The EU ban on the import of seal products and the WTO regulations: neglected human rights of the Arctic indigenous peoples?

Polar Record ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrul Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Eu Regulation ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACTThe EU ban on the import and commercialising of seals and seal products in the EU market, has attracted intense attention in recent years. As seal products mostly originate from outside the EU, it is argued that the EU action has been discriminatory and hence contrary to the WTO regulations. Canada and Norway have been critical of the EU regulation and have initiated dispute settlement procedures within the WTO since most of the products that enter into the internal market are mainly from these countries. The ban also provoked anger within the Inuit and other indigenous communities, mainly from Canada and Greenland. Although the EU regulation provides an exception for Inuit and indigenous hunts and the subsequent commercialisation of resulting products into the internal market, the exception suffers from clarity and lacks proper implementation procedures. The regulation is predicted to lead to the ultimate disappearance of the seal market in the EU, which directly affects the Inuit and other indigenous peoples engaged in sealing activities. They may lose their means of subsistence. While analysing the critical issues concerning the EU and the WTO regulations and its exceptions, the article focuses on the human rights perspective of the Arctic indigenous peoples affected by the EU ban.

Securing the Rights: A Human Security Perspective in the Context of Arctic Indigenous Peoples

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrul Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
The Right

Abstract In today’s world the state-centric approach of security has been extended to includea human-centric approach. Since individuals are the ultimate victims of any securitythreats, a state is not secure if insecure inhabitants reside within it. The insecurityof individuals arises from various sources of threats, such as from “fear” aswell as from “want”. While often the concept is confused with that of human rights,the concept of human security embraces policy choices in order for the better implementationof human rights. In a sense therefore, it complements both the conceptsof traditional security and human rights. This article addresses the concept in thecontext of the Arctic and its people, particularly in the context of its indigenouspeoples. Obviously, because of differing meanings of the concept, the human securitythreats of the Arctic cannot be seen as similar to those of the other regions ofthe global south. This article nevertheless explores various human security concernsfaced by the Arctic indigenous communities. In addressing the concept of humansecurity in the context of the Arctic, the article affirms the normative developmentoccurred relatively recently in the human rights regime – which today includes a setof group rights called third generation human rights. These broadly include amongothers; the right to environment and the right to development. The presence of thesecategories of rights are therefore argued to ensure human security for which in theArctic perspective a right to self-determination plays a pivotal role, particularly forits indigenous communities.

The EU, the Arctic, and Arctic Indigenous Peoples

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-465
Author(s):  
Federica Scarpa
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Problematic Relationship ◽  
Strong Commitment ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
The Eu

Acknowledging the EU’s problematic relationship with Arctic indigenous peoples, and considering that it is currently struggling to find its role within the Arctic governance, this paper argues that a more committed approach toward Arctic indigenous peoples by the EU would not only be in line with the EU’s strong commitment toward human rights promotion worldwide and the relevance accorded to indigenous peoples within the gradual formulation of an Arctic Policy, but could also highly benefit the advancement of indigenous peoples rights in the Arctic while positively strengthening the EU’s role within Arctic governance.

Energy, Environment and Indigenous Rights: Arctic Experiences Compared

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 317-351
Author(s):  
Mauro Mazza
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Economic Activities

Indigenous peoples of the Arctic are currently faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, the preservation of their customs, the traditional lifestyles and cultural values is closely related to the maintenance of the environmental characteristics of the territories inhabited since time immemorial. On the other hand, the needs of the development of economic activities, represented primarily by the extraction of minerals and exploitation of energy resources, pose new challenges with respect to which the decisions are not taken – as is obvious – only by Arctic indigenous communities, and that may also be important for the natives as a chance to better their overall living conditions (in terms of labor, employment and education, for example). Arctic states have addressed these issues with different legal tools. The latter range from US land claims settlements to recognition of ‘ancestral’ and treaty rights in the constitutional order of Canada, to the creation of Sámi Parliaments in the Nordic countries, or the peculiar rules for the county of Finnmark in Northern Norway, approved in 2005, which give broad powers to the indigenous communities. In turn, the Greenlandic statute of autonomy in force since 2009 did not prevent tensions between the Inuit communities in Greenland and the Danish central authorities regarding the exploitation of natural resources and energy, including uranium. Less adequate, in comparison with the other Arctic states, appears the protection of Sámi in northern Russia, not so much in terms of regulation, but from the point of view of the effective application of existing rules. Anyway, useful legal instruments for effective protection of specific minorities represented by Arctic indigenous peoples can come also from the provisions of the international law of human rights, both that specifically dedicated to the natives and the rules of general human rights. In the light, therefore, of the tensions, but also the opportunities, offered by the exploitation of natural resources, the article examines the legal systems of the Arctic states, with particular attention to the situation of indigenous peoples.

INTEGRATED METHODOLOGY FOR TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE VIEWS AND OPINONSOF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THEIR INTERACTION WITH PUBLIC AUTHORITIES (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE YAMAL-NENETS AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT)

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-147
Author(s):  
Elena F. GLADUN ◽  
Gennady F. DETTER ◽  
Olga V. ZAKHAROVA ◽  
Sergei M. ZUEV ◽  
Lyubov G. VOZELOVA
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Legal Issue ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Autonomous District ◽  
Integrated Methodology ◽  
The World ◽  
Nenets Autonomous

