Martin Luther King had a dream, and he offered that dream to America. When he offered his dream America was a bitterly divided country. Dr King’s dream is helping to heal America, even if it still has a long way to go. All societies need to have a vision, to dream, especially when beset by divisions and dissension. The key is to identify shared attributes among its people and to build on consensual foundations. For Guyana, as for all societies, that key is the fundamental human rights of each person, of each people.
I served the United Nations during four decades, in peacetime and war-time, in the policy, speech-writing, political, peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, humanitarian and human rights sectors, performing the functions of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the process. I now observe the situation in the land of my birth and I see opportunities as well as challenges. With its newly-found energy resources it can amply meet the needs of its people. And while the diversity of its population remains a challenge it is also an opportunity to build a new society on the foundations of inalienable human rights, particularly the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
When, in 2001, in Durban, South Africa, we organized the UN World Conference on racism and racial discrimination, we invited every country of the world to write a vision statement on Tolerance and Diversity for the 21st Century. In a rallying statement that we circulated, signed, among others, by President Nelson Mandela, we stated:
“We all constitute one human family. This truth has now become self-evident because of the mapping of the human genome, an extraordinary achievement which not only reaffirms our common humanity but promises transformations in scientific thought and practice, as well as in the visions which our species can entertain for itself. It encourages us toward the full exercise of our human spirit, the reawakening of all its inventive, creative and moral capacities, enhanced by the equal participation of men and women. And it could make the 21st century an era of genuine fulfilment and peace. We must strive to remind ourselves of this great possibility.”
We also wrote: “As a new century begins, we believe each society needs to ask itself certain questions. Is it sufficiently inclusive? Is it non-discriminatory? Are norms of behaviour based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?” I drafted the document on which the Durban conference deliberated for its Declaration and Programme of Action. The Ethnic Relations Commission of Guyana would be well advised to study the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and to draw insights from it in promoting the principles of equality and non-discrimination in Guyana.
In two previous essays, I presented the UN Declaration on the right to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment, and the UN Declaration on the right to development as policy foundations for a New Guyana. I now present a third policy foundation: the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This declaration can steer us in the direction of justice for our indigenous brothers and sisters. Guyana’s indigenous people are the first inhabitants of our Dear land and have the right to justice and security.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) provides an indispensable policy framework to help take our country forward on the path to justice and respect for inalienable human rights. It provides a vision, goals, and benchmarks for government, for political parties, for civil society, and for citizens. We distil some policy highlights of the Declaration below.
Dignity and rights: Under international law, Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations, which must be appropriately reflected in education and public information. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage.
Land rights: Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. They have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. Governments must consult and cooperate in good faith with indigenous peoples in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands.
Urgent preventive measures: Governments must provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for: any action which has the aim or effect of depriving indigenous peoples of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities; any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources; any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights; any form of forced assimilation or integration; any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination directed against them.
Indigenous peoples must not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation can take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.
Development: Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security. Governments must take effective measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions. Particular attention must be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular, indigenous peoples have the right to be actively involved in developing and determining health, housing and other economic and social programmes affecting them.
Non- exploitation: States must take specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or societal development.
Non-discrimination: indigenous people, in the exercise of their rights, must be free from discrimination of any kind. Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals, and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.
Cultural traditions and customs: Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.
Participation: Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters affecting their rights. States must consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political economic, social and cultural life of the State.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an extensive document with numerous additional provisions. We have here selected some key clauses as reference points for the construction and monitoring of a fair policy towards Guyana’s indigenous Amerindians. The national security of a country rests, in the first place, in the human security of its inhabitants. If Guyana is to achieve its aspirations of being a just society, it must pay special attention to the neediest parts of its population. Guyana’s Amerindians are a fitting starting point for priority attention in the quest for a just society and in the building up of an effective national security policy.
