United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
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, racial, religious, ethnic or
cultural
differences
are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and
socially unjust,
Reaffirming
also 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,
Further
recognizing 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 an end to 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
also 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 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 and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
as well as
the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, affirm the fundamental
importance
of the
right of 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
of
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
also 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 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 of
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 rights 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 practice 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, practice,
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 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, of a 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 to
diminish or eliminate the rights
of
Indigenous Peoples contained in Treaties, Agreements and 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
have 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.