushmen have the right to use their old borehole, which the government had banned them from using; the Bushmen have the right to sink new boreholes; the government's conduct towards the Bushmen amounted to 'degrading treatment'; the government must pay the Bushmen's costs in bringing the appeal. Celebrating after the decision, a Bushman spokesman said, 'We are very happy that our rights have finally been recognized. We have been waiting a long time for this. Like any human beings, we need water to live. We also need our land. We pray that the government will now treat us with the respect we deserve.' In 2002, the Bushmen were forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve by the Botswana government to make way for diamond mining. They took the government to court and after four years, won a landmark ruling that said they had been evicted illegally and unconstitutionally, and that they have the right to live on their ancestral lands. However, since then, the government has continued to prevent the Bushmen from returning home, by banning them from accessing a well which it capped during the evictions. Despite the lack of water, many Bushmen have returned to their homes, surviving off rainwater and melons, and making arduous journeys by foot or donkey to fetch water from outside the reserve. Adding to the Bushmen's misery, the government drilled new wells for wildlife only in the reserve and gave the go ahead for Wilderness Safaris to open a luxury tourist lodge with a swimming pool on Bushman land. 30,000 people have now signed a petition calling on Wilderness Safaris to move its lodge off Bushman land. On January 18, shortly before the appeals court decision, Botswana's government approved a massive $3bn mine by Gem Diamonds in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve Gem near the Bushman community of Gope. The company claims to have secured the consent of the Bushmen on whose lands the mine will be located, which seems doubtful. Survival has repeatedly told Gem Diamonds that the Bushmen are entitled to independent advice on what the likely impact of the mine will be. No such advice has been given, and many Bushmen whose lands will be affected still live outside the reserve in resettlement camps after their 2002 eviction, as the government has refused to allow them to hunt or even access water in the reserve. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to the January 27 appeals court decision ("Victory for Kalahari Bushmen as court grants right to water," Survival International, January 27, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6925; and "Botswana approves $3bn mine as Bushman water case gets underway" Survival International, January 18, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6859).
The save the Darfur Coalition, http://action.savedarfur.org/site/R?i=ojueHc81wlda-v4RbE7vfw, reported, March 9, that the disputed region of Abyei bordering North and South Sudan, home to tribal peoples, long having shown signs of becoming a flash point for violence,exploded in the beginning of March. "Over the past week, villages in the Abyei region were burned to the ground, and tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes. In Darfur over the past few months, the UN has also documented aerial bombardment of civilians and burning of villages with tens of thousands of Sudanese driven from their homes." "The recent violence in the Abyei region has occurred in the context of apparent increases observed by SSP in the military capacity of both the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in regions along the contested border line. The recent violence in Abyei, coupled with the continuing militarization occurring on both sides of the border, has made an already volatile human security environment even more precarious." The Satellite Sentinel Project report: "Flashpoint: Abyei," March 4, 2011 on the deterioration of the human security situation in the Abyei region of Sudan, SSP2-Final.pdf, is available at: http://www.satsentinel.org/flashpoint-abyei). On April 28, The Sudanese government stated that it would not recognize the soon-to-be independent nation of south Sudan if the southern government tried to annex the contested territory of Abyei, raising the stakes between the two sides only 10 weeks before the south's independence is expected to be announced. (Josh Kron, "Northern Sudanese Warn South Over Contested Area," The New York Times, April 28, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/world/africa/29sudan.html?ref=world).
Troubled south Sudan has been suffering inter tribal conflict, as part of a larger difficult situation. ICG, "Politics and Transition in the New South Sudan," Africa Report N¡172, April 4, 2011, http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/horn-of-africa/sudan/172-politics-and-transition-in-the-new-south-sudan.aspx, implores, "Now that South Sudan's referendum is complete and its independence from the North all but formalized, focus must increasingly shift to the political agenda at home. A new transitional government will preside over a fixed term from 9 July 2011, during which a broadly consultative review process should yield a permanent constitution. Critical decisions taken now and immediately after independence will define the health and trajectory of democracy in what will soon be the world's newest state. Two factors may shape the coming transition period more than any other; first, the degree to which the South's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) allows an opening of political space in which a vibrant multi-party system can grow; secondly, the will to undertake democratic reform within the SPLM, as intra-party politics continue to dominate the political arena in the near term. Embracing pluralism now Ð both inside and outside the party Ð would lay a foundation for stability in the long term. Failing on either front would risk recreating the kind of overly centralized, authoritarian and ultimately unstable state South Sudan has finally managed to escape. Post-referendum negotiations continue between the SPLM and the National Congress Party (NCP) toward a peaceful separation and a constructive North-South relationship. While they consume considerable attention of the SPLM leadership, the political landscape in South Sudan has begun to transform. From the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, South Sudan's divergent ethnic and political communities were united behind a common goal: self-determination. Many suppressed grievances, choosing not to rock the boat until that objective was achieved. Now that the vote has been cast and its results endorsed, the common denominator is gone, and long-simmering political disputes are beginning to re-surface. Likewise, a series of armed insurgencies, recent militia activity, and army defections highlight internal fault lines and latent grievances within the security sector. Continued fighting has challenged government capacity to manage domestic conflict, risks further polarization of ethnic communities and their political leaders and could stoke broader insecurity. Jockeying has intensified between the SPLM and Southern opposition parties over the composition and powers of a transitional government and duration of the transitional period. The SPLM desires to move expeditiously toward a transitional constitution amid all that must be done before independence, while the opposition fears it is manipulating the process to entrench its power. A domineering approach from the SPLM has jeopardized the goodwill created by an important political parties' conference in late 2010. Stifling debate and poor political management of such processes unnecessarily risk further antagonism among opposition parties, particularly at a time when the challenges in realizing independence and managing domestic security concerns make Southern unity all the more important. The SPLM must recognize that meaningful opposition participation Ð including in defining the transition and in a broad-based government Ð is not a threat to its power but an investment in stability and legitimate rule. A politics of exclusion may in the long run undermine the very power some party hardliners are trying to consolidate. Managing South Sudan's ethno-regional diversity will continue to be a tall order. Political accommodation is a necessity regardless of what form the transitional government assumes. The SPLM leadership will have a difficult chessboard to manage, finding roles for a wide range of party (including many members now returning home), army and opposition elements. It must avoid a "winner-takes-all" mindset and view the appointment of a broadly representative government not as appeasement alone but as recognition of Southern Sudan's pluralist