HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
May. 26, 2020 • Apurva Bhutani
INTRODUCTION
Indigenous people are the ones who are said to be the earliest inhabitants of a particular area before it was occupied or settled or colonized by some other people. They mostly lead a nomadic life but they generally depend upon a specific piece of land on which their livelihood depends upon. It is upon them to decide whether they identify themselves to be indigenous by the means of self-identification.
They are also usually threatened regarding their sovereignty and also their human rights come into question because of the style of life they choose to have. They are forcibly removed from the place they inhabit in the name of conservation. Indigenous people face serious issues of violence and brutality, continuing assimilation policies, marginalization, dispossession of land, forced removal or relocation, effects of large-scale development, physical abuse by military forces and armed conflict to name a few.
STATUS OF WOMEN
There is a lot of violence against women of indigenous groups with statistics showing that more than 1 out of 3 women belonging to these groups will be subject to rape in their lifetimes. Also, they are subject to a lot of systematic racism from the state as well as its authorities. It gets manifested in many ways such as unnecessary questioning by the police authorities, the teacher not listening to her students just because of his indigenous lifestyle. To the very extreme of the discriminatory behavior, they are subject to serious human rights violations in the form of rape, murder, battery, assault as well intimidation. These forms are difficult to quantify by the authorities and at times totally disregarded because of the ethnicity of these people.
UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
In many countries, such as Ecuador, Peru etc. the protest by these indigenous groups of people has been criminalized. They are penalized for their desperate attempt to save their land and are also viewed as terrorists in the eyes of the state in countries like Ecuador.
Seeing to this, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People was adopted by the General Assembly on September 2007. The main aim of the Declaration is to “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”. This declaration lays down the ground rules for the minimum standards of survival, well-being, dignity and human rights as well as fundamental freedoms which are guaranteed to indigenous people around the globe.
These rights include-all human rights, including collective rights, equality and non-discrimination, self-determination, autonomy or self-government, make their own institutions, life, liberty and security, protection from cultural destruction or assimilation, belong to indigenous communities or nations, freedom from forced removal from their lands, culture and cultural property, spiritual and religious customs, languages, stories and names, education, including in their own language, dignity and diversity of their culture, protection in employment, own political, social and economic institutions, improvement of their economic and social conditions, fair processes for dealing with their rights to lands and resources, consultation before their lands are used for military activities, cultural and intellectual property, determine their own identity and membership, own institutions, laws and customs to name a few.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS & TREATIES
There are other international treaties as well as conventions which cater to the human rights of indigenous people such as-
- International Labour Organisation Convention,1989- it deals with the rights of indigenous people relating to the right to land, development, health, education and resources. During its adoption as well, the main focus was given on the preservation of indigenous people.
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights- the Article 1 of the Covenant inculcates the right to self-determination. Also, as the people were losing their places to live because of forced eviction, it was argued that these people have the right to adequate housing. According to Article 15 of the same, it lets indigenous people to participate in their own cultural life.
- International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination- According to Article 5 of the Convention, a special obligation to guarantee that everyone is equal before the eyes of the law irrespective of their race, color, national or ethnic origin is guaranteed.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights- According to Article 27 of the Covenant, it states that the minority groups have the right to practice any religion, enjoy their own culture and also have a right to choose their own language.
FAQs-
1) Is India a signatory of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People?
Ans. Yes, India is one of the signatories as well as a nation who has actively implemented most of the recommendations made in the Declaration.
2) Why is it important to talk about the rights of indigenous people?
Ans. This is so because otherwise they will face a lot of discrimination as well as exploitation at the hands of other people with no recourse to any sort of justice.
[The author, Rishi Nandy is a 2nd year law student at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIPU]
References
1) https://www.un.org/press/en/2010/hr5016.doc.htm
2) https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/mandated-areas1/human-rights.html
3) https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples-0