19. Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Havemann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
Indigenous Group ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

This chapter examines issues surrounding the human rights of Indigenous peoples. The conceptual framework for this chapter is informed by three broad, interrelated, and interdependent types of human rights: the right to existence, the right to self-determination, and individual human rights. After describing who Indigenous peoples are according to international law, the chapter considers the centuries of ambivalence about the recognition of Indigenous peoples. It then discusses the United Nations's establishment of a regime for Indigenous group rights and presents a case study of the impact of climate change on Indigenous peoples. It concludes with a reflection on the possibility of accommodating Indigenous peoples' self-determination with state sovereignty.

scholarly journals Evolving Legal Protections for Indigenous Peoples in Africa: Some Post-UNDRIP Reflections

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-365
Author(s):  
Derek Inman ◽  
Dorothée Cambou ◽  
Stefaan Smis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Context ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
The Right

Prior to the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) many African states held a unified and seemingly hostile position towards the UNDRIP exemplified by the concerns outlined in the African Group's Draft Aide Memoire. In order to gain a better understanding of the protections offered to indigenous peoples on the African continent, it is necessary to examine the concerns raised in the aforementioned Draft Aide Memoire and highlight how these concerns have been addressed at the regional level, effectively changing how the human rights norms contained within the UNDRIP are seen, understood and interpreted in the African context. The purpose of this article is to do just that: to examine in particular how the issue of defining indigenous peoples has been tackled on the African continent, how the right to self-determination has unfolded for indigenous peoples in Africa and how indigenous peoples' right to free, prior and informed consent has been interpreted at the regional level.

scholarly journals Low-Lying States, Climate Change-Induced Relocation, and the Collective Right to Self-Determination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nathan Ross
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Marshall Islands ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
The Right

<p>It is increasingly likely that, due to the impacts of climate change, entire populations of low-lying States – Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives – will need to relocate to other States' territories. Such en masse relocations would jeopardise these peoples' national identities and manifestations of their ways of life: cultures, languages, customs, and social, political and economic systems.  Legal writers analysing this topic focus mainly on maritime boundaries and statehood questions. This thesis examines the right to self-determination. The principal finding is that the peoples of low-lying States are entitled to enjoy self-determination in climate change-related relocation and that there are practical ways this can occur.  After explaining the factual scenario and the approach to this research, the analysis has four key components. First, it defines the right to self-determination in context of the low-lying States, including entitlements flowing from this collective right. The populations of low-lying States' are "peoples" entitled to self-determination, including in relocation. Self-determination comprises various elements, resembling a bundle of rights. A framework is devised for unpacking this bundle and understanding what self-determination entails. The framework divides the right into strategic and operational elements. The strategic elements are the right's objectives of peace and human rights, as well as its classic expressions; external and internal self-determination. The operational elements seek to secure the right's objectives through substantive and procedural entitlements. Substantive entitlements include the right of peoples to continuity of their States, to be different, to freely-determined political statuses, and to freely-pursued economic, social and cultural development. Procedural aspects include processes for determining the substantive elements, plus democratic governance, and some degree of autonomy from other political units.  The second major component of this thesis examines potential duty-bearers, and the nature of their duties. Low-lying States are the principal duty-bearers regarding their peoples' right to self-determination. Third-party States and the United Nations have relevant duties, but these are vague and do not anticipate proactive involvement in supporting low-lying peoples' endeavours to maintain self-determination ex situ. The duties become clearer for a third-party State that partners in a low-lying people's relocation, but there are no obligations to become such a partner.  The third part of the legal analysis re-examines the issue of whether statehood can be maintained without inhabitable territory, but in light of the self-determination analysis. There is a presumption of continuity of statehood in international law and it applies to low-lying States. There is no legal basis to argue that statehood would be terminated in this relocation scenario. The presumption of continuity is bolstered by self-determination, which gives the peoples of low-lying States exclusive competence to determine their political statuses. Prior analyses of statehood have focused on the Montevideo Convention indicia. However, these indicia only apply to the creation of States, not termination. Consequently, there is far-reaching flexibility for extant States to decide how, or whether, the indicia are satisfied.  Finally, options for enabling ex situ self-determination are presented concerning key questions of legal personality (since statehood is only one option), land and international frameworks. The final section also proposes ways of incorporating self-determination into the emerging human rights-based approach to climate change adaptation.</p>

