Gov't has doubts on parts of UN indigenous peoples rights declaration

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56526509

Gov't has doubts on parts of UN indigenous peoples rights declaration
Stabroek News
Saturday, August 11th 2007

Two Amerindian groups are calling on the Government of Guyana to vote
in support of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
when it comes up before the UN General Assembly next month but Minister
of Amerindian Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues says that the government has
reservations about some clauses.

In a press release issued on the International Day of the World's
Indigenous Peoples, observed on Thursday, the Guyanese Organisation of
Indigenous Peoples (GOIP) and the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA)
issued the call while expressing grave disappointment at learning that
Guyana had joined six other states in asking for the declaration to be
redrafted.

"This represents a most retrograde step on the part of Guyana and those
states which have taken this position. We are dismayed that Guyana has
aligned itself with this small group of states which are proposing that
one-sided changes are made to a vital document that constitutes the
minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well being of
indigenous peoples," the statement said

Contacted by Stabroek News, Minister Rodrigues said that Guyana is not
asking for the entire declaration to be redrafted but would like to see
some issues defined. She said that Guyana supports a declaration that
is very clear and is of ultimate benefit to everyone, while also
preserving national unity. She said there are some sections that Guyana
thinks should be looked at again and one is that there is no clear
declaration as to who is an indigenous person and who the name applies
to. She also pointed out that a declaration can be made and some
countries wouldn't do anything about it but that Guyana has a good
record in honouring its commitments.

Rodrigues pointed out that indigenous peoples in different countries
are different. She noted that charity begins at home and according to
her some of the issues Guyana has already addressed in relation to
indigenous peoples can be used as examples for other countries. "We
want to have a declaration that we can work with and so there are
issues that need to be clarified," the minister said.

GOIP and the APA said they are "gravely concerned" at Guyana voting for
a redraft of the declaration taking into consideration that GOIP had
written to the president and in a response Minister Rodrigues said that
the Government is "fully supportive of a process that would result in a
declaration that is unambiguous, preserves national unity and
ultimately improves the lot of the world's indigenous peoples."

The two groups are convinced that the declaration which was adopted by
the Human Rights Council of the UN in June 2006 represents the most
important international instrument for the promotion and protection of
human rights for indigenous peoples and fits the criteria that the
government says it supports. "We are therefore utterly dismayed that
the government has suddenly taken this extreme position."