International Norm: Rights of Indigenous People 1. Introduction
More than 370 million people in over 90 countries (representing 5,000 different cultures) identify as indigenous people. They comprise 5% of the global population, and 15% of the world’s poor. Still, some countries deny the existence of indigenous peoples within their territory or argue that “all their citizens are indigenous“ (Dahl 5). Some groups of indigenous people are so small that their languages and cultures are endangered. The UN has not adopted a formal definition of indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the only international instrument, after the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the …show more content…
2. Origins
Treatment of indigenous people was always a domestic issue. Bolivia, in 1948, proposed that the League of nations study the “situation of aboriginal populations on the American Continent” (Stamatopoulou 1994; 66), however, nothing was done. The treatment of indigenous people was considered a domestic issue that would be dealt with internally by the states, and a policy of respecting state soverignty prevailed until the 70s (Dahl 26). As Gilbert () states, “One of the first effects of international law on indigenous rights was was ironically through the legacy of their disposession”-- the colonization and subjugation of indigenous territories was legally sanctioned by rules like “discovery”, “terra nullius” and “conquest” (1). At the end of the 18th century, The first time the League of Nations dealt with the rights of Indigenous People was through the International Labor Rights movement. In 1957, ILO 107 …show more content…
Individual rights appears in article 27 of the UDHR, the right to participate in the cultural life of the community (doesn’t say what community that is). The UDHR and ICCPR did not address the cultural life of marginal communities. Rather, the main idea was assimilation-- this can be seen in the CERD (IP should not be discriminated against, but rather integrated into society) and in ILO Convention #107. This convention was written when IP were seen in the framework of forced labor and slavery (especially in Latin America). The idea was to protect “not-yet-integrated” communities, so this also implies that the endgame for IP was
More than 370 million people in over 90 countries (representing 5,000 different cultures) identify as indigenous people. They comprise 5% of the global population, and 15% of the world’s poor. Still, some countries deny the existence of indigenous peoples within their territory or argue that “all their citizens are indigenous“ (Dahl 5). Some groups of indigenous people are so small that their languages and cultures are endangered. The UN has not adopted a formal definition of indigenous peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the only international instrument, after the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the …show more content…
2. Origins
Treatment of indigenous people was always a domestic issue. Bolivia, in 1948, proposed that the League of nations study the “situation of aboriginal populations on the American Continent” (Stamatopoulou 1994; 66), however, nothing was done. The treatment of indigenous people was considered a domestic issue that would be dealt with internally by the states, and a policy of respecting state soverignty prevailed until the 70s (Dahl 26). As Gilbert () states, “One of the first effects of international law on indigenous rights was was ironically through the legacy of their disposession”-- the colonization and subjugation of indigenous territories was legally sanctioned by rules like “discovery”, “terra nullius” and “conquest” (1). At the end of the 18th century, The first time the League of Nations dealt with the rights of Indigenous People was through the International Labor Rights movement. In 1957, ILO 107 …show more content…
Individual rights appears in article 27 of the UDHR, the right to participate in the cultural life of the community (doesn’t say what community that is). The UDHR and ICCPR did not address the cultural life of marginal communities. Rather, the main idea was assimilation-- this can be seen in the CERD (IP should not be discriminated against, but rather integrated into society) and in ILO Convention #107. This convention was written when IP were seen in the framework of forced labor and slavery (especially in Latin America). The idea was to protect “not-yet-integrated” communities, so this also implies that the endgame for IP was