Self-Determination pp 47-57 | Cite as
The Right of Indigenous Peoples to “Self-Determination” in the Contemporary World Order
Chapter
Abstract
The fundamental right of every people to freely determine its own political status and freely pursue its economic, social and cultural development, has for centuries been one of which, as rightly stated by a lawyer and recognized human rights supporter, John Humphrey, “poets have sung and for which patriots have been ready to lay down their lives”.2 Among these patriots are countless of the world’s indigenous peoples, who are ready to give their lives for the survival of their nations and culture and in defence of their right to self-determination.
Keywords
Indigenous People Political Status International Labour Organization Friendly Relation Tribal People
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Notes
- 1.The following is a definition of “indigenous peoples” for the purposes of international action: “Indigenous peoples” and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems. See Jose R. Martinez Cobo, “Study on the Problem of Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations”, vol. v, United Nations Publication E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7/Add.4, ISBN92-1-154060 — F, p. 29, paras 378 and 379. Also concerning the term “indigenous”, see R. L. Barsch, “Indigenous Peoples: An Emerging Object of International Law” (1986) 80 American J. Int.’l L., at 373–6.Google Scholar
- 2.J. P. Humphrey, Political and Related Rights, in Human Rights in International Law, Legal and Political Issues, vol. I, ed. J. L. Mezon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984), at 193.Google Scholar
- 3.Charter of the United Nations (1945), 59 Stat. 1031, TS no. 993, 3 Bevans 1153, 1976 YBUN 1043.Google Scholar
- 4.United Nations, Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, UNGA Res. 1514 (XV), 15 UN GAOR, Suppl. (no. 16), UN Doc. A/4684 (1960), at 66.Google Scholar
- 5.On the importance of UN practice in the development of international law, see R. Higgins, The Development of International Law through the Political Organs of the United Nations, 2nd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), at 1–10.Google Scholar
- 6.H. Gros-Espiell, The Right to Self-Determination of United Nations Resolutions (New York: United Nations, 1980). See also J. Anaya, “Indigenous Rights Norms, in Contemporary International Law” (1991), 8Arizona J. Int’l and Comp. L. 1, at 29–30.Google Scholar
- 7.The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Helsinki, 1975, reprinted in Brownlie (ed.), Basic Documents on Human Rights, 2nd ed (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), at 320.Google Scholar
- 8.Supra, note 4; The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 6 ILM 360 (1967); and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 6 ILM 368 (1967).Google Scholar
- 9.E. I. A. Daes, “Native Peoples’ Rights”, in Cahiers de Droit, 27, no. 1, Faculté de Droit, Université Laval Québec (1986), at 126–7.Google Scholar
- 10.International Labour Organization, Convention (no. 169) Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, 28 ILM 1382 (1989).Google Scholar
- 11.United Nations, General Assembly Resolution on Principles which Should Guide Members in Determining Whether or not an Obligation Exists to Transmit the Information called for under Article 73e of the Charter, UNGA Res. 1541 (XV), 15 UN GAOR, Suppl. (no. 16), UN Doc. A/4684 (1960), at 29.Google Scholar
- 12.United Nations, General Assembly Resolution on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, UNGA Res. 2625 (XXV), 25 UN GAOR, Suppl. (no. 28), UN Doc. A/8028 (1971), at 121.Google Scholar
- 15.B. B.-Ghali, Secretary General of the UN, in (1993) 3 Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, 165, at 168–171.Google Scholar
- 16.In connection with the standards for evaluation self-determination movements, see M. H. Halperin and D. J. Scheffer with P. L. Small, Self-Determination in the New World Order (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1992), at 74–80.Google Scholar
- 19.On the content of “autonomy” and the right to autonomy, see H. Hannum, Autonomy, Sovereignty and Self-Determination (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), at 458–77; see also G. Alfredsson, “The Right to Self-Determination and Indigenous Peoples”, in C. Tomuschat (ed.), Modern Law of Self-Determination (Dordrecht/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993), at 52–3.Google Scholar
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© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 1996