character. The liberation struggle is over, the CPA era is coming to a close, and it is thus time for the SPLM to mark a new chapter in its evolution. A review of the party's modus operandi is necessary if it is to maintain cohesion, consolidate its legitimacy and deliver in government. Party reforms should aim to manage internal divisions, erode a top-down military culture, professionalize operations and trade coercion for enhanced internal dialogue. Meanwhile, there is no denying that Southern opposition parties are weak; their resources, membership and structures are thin. While the SPLM must engender a conducive environment, opposition parties are equally responsible for pursuing shared national interests, shouldering national responsibilities and developing credible alternative platforms that target a national constituency. Continued national and international support for political party development is essential. Once the transition period commences, reviews of several key policy areas and resultant strategies will shape the political and economic structure of the emerging state and help determine the response to the high post-independence expectations that Southerners have placed on their young government. Decentralization has been championed in rhetoric and neglected in practice. Examination of the current model is in order, as there remains a disproportionate focus on the central government and its capital city, in political, economic and development terms. Expectations for improved development and service delivery in the lives of ordinary Southerners will necessitate increased devolution to states and counties so as to avoid the very centre-periphery dynamic that lay at the heart of Sudan's national woes. Post-CPA arrangements on oil revenue sharing between North and South have occupied a prominent place in political discourse, but far less attention has been paid to future revenue sharing policy within South Sudan. Given almost exclusive dependence on oil money, decisions as to how petrodollars are managed and shared may soon occupy a prominent place in national politics. Ownership rights, a nationwide revenue allocation model and a corresponding regulatory architecture must be established. If well administered, the oil sector can be a key instrument for decentralizing authority, empowering state and local politics and accelerating development in the new South. If not, corruption and mismanagement could prompt national division and surrender another victim to the resource curse. The transition period will be capped by the country's first independent elections. The electoral system must accordingly be reviewed so as to overcome the shortcomings of the 2010 polls by ensuring a level playing field and providing the best possible opportunities for diverse, accountable and genuinely representative institutions. Fair or not, the soon-to-be independent Republic of South Sudan will for some time be judged in the context of its decision to separate. One-party rule, tribal-oriented politics or significant governance or internal security failures would generate criticism from skeptics who argued the region could not govern itself. The opportunity now presents itself to prove them wrong; it is up to the South Sudanese to take it." ICG Recommends: To the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM): 1. Afford opposition parties and civil society a meaningful role in defining the forthcoming transition, including prompt agreement Ð through another meeting of the Political Parties' Leadership Forum Ð on an unambiguous method to review and endorse the draft transitional constitution produced by the "technical" committee, as well as broad endorsement for composition of the transitional governance structures and length of the transition period. 2. Display the party's seriousness about broad-based government by appointing opposition members to a significant number of minister and (new) deputy minister posts Ð for example, no less than 25 per cent Ð including to one or more of the influential ministries that the party has held close thus far: finance, defense, internal affairs, foreign affairs, legal and constitutional affairs or energy and mining. 3. Accelerate the transition from military movement to political party, including through instituting internal party reforms at state and national level (such as regular internal elections and primaries), comprehensively reviewing party structures and relationships and clearly distinguishing its party activities from its role in government. To Southern Opposition Parties: 4. Develop internal party development strategies, including sustainable financing, membership recruitment and training of party cadres; cultivate stronger relationships with constituents; develop alternative policy platforms that target a national constituency and distinguish themselves from the SPLM's; consider opportunities for coalition-building; and take full advantage of the opportunities provided by international experts supporting political party development. To the Political Parties Leadership Forum: 5. Agree on a timeframe for the transitional period that allows sufficient time to conduct a broadly consultative review process toward promulgation of a permanent constitution and, if so desired, a new census; in this regard, opposition parties should also consider the time necessary to become more competitive in the next elections and thereby cultivate a vibrant multi-party landscape; agree on the composition of the transitional governance structures, as well as the details of a permanent constitutional review process to be undertaken during the transition. To the (forthcoming) Transitional Government ?of the Republic of South Sudan: 6. Re-commit, upon review of the current decentralization model, to devolving resources and authority to sub-national units of government, including; a) funneling greater and more consistent grants to state and county level; b) strengthening their role in more participatory budgeting processes; and c) establishing and empowering local government structures so as to bolster accountability among county and state executives. 7. Endorse a national petroleum policy, the principles of which will guide all aspects of South Sudan's oil sector development, management, practices and safeguards; and develop a balanced oil revenue allocation model and supporting mechanisms for management and regulation of the sector that invest national and state authorities in that framework. 8. Build on a broadly accepted petroleum policy to develop instruments for a reformed and transparent oil sector, such as oil revenue stabilization and oil revenue trust funds; an independent fiscal and financial allocation and monitoring commission; an autonomous central bank; and participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). 9. Create and task through the relevant ministries a committee to sensitize stakeholders to oil sector realities and secure broad support for the policy at state and local levels. To the South Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA): 10. Enact a new political parties law that establishes party rights and responsibilities, restrictions and registration criteria, including requirements for minimum national appeal. 11. Enact new public financing rules that regularly allocate public funds to qualified political parties for activities in both election and non-election years, including stipulations that clearly prescribe equitable public financing disbursement as well as recipient criteria, spending parameters and mandatory expense reporting. 12. Enact, following a broadly consultative review, a new electoral law that builds on lessons learned from previous elections and devises a system that provides a level playing-field and for genuine, accountable, political representation. To International Partners/Donors: 13. Re-calibrate relations with the SPLM to reflect the post-CPA reality, the changing political landscape and the need to cultivate greater democratic space both within and beyond the party. 14. Ensure that the future UN mission in South Sudan and its leadership position themselves so as to: a) be a supportive but impartial partner to the people of South Sudan and its government, including, as part of a renewed relationship between the UN and the state, drawing a clear line between the government and the SPLM; b) take a hard line with the government when necessary; and c) be able to provide credible mediation among, and between, government and non-government actors within South Sudan, in both political and security contexts. 15. Accelerate current programming in support of political party development for all Southern parties, including through new support for public opinion polling, and continue similar support for SSLA members."
