 Indigenous representatives from the Americas attend a preparatory meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus at the OAS. Photo by Leo Crippa |
WASHINGTON - A special session of the OAS Working Group in charge of negotiating the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was held December 9-12, 2008 at the Organization of American States headquarters. Reynaldo Cuadros, Ambassador of the Bolivian Mission to the OAS, chaired the session.
About 60 indigenous representatives from the Americas attended the session which was preceded by a preparatory meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. Armstrong Wiggins, Director of our Washington DC Office, and staff attorney Leonardo Crippa gave a briefing on recent developments and provided legal assistance at the special session when meeting with states.
Chief Karl Hill of the Cayuga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Confederacy) gave the opening statement on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus.
Regarding the American Declaration, the Working Group identified regional concerns that an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should reflect in comparison with the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Because it was a special session, participants did not negotiate any language concerning the articles of the draft American Declaration. Instead, the session focused on evaluating the negotiation process and identifying specific measures that should be considered in future negotiations.
The Working Group also identified: 1) articles that were already approved, 2) articles that are close to agreement between indigenous and state representatives, and 3) articles containing complex issues where consensus has not been reached.
The Working Group agreed to start negotiating those articles that are close to agreement between the participants at its next negotiation session scheduled for February 16-20, 2009 preceded by preparatory meetings of the Indigenous Caucus on February 14-15.
We encourage as many tribal leaders as possible to attend. For more information, please contact Shayda Naficy at 202.547.2800.