28.3 (Fall 2004) The International Decade of the World's Indigenous People

Partnership In Action<br> A Critical Look at the United Nations and Indigenous Rights

The United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People comes to an end in December 2004. Although one of the primary objectives of the Decade—the establishment of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues—has been achieved, many of the Decade’s proclaimed goals remain unmet. The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which would have provided an overarching legal framework for many national, mutlinational, and United Nations agencies, is in tatters.

Measuring the Success of the International Decade

On December 31, the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People will come to an end. For this edition, Cultural Survival Quarterly asked indigenous people from around the globe to take stock of what was achieved and what remains to be done.

International Resources Needed on the Ground<br><i>An interview with Pacifique Mukumba-Isumbisho</i>

Ellen Lutz interviewed Pacifique Mukumba-Isumbisho of the Centre d’Accompagnement des Autochtones Pygmees et Minoritaires Vulnerables (Support Center for Indigenous Pygmies and Threatened Minorities) during July’s session of the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations.

What has the U.N.

International Court Asked to Examine Abuses by DRC Military

On July 6, Minority Rights Group International asked the International Criminal Court to investigate human rights abuses aimed at the Bambuti Pygmies of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Known by the code name effacer le tableau, or "erase the board," the military has conducted what Minority Rights Group (MRG) terms a campaign of extermination against the Bambuti who live in Ituri and North and South Kiva provinces in eastern DRC.

Ecuadors’ Past Offers Direction for the Future

Over the course of the last decade, Latin American indigenous leaders have transformed the indigenous rights discourse. While traditional human rights claims persist to stop killings, desist from seizing land and natural resources, end forced relocation, and cease cultural denigration, indigenous leaders also are insisting that states respect their obligations to give indigenous peoples power and voice. High on the list are demands for inclusive and effective citizenship with dignity and without loss of identity.

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