There are signs of a major war developing over disputed oil rich territory as Northern Sudanese troops seized the contested town of Abyei, May 21, as the south prepares to become the world's newest country ("North Sudan Is Said to Have Taken Contested Town on South Border," The New York Times, May 21, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/world/africa/22sudan.html?ref=todayspaper). A few days later, Sudan was threatening to take two additional areas in the south: Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan States, two disputed areas with long histories of conflict that remain well armed. The North's actions are in violation of the peace process and threaten to renew major fighting (Jeffrey Gettleman and Josh Kron, "Sudan Threatens to Occupy 2 More Disputed Regions," The New York Times, May 29, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/world/africa/30sudan.html?ref=world).
Cultural Survival (CS) reported, October 10, 2010 ("Campaign Update: Kenyan Police Receive Trainings in Human Rights"), that in response to the abuse of Samburu people by Kenyan police, documented by CS, Pastoralists Development Network of Kenya has initiated trainings for police who are sent to Samburu East district. Michael Tiampati, Pastoralists national coordinator, reports that many of the police officers " are ignorant because of stereotypesÉThey are transferred to this area and they want to convert pastoralists to suit their imagined 'civilized' society." However, the training has not stopped attacks on the Samburu. Cultural Survival, "Kenya: Stop Human Rights Abuses," December 15, 2010, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/category/campaigns/kenya-stop-human-rights-abuses, reported, "In late November, hundreds of heavily armed policemen forcibly evicted 300 Samburu families from ancestral lands that former president Daniel Arap Moi had purchased in a land-grab typical of his administration. Police chose a Friday "market day" for their attack, when the men were away and only women, elders, and children were in their homes. Fanning out across the 17,000- acre Eland Downs Ranch, police burned the Samburu families' homes to the ground, along with all their possessions. " The Samburu families wee then evicted from their lands, and are suing Kenya's former president Daniel arap Moi. The families celebrated a small but significant victory in a Kenyan courtroom, May 12, when their lawyers persuaded a high court judge to allow them more time to prepare their case. At the time of the evictions, it is reported that the African Wildlife Foundation y was in the process of purchasing the property to develop a "community conservation" project. ? For more information go to: http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/kenya/kenya-campaign-update-court-case-advances-evicted-samburu-families.
A Rwandan government program to destroy all thatched roofs in the country is leaving thousands of Batwa 'Pygmies' homeless. Hundreds of Batwa families have seen their homes destroyed in recent months, forcing them to live in the open during the rainy season. The authorities planned to destroy all thatched roofs in the country by May 2011. Under the destructive scheme, families with means are meant to build new houses at their own expense. The very poor (which include almost all Batwa) are supposed to be provided with iron sheets to replace the thatch, and the sick and elderly should be given completely new homes. But many huts have been destroyed without new homes being provided. Among the most affected are the Batwa, the most marginalized people in Rwandan society. Rwandan Batwa are subjected to deep-seated racism and discrimination on a daily basis. In Rwanda's Southern Province, 30,000 thatched huts are said to have been destroyed in the last three months. Thousands of families have been left homeless ("Rwandan 'anti-thatch' campaign leaves thousands of 'Pygmies' homeless," Survival International, April 1, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7154).
Vietnam has increased repression of indigenous minority Montagnard Christians in the country's Central Highlands, closing small informal churches, compelling public renunciations of faith and arresting worshipers, Human Rights Watch a reported, in March. The hill tribe minorities , are traditionally animist but have been converted to Christianity in large numbers over the past half-century. Culturally and ethnically distinct from the majority lowland Vietnamese, the "Montagnards face harsh persecution in Vietnam, particularly those who worship in independent house churches, because the authorities don't tolerate religious activity outside their sight or control," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of the human rights monitoring group, which is based in New York. "The Vietnamese government has been steadily tightening the screws on independent Montagnard religious groups, claiming they are using religion to incite unrest."Religion is only one aspect of the conflict, as Vietnam's population and economy expand and lowland Vietnamese settlers encroach on the farmland of indigenous hill tribes, primarily with agricultural plantations. There is a political aspect as well, involving government concerns over links with evangelical groups in the United States among some of the Montagnards (Seth Mydans, "Vietnam Persecutes Christian Minority, Report Says," The New York Times, March 31, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/world/asia/01vietnam.html?ref=todayspaper).
