DOCUMENT: 82-11964.TXT U N I T E D N A T I O N S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL Distr. COUNCIL RESTRICTED E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1982/R.1 Original: ENGLISH 26 August 1982 GE.82-11964 (E) COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Working Group on Indigenous Peoples First Session STUDY OF THE PROBLEM OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS Documents transmitted to the Sub-Commission by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, together with its report on its first session Chairman-Rapporteur: Mr. Asbjorn Eide CONTENTS Page ---- 1. Statement submitted by the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.......................... 1 2. Statement submitted by the Indian Law Resource Center.................................... 2 3. Draft Resolution submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council.................... 4 E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1982/R.1 Page 2 STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY THE WORLD COUNCIL OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES We respectfully ask that the Working Group include the following in its report to the Sub-commission. 1. The Working Group on Indigenous Populations makes reference to existing norms of international law for the protection of indigenous populations including, without limitation, the Charter of the United Nations; Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties; Declaration of Principles for the Defense of the Indigenous Nations and Peoples of the Western Hemisphere; and the Helsinki Accords. 2. The Working Group makes specific references, and reproduces in its report, the Principles for Guiding the Deliberations of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations as a comprehensive and authoritative interpretation of the standards which should guide the Working Group in considering information which it receives. These draft principles address each of the concerns and illustrative experiences discussed by the participants in the Working Group sessions. 3. Of all the situations involving indigenous populations which have been brought to the attention of the Working Group, the situation involving Indian peoples of Guatemala requires the most urgent attention. It appears that mass killing of Indians is taking place and that the very survival of those Indian peoples is in immediate jeopardy. 4. The Working Group urges creation of a fund to facilitate broader participation of indigenous populations in the sessions of the Working Group in Geneva. The Working Group also urges consideration of means whereby Working Group sessions could be held in places more accessible to indigenous populations, including the possibility of individual members of the Working Group soliciting oral and written information in specific regions. E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1982/R.1 Page 3 2. STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY THE INDIAN LAW RESOURCE CENTER PRINCIPLES FOR GUIDING THE DELIBERATIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS 1. Indigenous peoples and groups shall be entitled freely and independently to practice, develop, and perpetuate their own religions, languages, cultures, traditions, social systems, and ways of life. 2. Indigenous peoples and groups shall be free from any action or course of conduct which directly or indirectly may result in the destruction or disintegration of their physical, cultural, or political integrity. 3. Indigenous peoples shall not be deprived of their rights or claims to land, property, or natural resources, without their free and informed consent. No State shall claim or retain, by right of discovery or otherwise, the territories of indigenous peoples, except such land as may have been lawfully acquired by valid treaty or other cession freely made. In no circumstances shall indigenous peoples or group be subjected to discrimination with respect to their rights or claims to land, property, or natural resources. 4. Indigenous peoples shall be free from any action or course of conduct which directly or indirectly may result in the destruction or deterioration of land, air, water, wildlife, habitat, or other natural resources. 5. Indigenous peoples are, in some circumstances, under a domination which is both alien and colonial in nature. Indigenous peoples qualify as peoples possessing a right of self-determination; hence, indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, that is, to possess whatever degree of self-government in their territories the indigenous peoples may choose. 6. Treaties and other agreements entered into by indigenous peoples with other States, whether denominated as treaties or otherwise, shall be recognized and applied in the same manner and according to the same international laws and principles as the treaties and agreements entered into by other States. Treaties and agreements made with indigenous peoples shall not be subject to unilateral abrogation. The municipal law of any State may not serve as a defense to the failure to adhere to and perform the terms of treaties and agreements made with indigenous peoples. Nor shall any State refuse to recognize and adhere to treaties or other agreements due to changed circumstances where the change in circumstances has been substantially caused by the State asserting that such change has occurred. 7. The rights of indigenous peoples and groups shall be free from infringement by States, individuals, corporations, or other entities. 8. Indigenous peoples and groups shall not be deprived of any other rights protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other international instruments, or international law. These principles represent certain of their basic rights of indigenous peoples which should guide the deliberations of the Working Group. E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1982/R.1 Page 4 3. DRAFT RESOLUTION SUBMITTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL DRAFT RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE GUATEMALAN PEOPLE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIANS WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATION, 9-13 AUGUST 1982 SUB-COMMISSION ON PREVENTION OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROTECTION OF MINORITIES UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, GENEVA GUIDED by the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the International Convention against Genocide, in particular those provisions relating to the right of self- determination. NOTING General Assembly decision 36/435 of 16 December 1981, Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1982/31, and the work of the Special Rapporteur appointed by the Commission to make a thorough study of the human rights situation in Guatemala, BEARING IN MIND changes in the Government of Guatemala which occurred in March 1982, and the declaration by that Government of a state of siege on 1 July 1982, DISTURBED by continuing reports of gross violations of human rights in Guatemala and in particular allegations of mass killings of indigenous peoples and destruction of their villages and crops, CONVINCED that urgent action is necessary in order to establish the facts of the current human rights situation in Guatemala and to protect the human rights of all people therein, EXPRESSES ITS DEEP CONCERN at reports of genocidal acts carried out by members of the Guatemalan security forces against indigenous Indian peoples, CONDEMNS the reported massacres of thousands of Indians by Guatemalan military forces since March 1982, and the expulsion of more than one million Indians from their indigenous communities, and hundreds of thousands from the country itself, REQUESTS the Secretary-General to forward all information received by the Sub-Commission relating to the situation of human rights in Guatemala to the Special Rapporteur of the Commission, FURTHER REQUESTS the Secretary-General to transmit relevant information received by the Sub-Commission to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross, INVITES the attention of the Government of Guatemala to these issues as raised in discussions during the thirty- fifth session of the Sub-Commission and its Working Group on Indigenous Populations, FURTHER INVITES the attention of all Governments concerned to the use being made of military arms and materials that may by transmitted to the Government of Guatemala, FURTHER INVITES all Governments and International Organs to consider that peoples of Guatemala are organized and struggling for their human rights at all levels in their search for justice. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: -= 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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