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"Rights of the Indigenous Peoples"Adopted by General Assembly Resolution 61/295 on 13 September 2007
The General Assembly,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, and good faith in the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by States
in accordance with the Charter,
Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while
recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves
different, and to be respected as such,
Affirming also that all peoples contribute to the diversity and
richness of civilizations and cultures, which constitute the common heritage of
humankind,
Affirming further that all doctrines, policies and practices based on
or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national
origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist,
scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust,
Reaffirming that indigenous peoples, in the exercise of their rights,
should be free from discrimination of any kind,
Concerned that indigenous peoples have suffered from historic
injustices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of
their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in
particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and
interests,
Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights
of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social
structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and
philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources,
Recognizing also the urgent need to respect and promote the rights of
indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements with States,
Welcoming the fact that indigenous peoples are organizing themselves
for political, economic, social and cultural enhancement and in order to bring
to an end all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they occur,
Convinced that control by indigenous peoples over developments
affecting them and their lands, territories and resources will enable them to
maintain and strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to
promote their development in accordance with their aspirations and needs,
Recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and
traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and
proper management of the environment,
Emphasizing the contribution of the demilitarization of the lands and
territories of indigenous peoples to peace, economic and social progress and
development, understanding and friendly relations among nations and peoples of
the world,
Recognizing in particular the right of indigenous families and
communities to retain shared responsibility for the upbringing, training,
education and well-being of their children, consistent with the rights of the
child,
Considering that the rights affirmed in treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples are, in some
situations, matters of international concern, interest, responsibility and
character,
Considering also that treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements, and the relationship they represent, are the basis for a
strengthened partnership between indigenous peoples and States,
Acknowledging that the Charter of the United Nations, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(2) and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 as well as the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action,(3)
affirm the fundamental importance of the right to self-determination of all
peoples, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and
freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development,
Bearing in mind that nothing in this Declaration may be used to deny
any peoples their right to self-determination, exercised in conformity with
international law,
Convinced that the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in
this Declaration will enhance harmonious and cooperative relations between the
State and indigenous peoples, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect
for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith,
Encouraging States to comply with and effectively implement all their
obligations as they apply to indigenous peoples under international instruments,
in particular those related to human rights, in consultation and cooperation
with the peoples concerned,
Emphasizing that the
United Nations has an important and continuing role to play in promoting and
protecting the rights of indigenous peoples,
Believing that this Declaration is a further important step forward for
the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms of
indigenous peoples and in the development of relevant activities of the United
Nations system in this field,
Recognizing and reaffirming that indigenous individuals are entitled
without discrimination to all human rights recognized in international law, and
that indigenous peoples possess collective rights which are indispensable for
their existence, well-being and integral development as peoples,
Recognizing that the situation of indigenous peoples varies from region
to region and from country to country and that the significance of national and
regional particularities and various historical and cultural backgrounds should
be taken into consideration,
Solemnly proclaims the following United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a standard of achievement to be pursued in a
spirit of partnership and mutual respect:
Article 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment,
as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms
as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights(4)
and international human rights law.
Article 2
Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to
all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of
discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on
their indigenous origin or identity.
Article 3
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination.
By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely
pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Article 4
Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to
self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters
relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for
financing their autonomous functions.
Article 5
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural
institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so
choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.
Article 6
Every indigenous individual has the right to a
nationality.
Article 7
1.
Indigenous individuals have
the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of
person.
2.
Indigenous peoples have the
collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and
shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence,
including forcibly removing children of the group to another group.
Article 8
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not
to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:
(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity
as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
(b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands,
territories or resources;
(c) Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of
violating or undermining any of their rights;
(d) Any form of forced assimilation or integration;
(e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic
discrimination directed against them.
Article 9
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to
belong to an indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions
and customs of the community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind
may arise from the exercise of such a right.
Article 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from
their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free,
prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after
agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of
return.
Article 11
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This
includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future
manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites,
artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and
literature.
2.
States shall provide
redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed
in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural,
intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior
and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.
Article 12
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to manifest, practise, develop and teach their spiritual and religious
traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have
access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use
and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of
their human remains.
2.
States shall seek to enable
the access and/or repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains in their
possession through fair, transparent and effective mechanisms developed in
conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned.
Article 13
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their
histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and
literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places
and persons.
2.
States shall take effective
measures to ensure that this right is protected and also to ensure that
indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and
administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of
interpretation or by other appropriate means.
Article 14
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions
providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their
cultural methods of teaching and learning.
2.
Indigenous individuals,
particularly children, have the right to all levels and forms of education of
the State without discrimination.
3.
States shall, in
conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for
indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside
their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own
culture and provided in their own language.
Article 15
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and
aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public
information.
2.
States shall take effective
measures, in consultation and cooperation with the indigenous peoples concerned,
to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination and to promote tolerance,
understanding and good relations among indigenous peoples and all other segments
of society.
Article 16
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to
all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.
2.
States shall take effective
measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural
diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full freedom of expression,
should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural
diversity.
Article 17
1.
Indigenous individuals and
peoples have the right to enjoy fully all rights established under applicable
international and domestic labour law.
2.
States shall in
consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples take specific measures to
protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any
work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education,
or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development, taking into account their special vulnerability and the
importance of education for their empowerment.
3.
Indigenous individuals have
the right not to be subjected to any discriminatory conditions of labour and,
inter alia, employment or salary.
Article 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in
decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through
representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as
well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making
institutions.
Article 19
States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the
indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in
order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and
implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.
