The cultural rights of indigenous peoples: Achievements and continuing challenges

European Journal of International Law

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 121-140

  Wiessner, Siegfried ^a  

^a ST THOMAS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 79954487990     PISSN: 09385428     EISSN: 14643596     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ejil/chr007     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, GA Res. 61/295, 13 Sept. 2007. For a draft expert commentary on this Declaration and indigenous peoples' rights in general see ILA Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Interim Report to the 74th ILA Conference in The Hague, 15-20 Aug. 2010, available at: www.ila-hq.org/en/committees/index.cfm/cid/1024 (hereinafter 2010 ILA Interim Report).
2. See also Anaya and Wiessner, 'The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Towards Re-empowerment', JURIST Forum, 3 Oct. 2007, available at: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2007/10/un-declaration-on-rights-of-indigenous.php.
3. Francioni, 'Culture, Heritage and Human Rights: An Introduction', in F. Francioni and M. Scheinin (eds), Cultural Human Rights (2008), at 1, 6-7.
4. On the impact of colonization on indigenous peoples see R. Jaulin, La Paix Blanche: Introduction à l'Ethnocide (1972).
5. F. Jennings, The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism and the Cant of Conquest (1975).
6. T.R. Berger, A Long and Terrible Shadow. White Values and Native Rights in the Americas 1492-1992 (1991).
7. Cf. Eide, 'Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as Human Rights', in A. Eide et al. (eds), Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Textbook (1995), at 21ff.
8. The natural rights theories of Locke and Rousseau as well as Kant's ethical axioms built around the concept of human dignity are generally seen as the philosophical backdrop to these conceptions. The first declarations of rights in positive law, i.e., the American Bill of Rights and the French Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen of 1789, shied away from enunciating any rights of entities between the individual and the state. That is also true for the first international such statement, i.e., the 1948 Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, and it permeates the original understanding of major universal and regional human rights treaties, with the notable exception of the African system. 'Despite existing diversity, all states have tried to promote the identification of its [sic] citizens with a single official language and culture, often through extremely coercive means': N.T. Casals, Group Rights As Human Rights. A Liberal Approach to Multiculturalism (2006), at 108.
9. Cf. Margalit and Raz, 'National Self-Determination', 87 J Philosophy (1990) 439.
10. See, e.g., G.H. Mead, Mind, Self and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behavioralist (ed. C. Morris, 1934): G.H. Mead, On Social Psychology: Selected Papers (rev'd edn by A. Strauss, 1964).
11. As John Donne famously stated, 'No man is an iland, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine': J. Donne, Meditations (1624), at 17.
12. Individual liberalism has thus been criticized for cutting the citizen off from the person and constructing a 'cripple of a man, lacking moral or political nature, without roots': Bay, 'From Contract to Community: Thoughts on Liberalism and Postindustrial Society', in F.R. Dallmayr (ed.), From Contract to Community (1978), at 30.
13. See also Underkuffler, 'Human Genetics Studies: The Case for Group Rights', 35 J L Medicine and Ethics (2007) 383, at 384-385.
14. N. MacCormick, Legal Rights and Social Democracy: Essays in Legal and Political Philosophy (1982), at 261.
15. W. Kymlicka, Liberalism, Community, and Culture (1989), at 167.
16. McDonald, 'Should Communities Have Rights? Reflections on Liberal Individualism', 4 Canadian J L and Jurisprudence (1991) 217, at 237 ('[i]ndividuals are regarded as valuable because they are choosers and have interests. But so also do communities make choices and have values. Why not then treat communities as fundamental units of value?').
17. See also Réaume, 'Individuals, Groups, and Rights to Public Goods', 38 U Toronto LJ (1988) 1, at 13-17, 24.
18. Garet, 'Communality and Existence: The Rights of Groups', 56 Southern California L Rev (1983) 1001.
19. Addis, 'Individualism, Communitarianism, and the Rights of Ethnic Minorities', 67 Notre Dame L Rev (1992) 615.
20. For details see Wiessner, 'Faces of Vulnerability: Protecting Individuals in Organic and Non-organic Groups', in G. Alfredsson and P. Macalister-Smith (eds), The Living Law of Nations (1996) 217, at 218.