In China, while repression of Tibetans is ongoing, violence again has broken out in Xinjang Provence between Indigenous Uighurs and Han Chinese, most of whom have been encouraged by the Chinese government to move into the region. At the end of July, 14 people were reported to have died in the second major outbreak of fighting in several weeks in the city of Kashgar. Ethnic tensions continue to remain high in the province, where Han Chinese continue to move in, dominate economic life and government positions, and have placed curbs on traditional Uighur Muslim religious practice (Michael Wines, "14 Killed in Western Chinese City on Edge Over Ethnic Tensions," The New York Times, August 1, 2011).
"Bangladesh: Ban Coal Mine, Save Forests and Farms," Cultural Survival, downloaded May 14, 2011, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/take-action/bangladesh-ban-coal-mine-save-forests-and-farms, reports that thousands of local people, many Indigenous, have been protesting the plan of A British company, Global Coal Management Resources (GCM) to bulldoze 12,000 acres of Bangladesh's most productive agricultural land and replace it with one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines. By their own account, they would forcibly displace 40,000 people in the Phulbari region, including at least 2,200 Indigenous people whose history in the area dates back 5,000 years. A government-sponsored study estimates that 130,000 people in more than 100 villages would be immediately displaced, and another 100,000 would gradually be forced to leave as their wells and irrigation canals run dry from the mining. Independent researchers and the Jatiya Adivasi Parishad (National Indigenous Union) estimate that 50,000 Indigenous people belonging to 23 different tribal groups would be displaced or impoverished by the mine. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens have protested against the Phulbari mine project since 2005. After government forces opened fire during a nonviolent protest in 2006, killing three people and wounding hundreds, a national strike closed down the country for four days. It ended when the government agreed to ban open-pit coal mining in Phulbari and eject the British company (then known as Asia Energy) from the countrya pledge they have not fulfilled. Instead, the government will announce a new coal policy by June 2011, and Global Coal expects to be in business soon thereafter. The National Indigenous Union and a broad coalition of human rights and environmental organizations are appealing for international support to prevent an ecological and humanitarian disaster in Phulbari.
Six indigenous Jumma villages were reportedly burned to ashes, in April, and many Jumma people attacked by Bengali settlers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Violence erupted when Jumma landowners discovered settlers clearing their land and building shelters. A fight ensued which resulted in the death of three settlers. ??It is reported that following this incident, settlers, with the support of the army, burned down more than 90 Jumma houses and at least 20 Jummas were injured. Several Jummas are now missing, some thought to have fled into the jungle and some feared dead. The Bangladesh government has been moving Bengali settlers onto the lands of the Jumma tribal people for more than 60 years. Tensions between the communities remain high, and violence in one area can often trigger revenge attacks elsewhere. The army and police allegedly refused to allow a relief team, carrying supplies for the Jummas, to visit the affected areas. Mr. Rabi Shankar Talukder who was leading the relief team, said, 'They want the victims to die without food and shelter' ("Jumma villages burned to ashes, Survival International," Survival International, April 21, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news).
Indian human rights defender Dr Binayak Sen was sentenced to life in prison, in January 2011, under charges that Amnesty International has called 'politically motivated'. Binayak Sen Ð a medical doctor who has won international awards for his work with adivasi (tribal) people in central India Ð has strongly denied the charges. Dr Sen was working with communities in the front line of India's bloody insurgency, who are caught between the Maoist fighters and the heavily armed state paramilitaries. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting and tens of thousands of adivasis have been displaced from their homes. Dr Sen was charged with sedition and treason for allegedly carrying letters from an imprisoned Maoist leader to a businessman. Prashant Bhushan Ð a Supreme Court lawyer who was closely involved in the case of Vedanta Resources' Niyamgiri mine Ð said, 'The Supreme Court has held that the charge of sedition can be upheld only if the prosecution proves that the accused attempted to incite violence or public disorder. It is clear that this case doesn't meet that standard.' In November the writer Arundhati Roy was also charged with sedition, in a case that has yet to come to court. Ms. Roy's charges concern comments made regarding the Kashmir situation, although her stance on the Maoist insurgency has also generated heated debate. Dr. Sen has been granted the right to appeal to the Chhattisgarh High Court ("Travesty of justice for human rights defender," Survival International, January 12, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6844).
"Government U-turn halts tribal eviction from India's national parks," Survival International, May 16, 3011,http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7278, reports, The Indian government has reversed its controversial policy of expelling tribal people from wildlife-rich areas to turn them into national parks. Under new proposals, tribal people can only be evicted with their free, prior and informed consent. Tiger reserves, however, are excluded from the new policy. Survival International has written to the Environment and Forests Ministry urging it to apply the same rules to tiger reserves. The previous policy had to be hastily withdrawn following criticism that it would 'inevitably lead to violations of people's rights and [to] greater displacement [of tribal peoples].'Tensions have been growing between those advocating for the rights of India's 84 million tribal people, and those fighting for wildlife reserves to be people-free 'wildernesses'. The withdrawn policy had assumed that people would have to be removed from 'critical wildlife habitats'. An estimated 100,000 people are already conservation refugees following eviction from conservation areas in India. These refugees lose access to the lands and resources they have relied on for generations, and often have sacred sites and burial grounds from which they are barred, with terrible impacts on their mental and physical health. The government's new draft policy recognizes that coexistence between people and wildlife is possible in some (but not all) cases, and that where it is, forest dwelling communities should be involved in the management of the park. Survival's Director, Stephen Corry said today, 'The vast majority of the world's best conservation areas are home to tribal peoples. This is no coincidence. It is madness to suggest that the best way to preserve wildlife is to evict the very people who have protected it for so many years. The Indian government seems to be beginning, finally, to see sense.'
