E-mun Ga 3rd Sochum Study Guide

7/27/2019 E-mun Ga 3rd Sochum Study Guide

1/21

1


2/21

2

Dear delegates,

My name is Jesslin Guvani and I will be your Director for General Assembly Third

Committee, which also known as Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee

(SOCHUM) in E-Model United Nations 2011 at the 15th ALSA National English

Competition. I look forward to see some great ideas and opinions that every one of youwill bring forth to the table, as well as your great enthusiasm in participating in this

competition.

Im currently a freshman in the University of Indonesia, majoring in law. I come

to find business law to be most interesting, thus that is what I plan to focus on for the

next coming years. The faculty of law is filled with many organizations, but as for now

the only organization I take part in is ALSA, but I am also reconsidering to join others in

the future.

In between my studies, I enjoy reading English literature and listening to my

favorite songs while Im at it. Books I found most interesting up to this moment are

books written by Malcolm Gladwell, Mitch Albom, and Steve Harvey, but other than that,

I love to spend some time just by spending some great quality time with my family

during any day of the week, and some friends alongside.

Last but not least, it is to say that this competition has been well thought out and

planned by every each one of us and we all hope that this competition may bring

inspiration and new experiences to all of us.

This year, General Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM) will bring The

Protection of the Rights of Indigenous People, Their Environment and its Correlationwith The Rights of Self Determination as the topic area to be discussed in E-Model

United Nations 2011 conference. Im confident that in all of your efforts poured

throughout extensive and comprehensive research, you will come to find more

understanding towards the current indigenous people rights issues, and I hope that by

doing so it will build up your desires into joining future model united nations conference

at national and international level. I am glad to say the committee has done an incredible

job within their research of this issue, but nevertheless there is always room for

improvement, any new ideas, opinions, or anything at all that is related to the issue that

you may want to share with us, is very much welcome. By doing research, Im positive

that all of you intellectual youngsters will find great useful additional facts, theories, andinformation about your countrys stance. Your willingness to participate in this

competition has given me great enthusiasm and thrill, and if you have any questions

during this event, please dont hesitate to ask me. I will be glad to help. I hope to see you

at the conference soon !


3/21

3

Sincerely,

Jesslin Guvani

Director of the General Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM)

ALSA 15th National English Competition

[email protected]


4/21

4

Dear fellow delegates,

I am Narendranaatha Hartarto and I will be your Assistant Director for General

Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM) in E-Model United Nations 2011 at the 15thAsian Law Students Association National English Competition. I am anxious to see new

faces in this MUN conference and I am also curious as to see what you will bring into this

fun event. Senior high school participants will have a blast after their lengthy

preparation , as well as have a crazy time role playing as a UN delegate representing

their selected countries. This time I hope to see more people actively taking part in the

arguments, and dont be shy first timers as it can be in this event that you find your

moment alongside with a myriad of new friends. We have the utmost confidence that

you will have an unforgettable memory.

I am currently a freshman in University of Indonesia, currently majoring in law and still

planning to study international law in the future, with some aspects of corporate law

added. This model united nations (MUN) organising committee activity is what I do after

I finish my classes, so far I did it because I love MUN and the fact that time wise

these activities are flexible and they dont clash with my campus

activities, thus giving me time to balance between work and leisure.

Sometime later, I intend to join an international MUN competition , hopefully in those in

Europe.

In my free time, I just love to spend my time chilling with my friends over a summer

movie or over a fun video game, especially things which have elements of action such as

Call of Duty and Halo. But I do not narrow myself to the first person shooting (FPS)genre, also role playing game (RPG) genre is also one of my favorite pastimes. I also read

a lot, though I do not discriminate in printed media as I get m hands on things like

novels (currently reading up on Nabokov), philosophy (just finished Musashis Five

Rings), encyclopedias (especially those published by Doring Kindersley), comics (Marvel

& DC Comics), Manga (even Manhua and Manhwa too). But I also like to balance all my

nerdiness with sports, and I do love combat sports especially the ultimate-fighting

championship (UFC), but I am not limiting myself to a sports nerd who just watch to

catch a conversation , recently I do bungee jumping with my friends.