21. McDougal, Lasswell, and Reisman, 'The World Constitutive Process of Authoritative Decision', 19 J of Legal Ed (1967) 253.
22. Reisman, 'International Law-Making: A Process of Communication', 75 Proceedings of The American Society of International Law (1981) 101.
23. Wiessner, 'International Law in the 21st Century: Decision making in Institutionalized and Non-Institutionalized Settings', in International Justice, 26 Thesaurus Acroasium (1997) 129.
24. See, e.g., Berman, 'A Pluralist Approach to International Law', 32 Yale J Int'l L (2007) 307.
25. Tamanaha, 'Understanding Global Legal Pluralism: Past to Present, Local to Global', 30 Sydney L Rev (2007) 375.
26. For its application to indigenous peoples see Roughan, 'The Association of State and Indigenous Law: A Case Study in "Legal Association"', 59 U Toronto LJ (2009) 135.
27. See also Lenzerini, 'Sovereignty Revisited: International Law and Parallel Sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples', 42 Texas Int'l LJ (2006) 155, at 189.
28. Torres, 'Indigenous Education and "Living Well": An Alternative in the Midst of Crisis', in L. Meyer and B.M. Alvarado (eds), New World of Indigenous Resistance (2010), at 213, 217 ('[t]he notion of individual culture is unacceptable for indigenous peoples who claim the collective production, throughout history, of all systemic expressions of their particular cultures').
29. This understanding also reflects the criteria advanced in the literature by Wiessner, 'Rights and Status of Indigenous Peoples', 12 Harvard Human Rts J (1999) 57, at 115.
30. And Scheinin, 'The Rights of an Individual and a People: Towards a Nordic Sámi Convention', in M. Åhrén, M. Scheinin, and J. B. Henriksen (eds), The Nordic Sami Convention: International Human Rights, Self-Determination and other Central Provisions, 3 J Indigenous Peoples' Rights (2007) 40, at 43ff.
31. Cf. H.D. Lasswell and A. Kaplan, Power and Society (1950).
32. H.D. Lasswell and M.S. McDougal, Jurisprudence for a Free Society. Studies in Law, Science and Policy (1992), at 336ff.
33. See also D. Kretzmer and E. Klein (eds), The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse (2002).
34. Reisman, 'International Law and the Inner Worlds of Others', 9 St Thomas L Rev (1996) 25.
35. Wiessner, 'Indigenous Sovereignty: A Reassessment in Light of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', 41 Vanderbilt J Transnat'l L (2008) 1141, at 1143.
36. F. Wilmer, The Indigenous Voice in World Politics: Since Time Immemorial (1993), at 37, 54-55 (noting that because 'modernization is believed to be a good in itself', communities have rationalized actions that '[remove] obstacles to modernization', thereby justifying the oppressive treatment of indigenous communities).
37. See also R. Kosselleck, The Practice of Conceptual History: Timing History, Spacing Concepts (trans. T. Presner et al., 2002), at 233 ('[t]he concept of progress encompasses precisely that experience of our own modernity: again and again, it has yielded unforeseeable innovations that are incomparable when measured against anything in the past').
38. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) Public Hearing, Sao Paulo (28-29 Oct. 1985), quoted in World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987), at 4-19.
39. For details see, e.g., M. Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (1956).
40. See also P.V. Beck et al., The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life (1996).
41. Deloria, Jr., 'Self-Determination and the Concept of Sovereignty', in J.R. Wunder (ed.), Native American Sovereignty (1996), at 118.
42. K. Kickingbird et al., Indian Sovereignty (1977), at 2.
43. UN Press Release, 'General Assembly Adopts Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples', 13 Sept. 2007, available at: www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10612.doc.htm.
44. UN Charter, Arts 10, 11. The one formal exception, referring to budget allocations to member states (Art. 17(2) UN Charter) does not apply here.
