Negotiations on the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to resume in January

The Organization of American States will hold its Thirteenth Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest for the Point of Consensus on January 18-20, 2011 in Washington, D.C. The Indigenous Peoples Caucus will meet prior to this session on January 15-16, 2011.  During the negotiation session, OAS member states will continue the work of developing an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  The Center will continue to provide legal assistance to Indian nations participating in the process.  In 2009, we began a campaign to re-engage state representatives in the negotiations and will continue to organize our allies to apply pressure and demand full participation by states.  In particular, we are targeting the United States, which has effectively stepped out of the negotiation process by its previous decision to observe and not actively engage within the negotiations.  Our goal in this work is to see the OAS adopt a strong and principled American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. During this particular negotiation session, representatives from over 26 member states will be present. The negotiations will focus on provisions related to health, indigenous law and jurisdiction, labor rights, and contributions of indigenous legal systems systems, amongst others.  

See the full list of relevant documents: http://www.oas.org/consejo/CAJP/Indigenous%20special%20session.asp#Thirteen Meeting

Access the current status of the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:  http://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/CAJP/docs/dadin00299e09.doc

See the draft schedule: http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_10/DADIN00330E04.doc

If you would like further information, feel free to contact the Indian Law Resource Center by phone, 202-547-2800 or email dcoffice@indianlaw.org.