This year, General Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM) will be discussing TheProtection of the Rights of Indigenous People, Their Environment and Its Correlation

with The Rights of Self Determination, with the floor being split into blocs regarding

their standing to affirm the rights or to counter them. Remember that your performance

will be backed up by your communication, presentation, and leadership skills. Whether

you choose to be the one standing at the back daydreaming or whether you choose to

immerse yourself in this event is up to you but at the end of it all your actions will

determine the end results. So have fun, go crazy and win.


5/21

5

Sincerely,

Narendranaatha Hartarto

Assistant Director of the General Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM)

ALSA 15th National English Competition

[email protected]


6/21

6

Dear delegates,

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Rian Fachmi Tobing and people call me

by my nickname, Rian. It is an honour and pleasure for me to welcome you all to the15th ALSA National English Competition Model United Nations 2011. I will be your

Assistant Director for the General Assembly Third Committee, also known as Social,

Cultural and Humanitarian Committee. This would be my first Model United experience.

I really excited to start my debut here. I guarantee that this will really be an experience

that will be unforgetable experience for all delegates.

Here is a short explanation about myself, I was born in Bali, Indonesia on 1992. I am

currently enrolling a freshman at University of Indonesia, majoring in law. I am planning

to concentrate on international law in the near future. My passion for international

relations is to be an ambassador or anything that related with diplomatic work. This

dream to work as an ambassador came to my mind, when i traveled abroad and, mostly

when i went to Netherlands for a cultural mission. From this expereience, i devote

myself to work on to achieve my goal to be an ambassador. However, i also like to learn

more about national politics, including the know-how on legislative system, such as in

House of Representative or Congress cameral in US.

I spend my leisure time by going somewhere with my friend or family, swimming,

reading many books, watching movies, listening to music and also playing video games.

Activity that i like the most is going to some places for fun, visiting tourist spot, and

culinary. I do these activities often with my friends from my high shool. We often try to

find more and more interesting places for our own leisure and stay for a night or moresometimes. But sometimes, checking hot news on the internet is a fun thing to do,

opening website that contain unique post and else. From my hobbies of travelling, it

keeps my interest on learning Dutch, Spanish, Japanese language. So far ive tavelled to

Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, and China. One day surely

id like to travel to more countries.

This year, the issue we have brought for General Assembly Third Committee is The

Protection on the Rights of Indigenous People, Their Environment and Its Correlation

with The Rights of Self Determination. I hope that you will find the issue to be very

exciting and challenging at the same time, as you will carry out a sufficient research onthe issue. I trust all of you will bring some new ideas to the table and elaborate the

stance that you have chosen to take, your countrys foreign policies and last but not

least, the srategic solution to solve the problem. It would be great idea if you prepare

logical, factual and superior counter-arguments which will be used as a response to

persuade other delegates that are opposed to what you have made. Please feel free to

ask me anything that you dont understand regarding the topic. I really want to see each

of your presentation regarding the topic area and im so confident that you will present

us a lively and competitive debate. I look forward to meet and get to know all of you.


7/21

7

Sincerely,

Rian Fachmi Tobing

Assistant Director for General Assembly Third Committee (SOCHUM)

ALSA 15th National Competition E-Model United Nations 2011

[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


8/21

8

General Assembly Third Committee : The Protection of

the Rights of Indigenous People, Their Environment and

its Correlation with The Rights of Self-Determination

Introduction

Natives are a group of individuals which share common ancestry, cultural

history and/or even migration background for occupying a certain location or land.

Being early pioneers and original settlers who are then forced to relinquish their land to

the western colonies, although the land rightfully belongs to them it has been time and

time that Natives have always been the receiving end of injustices subjected by their

colonizers, this is shown in the case of native Indians in the American continent and the

Aborigines in the Australian continent.

During the initial invasion, the colonizers would implement modern weaponry

whereas areas of diplomacy have failed their duty. Without proper consent they paid the

natives in lead in which out of the desperation the natives had to resort to counter

violence until they surrendered and gave away their land. Armed treason as a means to

gain parliament and dominance, surely with the advancement of gun powder and

weapons the indigenous people can only taste the other end of the barrel.

