International Day of the World's Indigenous People, 9 August

The Dag Hammarskjold Library has put up a web page for the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples 9 August 2007.

WIPO and Traditional Knowledge

WIPO held a meeting from 3-12 July 2007 on the protection of traditional knowledge. Here is a link to the meeting document"The Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Revised Objectives and Principles"

In Amazonia, Defending the Hidden Tribes

By Monte Reel

Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, July 8, 2007; Page A01

COLIDER, Brazil -- At first, few believed the story that two brothers told about four unknown Indians who suddenly appeared to them one afternoon on the outskirts of their village.

Like most Kayapo Indians, the brothers -- named Bepro and Beprytire -- live in a government-demarcated reserve, wear modern clothing and get energy from solar-powered generators. But the four unclothed visitors were a different kind of Kayapo.

They spoke in an antiquated tongue that seemed a precursor to the language spoken in the village, located in the Capoto-Jarina Indian Reserve in central Brazil. The four men had come from a tribe that had remained in the forest, the brothers said, untouched by the modern world.

Continued at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070701312.html?hpid=artslot

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Russian Indigenous Languages Disappearing

A BBC report on the loss of indigenous languages in Russia:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6389791.stm

UN General Assembly Defers Action on the Declaration of Indigenus Peoples' Rights

United Nations 20 December 2006 General Assembly GA/10563 ---

Department of Public Information o News and Media Division o New York Sixty-first General Assembly Plenary 82^nd Meeting (AM)

Concluding consideration of Third Committee reports, General Assembly adopts convention on enforced disappearance Defers Action on Indigenous Peoples' Declaration; Adopts Texts on Kidnapping, Trafficking in Persons, UN Crime Programme, African Institute, World Drug Problem

. . . . .

In other business, the Assembly adopted a resolution on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, by which it decided to defer consideration of and action on that document until sometime before the end of the current session. The deferment had been sought by delegations who had expressed concerns about the Declaration's potential effects on national sovereignty and land rights, though several other Member States, mainly from Latin America, had noted during the Committee's meetings that, after 24 years of drafting and revisions to address the concerns of many delegations, it was time to make the Declaration a reality. That resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 85 in favour to none against, with 89 abstentions (see annex).

. . . .

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10563.doc.htm

THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION ON RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT; VOTES TO DEFER ACTION CONCERNING DECLARATION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION ON RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT; VOTES TO DEFER ACTION CONCERNING DECLARATION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Human Rights Council Second Session

The Human Rights Council ended it's second session on 6 October 2006 and deferred action on various human rights resolutions until it's session on 27 November 2006, see http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp? NewsID=20165&Cr=rights&Cr1=council

World Civil Society calls on UN to recognize Indigenous Rights

World's Governments Pressed on Native Peoples' Rights Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US, Fri., Oct. 6, 2006 UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6 (OneWorld) - Global civil society organizations are pressing the 192-nation U.N. General Assembly to recognize indigenous peoples' rights to their land and resources. ''This is an opportunity that must not be lost,'' said Nicholas Howen, secretary-general of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). He referred to a proposed Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues drafted the document over years of intense diplomacy involving governments, indigenous peoples' representatives, and numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Continued here: http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/140501/1/4536

Australian Federal Court recognizes Native Title Claim to Perth

The decision of the Australian Federal Court in Bennell v State of Western Australia [2006] FCA 1243 (19 September 2006) recognizing Native Title to portions of Perth, is now online at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/2006/1243.html. This victory for the Noongar people in a Native Title or Titles (Validation) and Native Title (Effect of Past Acts) Act 1995 action, is causing widespread reaction in Australia.

Report: Czechs, others sterilize Gypsies

Report: Czechs, others sterilize Gypsies A new draft UN report and rights activists say a Soviet-era campaign to sterilize Romany women continues. By Jeffrey White | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC – It is only after a male visitor leaves the room that Helena Gorolova, standing next to her husband, lowers her voice and says, "as a woman I feel worthless." Ms. Gorolova cannot have any more children. Sixteen years ago, she says, doctors at a hospital here sterilized her while she gave birth to her second son by caesarean section. In the throes of labor they had her sign a form authorizing the sterilization, but did not explain what it was. "They said, 'You have to sign this or you will die,' " says Gorolova. "At that time I would have signed my own death sentence, I was in such pain. I had no idea what the word [sterilization] meant. I signed something, but I didn't know what it was." Continued at http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0906/p07s02-woeu. html?s=hns