Quinault President Fawn Sharp, upon learning of Peruvian state police killings of
more than 38 Indians in Bagua, Zona de Corral Quemado y Curva del Diablo in the
Peruvian Amazon during state initiated violence beginning 5 June 2009 called for the
government of President Alan Garcia to cease and desist.
“There can be no reasonable justification for the Peruvian government’s violent
action against Amazonian peoples resulting in the death of two score and more
individuals. Indian peoples’ 52 day opposition to so-called “free trade policies” that
economically, culturally and environmentally injure peoples in the Amazon appears to be
the spark that prompted Peruvian government violence against Indian people. On behalf
of my government I express outrage and utter contempt for the Peruvian government’s
killing of innocent Indian people engaged in legitimate opposition to its economic
policies. I am transmitting to the Peruvian Embassy my denunciation of the horrors
committed against the Indian peoples of Amazonia and urge that the government cease
and desist and immediately hold all Peruvian government persons accountable for the
violence.”

The Chair of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expresses her shock and deep distress at reports received of atrocities committed starting 5 June against indigenous peoples in the Amazon region, resulting in the loss of lives, disappearances and grave injuries. The Chair sends her deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The Chair calls upon the Peruvian Government to:

• Immediately cease all violence against indigenous communities and organizations,
• Ensure immediate and urgent medical attention to the wounded and assist the families of the victims,
• Abide by its national and international obligations regarding the protection of all human rights, including the rights of indigenous peoples and human rights defenders, especially their right to life and security.

8th Session

New York, 18-29 May 2009

ASIA CAUCUS STATEMENT:

Agenda item 6: Comprehensive dialogue with six United Nations agencies and funds

United Nations Development Program

Madam Chair:

We commend UNDP for its Regional Indigenous Peoples Program (RIPP) for Asia, which is being implemented in partnership with indigenous organizations. This program has been effectively addressing critical concerns of indigenous peoples such as resource management, women’s empowerment, access to justice and strengthening of local governance, among others.  The partnership of UNDP-RIPP with indigenous organizations is key to the success of its program implementation. We also commend UNDP for its Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility, especially its capacity building program.

On the other hand, UNDP programs in general, especially at the country level, have yet to mainstream indigenous issues and concerns in partnership with indigenous peoples and organizations.  We are concerned that some of the projects are actually undermining indigenous institutions, particularly by reinforcing local government structures that are not serving the interests of indigenous peoples.  Other projects are also being implemented without thorough consultation and effective participation of indigenous organizations and communities.

As a powerful UN agency, especially at the country level, UNDP has a critical role in promoting the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly with regards to self-determined development. However, much has yet to be done in this regard. In particular, the provisions of Free Prior and Informed Consent, as reiterated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, should already be fully integrated into the program of UNDP, and adopted by its partners. UNDP can take the lead in conducting dissemination and awareness raising activities on FPIC, especially targeting governments, investors and developers.

We make the following recommendations:

•             UNDP country offices should develop focused programs for indigenous peoples at the country level, in partnership with indigenous organizations.  They should ensure the direct participation of indigenous peoples in the planning, designing, implementation and monitoring of UNDP projects affecting indigenous peoples in the way that UNDP-RIPP has done.  Likewise, indigenous representatives should be included in UNDP structures dealing with programs and projects affecting indigenous peoples.  At the level of UNDP country programs, Indigenous Advisory Bodies, to be composed of leaders endorsed by indigenous organizations, should be set up to ensure that UNDP programs relating to indigenous peoples are appropriate and respect the rights of indigenous peoples. 

•             UNDP country offices should ensure that their programs are consistent with UNDRIP, and that there is high level of awareness of UNDRIP amongst their personnel and decision makers.  Likewise, they should undertake activities to promote the UNDRIP to their partners. This should include country workshops for government, NGOs, indigenous communities, other UN agencies, and other stakeholders on UNDRIP and special workshops on Free, Prior and Informed Consent and self determined development.

•             UNDP should initiate the establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms on the implementation of Free Prior and Informed Consent, especially in relation to development programs and projects affecting indigenous peoples, and more generally respect for the rights of indigenous peoples in such programs and projects.

•             UNDP country offices should raise their concerns on violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in the implementation of development projects, such as violations of the collective rights of indigenous peoples over their land and resources, among others.

•             UNDP should work to reinforce or strengthen existing indigenous social, cultural and political structures and systems, ensuring the full and effective participation of women, instead of introducing or developing alternative social systems and structures without the collaboration of indigenous peoples or empowering local authorities who do not represent indigenous peoples.

•             UNDP should increase funding for RIPP to sustain, strengthen, and expand its program.

•             UNDP should look at best practices of the UNDP Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility in Bangladesh, particularly its Capacity-Building and Healthcare components, and apply them in other areas where appropriate.

