Keeping in mind the often limited financial resources of Indigenous Delegates, the IWC offers an economic accommodation possibility during the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), which takes place in Geneva from July 9th to 13th. Our Welcome Centre functions as a networking platform among the delegates before and during the conference and gives them interesting insights from similar problem areas. An additional input will be a workshop. Beyond that, we place several computers with Internet and a printer at disposal.

Please find the registration form here.

Incomindios will organize two side-events during the UN PFII this year:

Monday May 7 , 2012, 1pm – 3pm (Church Center)

Workshop on “Increasing the Participation of Indigenous Youth at the UN” with:

• Joshua Cooper – Hawaii Center for Human Rights Research & Action
• Murlynn Crystal Lee – United Natives
• Jocelyn Hung Chien – United Nations Indigenous Youth Caucus

The content and the purpose of the workshop:

• Overview of CERD, CRC, ILO, OECD
• Increasing skills for effective participation at the UN
• Analysis of concrete example cases

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 1pm-3pm (Church Center)

Panel discussion on “Combating Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls” with:

• Laxmi Gurung, National Indigenous Women Federation (NIWF) Nepal
• Shimreichon Luithui-Erni, Regional Coordinator of Indigenous Women Programme, Asian Indigenous Peoples’ Pact (AIPP), Thailand
• Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Indigenous Peoples International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba) and former chair of the UNPFII, Philippines
• Danika Littlechild, International Indian Treaty Council, Canada
• Eleanor Goroh, Indigenous Peoples’ Network of Malaysia (JOAS), Malaysia
• Moderator: Eleanor P. Dictaan-Bang-Oa – Coordinator of the Gender Desk,Tebtebba and Secretariat, Asian Indigenous Women’s Network

The content and the purpose of the side-event:

• Ways of combating violence against indigenous women and girls
• Considering the link between enduring effects of colonization and violence.
• The discussion will be based on Article 22 of the UNDRIP and on the holistic approach proposed by the Special Rapporteur James Anaya

Languages: English with French and Spanish translation

Snacks and drinks will be provided

International Labor Organization confirms government violated indigenous rights

Text by Amazon Watch

Altamira, Brazil – A report released by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations for the International Labor Organization (ILO) found the Brazilian government directly violated the rights of indigenous communities in the Xingu region of the Amazon while plowing forward with the controversial Belo Monte Dam project. The report shows that by failing to conduct indigenous hearings in villages impacted by the Belo Monte Dam prior to approving the project’s construction, Brazil violated Convention 169 which guarantees indigenous peoples the right to free, prior and informed consultation over projects that affect their lands and rights.

According to the ILO document, “the Commission notes that, under Article 15 of the Convention, the government is obliged to consult indigenous peoples before undertaking or permitting any programs for the exploitation of existing resources on their lands,” going on to state that Belo Monte would change the navigability of the Xingu, while irrevocably impacting the fauna, flora and climate of the region. These impacts, the ILO said, “go beyond the flooding of land or displacement of these people.”

“This is yet another major blow to the international legal and reputational standing of the Brazilian government as it recklessly pursues the construction of the Belo Monte Dam to the detriment of indigenous and traditional peoples of the Xingu,” said Christian Poirier, Brazil Program Director at Amazon Watch. “While the Rousseff government seems impervious to all reason surrounding this project, the world continues to call her to task.”

The findings of the ILO confirm the position of Brazil’s Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, two institutions that have condemned the Brazilian government for failure to hold indigenous hearings and have demanded the project’s suspension.

The findings also invalidate the ruling of Brazil’s Federal Circuit Court TRF1 that held that indigenous hearings could occur at any time, even after their communities have suffered Belo Monte’s irreversible impacts. Contradicting the TRF1, the Commission states that “according to the documentation and information submitted by the government, the procedures carried out so far…do not meet the requirements set out in Articles 6 and 15 of the Convention, nor do they demonstrate that indigenous peoples were allowed to participate effectively in determining their priorities in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention.” The legal case against Belo Monte is expected to reach Brazil’s Supreme Court.

In final recommendations the ILO’s Committee of Experts asks the Brazilian government to:

• Take the necessary measures to carry out consultations with the affected indigenous communities, in accordance with Articles 6 and 15 of the Convention on the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, before the possible harmful effects of that plant are irreversible.
• In consultation with indigenous peoples, take steps to determine whether the priorities of these peoples were respected and their interests will be adversely affected and to what extent, in order to adopt appropriate mitigation and compensation.
• Inform the Federal Court of Pará about the results of the procedure.

More on ILO Convention 169:

The Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples – 169 Convention – was ratified by Brazil in 2002 and enacted through a presidential decree in 2004. Convention 169 establishes, among other things, that indigenous and tribal peoples have the right to be consulted in a free, prior and informed manner about state actions that may affect their property or rights.

UN rights panel disparages Canada

Experts harshly criticize treatment of First Nations and immigration changes affecting Roma refugees
By LEE BERTHIAUME, Postmedia News February 23, 2012

Canada’s international reputation came under fire in Geneva on Wednesday as a UN expert panel delivered scathing criticisms over the government’s treatment of First Nations and recent changes to the country’s immigration system.
Members on the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, all of them human-rights experts from around the world, questioned why headway has not been made in resolving the disparities between First Nations communities and the rest of the country.
“This problem should not continue the same way as it has in the past,” said Noureddine Amir, vicechairman of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. “How long will this be ongoing?” read more

UN Committee urged to examine discrimination against Indigenous peoples during review of Canada’s human rights record

Amnesty International Canada /Amnistie Canada, Assembly of First Nations, Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), First Nations Summit, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), Indigenous World Association, International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Kanehsatake Cultural Center, National Association of Friendship Centres, Native Women’s Association of Canada, Treaty Four First Nations, Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs.

On February 22 and 23, Canada’s record on combating discrimination will be examined by a high level body of the United Nations. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the independent expert body that monitors compliance with the international treaty of the same name. read more

In the past years, uranium companies have turned more and more towards Africa to explore and exploit uranium. Mali and other African countries are targeted. People on location, NGOs and governments, mostly are not well informed about the methods and impacts of uranium mining.

Uranium is the fuel for nuclear power plants – disturbing in the face of the Fukushima disaster; and it is a raw material for nuclear weapons – whose abolition is demanded on a global level. Uranium mining has a major impact on all areas of life – on health and reproduction, on the natural environment and the traditional way of life, on the land as a basic means of existence.

Around three thirds of the worldwide biodiversity can be found on indigenous lands and territories, that are threatened by varied economic interests. Uranium mining, deforestation of primeval forests, the exploitation of mineral oil and tar sand as well as of water resources destroys the soils and the waters all over the world endangering the health of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples alike.

Detailled conference program: Conference Program Bamako Mali