In Australia for example, the natives are treated unjustly, as in they were not

given the right to wander outside their given areas and also given a lower hierarchy in

the usage of facilities and even their own natural resources. This was an issue that wasnot settled down and it remains to be unsolved for the coming years. Another example

to add would be the segregation of schools for the invaders and the natives which are

mandatory to attend.

Another example, in the past times of United States of America, a deal was made

between the indigenous groups and their invaders, this deal regarding the division of

land, products, and everything else. An act instigated by the native chief who did not

want to extend the unnecessary bloodshed between the two factions. The colonizer

however decides otherwise and broke the treaty with their sheer military advantage. As

they do have the ability they can and they did without much repercussion. Obviouslythis greatly diminished the number of natives and until now no legal action has been

properly addressed regarding the incident which in itself is a gross violation of human

rights. It is however merely an act of military supremacy to show power, power that has

neglected morality, simply to benefit the colonizer for a better alternative.

Up until today, the natives of both America and Australia have been living in low

standards compared to their colonizing counterparts. These phenomenon didnt stop in

these two countries, but felt by many indigenous people around the world. As an

example much of the natives in America are still living with the same conditions,

although not as harsh as their existence from the beginning of their time.


9/21

9

As one of the six committee of the General Assembly in the United Nations which

holds its function to solve global issues relating to social, cultural and humanitarian

matters, General Assembly Third Committee, or officially known as The Social,

Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, indigenous people-related issues has been a

prominent topic of the discussion of diplomats and states representative nowadays.

Natives or indigenous people have always been someting inseparable to the richness of

the history and the culture of all member states of United Nations and negligence

towards the rights of natives/indigenous people have been really severe. The repression

and negligence towards the fulfillment of the basic rights of indigenous people, including

the protection to their environment, often resulted in uprising and often leads to ethno-

nationalism. Ethno-nationalism relates with individuals, communities and peoples basic

right to self determination and seems to settle their needs to fulfill their rights by

confronting their states government. Many countries tried to suppress the uprising of

indigenous people . It brought more complex problem, primordialistic and

ethnocentrism spread among minds of the conflicting parties and often also cause a

severe violation of human rights and even violation of international humanitarian law to

the natives, such as people in Darfur, Sudan where Janjaweed militia exterminated

natives living in the area.

History of the Committee

The Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Commitee or known as General Assembly

Third Committee generally discuss the issue relating to social, humanitarian affairs and

human rights issues which vitally affect people all over the world. More specifically, the

Committee bring the topic of advancement of women, the protection of children,

indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedomsthrough the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the promotion of the

right to self- determination. Other issues related to youth, family, ageing, persons with

disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and drug control were also another

issues talked on the floor of General Assembly Third Committee 1.

By inserting the issue of indigenous people in UN General Assembly Third Committee,

the discussion on their rights, their aspirations to call for protection to their

surrounding environment become more common. However, discussion to refer the issue

of indigenous people and its correlation with the rights of self-determination wasnt a

common topic. Government often avoid to talk about indigenous people in one hand and

rights of self determination in other hand since this will lift the phenomenon of ethno-

nationalism and separatism, which will hamper their political stability.

Progress on the global acceptance to the fulfillment of the rights of

indigenous people exceled at the floor of UN since the initiative in forming the

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous, Expert Mechanism on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights

and fundamental freedoms of indigenous Peoples in 1980s2. In 1982 the Working

1http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/index.shtml

2http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.html
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/ExpertMechanism/index.htmhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/ExpertMechanism/index.htmhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/rapporteur/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/rapporteur/http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/index.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/ga/third/index.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/en/ga/third/index.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/en/ga/third/index.shtmlhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/rapporteur/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/rapporteur/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/ExpertMechanism/index.htmhttp://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/ExpertMechanism/index.htm


10/21

10

Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and

Protection of Human Rights (then called Sub-Commission on Prevention of

Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) was established by a decision of the United

Nations Economic and Social Council.