Developing democracy institutions and citizen participation in state affairs, the world community focuses on postcolonial studies, which allow us to identify new perspectives, set new priorities in various areas, in law and public administration among others. In Arctic countries, postcolonial discourse has an impact on the methodology of research related to indigenous issues, and this makes possible to understand specific picture of the world and ideas about what is happening in the world. Moreover, the traditions of Russian state and governance are specific and interaction between indigenous peoples and public authorities should be studied with a special research methodology which would reflect the peculiarities of domestic public law and aimed at solving legal issue and enrich public policy. The objective of the paper is to present a new integrated methodology that includes a system of philosophical, anthropological, socio-psychological methods, as well as methods of comparative analysis and scenario development methods to involve peripheral communities into decision-making process of planning the socio-economic development in one of Russia’s Arctic regions — the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District and to justify and further legislatively consolidate the optimal forms of interaction between public authorities and indigenous communities of the North. In 2020, the Arctic Research Center conducted a sociological survey in the Shuryshkararea of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, which seems to limit existing approaches to identifying public opinion about prospects for developing villages and organizing life of their residents. Our proposed methodology for taking into account the views of indigenous peoples can help to overcome the identified limitations.

Competing Values in World Culture and the Emergence of Middle Ground

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-50
Author(s):  
Eun young Song
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Rights Issues

AbstractThis paper, focusing on a Botswanan case of Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), illustrates how globalized norms in seeming competition nonetheless reveal a potential middle ground. In Botswana there have been conflicts between regimes of environmentalism and indigenous cultural rights. Environmental protectionism has been based on a concept of “pristine nature” which does not allow for human interaction. Thus, the more protected areas are designated, the more indigenous peoples' lands are claimed as nature reserves. This forces local peoples to abandon cultural practices such as hunting animals and gathering wild plants. In contrast, impelled by the ascention of human rights issues, advocacy groups for the unorganized fourth world and indigenous communities have been struggling to protect indigenous people's cultural rights, thereby giving prominence to human rights issues. NGO advocates for indigenous peoples as well as professionals involved with indigenous groups have found that indigenous people's practices are in fact not harmful to the ecosystem. Rather, their ethno-biological knowledge and customary activities contribute to balancing the local ecosystem. This means that conflicting guidelines can be harmonized in “buffer zones” around protected areas, and the buffering program that has resulted, that by CBNRM, has been widely accepted in Botswana and is likely applicable to other countries in which we find similar value competition.

scholarly journals Accommodating Divergent Policy Objectives under WTO Law: Reflections on EC—Seal Products

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 308-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Y. Qin
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Domestic Regulation ◽  
The Eu

EC—Seal Products raises an important issue in World Trade Organization (WTO) law: How can WTO trea-ties be interpreted to accommodate divergent legitimate purposes of a domestic regulation? The European Union (EU) measure at issue is a ban on the placing of seal products on the EU market, coupled with excep-tions3 for seal products produced by Inuit and other indigenous communities (IC exception), and for seal products obtained from seals hunted for the purpose of marine resource management and sold on a nonprofit basis (MRM exception). The seal ban was imposed out of the public concern over the cruel manner in which seals are hunted and killed, whereas the IC exception was made to protect the traditional lifestyle of indigenous peoples and the MRM exception accommodated theneed for sustainable management of marine resources. The EU regulation, therefore, was designed to achieve divergent policy objectives. The exceptions derogate from the ban because they permit hunting and killing of seals which can cause the very pain andsuffering for seals that concerns the EU public.

scholarly journals International and Domestic Law Dimensions of Climate Justice for Arctic Indigenous Peoples

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 113-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ann Kronk Warner ◽  
Randall S. Abate
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Indian Country ◽  
Indigenous Nations ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The Arctic region is in crisis from the effects of climate change. The impacts of climate change pose a particular threat to Arctic indigenous communities. Because of the disproportionate impacts of climate change, these indigenous communities are environmental justice communities. Part I of this article discusses how indigenous nations are environmental justice communities and discusses the unique factors that may apply to environmental justice claims arising in Indian country. The article then presents two case studies to explore how, if at all, these concepts have been previously applied to environmental justice claims brought by various Arctic indigenous communities. Part II addresses the Inuit Circumpolar Conference’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Part III considers the Native Village of Kivalina’s lawsuit against numerous private emitters of greenhouse gases. These case studies underscore the failure of international and domestic forums’ consideration of the special situation of Arctic indigenous peoples as environmental justice communities.

Human Rights and the Arctic

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
Gudmundur Alfredsson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Status ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Right

Abstract This article surveys some of the many international human rights law issues that come up in connection with the Arctic, such as the rights of indigenous peoples and the formulation of these rights in a draft Nordic Sami Convention. The focus, however, is on recent developments concerning the status of Greenland as a result of an agreement concluded in 2008 between the Danish and Greenlandic authorities. This agreement foresees not only a significant increase in self-government but also opens the door for the Greenlandic people to create an independent State through the exercise of the right to external self-determination as a matter of political decolonisation of an overseas colonial territory.

The European Court of Human Rights and the Protection of Arctic Indigenous Peoples Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-52
Author(s):  
Mikael Lundmark
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
European Convention ◽  
European Court ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Solid Foundation

Based on an ongoing case in Sweden, where Girjas Sami village sued the Swedish state for violation of property rights, this article examines the European Court of Human Rights’ potential influence in the Arctic region’s legal system when it comes to protection of property of Arctic indigenous peoples. This article shows that notwithstanding the historical background of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the case law of the Court provides a solid foundation to advocate that the Court can take a more active role in protecting the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples. What is different in the case of indigenous peoples is that their rights pre-exist that of a modern state, and this does not correlate with the structure of the Convention, which seemingly leads to less protection under the Convention for indigenous peoples. This puts a higher level of responsibility both upon the applicants, as well as on the Court to scrutinize, and apply, the case law of the Court in line with the Convention and the adopted principle of interpretation.

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