Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), on 15 January 2012 has written a letter to the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra regarding forced relocation of indigenous Karen peoples from Kaeng Krachan National Park leading to violation of their human rights. The letter states the harrassment of Karen villagers had been going for some time that came to a severe situation in May, June and July 2011, when many houses of the villagers and their rice stores were burned and money, jewelery, fishing and agricultural tools were stolen by a group composed of National Park wardens and military forces.

AIPP, as a regional indigenous peoples organization in Asia, has been acting as the technical secretariat and coordinator for the annual regional preparatory meeting to strategize and plan for the participation of indigenous peoples in Asia to the UN Permanent Forum on indigenous issues (UNPFII) and Expert Mechanism on Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) sessions. The Preparatory meeting for this year is scheduled to take place from 13 – 15 February 2012 in Toraya, Indonesia. The venue of the meeting will be sent to the selected participants by mid of January 2011 with the invitation letter. The application process for selection of participants has already been closed and is being processed.

AIPP and the Indigenous Peoples Task Force on ASEAN (IP-TF on ASEAN) on 29 November 2011 the proposal provided below for inclusion to the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. The proposal was submitted to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) that is in the process of drafting the Declaration. The proposal calls to incorporate a specific and explicit reference to the recognition of distinct identities and diverse cultures of indigenous peoples of the region and to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Please circulate as widely as possible.

PROPOSAL

“Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal in dignity and rights to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such, we thereby  recognize the distinct identities and diverse cultures of indigenous peoples in ASEAN and commit ourselves to take measures to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”