In 1994, the UN General Assembly initiated the International Decade of the WorldsIndigenous People (from 1994 to 2005) to increase the United Nations' commitment in

promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples globally, together with UN

specialized agencies projects on health, education, housing, employment, development

and the environment that promote the protection of indigenous peoples and their

traditional customs, values and practices. This is followed by the Second Decade of the

Worlds Indigenous People, which will start from 2005 until 2015, adopted in UNGA

Resolution 59/174, in order to strengthen the multinational cooperation for the solution

of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, health,

human rights, the environment and social and economic development, by means of

action oriented programmes and specific projects, increased technical assistance andrelevant standard setting activities3. In September 13th, 2007, UN General Assembly

adopted Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous, resuming and collecting work and

struggle on the fulfillment of the rights of indigenous people in UN for twenty years

which began in 1985 and became one of the most comprehensive statement of the rights

of indigenous peoples ever developed, giving prominence to collective rights to a degree

unprecedented in international human rights law4.

3 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/history.html4 Ibid.


11/21

11

History and Discussion of the Problem

In 1923, Haudenosaunee Chief Deskaheh travelled to

Geneva to speak to the League of Nations and defend

the right of his people to live under their own laws, on

the own land and under their own faith.

Even though he was not allowed to speak and

returned home in 1925, his vision nourished the

generations that followed.

Photo of Chief Deskaheh. Source

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/ab

_us.html

Photo of Maori

religious leader, T.W.

Ratana. Source :http://www.un.org/e

sa/socdev/unpfii/en/

about_us.html

A similar journey was made by Maori religious leader

T.W. Ratana. To protest the breaking of the Treaty of

Waitangi concluded with the Maori in New Zealand in1840 that gave Maori ownership of their lands, Ratana

first traveled to London with a large delegation first to

petition King George, but he was denied access. He

then sent part of his delegation to Geneva to the

League of Nations and arrived there later himself, in

1925, but was also denied access5.

Throughout the history of mankind, people have been fighting to achieve the protection

and recognition of the indigenous peoples rights although many, or shall we say, most of

the time, it has been denied or violated.

Even though indigenous peoples only occupy 20% of the worlds land surface, but they

embody and nurture 80% of the worlds cultural and biological diversity. Indigenous

5 Ibid.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/about_us.html


12/21

12

peoples are the inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to

other people and to the environment. Many has changed among the people of the world

through globalization but the indigenous peoples have retained social, cultural,

economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant

societies in which they live. The classic, genuine, and authentic culture of each country

and nation have yet survived, thus remained in the indigenous peoples way of life. As

side from the fact that indigenous peoples around the world have different culture and

customs, and that there are a great variety and spread of indigenous people all over the

world, they do have one thing in common, is that they share the same problems related

to the protection of their rights as distinct peoples.

Nevertheless, it is to say that the indigenous peoples are arguably among the most

disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world today. There are not only

few, but many times in history of where we find the indigenous people struggling to

fight for problems that travels in a wide range of issues, starting from recognition of

their identities at the least and ways of life, to the more complex issues such as theirright to traditional lands, territories and natural resources. What is even more ironic is

that some of the times, the indigenous people are not aware of their rights and what

they are entitled to, causing them to find no reason to sought after any of their rights

above. Clearly that raises their vulnerability and has become a spot of weakness to be

taken advantage of, that expands the problem to a larger measure where not only do

they have no right upon their territory but their natural resources have become an

object of exploitation, we can see the indigenous people of papua for example, where

their land has been exploited for its gold, and they are to work for this foreign company,

most likely to get their wage but what they are missing is that, that is not the only thing

that they are entitled to. They are entitled to their land, their rights to be able to processtheir natural resources, but they seem to lack the technology or education and

knowledge to support that, thus for that they are relying the foreign people and lose a

lot of profit because of it. The international community now recognizes that special

measures are required to protect the rights of the world's indigenous peoples.

As previously mentioned, we know that indigenous people have often found their lands

and cultures overridden by more dominant societies, and this is not a new issue. At first,

it may not seem like the land is being overridden but as the effect of globalization, some

may see it as the growth of the countrys economics in the form of foreign investment,

but what people do not realise is some of the time the area of the land being used foreconomical purposes by the foreign country has evacuated the indigenous people from

their home and righteous land, this has all been ignored due to the main focus; which is

to gain as much profit and land possible. Now as we analyse through the issues, we can

not only broaden our awareness, but also see the problem of the indigneous people has

come to bubble up to the surface and we can finally see that this is issue is not only skin-

deep.

