Statement on Self-Determination by the Participants at the Indigenous Peoples Preparatory Meeting, prior to the '87 UNWGIP Session
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DOCUMENT: SLF-DTRM.TXT
STATEMENT ON SELF-DETERMINATION BY THE PARTICIPANTS
AT THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PREPARATORY MEETING
At the 1985 session of the Working Group, a draft
Declaration of Principles was submitted by the indigenous
NGO's and more than seventeen other indigenous organizations.
That Declaration includes principles relating to self-
determination.
In order to contribute to the understanding of this
complex issue and to the understanding of the draft
principles, and recalling the legal and moral duty of all
governments to respect fundamental human rights, the
participants at the indigenous people's preparatory meeting
preceding the 1987 Working Group session submit the
following statements.
1. The right to self-determination is fundamental to the
enjoyment of all human rights. From the right to self-
determination flow the right to permanent sovereignty
over land -- including aboriginal, ancestral and
historical lands -- and other natural resources, the
right to develop and maintain governing institutions, the
right to life, health and physical integrity, and the
rights to culture, way of life and religion.
2. The right to self-determination includes the absolute
right of indigenous peoples to exist as communities,
tribes, nations or other entities according to their own
wishes and to define their own membership.
3. The most fundamental element of the right to self-
determination is the freedom of choice on the part of
indigenous peoples. The relationships between indigenous
peoples and states must be based on the free and informed
consent of indigenous peoples.
4. Self-determination encompasses the freedom of indigenous
peoples to determine the extent of and the institutions
of their self-governance, their political status and
associations with the state(s) in which they are located,
and the extent and nature of their participation within
the political process of such state(s).
5. The right to self-determination may be realized in many
ways ranging from the choice of full independence to
various forms of autonomy, self-government and
participation in the political processes of the state.
6. Self-determination is dependent upon the right of each
indigenous people to a land and resource base necessary
to sustain an appropriate and sufficient economy as well
as the right to exercise its authority and jurisdiction
over the corresponding territory.
7. Any state action that terminates, undermines or replaces
indigenous societies, or their governments or
organizations, without their consent, is a violation of
the right to self-determination.
8. State imposition of governmental or organizational
systems and forms without consent by the indigenous
people concerned violates the right to self-
determination, even where the ostensible purpose is to
provide a measure of self-rule or autonomy.
9. The existence of international or other legal boundaries
must not be permitted to derogate from the right to self-
determination of indigenous peoples.
10. Where there is a treaty, it shall be interpreted and
complied with in accordance with the principles of self-
determination.
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