Earlier, India's Minister of Tribal Affairs, Kantilal Bhuria, had announced that he supports the 'integration' of India's tribal communities into the 'mainstream' society Ð a policy that has been shown to be disastrous. A report by Survival International has shown the catastrophic impacts of policies based on this approach. The report is available in summary or in full at: http://www.survivalinternational.org/progresscankill. Last year, the MP for the Andaman Islands, Bishnu Pada Ray, caused outrage with statements that he wanted to 'wean' Jarawa children away from the tribe in order to 'drastically mainstream' them. Now India's minister charged with looking after the nation's nearly 90 million tribal people has said that they must be integrated with the mainstream of society. The notion of 'mainstreaming' tribal people has not been viewed as an acceptable policy by the international community for decades. No government in the Americas has advocated assimilation for more than twenty years. Earlier this year, India's Supreme Court had noted that many tribal groups have 'managed to preserve many of their tribal customs despite many oppressions and atrocities from other communities. É The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country's history.' This 'shameful chapter' will not close if a policy of assimilation is pursued. Survival's Director, Stephen Corry said today, "This notion of bringing tribal peoples into the 'mainstream' is based on the outmoded conviction that governments know best Ð a colonialist attitude with the effect of taking over tribal lands and resources. This approach has destroyed many peoples and threatens many more" ("India's policy of 'integrating' tribal people 'disastrous'," Survival International, February 7 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6958).
FTSE 100 Vedanta Resources' has appealed decisions by the Indian Environmental minister to block its infamous bauxite mine in Orissa state, to India's Supreme Court, which is hearing the case. The mine was dramatically blocked in August 2010, after independent investigators found it would 'destroy' the Dongria Kondh tribe who live in the area. The tribe mounted a hugely successful international campaign to save their homeland. For more see Ongoing Activities, above, or "Back to court for Vedanta Resources' controversial mine," Survival International, March 16, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7088. However, Vedenta continues to operate analumina refinery in Orissa, east India. According to local reports, in April, red toxic slurry poured out of a crack in the retaining wall into the nearby streams. It was several hours before Vedanta staff were able to stem the flow. One local man says that fish began dying within fifteen minutes of the slurry mixing with the water. Vedanta denies any leak, attributing the red sludge to 'construction soil' mixing with rainwater near to the reservoir. A local journalist has claimed that Vedanta security staff attempted to stop anyone filming or photographing the spectacle. Members of the Majhi Kondh tribe live around Vedanta's alumina refinery. More than a hundred families lost their homes when the refinery was built, while many others lost their farming land ("'Poisonous red mud' pours from Vedanta refinery," Survival International, April 13, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7219).
A man from the Jarawa tribe in India's Andaman Islands, one of the world's most endangered tribes, was attacked and seriously wounded trying to stop intruders hunting his tribe's game. The police are treating the attack as attempted murder. Three men have been arrested over the incident. The attackers are believed to be three poachers from a nearby settlement. Poachers are routinely entering the Jarawa Reserve to steal the animals the tribe relies on to survive, often by the illegal road that cuts through the tribe's land. Jarawa have reported that hunting for wild boar has become much harder in recent years because of the poaching epidemic. Poachers bring many dangers to the tribe Ð violence, sexual abuse and disease, as well as addictions to alcohol and tobacco which could create a devastating dependency on the outside world. Without the animals they rely on for food the Jarawa cannot continue their independent way of life ("Brutal attack on endangered on tribe," Survival International, May 6, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7261).
India's Supreme Court judges Gyan Sudha Misra and Markandey Katju have passed a groundbreaking judgment recognizing India's tribal people as the nation's 'original inhabitants' and strongly condemning their 'historic injustice', in an appeal case regarding the stripping, beating and parading naked of a Bhil tribal woman for having had a relationship with a man of 'higher' caste. The judges proclaimed that the sentences given to the men involved were too lenient and that the crime was 'shameful, shocking and outrageous' and 'totally unacceptable in modern India.' The judges praised the tribes of India who 'have managed to preserve many of their tribal customs despite many oppressions and atrocities from other communities'. They recognized explicitly that the country's tribal people, or adivasis, are 'descendants of the original inhabitants of India', unlike the remaining 92% of the population who are 'descendants of immigrants'. The official Indian government position has been that all its citizens are 'indigenous' not just the adivasis. The Bhil woman's case was examined in the context of 'thousands of years' of 'terrible oppression and atrocities' towards the country's adivasi people. The judges blamed the ill-treatment of adivasis on the commonly held view of tribal people as 'inferior'. 'The mentality of our countrymen towards these tribals must change, and they must be given the respect they deserve as the original inhabitants of India. É The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country's history. É They were slaughtered in large numbers, and the survivors and their descendants were degraded, humiliated, and all kinds of atrocities inflicted on them for centuries. They were deprived of their lands, and pushed into forests and hills where they eke out a miserable existence of poverty, illiteracy, disease.' Thejudges warned that the injustice suffered by the adivasis is not yet a thing of the past and that 'now efforts are being made by some people to deprive them even of their forest and hill land where they are living, and the forest produce on which they survive.' The impacts of being removed from their land can be devastating for tribal communities. Survival is campaigning for the rights of India's adivasi people, especially their land rights and their right to choose their own way of life and future ("India Supreme Court judge condemns 'historic injustice' of tribal peoples," Survival International, January 21, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6875).
