“WORKING FOR THE RIGHTS AND RECOGNITION
OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES"
INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL 25th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE CONFERENCIA DEL 25 ANIVERSARIO DEL CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS. Mato Sapa (Bear Butte, South Dakota, United States) Comision Internacional/International Commission
RESOLUTION regarding the Draft OAS American Declaration of Rights of the Indigenous Peoples
1. The Organization of American States (OAS) Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was developed without consent from or consultation with the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.
2. If passed, this draft would be binding upon the States. Jurisdiction for its application would be before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
3. The draft is an imposition by the American States meant to define their own policies without participation from the Indigenous Peoples.
4. The qualification it imposes in the definition of the word "peoples" is in fact an attempt to exclude Indigenous Peoples from all of their rights as established in international law. It is likewise an attempt to limit and avoid the recognition and defense of the rights included in the United Nations' Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
5. The Working Group of Indigenous Persons to be established by the OAS does not ensure that changes can be made in the approval mechanism defined by the States. Much less does it ensure that changes can be made in the text of the Declaration.
We conclude:
1. The IITC is opposed to the present process and the contents of the OAS Draft Declaration. At the same time, we must explain to governments and to Indigenous Peoples why we take this position.
2. The IITC calls for an immediate moratorium in the approval process of the OAS draft, until a full and real consultation can be conducted with Indigenous organizations and Peoples of the continent, recognizing their right to respond in concrete terms based on the positions, doubts, and demands of Indigenous Peoples on this matter.