Economical issues of the country and foreign investors is one thing, the other that we

should also acknowledge is the effect of the companies toxic waste has caused a great

deal of disturbance to the indigenous people who live around the area, and may affect

their health, as an example, the case of oil spill from Texaco (now operated by Chevron)

in Ecuador. Native Americans are still being taken advantage of to this day. What little


13/21

13

portion of land they've been permitted to inhabit by the US government is being

reacquired for use as toxic waste sites. Scientists have even come forward to contend

the effects of living near this waste are not harmful. Americans must ask themselves if

these practices would be similarly condoned in white communities.

Native Americans are in dire need of a strong and powerful voice. They need someinfluential groups to assist them with their strategies to fend off whites who want to

harm their interests. Since Native American communities are synonymous with poverty,

they don't have the influence necessary to change these problems on their own. The

American people must come forward and aid Native Americans in their quest for self-

determination and sovereignty. The time has come for us to stand up and say the abuses

must stop. The United States must acknowledge our past treaties and let them manage

their lives independent of harmful white influences. We can't afford to allow this

excellent cultural resource to be continually raped of its land and self-esteem while we

stand by idly.

During the era of European colonial expansion and imperialism, it was common for

Europeans to think of themselves as more superior over others. Many Europeans at that

time saw native peoples from regions such as Africa, Asia and the Americas as

primitives, or savages to be dominated. This would help justify settlement and

expansion into those lands, and even slavery. Without civilization these people could be

regarded as inferior, and if seen as non-people then European colonialists would not

be impeding on anyone elses territory. Instead, they would be settling virgin territory

(sometimes discovered) overcoming numerous challenges they would face with much

courage.

Other Europeans saw the same people as perhaps savages, but ones that could be

saved by being civilized and introduced to Christ. Hence, many European Christian

missionaries saw their goal as civilizing the savages. (Some of these attitudes still

prevail though perhaps not as forthright, or even intentionally, as popular literature of

that time that would have depicted non Europeans as inferior or at least to be feared,

are still celebrated today. See works by Edward Said for more on this, such as the classic

Orientalism (Vintage Books, 1979), and Culture and Imperialism, (Vintage Books, 1993).)

Today, celebrations of days such as Columbus Day in the US therefore raise bitter

feelings for indigenous people. Interestingly, Christopher Columbus never set foot in the

United States, though that day is celebrated there. (Democracy Now! radio showdiscusses explores this issue in more detail looking at the theme of power and

dominance ideology that underpins why this day would still be celebrated.) For people

of color and especially native American Indians, Columbus Day causes anger as they

object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the

exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade.

Many Europeans and their descendants around the world have tried to look back at

history and ask how it was that Europe and the West prospered and rose to such

prominence. The late Professor J.M. Blaut accused many historians and others of

employing self-congratulation and projecting eurocentric world views, whereby reasonsfor Europes rise were (and still are) attributed to things like favorable conditions for
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258


14/21

14

agriculture, for democracy to grow, and for economic superiority to take hold. Race was

sometimes claimed to be a factor, too.

Blaut was critical of these and other underlying assumptions and belief systems that

guided this view, showing many assumptions to be false, and suggested instead that

colonialism and the discovery and exploitation of the Americas, with the plunder ofsilver, gold and other resources helped fund a European rise.

It was after World War I and II that movements for indigenous rights starting gaining

more traction. Witnessing the immense destruction, violence and barbarism of those

wars, colonized people began questioning the European claim that their civilizations

were superior and peaceful. Weakened European countries could no longer hold on to

their colonies, and a wave of anti-colonial and nationalist movements sprung up as

people around the world saw their chance to break free. European countries began

conceding territories, and for many indigenous groups, accepted that they should have

more rights to determine their own destiny.

Under international law, tribal people, for example, do have some recognized rights. The

two most important laws about tribal peoples are Conventions 107 and 169 under the

International Labor Organization (ILO), part of the UN system.