In a change of policy, India has returned to building the New Delhi-Taj Mahal highway, increasing compensation to farmer's whose land was taken for the project, offering them annuities for the next 30 years, and giving them a stake in residential development along the toll road, known as the Yamuna Expressway. The new arrangements have ended strong protests from the impacted farmers (Jim Yardly, "A Highway in India Promises A New Ending to an Old Story," The New York Times, February 22, 2011,http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/world/asia/23india.html). The taking of land for development by the Indian government, or with its support or acquiescence, for infrastructure, extraction and construction of development projects, including in tribal areas, has caused both direct harm to local people, and through creating serious environmental damage, indirect harm, and has caused a major escalation of the Maoist insurgency spreading across rural India.
In the Philippines, where the Palawan tribe strongly opposes Nickel mining on Palawan island that threatens to devastate the ancestral land, Dr Gerry Ortega was shot dead in January, following death threats linked to Dr. Ortega's anti-mining activism. A suspect was arrested in the murder. Despite the Palawan tribe's opposition, in December 2011, the local government granted clearance to mine on the tribe's land to Companies Macro Asia and the Ipilan Nickel Mining Corporation. Final permission from the governor of the island was expected to grant by the end of January 2011. Survival has been appealing to the governor of Palawan to reject mining on the tribe's land without their consent. The proposed mines will destroy the forests the Palawan tribe rely on. Numbering around 40,000 people, the Palawan are shifting cultivators, clearing a small area of the forest for food production before moving on and allowing the forest to regenerate. They hunt wild pig and collect and sell resin, rattan canes and wild honey. Artiso Mandawa of the local indigenous organization ALDAW (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch), has also received repeated death threats. He says, 'I will continue to fight for my people and my land, until the president of the Philippines puts a halt to all those mining investments that are genocidal to indigenous people' ("Anti-mining activist shot dead in Philippines," Survival International, January 28, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6933). The Palawan people are now also being threatened by the expansion of palm oil production for biofuel and other uses onto their lands that the Philippine government is promoting. "Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe." Cultural Survival, January 23, 2011,http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6876, reports that Palm oil plantations are expanding into land the Palawan use for shifting cultivation and for collecting plants for medicines, food and house building. In some places, plantations have taken over cultivated areas such as rice fields. The Palawan are shifting cultivators, clearing a small area of the forest for food production before moving on and allowing the forest to regenerate. They hunt wild pig and collect and sell resin, rattan canes and wild honey. The lowland Palawan also plant coconuts and raise livestock. The plantations destroy forest, directly take Palawan agricultural land, and deteriorate the broader environment. The Palawan tribe has had little say in the development of the plantations, having not been properly consulted by Agumil Philippines Inc., the company responsible for the plantations, or by the government authorities, nor do they have a clear understanding of agreements that have been made in their name, without their permission. Artiso Mandawa, chair of the local indigenous organization, ALDAW (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch), notes, "There is absolutely no transparency in the company's dealings with local communities." "It is well known that this crop benefits better-off farmers and entrepreneurs, rather than small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples. We look forward to more sustainable investments for improving agricultural productivity of marginalized farmers. Meanwhile, a moratorium on oil palm expansion should be implemented with haste."
In Papua, Indonesia, thousands of tribal people rallied peacefully demanding a referendum on independence from Indonesia, in early August, following days of violence that killed at least 21 people in Papua and West Papua. The protesters claim that Indonesia has never evenhandedly applied the law, or fairly treated Papuan's, since their region became part of Indonesia in 1969. They charge that the government's security force are responsible for the violence, as part of a campaign to intimidate the independence movement, which the government denies. The government has taken some steps to increase local autonomy and made investments in the resource rich region, but that has not quieted demands for independence (Aubrey Belford, "Thousands Rally to Press for Independence From Indonesia," The New York Times, August 3, 2011). In October, 2010, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono delayed a trip to the Netherlands for several days because three Dutch citizens demanded she be arrested for human rights violations allegedly committed by the Indonesian government against the Maluccans of Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia, a charge supported by Human Rights Watch ("Indonesia: Fearing Arrest, President Delays Trip to the Netherlands," The New York Times, October 6, 2010).
Fien Jarangga and Galuh Wandita, "The Reckoning ," Cultural Survival Quarterly, Spring 2011,http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly, discusses that over the past 40 years, ?Papuan women have been suffering terrible violence both outside and inside their homes. After being largely silent for most of that time, a group of women has launched their own truth commission to give support to the victims and to pressure the government to change its behavior. "Derisory sentences for torture video soldiers," Survival International, January 24, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6900, reported that three Indonesian soldiers who were filmed on video torturing two Papuan villagers in May 2010, were sentenced, in January, to between eight and ten months in prison. Human rights organizations have condemned the short sentences that were handed out in the closed military court, citing this as evidence that the Indonesian military is not serious about improving its human rights record. The victims were too frightened to testify in court for fear of military reprisals. Tuanliwor Kiwo, the man shown in the film having his genitals burnt by soldiers, gave a detailed account of his ordeal, which lasted for two days. He said he was repeatedly beaten and suffocated and burned with hot metal and cigarettes. His body was then covered with chili, onions, detergent and salt, which was spread over his wounds. Certain that he would be killed if he remained; he managed to escape on the third day.
