International law does not give native peoples proper protection – States ignore self-imposed duties

Many states ignore the international conventions they have signed for the protection of indigenous peoples. This sobering balance has been drawn by the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) in the light of the international Day of the Indigenous Peoples (8th August). In an 11-page memorandum on the situation of the native peoples on four continents the human rights organisation points out that many states in spite of passing the Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which is seen as paving the way for the protection of the indigenous people, who number at least 350 million throughout the world, disregard in the course of everyday life the duties which they have taken upon themselves. „In countries which have ratified the Convention 169 or passed the „Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” in the General Assembly of the United Nations there is still a broad gap between theory and practice in the protection of indigenous peoples”, said the GfbV consultant for indigenous peoples, Yvonne Bangert on Thursday in Göttingen. The reason for this lies above all in the interest in raw materials on the land of the native inhabitants and their continuing discrimination as unequal partners.

The GfbV documents in its new memorandum with examples from nine countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe the way in which internationally binding conventions and resolutions of the United Nations are being ignored and violated. In Guatemala for instance, which has ratified the ILO Convention 169, the health of Maya Indians is being seriously affected by the mining of silver and gold. The authorities take no action although the Maya protest against the extraction of the precious metals. They were not, as required by the Convention, asked to agree to the mining of gold. In Columbia indigenous peoples are being harassed by mining and the setting up of plantations. In spite of the recognition of the basic rights of indigenous peoples in the constitution of Columbia these requirements remain in reality completely ineffective.

At least 28 indigenous peoples in Columbia are seen to be in acute danger. The situation is no better in Peru , which has also ratified the Convention 169. Even the Netherlands ignore the Convention. The royal family of the Netherlands is the most important holder in the Shell oil company, which systematically violates the human rights of native peoples in the Niger Delta of Nigeria .

In Algeria , Mali and Namibia , which spoke out for the passing of the „Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, the native people do not receive their rights. Algeria denies to the Massylians (Berbers) the recognition of their traditional language and culture and refuses to punish those responsible for the arbitrary killing of 128 Kabyle demonstrators. In Namibia a dam project, which acutely threatens the native people, is being pressed forward against the resistance of Himba nomads. In Mali pastures are being taken away from Tuareg nomads to enable companies dealing in raw materials to open up new sources of oil and minerals. Russia , which ratified the „UN Convention on economic, social and cultural rights”, is systematically disregarding the rights of the indigenous peoples of Siberia .