Protection for indigenous people's rights sought

By T. Sima Gunawan

ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): The United Nations Center for Human Rights yesterday called on Habitat II to deal with the needs of indigenous people, particularly on their right to land.

Ibrahim Fall, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said in his plenary address at the UN Conference on Human Settlements, or Habitat II, that the Conference is expected to promote the rights of indigenous people.

Many indigenous people are human rights victims. They are often deprived of their right to land and to adequate standards of living, health, education and shelter, he said. Indigenous people also face forced evictions.

Fall is also coordinator of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. He addressed the plenary yesterday in observance of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, 1995-2004.

There are an estimated 300 million indigenous people around the world.

He said he hoped the Conference would adopt the issue of indigenous people in the Istanbul Agenda, and that this would be followed up in the national policies of the concerned states.

The governments should protect the needs of indigenous people and allow them to preserve their cultures and traditions, as well as their own languages and religions.

"I am not talking about indigenous people as sacred citizens, but as full citizens with the right to preserve their identities," he said.

He urged governments to build partnerships with indigenous people, involving them in the planning of projects that concern them.

Fall's call for the protection of indigenous people's rights gained support from Habitat II's Secretary-General, Wally N'Dow, as well as the representatives of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, China and Norway, who also made their statements on the issue yesterday.

Instead of marginalizing indigenous people, the governments should promote their rights and their ambitions culturally and economically, N'Dow said.

He said that the world is moving towards a "direction of refusal" of injustice. The Conference should "refuse to accept poverty, social exclusion, unequal participation ... and erosion of human spirit."

Indonesia did not give any statements during the plenary session, but a member of its delegation said that "there are no indigenous people in Indonesia."

"Who will you call indigenous people? Everybody is a newcomer. In Indonesia, we are a nation. There are no indigenous people," Johan Silas said.

Silas said, however, that Indonesia has a custom law which protects the right of the so-called "indigenous people" to land.