Survival International, a prominent non-governmental organization (NGO) that presses

for the rights of tribal peoples, summarizes their comment on the convention :

These conventions obliges governments to identify the lands and protect these rights

It ensures recognition of tribal peoples cultural and social practices, obliges

governments to consult with tribal peoples about laws affecting them, guaranteesrespect for tribal peoples customs, and calls for protection of their natural resources

The struggle for such rights is still not over. Many governments routinely violate the

rights of indigenous people. A slow process is, however, raising hope for a more

comprehensive set of rights, although some major countries are still against some

particular aspects.

The Rights of Self Determination in correlation with the Rights of Indigenous People and

their Land as their environment.

The right of self-determination of peoples has been one of the most fundamental

principles in international law. It is written in the Charter of the United Nations and the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Common Article 1,

paragraph 1 of these Covenants provides that:

"All peoples have the rights of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely

determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural

development."

In other international and regional human rights instruments, rights of self-


15/21


16/21

16

Natives in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea rebelling to the ruling government of

Papua New Guinea. Source :

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/07/26/PNG_wideweb__430x283.jpg

The rights of indigenous people to their land has been acknowledged even during the

16th century by the Spanish school of international law, such as Fransisco de Vitoria,

Domingo de Soto, Fransisco Suarez and Bartolom de las Casas9. This right is also

implied in Article 27 of the ICCPR, ILO Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous

People and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries.

The debate over the rights of indigenous people, the protection of their land and their

rights of self-determination of whether this will always implied in seccession from thestation or more autonomy for the indigenous people of the state is unexhaustive. Even

though previous conventions (ICCPR, ICESCR and ILO Convention No. 169) doesnt

provide a basis of for a right of self-determination by in the form of seccession10, in

reality many natives political party and separatist emphasize their basis on separating

themself from the ruling government on their inseparable relations with their ancestral

land. They believe that they have existed in their land even before the nation declared

its independence and often embracing their classic history of their ancestral and their

motives to revive their own law when their nations have got their independence. In

some cases, their motives to seccede is triggered by the act of exploitation of the

abundant natural resources in their ancestral land by the majority ethnics serving in theruling government or the by foreign mining companies. One of the case study for this is

Bougainville Revolutionary Army in Papua New Guinea.

9 G,C, Marks (1992). Indigenous People in International Law: the significance of Fransico de

Vitoria and Bartolom de las Casas. Austr. Yb. International Law. and ibid 7.10 L. Swepston (1990). A New Step in International Law on Indigenous and Tribal peoples : ILO

Convention No. 169 of 1989. Oklahoma City University Law Review 15, 677 et seq. 692-695.


17/21

17

Past International Actions

UN Declaration on The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples

After taking more than 20 years to draft and agree,

on June 29, 2006, the United Nations HumanRights Council adopted the U.N. Draft Declaration

on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Declaration emphasizes the right of

indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen

their own institutions, cultures and traditions and

to pursue their development in accordance with

their aspirations and needs.

Although it would not be legally binding if it were

ever adopted by the General Assembly, indigenouscommunities around the world have pressed hard

for this and have felt that the adoption of the

declaration will help indigenous people in their

efforts against discrimination, racism, oppression,

marginalization and exploitation.

Other convention which has the significant

relations to the matters is ICCPR, ICESCR and ILO

Convention No. 169.

Possible Solutions

An outreach program by the colonizer, or

now by the ruling government, can be

implemented where they have the obligation to

share some of the resources to the indigenous

people.

Even though some natives now share the

same amount of choices as their colonizers, most

of them still continue the same methods of life. Interms of housing, diets, they are unsafe and

unstable compared the normal colonizer family.

They do not adjust to the colony way of life

because of the lack of proper education, lack of

access to the available jobs to increase their life

standards while still respecting their own way of

life. As it is stated in ICCPR, indigenous people

shall be able also to participate in social and

political process in their nations, mostly in

deciding a policy which will affect lives of theindigenous people.