•             UNDP should provide financial support for indigenous peoples’ institutions and organizations, especially in the cases of the most marginalized groups, to build their capacity in addressing their issues, including the protection of their rights.  

Thank you, Madam Chair.

AGENDA Item 3 c : Follow-Up to the Recommendations of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Women : Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

The Asian Indigenous Women's Network has been engaged, last year in facilitating building capacities of indigenous women to hold government's accountable using CEDAW,with support from the UNIFEM CEDAW South East Asia Programme. From the activities held in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia, the following situation of indigenous
women were surfaced :

1.Indigenous women suffer disproportionately from the impacts of development aggression including the current initiatives to curb climate change. Oil palm plantations displaced women in Indonesia and the Philippines. In West Kalimantan, the doyo, a significant material in indigenous women's traditional livelihoods have become scarce because of
oil palm monocrops. Displacement of indigenous communities by extractive industries has increased women's economic dependence on men who are equally compelled to find other income sources. In Cambodia, such situation resulting from land grabbing and appropriation through economic land concessions and infrastructure development has precipitated increase in domestic violence in indigenous peoples' communities. In one instance, a man reportedly forced his wife to sign the deed of sale of their land just to make sure that they get a little amount instead of totally losing it through land grabbing or state appropriation.

2. As women stand up against these violence, their human rights and freedoms are threatened. Mama Aleta Baun who lead the community resistance against a marble mining company in Mollo, West Timor, cannot go back home to her village due to threats on her and her family's life.

Strategic lawsuits against public participation have been used to silence indigenous women and community leaders by mining companies in the Philippines.

3. Intolerance prevails. A lot of indigenous women and men in Thailand do not have the security of citizenship, thus no access to basic services like health and education. Corruption is rampant where, indigenous women lacking the skills and capacity to engage the complicated and difficult system and process of filing for citizenship, have to contend with bribery and sexual harassment among others. Citizenship cards, however, does not guarantee equality. Indigenous women in Thailand have poor health seeking behavior first because they do not have confidence in public health providers who are prone to errors and wrong diagnosis due to language gap which is likewise not being addressed as a strategy for their effective discharge of their duties as public servants.

4. Gender discrimination, persists inhibiting women from asserting their full development as human beings. Factors predisposing this includes inheritance practices, arranged and early marriages and gender stereotypes among others. This is further complicated by women's
complacency and internalized discrimination resulting from the lack of opportunities and capacities for women to address or challenge their situations. These includes the lack of information on basic human rights. As one participant in a women's rights workshop from Thailand expressed : “ We have always been active; we participate in all development initiatives in our communities but we never had the space to talk about gender and ourselves”. Knowledge of basic human rights and standards including CEDAW and the UNDRIP imparted during these activities has somehow given indigenous women confidence to discuss their situations and organize to address their issues and concerns including inheritance and violence in the name of tradition. In Thailand, for example, most Hmong women attain a sort of self and identity only when they are attached to men partly because all religious rites, including burial rites are done by the husband's family. Widowers
and divorced women are not entitled to burial rites unless they remarry.

RECOMMENDATIONS :

1. We recommend continuing support to fully enable indigenous women's organizations to strengthen present capacities to monitor the implementation of the CEDAW at the national level as an enabling process for indigenous women to effectively engage with national, regional and international machineries for women, the CEDAW mechanisms and other human rights bodies.( CEDAW Report, 4th session para 114). To this, we further recommend for the States Members, UN agencies and NGO's concerned on gender equality and women's rights to:

> strengthen current initiatives to inform indigenous women of their human rights as women and as indigenous peoples including CEDAW, the UNDRIP, the ICESCR and ICCPR among others;

> mobilize technical, logistical and expert resources to equip and enable indigenous women to be able to use the different human rights mechanisms, tools and procedures towards the fulfillment of their rights to equality and non- discrimination;

> ensure effective information and communication of national CEDAW implementation plans and programmes including consultations with indigenous women's organizations to define specific approaches and strategies that would be most appropriate in their context;

2.We call for the different women related processes at the UN, i.e., the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, funding mechanisms, i.e., the UNIFEM through its subregional offices to strengthen their work on the particular situations of the rights and freedoms indigenous women through
institutionalized adaption of the UNDRIP as a minimum standard in the fulfillment and enjoyment of rights by indigenous women.

3. Finally, we call for the UNPFII's support to the 3rd Asian Indigenous Women's Conference in October 2009 which will discuss among other things domestic violence and violence in the name of culture and tradition, trafficking and prostitution and climate change vis-a-vis indigenous women.

THANK YOU MADAM CHAIRPERSON!

Contact : Eleanor P. Dictaan-Bang-oa; Secretariat-AIWN; ellen@tebtebba.org