External and Internal Secession in Ethiopia’s Multinational Federation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Christophe Van der Beken
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
Unity In Diversity ◽  
The Right

Abstract The ethno-territorial nature of Ethiopian federalism finds its constitutional foundation in Article 39 of the Constitution. Article 39 grants a right to self-determination to all of Ethiopia’s ‘nations’, ‘nationalities’ and ‘peoples’. The right to self-determination as conceived by Article 39 is comprehensive and has both so-called internal (such as the right to territorial autonomy) and external dimensions (the right to secession). This article argues that these constitutional provisions display weaknesses and gaps since they affect the achievement of the constitutional objectives and involve serious risks for the rights of (persons belonging to) other ethnic groups. Although the right to self-determination is one of the fundamental constitutional principles, so is the respect for individual and group rights. Furthermore, the unity in diversity objective of the Constitution requires equilibrium between ethnic empowerment and human rights. The article therefore provides a number of legal recommendations to address these gaps and weaknesses.

scholarly journals Constituent Power, the Rights of Nature, and Universal Jurisdiction

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Colón-Ríos
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
International Community ◽  
Universal Jurisdiction ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
The Right

This article provides a justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction in cases of serious environmental damage. This justification rests in important ways on the theory of constituent power. The theory of constituent power has an intergenerational component that requires the protection of the environmental conditions that allow future generations to engage in constitution-making episodes. This article maintains that, by virtue of the connections between constituent power, the right to self-determination, and state sovereignty, the justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction for serious environmental damage is at least as compelling as the justification for its exercise with respect to egregious human rights infringements. In those scenarios, courts exercising universal jurisdiction would be acting to protect the ability of present and future peoples to participate in the constitution and reconstitution of the states that make up the international community. Such a jurisdiction would rest on the authority of humanity as a whole rather than on that of any state or people.

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.

Part II Group Identity, Self-Determination, and Relations with States, Ch.8 Indigenous Belonging: Membership and Identity in the UNDRIP: Articles 9, 33, 35, and 36

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imai Shin ◽  
Gunn Kathryn
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Group Identity ◽  
Indigenous Community ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Geographic Scope ◽  
Indigenous Group ◽  
The Right

This chapter discusses Articles 9, 33, 35, and 36, focusing on the relationships between the indigenous individual and the indigenous community, group or nation, the question of the right to select or deny membership, and of duties to the community. The recognition of indigenous peoples' right to determine their own membership is crucial for their ability to meaningfully exercise their right to self-determination. Thus, the provisions of Articles 9, 33, 35, and 36 reinforce the right of indigenous peoples to define themselves, both in terms of membership and geographic scope. During the drafting of the Declaration, representatives of indigenous peoples stressed the importance of self-identification. However, some States argued that the lack of a fixed definition would create a circularity whereby people who claimed to be indigenous would define indigeneity based on the criterion that they themselves defined. A similar problem arises when discussing membership in an indigenous group or community.

Human rights, principled issue-networks, and sovereignty in Latin America

1993 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Sikkink
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Transnational Relations ◽  
Issue Networks ◽  
Issue Network ◽  
Rights Issue ◽  
The Impact

International relations theorists have devoted insufficient attention to the processes through which state sovereignty is being transformed in the modern world. The human rights issue offers a case study of a gradual and significant reconceptualization of state sovereignty. In the human rights issue-area, the primary movers behind the international actions leading to changing understandings of sovereignty are transnational nonstate actors organized in a principled issue-network, including international and domestic nongovernmental organizations, parts of global and regional intergovernmental organizations, and private foundations. These networks differ from other forms of transnational relations in that they are driven primarily by shared values or principled ideas. Through a comparative study of the impact of international human rights pressures on Argentina and Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s, this article explores the emergence and the nature of the principled human rights issue-network and the conditions under which it can contribute to changing both state understandings about sovereignty and state human rights practices.

18. Group rights

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert McCorquodale
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

This chapter discusses the definition, exercise, and limitations of certain group rights, including peoples with the right of self-determination, minorities, and indigenous peoples. The right of self-determination protects a group as a group entity with regard to their political participation, as well as their control over their economic, social, and cultural activity as a group. The rights of minorities can be seen as both individual and group rights. Finally the growing recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples is considered.

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