Reverend Benny Giay, an outspoken defender of human rights and a leading churchman in West Papua, in early December, called on President Obama to withdraw US cooperation with Indonesia's elite 'Kopassus' forces, after finding himself on a military 'enemies' list. Kopassus soldiers murdered a previous 'enemy', Papuan leader Theys Eluay, in 2001. Kopassus is notorious for human rights violations in West Papua and East Timor. Rev. Giay told Survival that by renewing ties with Kopassus, 'The US is supporting the policy to oppress the Papuans, to wipe us out.' Leaked documents show Indonesia's special forces to be targeting church leaders and unarmed civilian activists in Papua, defining them as Kopassus's main 'enemy'. The Indonesian military has not denied the veracity of the documents. Another Papuan churchman, Rev. Socratez Yoman, heads the list of Kopassus 'enemies'. He told Survival, 'I speak up for justice, peace, human rights and dignity. I must speak up for my people.' He shrugged off the death threats and intimidation that he and many others on the list suffer, by saying, 'This is our daily life.' The revelations from Kopassus come only weeks after a shocking video was released of Indonesian soldiers torturing two tribal Papuan men ("US-backed elite Indonesian forces target churchmen and civilians," Survival International, December 6, 2010, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6713).
The U.S. State Department human rights report, issued in April 2011, highlighted the Penan tribe's battle to protect their rainforests in Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo, from logging. The document cites claims by indigenous rights groups that Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's government has leased the Penan's land 'to logging companies and land developers in exchange for political favors and money'. Taib Mahmud has been in power for 30 years, and won state election in April. Thousands of Penan tribespeople were unable to vote because they have not been issued with identity cards. The US report describes accounts that 'logging companies harassed and sometimes threatened vocal Penan leaders' and that 'workers from two logging companiesÉ regularly sexually abused Penan women and girls'. A government minister has confirmed the rapes, but no action has been taken against the perpetrators. The hunter-gathererPenan are fighting to keep their last remaining rainforest safe from the logging companies. One Penan woman told Survival, 'Our land and our river have been destroyed by the logging company, by the oil palm plantation. It brings hardship and suffering to our land.' Earlier, in March, former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, issued an urgent call to stop the 'wanton destruction' of Sarawak's tropical rainforest, before it is too late. Writing in the British newspaper The Independent, he described deforestation in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, as, 'probably the biggest environmental crime of our times.' Gordon Brown ended with a rallying call to action: 'The courage being shown by local Sarawak people gives us all a chance to stop the destruction. If the world fails now we are not guilty simply of a sin of omission; we will be actively condoning the destruction of a nation's future by people too greedy to see the trees for the wood.' Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'Gordon Brown is right, the world must not stand by and allow the Penan's forest to be destroyed in the name of profit and greed. Without their forest the Penan have no future' ("US human rights report shines spotlight on Penan tribe," Survival International, April 19, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7228; and "Gordon Brown condemns 'wanton destruction' of Sarawak's forests," Survival International, April 4, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7159).
In February the Court of Appeal in Sarawak, ruled that members of the Penan tribe can sue the government and a timber company for trespassing on their land, overturning a previous decision that a case filed by five Penan could not be heard. The case had been disallowed because more than six years had passed since the Sarawak government issued the Merawa timber company with a license to log their ancestral land. The Sarawak government does not consult the Penan before licensing logging companies to operate on their land. The tribe often only learns that a license has been granted when a company arrives with bulldozers. The Penan's lawyer Baru Bian described the ruling as a 'landmark decision', because it removes the 'time bar' that has often prevented Sarawak's indigenous people from using the legal system to combat the destruction of their land by logging and palm oil companies. The five Penan, from the village of Long Lamai, are now taking their case back to the High Court ("US human rights report shines spotlight on Penan tribe," Survival International, April 19, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7228; and "Gordon Brown condemns 'wanton destruction' of Sarawak's forests," Survival International, April 4, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7159).
In the face of strong criticism from Borneo tribes and international organizations, Malaysia's palm oil lobby launched a new website,theoilpalm.org, in March 2011, to counter what it calls 'propaganda' about the controversial industry. Survival notes that the palm oil industry's plans to cover 2 million hectares of Sarawak (in the Malaysian part of Borneo) with the crop will be devastating for the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe, who fear for the future of their communities and forests ("Cyber Greenwash Ð Malaysia Palm Oil on the attack," Survival International, April 1, 2011, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7149).
In addition to the deforestation from lumbering and the development of huge palm oil plantations, the hunter-gatherer Penan and other tribes of Borneo now faces the threat of the construction of hydroelectric dams. The tribes in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, reacted with horror, in October 2010, when the huge Rajang river shrank to a trickle, after it was blocked to flood the state's notorious Bakun dam. Ten thousand indigenous people were displaced to make way for the Bakun dam, and the Sarawak government plans to build 12 more hydroelectric dams across the state. The drying up of the Rajang has increased alarm among Sarawak's tribes about these plans. Around 1,000 members of the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe have been told they must move to make way for the Murum dam, the first of the 12 new dams. A 'social and environmental impact assessment' is being prepared for the Murum dam Ð but construction of the dam is already well underway. The area of rainforest that the Penan say they would be prepared to move to is being rapidly cleared by the palm oil company Shin Yang to make way for its plantations. Palm oil is used for biofuel and in many foods and cosmetics. 'We have found out that Shin Yang Company has started clearing and felling the forest for oil palm plantation in Metalon River area without our consentÉ We want our forest in these areas to be preserved,' says Penan man Ramlie Bujang. Palm oil plantations already cover huge areas of Sarawak which were until recently cloaked in thick forest ("Double 'green energy' threat to Borneo tribes' rainforest," Survival International, December 8, 2010, http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/kits/climatechange).
