DOCUMENT: SINDHI.TXT WORLD SINDHI CONGRESS 'SINDH HOUSE', 153 Boundary Road, Woking Surrey GU21 5BT, U.K. Tel: (0483) 767654 Fax: (0483) 721616 UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Working Group on Indigenous Populations 12th session 25-29 July 1994 Statement agenda item 4 by World Sindhi Congress Madam Chairperson, May I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as Chairperson for the 12th session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations. Let me also congratulate you and other members of the Working Group and the representatives of Indigenous Populations on bringing out the Draft Declaration which recognises most of the rights of the Indigenous Peoples but still leaves us unsatisfied on its eventual future and application. The issue of self-determination of Peoples is becoming extremely important in the new world order. Increasing number of Indigenous Populations are demanding the right of self-determination with varying interpretations, and the governments around the world are increasingly resorting to the use of military force to deny the Peoples their right to self-determination. The recent example is of my people, the People of Sindh, who are being killed because of the military operation, "Operation Bluefox", which has been in force for the last few years, to deny Sindhis their right to self-determination and other rights as highlighted in E/CN- 4/1994/NGO/56. Amnesty International has issued a report ASA 33/05/93 about the gross violation of Human Rights resulting from the military operation, including the torture and death in custody of the Vice Chairman of World Sindhi Congress, Shaheed Mohammed Yousuf Jakhrani, and continued detention without trial of political activists including the 91 year old father of Sindhi Nation his Excellency G M Syed, Chairman of World Sindhi Congress. The right of self-determination of Peoples, naturally including indigenous peoples, this right is inalienable. Moreover, it benefits and honors also those in powers if they recognize and practice this fundamental right in the spirit of the Draft Declaration on Indigenous Peoples. As the representatives of Indigenous Peoples and the Human Rights activists, we all wish to see peaceful change around the world. But we would only be fooling ourselves if we expected the evolution of things to properly or even at all reflect our people's legitimate concerns and aspirations without a more energetic, concentrated and intelligent effort on our own part. To these effects I have the honor to recommend to the participants of his Working Group that we start in earnest to develop ways and means for effectively networking independently of the United Nations and its underlying, more and more decaying power structure. And that we seek recognition from those we wish to relate to not because of their grace, guilty feelings or humanitarian impulses, but on the strength of our own interests, resources and competence to handle them, because of the genuine solidarity among our peoples, and because of our capacity to convince our partners that it is also in their long-term interests to genuinely recognize and respect us. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: A service provided by :: :: The Center For World Indigenous Studies :: :: www.cwis.org :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Originating at the Center for World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, Washington USA www.cwis.org © 1999 Center for World Indigenous Studies (All Rights Reserved. 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