Justice Pending Indigenous Peoples And Other Good Causes

The articles in this volume deal with many of the issues, which have been and continue to be on the international law and human rights agenda of Erica-Irene A. Daes. She is an international personality, with a long and varied career, but she has been and is passionately involved in a wide range of issues related directly or indirectly to the Greek experience and the Greek diaspora. The energy and output of Erica Daes culminated in her tireless efforts to seek protection for the world's indigenous peoples. It is in this capacity that the international human rights community has best learned to know and appreciate her. As an independent expert, she has served as Chairman of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and she has carried out studies on indigenous land rights, intellectual and cultural rights, and indigenous heritage. She played a key role in bringing about an international year (1993) and a decade (1995-2004) for the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples. Most importantly, Erica Daes was the principal drafter of the UN draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which has become known as the Daes Declaration and which is reproduced in an annex to this book. Other annexes contain excerpts from her documents prepared in the context of her UN career, some of which have not been previously published.

The articles in this volume deal with many of the issues, which have been and continue to be on the international law and human rights agenda of Erica-Irene A. Daes. As an independent expert, she has served as Chairman of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and she has carried out studies on indigenous land rights, intellectual and cultural rights, and indigenous heritage. She played a key role in bringing about an international year (1993) and a decade (1995-2004) for the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples. Most importantly, Erica Daes was the principal drafter of the UN draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which has become known as the Daes Declaration and which is reproduced in an annex to this book. Other annexes contain excerpts from her documents prepared in the context of her UN career, some of which have not been previously published.

(OSCE).

This book addresses the right of indigenous peoples to live, own and use their traditional territories, and analyses how international law addresses this. Through its meticulous examination of the interaction between international law and indigenous peoples’ land rights, the work explores several burning issues such as collective rights, self-determination, property rights, cultural rights and restitution of land. It delves into the notion of past violations and the role of international law in providing for remedies, reparation and restitution. It also argues that there is a new phase in the relationship between States, indigenous peoples and private actors, such as corporations, in the making of territorial agreements.

Today human rights represent a primary concern of the international legal system. The international community’s commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights, however, does not always produce the results hoped for by the advocates of a more justice-oriented system of international law. Indeed international law is often criticised for, inter alia, its enduring imperial character, incapacity to minimize inequalities and failure to take human suffering seriously. Against this background, the central question that this book aims to answer is whether the adoption of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples points to the existence of an international law that promises to provide valid responses to the demands for justice of disempowered and vulnerable groups. At one level, the book assesses whether international law has responded fairly and adequately to the human rights claims of indigenous peoples. At another level, it explores the relationship between this response and some distinctive features of the indigenous peoples’ struggle for justice, reflecting on the extent to which the latter have influenced and shaped the former. The book draws important conclusions as to the reasons behind international law’s positive recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights, shedding some light on the potential and limits of international law as an instrument of justice. The book will be of great interest to students and scholars of public international law, human rights and social movements.

The right of indigenous peoples under international human rights law to give or withhold their Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to natural resource extraction in their territories is increasingly recognized by intergovernmental organizations, international bodies, and industry actors, as well as in the domestic law of some States. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the historical basis and status of the requirement for indigenous peoples’ consent under international law, examining its relationship with debates and practice pertaining to the acquisition of title to territory throughout the colonial era. Cathal Doyle examines the evolution of the contemporary concept of FPIC and the main challenges and debates associated with its recognition and implementation. Drawing on existing jurisprudence and evolving international standards, policies and practices, Doyle argues that FPIC constitutes an emerging norm of international law, which is derived from indigenous peoples’ self-determination, territorial and cultural rights, and is fundamental to their realization. This rights consistent version of FPIC guarantees that the responses to questions and challenges posed by the extractive industry’s increasingly pervasive reach will be provided by indigenous peoples themselves. The book will be of great interest and value to students and researchers of public international law, and indigenous peoples and human rights.

The contributors explain the provisions of the Declaration, and how it provides a framework for ensuring justice, dignity, and security for the world's Indigenous peoples, the development and adoption of the Declaration, and ways and means of implementing the Declaration within Canada and internationally. This book provides accessible information and guidance on the Declaration and how it might be used to advance human rights.

This book provides a definitive account of the creation and rise of the international Indigenous Peoples’ movement. In the late 1970s, motivated by their dire situation and local struggles, and inspired by worldwide movements for social justice and decolonization, including the American civil rights movement, Indigenous Peoples around the world got together and began to organize at the international level. Although each defined itself by its relation to a unique land, culture, and often language, Indigenous Peoples from around the world made an extraordinary leap, using a common conceptual vocabulary and addressing international bodies that until then had barely recognized their existence. At the intersection of politics, law, and culture, this book documents the visionary emergence of the international Indigenous movement, detailing its challenges and achievements, including the historic recognition of Indigenous rights through the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. The winning by Indigenous Peoples of an unprecedented kind and degree of international participation – especially at the United Nations, an institution centered on states – meant overcoming enormous institutional and political resistance. The book shows how this participation became an increasingly assertive self-expression and even an exercise of self-determination by which Indigenous Peoples could both benefit from and contribute to the international community overall – now, crucially, by sharing their knowledge about climate change, their approaches to development and well-being, and their struggles against the impact of extractive industries on their lands and resources. Written by the former Chief of the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, this book will be of interest to researchers, teachers, students, advocates, practitioners, and others with interests in Indigenous legal and political issues.