Indigenous peoples attempting to protect their rights in Malaysian Borneo have been met by official repression. In January 2011, police in Sarawak raided the offices of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and its secretary, Nicholas Mujah, arrested along with two others, and charged with possession of 'seditious materials', while indigenous lawyer Abun Sui Anyit was arrested at a Sarawak airport. The two leaders were held separately and questioned, then released on bail. Abun Sui Anyit was called for further questioning by police yesterday. A SADIA staff member and an election observer, who were also arrested at the SADIA office, were not questioned. Mujah and Anyit both had CDs containing recordings of independent radio and television broadcasts. Nicholas Mujah said January 12, 'I am asking the international community to focus your hearts on the suffering of indigenous peoples in Sarawak, Malaysia. The government has renewed its aggressive activities among indigenous activists and rights defenders because of the upcoming election. We are struggling for survival and fighting legal battles against the government over our ancestral land, to stop it being taken from us.' The Sarawak government has repeatedly curtailed the civil rights of those who oppose its policies. More than a hundred members of the Penan tribe were arrested in 1987 when they mounted road blockades to try to keep logging companies out of their forests ("Borneo indigenous leaders arrested," Survival International, January 12, 2011 http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6837).
The southern highlands of Papua New Guinea, one of the poorest corners of a poor nation, face a tremendous challenge at the possibility of a sudden influx of tremendous wealth from extraction. ExonMobil is preparing to extract natural gas, move it through a 450 Mi. pipeline, and ship it overseas, beginning in 2014, with the prospect of bringing Papua $30 billion over 30 years. While there are certainly possible benefits if the money can be used well and fairly, the potential difficulties are very large, given an existing high level of government corruption, competition for shares of the income from a myriad of diverse shareholders in an extremely underdeveloped region, and the threat of seriously increased social problems amongst populations unprepared for a sudden large infusion of wealth, as well as of environmental and cultural degradation. In a situation this complex, even a very well intended and well planned effort to use the funding and carefully create and distribute benefits well, would be quite difficult to carry out beneficially for all concerned. For more details see Norimitsu Onishi, "In One of the World's Poorest Corners, a flood of Wealth and Worry," The New York Times, October 26, 2010).
As Australia is experiencing a natural resources boom, driven by China's rapid modernization, until now, Aboriginal Australians have been conspicuously left out of the economic gins enjoyed by much of the country. Aborigines have been much worse off economically, with high unemployment, on average lower paying jobs for those working, and thus home ownership levels well below the national average, in part because of lower education levels, leading to a myriad of social problems, including high rates of alcoholism, that have continued to debilitate isolated Aboriginal communities in northwestern Australia. "As resource companies push ever deeper into Australia's remotest areas, however, Aboriginal leaders are leveraging their rights as traditional landowners to negotiate deals with companies and governments that are seeking to develop their holdings. They say the potential windfall hundreds of millions of dollars will rescue their communities from their long dependence on welfare and state subsidies." But there is disagreement among aboriginals as to how to meet the offered opportunities. Opting for economic development as the primary objective, The Kimberley Land Council, for example, has strongly supported a plan to build a $30 billion liquefied natural gas plant in James Price Point, an uninhabited locationonly accessible by a dirt road. But a different group of Aboriginal leaders oppose the plant because of the location's spiritual significance, and they are supported in their opposition to the project by environmentalists who argue the development will destroy a pristine area of the country and hurt Broome, the major tourist town in the region. Because of the standoff between the two Aboriginal groups, the government of Western Australia State has moved to seize the land through "compulsory acquisition," a procedure similar to eminent domain. Coming two decades after Aborigines won limited control over their traditional lands, the decision has led to accusations that the government is involved in neo-colonialism, "invasion" and the "theft" of Aboriginal land. In February, Aboriginal leaders were under pressure to come to agreement within six months on how to proceed. If they fail to agree on a course of action, the National Native Title Tribunal will deliver a ruling most probably in the government's favor, experts say. But the process could take more than a year and amount to a public relations setback for the government as well as the politically connected developer, Woodside, Australia's largest oiland gas firm. Woodside and its partners would ship natural gas from the Indian Ocean about 250 miles to the west of through a pipeline to the proposed plant in James Price Point, where it would be liquefied for export, most likely to China. According to a preliminary agreement between the land council and the government and Woodside, the project would bring in an estimated $1.5 billion in royalties, contracts and other forms of compensation to the Aboriginal community over 30 years (Norimitsu Onishi, "Rich in Land, Aborigines Split on How to Use It," The New York Times, February 12, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/world/asia/13australia.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=todayspaper).
The First Nations Political Party was launched in Australia at the beginning of 2011, Australia joins Canada in recognizing a political party for its indigenous population. The First Nations Political Party was initiated with the support of 2,500 citizens, and is representing the interests of the aboriginal people across Australia, who comprise 2.5% of the country's population, while in the Northern Territory they constitute 32% of the population. "It will give people an alternative to the two wishy-washy parties that have dealt with my people since 1901 and delivered policies of self-destruction and systematic genocide," said party organizer Japarta Ryan. The party intends to field candidates in the next federal and Northern Territory elections and at the appropriate moment in other states ("First Australian indigenous party listed," Sydney Morning Herald, January 10, 2010, http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/first-australian-Internationdigenous-party-listed-20110110-19kur.html).
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