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From: "ngo_ip_undecade" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: 10th Report on the WGDD
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Greetings,
I am back again with the latest reports for the most recent session of
the 10th WGDD. This is not the final report as there are still five
days of negotiations which will take place again in Geneva from the
29th of November to the 3rd of December. Please take note that the
Report of the Chairperson will not be released until after the end of
the November/December session.
The last three days of talks, from the 22nd to the 24th of September,
were the same discussions that I have already reported on in the
Seventh and Eighth reports on the WGDD. All of the articles that had
been broken down into smaller working groups of the various
proposal-makers were finally presented to the WGDD and should be
released this week in a new document that will be entitled CRP4. It
was pretty insane to watch, and again impossible to report on, as many
of the proposals were not circulated in hard copies and the talks
became very nitpicky as everyone had to let everyone else know which
parts of which proposals were acceptable or not and many made further
proposals on the language that seemed to have achieved something of
consensus within the working groups. Some also had to let everyone
know that they either opposed the consensus or were not a part of the
consensus, even though the Chair wanted none of these types of
comments. Now, these negotiations were meant to be simply discussions
about the language proposals and working towards consensus, but there
were consistently indigenous organizations that would use significant
chunks of time discussing issues facing indigenous peoples or the
history of certain situations in the world. Again, even though the
Chair noted that he would interrupt people who were not speaking to
the direct issue of the Draft Text, he didn't interrupt these
delegates and in turn there were hours of time that were consumed by
these broad statements.
The lack of proper translations was an issue that arose consistently
in the last few days, as firstly many new text proposals were not
available in languages other than English, secondly even the official
translations of CRP1 and other documents were not accurately
translated into the various languages, and thirdly there were terms
that just simply did not translate and all of these created quite an
anxious atmosphere in Room 17. For example, the word 'redress,' which
is very clear in English, does not really translate into Spanish or
French. There were many examples of this during the three days and
much disappointment was expressed even at the official UN translations
of documents which had not been done very accurately. The lack of
faithful translations severely impaired or even impeded the
participations of many segments of indigenous groups from
participating fully in these discussions and there was a fair amount
of anger and frustration bouncing around the room.
So, during the course of these two weeks, a complete reading of the DD
was finally completed, and a second reading of the text had begun.
Even though there were many calls for the adoption of PP 2, 3, 7, 9
and A8 by both States and indigenous peoples, the Chair refused to
break into formal session to accomplish this, stating that it was his
feeling that some governments were not prepared to do this. I found
out from an official source that the USA, UK, New Zealand and
Australia have made it clear not only to the other governments but
especially to the Chair, that they will not be supporting the adoption
of any articles this year. At all, full stop.
Mr. Chavez is working under the knowledge that under no circumstances
will the adoption of any articles, even the no-change articles, be
supported by any of the above governments. To me, what this means is
that citizens of these governments must begin letter writing campaigns
or something to encourage their governments to change their position
on this. To indigenous delegates, what has been happening with the
'lack' of consensus is leading up to Mr. Chavez creating a Chairman's
Text (which is his right as the Chair to produce) which will then be
presented to the Commission on Human Rights for adoption. This is
extremely problematic as a good chunk of proposals made will probably
make it into his text, some of which will significantly water down the
rights of indigenous peoples, especially on the issue of
self-determination and land rights. In the context of this knowledge,
I congratulate the governments of Mexico, Guatemala and Brasil (and to
a smaller extent Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba) on the very vocal no-change
stance they have taken during these negotiations, as well as their
strong support of the rights of indigenous peoples. I would not be
surprised if they have stopped receiving aid from the Obstructer
governments on account of their position with this Declaration.
On the floor, the Chair claims that the final week of negotiations in
Nov/Dec will be the decisive time in which articles will be adopted
and proposals finalized. That comment made my blood boil because he
has no intention of doing that at all, and I just hate it when people
lie. Even more when a lie is told to give people hope. He gave a
tentative plan for Monday the 29th of November as the day to discuss
and come to consensus on the issue of self-determination and all
articles that relate to it; the 30th of November will be reserved for
the issue of lands and territories. Mr. Chavez said that he will be
in Geneva the week before the final week of the 10th WGDD to consult
with whoever would like to consult with him.
Sadly, there was no Indigenous Caucus statement presented at the
closing of the WGDD because there was no consensus on the document
that had been produced by a group of indigenous delegates. Even
though the document had been written based on the comments that had
been raised within the Caucus itself, the statement was slammed by
several organizations and finally was withdrawn for consideration by
the Caucus. All in all, it seemed to be a very disappointing two
weeks for many of the participants.
Although I am far from being an impartial observer of these events, I
do feel somewhat on the margins of the discussions and on-goings and
was asked by a few delegates to make some comments on the process as I
witnessed. What I found very problematic from both governments and
indigenous delegates was the tendency to think very locally about what
is meant to be a global document. Some would make statements that
outlined why a proposed change of language would be acceptable to them
because the national legislation of their country already provided
them with the rights outlined, but then there would be others who
would detail how in their case they needed the language as is for they
did not have the rights detailed already. It was painful for me to
watch this as it seemed that even though collective rights and the
rights of indigenous people in general were being discussed, the
collective seemed to apply to individual indigenous communities, not
in a global sense of outlining a base of rights for all indigenous
peoples. To me, this would give the Obstructer governments just what
they want in the form of the fragmentation of the indigenous
perspective on the DD and makes it easier for them to demonstrate the
lack of consensus not just within the government positions, but also
within the indigenous perspectives also. The lack of an Indigenous
Caucus statement this year seemed to highlight this point in stark
relief. The way things have been going, from all sides, seems very
dangerous, and it seems another sign among many that there will not be
an acceptable Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. People
need to be careful about blaming only the Obstructer governments for
how things have been going, because in my view it seems to be quite
complicated and the obstructions are emerging from many different areas.
I know and feel how important this Declaration is, and for Grampa Tony
this was something that he felt would really be able to change things
for indigenous peoples around the world. I am quite the idealist
myself, and I too believe that if the document can be passed with
strong language that it has the potential to make things better for
indigenous peoples of the world, maybe not in the short term, but in
the long term, for the future generations. In Grampa Tony's words,
everyone needs to 'Wake up!' and really look at what has been
happening on all sides in these meetings. He would say to look at
things from above, the way The Creator sees them, to get some
perspective aside from our own personal position on what is happening
and to figure out the best way to move forward with a united voice.
This will be the only way that the Declaration will move forward.
Certainly the final week of the 10th WGDD in Nov/Dec will be decisive,
and many have faith that this process will continue for a few more
years to actually finalize the Declaration. A letter will be
submitted to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Arbour,
asking for an extension of the WGDD for three more years, signed by
many indigenous delegations and nations. We shall see what comes of that.
For me, it is back to the aching desperation of the job search. As it
stands, I am not sure if I will be in Geneva for the final week of the
negotiations to report on what will be happening then as I am waiting
on many half-baked possibilities to either emerge as plans or fall
flat. I will let you all know once I have taken a decision about
this, although I do keep in mind that Grampa Tony would want me to
finish what I have started with this and I have a feeling that I will
still be in Geneva to complete these reports. I thank everyone who
shared my reports around the world, and I know that Grampa Tony would
have been so happy to know that so many were able to follow the
meetings with me. For those who are missing reports or would like a
copy of the reports as one document, let me know and I will begin
working on getting that out to whoever would need it.
I wish you all the best in the next couple months.
In peace and solidarity,
Sezin
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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