UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples

The working group on indigenous populations (also: working group on indigenous populations , UN working group on indigenous populations , UN working group on indigenous populations ; English Working Group on Indigenous Populations , WGIP , also United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations , UNWGIP ) was next to that The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs and the Special Rapporteur on the State of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples is one of the three organs of the United Nations that deals exclusively with the situation of the indigenous peoples of the world. Institutional successor to the WGIP is the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples , EMRIP ).

Origin and mandate

The working group on indigenous peoples, founded in 1982, was a body of the sub-commission for the promotion and protection of human rights of the meanwhile dissolved UN human rights commission .

The WGIP was the very first organ of the United Nations to specifically and exclusively deal with the human rights of indigenous peoples.

The working group had a twofold mandate:

The investigation / monitoring (review) of developments related to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples; such as
Participation in (lit. to give attention to ) the development of international standards regarding indigenous rights.

Investigation of current developments

At the annual meeting weeks in Geneva, current topics were brought to the fore. a .: Situation of indigenous youth, health, globalization, free and prior informed consent , indigenous peoples and the solution of (violent) conflicts. In addition, any topics related to indigenous peoples could be discussed within the general debate.

Further development of indigenous rights (standard setting)

In 1985 the working group began to draw up a UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples (UN General Assembly resolution 61/295) . It had already fulfilled this mandate in 1993 by adopting a draft declaration. After many years of tough negotiations, this was adopted in a revised form in July 2006 by the newly founded UN Human Rights Council during its first session. On September 13, 2007, it was finally passed by the UN General Assembly : with eleven abstentions, 143 member states voted for and four (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) against the text. Australia and New Zealand have also supported the declaration since 2009, so that only the votes of the USA and Canada are missing. In 2010 Canada announced its approval - albeit with reservations - and the US wants to reconsider its position. Justin Trudeau's Canadian government approved the resolution in full in May 2016 with immediate effect; in addition, its content is to be incorporated into the country's constitution.

In addition, the WGIP endeavored to continue to participate in the formulation and setting of human rights standards ( standard setting ) for indigenous peoples, with one focus topic being dealt with at the annual meetings in Geneva . The topics included a. Health, the situation of indigenous youth, the consequences of globalization and the resolution of armed and other conflicts.

Working method and importance of the WGIP

The actual working group consisted of five members, with each global region represented by an expert. Until 2001 it was headed by Erika-Irene Daes (Greece). From 2002 the chairmanship was with Miguel-Alfonso Martínez ( Cuba ). The WGIP was located very low in the institutional hierarchy of the UN . It did not have the power to pass resolutions or declarations, nor could it function as a complaint body against individual human rights violations against indigenous peoples.

The particular importance of the WGIP was that, unlike other UN bodies, it granted representatives of indigenous peoples unrestricted access. Over 1,000 representatives of indigenous peoples, NGOs and governments took part in the annual WGIP meetings held in Geneva . Until it was replaced by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs , it was the most important regular meeting of indigenous organizations.

The WGIP had acted as the main engine for indigenous rights within the UN since the early 1980s. Both the draft declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples and the establishment of the permanent forum on indigenous affairs at the UN headquarters in New York go back to her initiative .

Dissolution of the working group and successor

As a result of the replacement of the UN Human Rights Commission by the UN Human Rights Council , all bodies that were subordinate to the Commission were made available, including the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights , to which the working group was assigned. Proponents of the abolition argued that the establishment of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs made the working group redundant or that the areas of work of both bodies largely overlapped. On the other hand, representatives of the working group and representatives of indigenous peoples objected that the working group was, in contrast, a human rights body that actively pursued the further development of human rights standards, while the forum was an advisory institution of the UN Economic and Social Council that had no human rights mandate I still have the competence for standard setting .

As a result of the discussion, a new committee of experts for questions of indigenous peoples was set up below the UN Human Rights Council in 2008, which first met in October 2008 in Geneva.

For naming

The abbreviation WGIP stands for Working Group on Indigenous Populations (working group on indigenous populations). It is commonly referred to as the “Indigenous Peoples Working Group”, but due to the dispute over the little 's' it is officially denied this name.

The working group is often also abbreviated as UNWGIP , whereby the UN should stand for United Nations . However, this is not the correct name, as it is not a working group “of the UN” (such a facility is not institutionally provided), but a sub-working group of the sub-commission.