[Type sidebar content. A

sidebar is a standalone

supplement to the main

document. It is often aligned

on the left or right of thepage, or located at the top or

bottom. Use the Text Box

Tools tab to change the

formatting of the sidebar text

box.

Type sidebar content. A




on the left or right of the

page, or located at the top or




box.]

Case Study : Bougainville

in Papua New Guinea

Bougainville ethnic lives in

Bougainville island of

Papua New Guinea. Even

though they are citizens of

Papua New Guinea, this

tribe has more ethnical

connection to natives

living in the Solomon

Islands and their

geographical location is

closer to Solomon Island

than Papua New Guinea.

They inhabit the island,

which has abundant stock

of natural resources, suchas copper and alluvial gold,

which attracts foreign

mining company.

The economic exploitation

of the resources in

Bougainville started in

1926 and the first foreign

mining company existed in

the island at 1932, which

exploited the gold deposit

in the area. All the gold

products were shippedoutside of the island,

without any profit shares

to the Bougainvilleans.

The story didnt end there,but become more severe

when another mining

company, Bougainville

Copper came to the island

to exploit the stock of

copper in the area. In

1965, the rich copper

deposit was drilled and the

mountain which before

was a natural, serene
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/HRC/1/L.3http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/HRC/1/L.3http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.htmlhttp://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/HRC/1/L.3http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/HRC/1/L.3


18/21

18

There shall also be a stricter policy to mining

or other natural resources concession to companies,

including better rules and safety maintenance of the

toxic waste and pollution comes from the activity of

the mining or other companies (environmental

damages) and including the participation of all

individuals of indigenous people living in or near the

area of the mining concession and mostly profit

shares or the access to the individuals to work in the

concession in their inherited ancestral land. However,

government shall also think on the effect of that

stricter policy in rules and safety maintenance, since

companies often complains on the expensive cost of

having these kind of maintenance. Thus, it is also a

good idea for the government to facilitate the needs of

the mining companies for the expensive technology of

the safety maintenance by providing the technology,

tax break incentives or subsidies to the companies.

However, the problem become more complex

to the lives of indigenous people which has been

oppressed severely in their states or even in

multinational states, such as Kurdis which lives on

their land which located in Iraq, Islamic Republic of

Iran, Turkey and Syria. In the recent case of Southern

Sudan, it is resolved by the seccession from itspreceeding state, Sudan. In the case of Acehnese in

Indonesia. the problem is resolved under the peace

settlement between the government of Indonesia and

the separatist, Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh

Merdeka / GAM), by giving a special authority and

more autonomy to the Acehnese, ending the lengthy

war and returning all weapons used by the Acehnese

separatist to the government.

[Type sidebar content. A









box.

Type sidebar content. Asidebar is a standalone








box.]

and undisturbed

environment then

changed forever into the

misery of the

environmental damages

of the toxic waste of the

mining company, causing

a destruction and

pollution in their land,

sea and air environment.

In 1972, Bougainville

Copper Limited (BCL)

exported its first copper

concentrate and gold.

During the time when the

metal price was very

high, the company even

enjoyed a three year tax

holiday. After 17 years of

lengthy negotiation with

no results with the Papua

New Guinean (PNG)government and the

company,

Bougainvilleans decided

to rebel, in order to shut

down the mining

companies due to the

environmental damage to

their ancestral land. The

mining shut down its

activity in 1989, followed

by an eight year war

between PNG and

Bougainvilleans.

Bougainvilleans believe

that the basis of all

Bougainvillean culture

lies on their land. One

young Bougainvillean

leader, Raphael Belle,

even stated :

If someone wants my

land and i dont want

them to have it, he will

have to kill me or i will

kill them... to

Bougainvilleans, land is

like the skin on the back

of your hand. You inherit

it, and it is your duty to

pass it on your children

in as good as condition,

or betten than, in which

you received it (TheBougainvillean Land

Crisis page 29 and page

31). Source:Bougainville, The Long

Struggle for Freedom

by Moses Havini. New

Age Publishers.


