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USA, the last country to drop its opposition to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

 
Obama says Washington will back the Declaration · There are no countries left opposing the charter after the green light given by Canada, Australia and New Zealand · A number of voices call for the president to draw up an action plan

There is no country left officially opposing the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Last Thursday president Barack Obama announced the USA would reverse its position on the UN charter after three years of resistance. In doing so, the US is no longer the only country in the world refusing to back the Declaration after Australia, New Zealand and Canada shifted positions in the last three years.

Obama declared at the Tribal Nations Conference last week in Washington that the aspirations the Declaration affirms “are the ones we must always seek to fulfill”. The president pointed out that “what matters far more than words -what matters far more than any resolution or declaration- are actions to match those words”, and that the country is making “progress” on the issue of native peoples.

Satisfaction and an action plan

UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya, said he was “elated” by Obama’s decision. However, Anaya stated that he is looking forward “to initiatives by the United States to secure implementation of the standards expressed in the Declaration”. The US-based Indian Law Resource Center considers the endorsement a “critical first step towards addressing difficult issues such as violence against Native women, land law reform and protecting the environment”.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry also welcomed the news. “It is a significant step towards universal acceptance that tribal peoples’ lives and ways of living are just as valuable as anyone else’s”, he said, and further added “positive action needs to follow promising words”.

Over 4.1 million people declared themselves as “America indians” in the 2000 US census, which amounts to 1.5% of the population. Cherokee, Navaho, Sioux, Choctaw and Chippewa are among the 5 largest groups of native-American nations. The non-binding declaration provides for self-determination for indigenous peoples, but does not foresee the establishment of new independent states.

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