After nearly 30 years of legislation, the Organization of American States (OAS) has adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at its General Assembly meeting in the Dominican Republic from June 13 to 15, 2016. The OAS General Assembly initiated steps towards a declaration in 1989. By 1999 a Working Group was established to draft the American Declaration and Indigenous People were finally allowed to participate in the meetings and negotiations on the content of the declaration.
This progressive victory offers protection for the lands, languages, culture, and self-determination of the Indigenous Peoples of North America, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. The declaration will provide thorough protection for Indigenous women and children, for Indigenous Peoples living in voluntary isolation, and for those affected by a state’s internal armed conflict.
The American Declaration will become instrumental in the implementation of Indigenous Human Rights and will be interpreted and enacted upon at higher levels such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Human Rights System, and Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Armstrong Wiggins, director of the Indian Law Resource Center’s Washington D.C. office says, “This is the beginning of another journey, where Indigenous Peoples from the Americas expect the OAS and its member states to take actions, in conjunction with our traditional governments and authorities, to ensure full enjoyment of our collective rights.”
OAS’s American Declaration gives American states a clear mandate to respect and uphold Indigenous rights. It addresses major issues such as protection of women and children and protection of sacred sites, and gives Indigenous Peoples in the Americas further legal recourse in the enjoyment of their rights and is another tool for Indigenous Peoples in the Americas.