19/21

19

Photo of female guerrila fighters of Kurdishtan rebels, Kurdish ethnic in

Middle East. Source : http://news.sky.com/sky-

news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2008/Jul/Week4/15052345.jpg

The Bloc Positions

It is hard to assume the bloc positions of each states in the rights of indigenous people,

but however, there will be countries which used to opress the rights of indigenous

people living in their countries, but with the growing respect of the equal values in

democracy and the advocation of the rights of indigenous people, now they support and

advocate the needs to the fulfillment of the rights of indigenous people, including their

environment (larger than only including the land that their inherited from the

ancestors) and their communal rights of self-determination. There are countries which

suspiciously accuse the idea to support the rights of indigenous people, theirenvironment and their rights of self-determination as interference to the national

sovereignity, mostly to countries with cases of separatism which inspired by the

indigenous peoples political partys or armed wings ethno-nationalism idealism. There

are also countries which are hampered by the fact that indigenous people from different

groups are waging a war with each other, causing a nationwide political instability.

There are also countries (mostly low income countries) whom already have the

intention to lift the life standards of indigenous people and to respect their communal

rights, but they lack of funding to provide a better facilities to the indigenous people

living far away from the nations capital, in the rural lands, which sometimes is caused

by the governments unnecessary expense, bad national financing management orcorruption inside the government.

Questions A Resolution Must Answers (QARMAs)

1. What factors which have violated the fulfillment of the rights of indigenouspeople and their environment (specifically, their land) in your countries

and in many countries ?

2. What have caused the growing the needs of independence and seccesionfrom indigenous people around the world ? What is the best common

solution to respect the rights of indigenous people and their communal


20/21

20

rights of self determination while also respecting the sovereignity of each

states ?

3. What will be the best common agreement in solving the disputes betweenthe indigenous people and the mining companies active in the ancestral

land of the indigenous people, by also including the participation of theindigenous people itself ?

4. Some countries didnt agree on the definition of Indigenous People in UNDeclaration on The Rights of Indigenous People, does your country agree

with that definition ? If not, what will be the definition of indigenous

people that suits to the condition in your country and member states of UN

?

Suggestions for Future Research

This study guide have provided you the basic understanding of the problem, but indeedyou will need to explore more sources of the condition in your own country, including

the history of the indigenous people living in the country, the treatment to the

indigenous people, any disputes or even conflict occurred between the government, or

the private companies or even between indigenous people and the other indigenous

people. You will also need to research your countrys stance in accordance with the UN

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, ICCPR, ICESCR or ILO Convention No.

169. For those African or Latin American countries, regional convention, declaration and

resolution related with the matter of indigenous people and rights of self determination

have been accepted by many government. In other case, you will also need to research

on the solution of the growing ethno-nationalism, raised by the rights of self-determination.

Here are several websites, books and academic journals which you can use as a starting

point for your research :

Books/Academic Journals (also available on the internet) :

G.C. Marks. Indigenous People and International Law: the Significance of Fransico de

Vittoria and Bartolom de Las Casas. 1992.Australia Yearbook of International Law.

Mariana Lara. The rights of indigenous peoples : Efforts and challenges in Latin America.2010. Effectius Newsletter.

Oxana Shevel. The many faces of ethnic nationalism: Evidence from the Post-Communist

Status Laws. (Medford, Massaschussets, 2007). Tufts University Department of

Political Science.

S.J. Anaya (ed,). International Law and Indigenous People. 2003.

Stuart Banner. Possesing the Pacific. Land, Settlers, and Indigenous People from

Australia to Alaska. (Cambridge, Massaschussets and Londong, UK, 2007). Harvard

University Press.


21/21

21

Websites :

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en

http://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-

people#Indigenouspeoplehaveoftenhadmanyrightsdenied

http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/s98blak2.htm
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/enhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/enhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people#Indigenouspeoplehaveoftenhadmanyrightsdeniedhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people#Indigenouspeoplehaveoftenhadmanyrightsdeniedhttp://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/s98blak2.htmhttp://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/s98blak2.htmhttp://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/s98blak2.htmhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people#Indigenouspeoplehaveoftenhadmanyrightsdeniedhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people#Indigenouspeoplehaveoftenhadmanyrightsdeniedhttp://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en

Documents

E-mun Ga 3rd Sochum Study Guide