45. Economic and Social Council, Report of the Commission on Human Rights (E/3616/Rev. l), at para. 105, 18th session, 19 Mar. - 14 Apr. 1962.
46. Human Rights Council, Annex to Resolution 5/1, United Nations Human Rights Council: Institution Building, 18 June 2007, at para. 1, available at: ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/HRC/resolutions/A_HRC_RES_5_1.doc.
47. According to UN Special Rapporteur S. James Anaya, UNDRIP represents 'an authoritative common understanding, at the global level, of the minimum content of the rights of indigenous peoples, upon a foundation of various sources of international human rights law. .. The principles and rights affirmed in the Declaration constitute or add to the normative frameworks for the activities of United Nations human rights institutions, mechanisms and specialized agencies as they relate to indigenous peoples': Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, S. James Anaya (A/HRC/9/9), 11 Aug. 2008, at paras 85, 88, available at: www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/9session/A-HRC-9-9AEV.doc.
48. Barelli, 'The Role of Soft Law in the International Legal System: The Case of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', 58 Int'l & Comp LQ (2009) 957.
49. Even though Art. 8(1) UNDRIP does not use the word 'ethnocide', it captures its essence: '[i]ndigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture'.
50. For a recent discussion of these issues see Dussias, 'Indigenous Languages under Siege: The Native American Experience', 3 Intercultural Human Rts L Rev (2008) 5.
51. Kibbee, 'Minority Language Rights: Historical and Comparative Perspectives', 3 Intercultural Human Rts L Rev (2008) 79.
52. Tomuschat, 'Protection of Minorities under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights', in R. Bernhardt et al. (eds), Völkerrecht als Rechtsordnung - Internationale Gerichtsbarkeit - Menschenrechte, Festschrift für Hermann Mosler (1983), at 952.
53. And Rodley, 'Conceptual Problems in the Protection of Minorities: International Legal Developments?', 17 Human Rts Q (1995) 48, at 54-59.
54. General Discussion on the Right to Take Part in Cultural Life as recognized in Art. 15 of the ICESCR, UN Doc. E/1993/23, Ch. VII, at para. 205, as cited by Vrdoljak, at 58.
55. General Comment No. 23, UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1, 38 (1994), at para. 6(2).
56. Vrdoljak, at 61, with further references.
57. Kitok v. Sweden, No. 197/1985, UN Doc. A/43/40 (1988), at 221ff.
58. Lubicon Lake Band (Bernard Ominayak) v. Canada, No. 167/1984, UN Doc. A/45/40 (1990), Pt. 2, at 1.
59. Ilmari Länsman v. Finland, No. 511/1992, UN Doc. CCPR/52/D/511/1992 and Jouni E. Länsman v. Finland, No. 671/1995, UN Doc. CCPR/C/58/D/671.1995.
60. Apriana Mahuika et al. v. New Zealand, No. 547/1993, UN Doc. A/56/40 (2000), at 11ff.
61. An example of such scrutiny is contained in the Concluding Observations on the Second and Third Reports of the USA: '[t]he State party should take further steps to secure the rights of all indigenous peoples, under articles 1 and 27 of the Covenant, so as to give them greater influence in decision-making affecting their natural environment and their means of subsistence as well as their own culture': Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, USA, UN Doc. CCPR/C/USA/CO/3/Rev.1 (18 Dec. 2006), at 12, para. 37.
62. A. Xanthaki, Indigenous Rights and United Nations Standards (2007), at 215.
63. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003, available at: www.unesco.org.
64. See also McJohn and Graham, 'Indigenous Peoples and Intellectual Property', 19 Washington U J L and Policy (2006) 313.
65. Wiessner and Battiste, 'The 2000 Revision of the United Nations Draft Principles and Guidelines on the Protection of the Heritage of Indigenous People', 13 St Thomas L Rev (2000) 383.
66. For an overview of the pertinent work of various intergovernmental organizations see Wiessner, 'Indigenous Peoples', 10 Yrbk Int'l Envtl L (2000) 193.
67. 11 Yrbk Int'l Envtl L (2001) 155.
