Declaration of Indigenous Leaders Regarding the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples and Nations of Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast Region
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DOCUMENT: NIC_DEC.TXT
DECLARATION OF INDIGENOUS LEADERS
REGARDING THE RIGHTS OF THE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND NATIONS
OF NICARAGUA'S ATLANTIC COAST REGION
WHEREAS:
1. the Miskito, Sumo, and Rama are indigenous peoples
and nations of the Atlantic Coast region of Nicaragua;
2. the Miskito, Sumo and Rama are currently engaged in
a struggle to protect their rights to self-determination,
their aboriginal lands, and their traditional ways of life;
3. MISURASATA, the Coalition of Miskito, Sumo and Rama
nations, has initiated a process of negotiations with the
government of Nicaragua in order to achieve peace in the
Atlantic Coast region and recognition of the basic rights of
the indigenous peoples and nations;
4. MISURASATA in the negotiations is asserting the land
rights of the indigenous peoples of the Atlantic Coast and
their right to self-determination through political and
administrative autonomy claims which are fundamental to the
survival of indigenous peoples and nations throughout the
Americas;
5. governments throughout the Americas have failed
repeatedly to accord indigenous peoples and nations their
rights to their aboriginal lands and self determination
which arise from their status as pre-existing sovereigns;
6. the Nicaraguan government has professed its
commitment to advance the interests of indigenous people
within its revolutionary process, and therefore interested
observers are focusing on the Nicaraguan government to see
whether it will incorporate within its ideology full
recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and nations,
or whether it will follow the path of other governments
which have pursued ethnocidal policies against indigenous
peoples and nations;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT WE THE UNDERSIGNED:
1. support MISURASATA's position that the Miskito, Sumo
and Rama, as with all indigenous nations and peoples, are
sovereign indigenous nations who possess natural rights of
self-determination and the right to determine their
economic, social and cultural development in accordance with
their own values and traditions;
2. Support MISURASATA's position that the Miskito, Sumo
and Rama, as with all indigenous nations and peoples,
possess the right to their lands and waters, including all
natural resources within the territories where they
traditionally have lived and worked, and which they have not
ceded freely by treaty or other manner, and that these
rights preclude the Nicaraguan state from claiming or
retaining any part of the unceded territories of the
Atlantic Coast indigenous peoples and nations;
3. support MISURASATA's position that the Miskito,
Sumo, and Rama, as with all indigenous nations and peoples,
have the right to be free from external jurisdictional
control, unless pursuant to valid treaty or other agreement
voluntarily made by the legitimate representatives of these
indigenous peoples and nations;
4. urge the government of Nicaragua to end all military
activity and repression against the indigenous people of the
Atlantic Coast region;
5. urge the government of Nicaragua to make a
commitment to return to their traditional villages and
chosen way of life the indigenous people who have been
relocated against their will to government camps and
settlements or who otherwise have been forced to abandon
their chosen ways;
6. urge the government of Nicaragua to accept the
proposal of MISURASATA to guarantee self-determination for
the Miskito, Sumo, and Rama peoples through an autonomous
regional government;
7. urge the government of Nicaragua to negotiate in
good faith with MISURASATA, recognizing that the form of
autonomy by which the indigenous peoples of the Atlantic
Coast will realize self-determination cannot be achieved by
unilateral action of the Nicaraguan state, but rather must
arise from joint efforts and dialogue with the indigenous
peoples exercising the powers and responsibilities of
sovereigns;
8. urge all interested parties to support the efforts
of MISURASATA to negotiate peacefully with the government of
Nicaragua in order to achieve recognition of the rights of
the indigenous peoples and nations of the Atlantic Coast
region, as described herein.
This declaration, signed by Indian leaders from nine North
and South American Nations, is now being circulated for
additional signatures.
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