Article 20
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or
institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence
and development, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other
economic activities.
2.
Indigenous peoples deprived
of their means of subsistence and development are entitled to just and fair
redress.
Article 21
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social
conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment,
vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social
security.
2.
States shall take effective
measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing
improvement of their economic and social conditions. Particular attention shall
be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth,
children and persons with disabilities.
Article 22
1.
Particular attention shall
be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth,
children and persons with disabilities in the implementation of this
Declaration.
2.
States shall take measures,
in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and
children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence
and discrimination.
Article 23
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop
priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development. In
particular, indigenous peoples have the right to be actively involved in
developing and determining health, housing and other economic and social
programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to administer such programmes
through their own institutions.
Article 24
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices,
including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and
minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any
discrimination, to all social and health services.
2.
Indigenous individuals have
an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to
achieving progressively the full realization of this right.
Article 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally
owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas
and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations
in this regard.
Article 26
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally
owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
2.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that
they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation
or use, as well as those which they have otherwise acquired.
3.
States shall give legal
recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such
recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and
land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.
Article 27
States shall establish and implement, in conjunction with
indigenous peoples concerned, a fair, independent, impartial, open and
transparent process, giving due recognition to indigenous peoples’ laws,
traditions, customs and land tenure systems, to recognize and adjudicate the
rights of indigenous peoples pertaining to their lands, territories and
resources, including those which were traditionally owned or otherwise occupied
or used. Indigenous peoples shall have the right to participate in this process.
Article 28
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to redress, by means that can include restitution or, when this is not
possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for the lands, territories and
resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and
which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their
free, prior and informed consent.
2.
Unless otherwise freely
agreed upon by the peoples concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands,
territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status or of monetary
compensation or other appropriate redress.
Article 29
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive
capacity of their lands or territories and resources. States shall establish and
implement assistance programmes for indigenous peoples for such conservation and
protection, without discrimination.
2.
States shall take effective
measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take
place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples without their free,
prior and informed consent.
3.
States shall also take
effective measures to ensure, as needed, that programmes for monitoring,
maintaining and restoring the health of indigenous peoples, as developed and
implemented by the peoples affected by such materials, are duly implemented.
Article 30
1.
Military activities shall
not take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples, unless
justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed with or
requested by the indigenous peoples concerned.
2.
States shall undertake
effective consultations with the indigenous peoples concerned, through
appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative
institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military activities.
Article 31
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage,
traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the
manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and
genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and
flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and
visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control,
protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage,
traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.
2.
In conjunction with
indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and
protect the exercise of these rights.
Article 32
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or
use of their lands or territories and other resources.
2.
States shall consult and
cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own
representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent
prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and
other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or
exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.
3.
States shall provide
effective mechanisms for just and fair redress for any such activities, and
appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate adverse environmental, economic,
social, cultural or spiritual impact.
Article 33
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their
customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals
to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live.
2.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their
institutions in accordance with their own procedures.
Article 34
Indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and
maintain their institutional structures and their distinctive customs,
spirituality, traditions, procedures, practices and, in the cases where they
exist, juridical systems or customs, in accordance with international human
rights standards.
Article 35
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the
responsibilities of individuals to their communities.
Article 36
1.
Indigenous peoples, in
particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain
and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for
spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own
members as well as other peoples across borders.
2.
States, in consultation and
cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate
the exercise and ensure the implementation of this right.
Article 37
1.
Indigenous peoples have the
right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and
other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors and to
have States honour and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements.
2.
Nothing in this Declaration
may be interpreted as diminishing or eliminating the rights of indigenous
peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.
Article 38
States in consultation and cooperation with indigenous
peoples, shall take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to
achieve the ends of this Declaration.
Article 39
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to
financial and technical assistance from States and through international
cooperation, for the enjoyment of the rights contained in this Declaration.
Article 40
Indigenous peoples have the right to access to and prompt
decision through just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and
disputes with States or other parties, as well as to effective remedies for all
infringements of their individual and collective rights. Such a decision shall
give due consideration to the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of
the indigenous peoples concerned and international human rights.
Article 41
The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations
system and other intergovernmental organizations shall contribute to the full
realization of the provisions of this Declaration through the mobilization,
inter alia, of financial cooperation and technical assistance. Ways and means of
ensuring participation of indigenous peoples on issues affecting them shall be
established.
Article 42
The United Nations, its bodies, including the Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues, and specialized agencies, including at the country
level, and States shall promote respect for and full application of the
provisions of this Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this
Declaration.
Article 43
The rights recognized herein constitute the minimum
standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of
the world.
Article 44
All the rights and freedoms recognized herein are equally
guaranteed to male and female indigenous individuals.
Article 45
Nothing in this Declaration may be construed as
diminishing or extinguishing the rights indigenous peoples have now or may
acquire in the future.
Article 46
1.
Nothing in this Declaration
may be interpreted as implying for any State, people, group or person any right
to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the Charter of the
United Nations or construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would
dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political
unity of sovereign and independent States.
2.
In the exercise of the
rights enunciated in the present Declaration, human rights and fundamental
freedoms of all shall be respected. The exercise of the rights set forth in this
Declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law
and in accordance with international human rights obligations. Any such
limitations shall be non-discriminatory and strictly necessary solely for the
purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of
others and for meeting the just and most compelling requirements of a democratic
society.
3.
The provisions set forth in
this Declaration shall be interpreted in accordance with the principles of
justice, democracy, respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good
governance and good faith.
(2) See resolution
2200 A (XXI), annex.
(3) A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
(4) Resolution 217 A (III).
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