Page 36 - Rights beautiful : collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

Rights Beautiful Collection of Professor Saneh Chamarik

knowledge, our main concern here, also falls within the purview in
such global democratic perspective. It is worthwhile then to briefly inquire
into how well it fares under the auspices of the United Nations, so as to
get the idea as to what more needs to be done and how.
This leads us to the second point: that is, the question of
international law and order and that of human freedom and progress.
For the purpose, I shall gratefully draw on part of one IUCN-commissioned
study under the rubric: Traditional Resource Rights: International
Instruments for Protection and Compensation for Indigenous Peoples
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and Local Communities. This is just to give a rough outline of what is
in stock with regard to the existing state of international human rights
instruments, both legally binding and not legally binding. Those legally
binding consist of four main agreements: UN International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1976, UN International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1976, International Labour
Organization Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples
in Independent Countries (ILO169) 1989, and Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) 1992. For those with non-legal binding, three deserve to be
referred to here as guidelines for further action: UN Draft Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DDRIP) 1994, UN Draft Declaration
of Principles on Human Rights and the Environment (DDHRE) 1994,
and the Leipzig Declaration on Farmers’ Rights. From these somewhat
scattered provisions, a number of relevant points could be drawn with
regard to the traditional resource rights of indigenous peoples, as follows.
(i) Self-determination and development;
(ii) Disposal of natural wealth and resources;
(iii) Protection of minority culture;
(iv) Religious freedom;

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Darrell A. Posey, Traditional Resource Rights: International Instruments for Protection
and Compensation for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, IUCN – The World
Conservation Union, 1996, particularly Chapters 1-5.

30 OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF THAILAND