Advancing the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
A Critical Challenge for the International Community
Voices from a forum at the 61st Session of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
April 13, 2005
Presented by Amnesty International, la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), the Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples (NCIV), Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), and Rights and Democracy
In April 2005, the 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights agreed to continue this standard setting process. On this occasion, and with a Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People just beginning, a group of international human rights organizations organized a forum at the Commission to promote discussion of the advances that have been made in the recognition of the human rights of Indigenous Peoples and the work that remains to be done.
The forum was organized by Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), Rights & Democracy and the Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples. The speakers were the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen; North American Indigenous representative to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Wilton Littlechild; Dalee Sambo Dorough of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and Mililani Trask of Na Koa Ikaika O Ka Lahui. The panel was moderated by Rachel Brett of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva.
Our organizations believe that adoption of a strong Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an urgent priority, not only to help prevent the terrible violations experienced by Indigenous Peoples worldwide, but also to strengthen the international human rights system by helping to eliminate discrimination in the application of universal human rights. States and civil society have a responsibility to ensure that the process of elaborating the Declaration moves ahead in a timely manner and that this process builds upon, and does not undermine, the international standards for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights that have emerged as the result of Indigenous Peoples’ efforts in the past decade. It is our hope that the forum has contributed to this dialogue.