68. 12 Yrbk Int'l Envtl L (2002) 198.
69. And 13 Yrbk Int'l Envtl L (2004) 249.
70. Etymologically, the Latin word 'indigena' is composed of two words, 'indi', meaning 'within', and 'gen' or 'genere' meaning 'root': Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (3rd edn, 1995), at 724.
71. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online, Definition of 'indigenous', available at: www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/indigenous (11 May 2009).
72. ILO Convention (No. 169) Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, adopted 27 June 1989, reprinted in 28 ILM (1989) 1382.
73. As of 15 Oct. 2010, Convention No. 169 has been ratified by 22 countries. For details see ILOLEX Database of International Labour Standards available at: www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newratframeE.htm.
74. Cf. Firestone, Lilley, and Torres de Noronha, 'Cultural Diversity, Human Rights, and the Emergence of Indigenous Peoples in International and Comparative Environmental Law', 20 Am U Int'l L Rev (2005) 219.
75. For a recent reaffirmation of the Constitution's guarantee to indigenous peoples of their right to their traditional lands see the 19 Mar. 2009 decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court in Raposa Serra do Sol, a vast indigenous area located in the Amazonian state of Roraima defended against the claims of invading rice farmers and senators of the state.
76. See 'Supreme Court upholds the demarcation of Raposa Serra do Sol land', available at: www.braziljusticenet.org/606.html#Supreme (25 May 2009).
77. On the developments in Africa see van Genugten, 'Protection of Indigenous Peoples on the African Continent: Concepts, Position Seeking, and the Interaction of Legal Systems', 104 AJIL (2010) 29.
78. See also the most recent decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights recognizing collective rights to land of the Endorois people in Kenya, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, at paras 187 and 205, available at: www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b8275a12.html.
79. Following the earlier decision to the same effect in The Social and Economic Rights Action Center for Economic and Social Rights v. Nigeria, at para. 63, available at: www.escr-net.org/caselaw/caselaw_show.htm?doc_id=404115 (both accessed 30 Dec. 2010).
80. And the South African Constitutional Court's restoration of indigenous lands in Alexkor Limited v. The Richtersveld Community and Others, 2003 (19) SA 48-51 (CC).
81. See also Anaya and Williams, 'The Protection of Indigenous Peoples' Rights over Lands and Natural Resources under the Inter-American Human Rights System', 14 Harvard Human Rts J (2001) 33.
82. S.J. Anaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Law (2nd edn., 2004), at 49-72.
83. Oguamanam, 'Indigenous Peoples and International Law: The Making of a Regime', 30 Queen's LJ (2004) 348.
84. For a concurring analysis of indigenous land rights under customary international law and UNDRIP see Stevenson, 'Indigenous Land Rights and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Implications for Maori Land Claims in New Zealand', 32 Fordham Int'l LJ (2008) 298.
85. A recent monograph on the protection of groups in international law also concluded that 'there is sufficient proof of State practice and opinio juris among States to suggest the existence of a right to autonomy for indigenous peoples in international law': N. Wenzel, Das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Gruppenschutz und Individualschutz im Völkerrecht (2008), at 508.
86. Weller, 'Settling Self-Determination Conflicts: Recent Developments', 20 EJIL (2009) 111, at 116 agrees.
87. Final Written Arguments of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Case of Mayagna Indigenous Community of Awas Tingni v. Republic of Nicaragua, 19 Arizona J Int'l & Comp L (2002) 327, at 349.
88. Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua, 31 Aug. 2001, Inter-Am Ct HR, reprinted in 'The Case of the Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua', 19 Arizona J Int'l & Comp L (2002) 395.
89. For details of this case see Anaya and Grossman, 'The Case of Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua: A New Step in the International Law of Indigenous Peoples', 19 Arizona J Int'l & Comp L (2002) 1.
90. Radin, 'Property and Personhood', 34 Stanford L Rev (1982) 957.
91. Carpenter, Katal, and Riley, 'In Defense of Property', 118 Yale LJ (2009) 1022, at 1124-1125.