DOCUMENT: SLF-DTRM.TXT STATEMENT ON SELF-DETERMINATION BY THE PARTICIPANTS AT THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PREPARATORY MEETING At the 1985 session of the Working Group, a draft Declaration of Principles was submitted by the indigenous NGO's and more than seventeen other indigenous organizations. That Declaration includes principles relating to self- determination. In order to contribute to the understanding of this complex issue and to the understanding of the draft principles, and recalling the legal and moral duty of all governments to respect fundamental human rights, the participants at the indigenous people's preparatory meeting preceding the 1987 Working Group session submit the following statements. 1. The right to self-determination is fundamental to the enjoyment of all human rights. From the right to self- determination flow the right to permanent sovereignty over land -- including aboriginal, ancestral and historical lands -- and other natural resources, the right to develop and maintain governing institutions, the right to life, health and physical integrity, and the rights to culture, way of life and religion. 2. The right to self-determination includes the absolute right of indigenous peoples to exist as communities, tribes, nations or other entities according to their own wishes and to define their own membership. 3. The most fundamental element of the right to self- determination is the freedom of choice on the part of indigenous peoples. The relationships between indigenous peoples and states must be based on the free and informed consent of indigenous peoples. 4. Self-determination encompasses the freedom of indigenous peoples to determine the extent of and the institutions of their self-governance, their political status and associations with the state(s) in which they are located, and the extent and nature of their participation within the political process of such state(s). 5. The right to self-determination may be realized in many ways ranging from the choice of full independence to various forms of autonomy, self-government and participation in the political processes of the state. 6. Self-determination is dependent upon the right of each indigenous people to a land and resource base necessary to sustain an appropriate and sufficient economy as well as the right to exercise its authority and jurisdiction over the corresponding territory. 7. Any state action that terminates, undermines or replaces indigenous societies, or their governments or organizations, without their consent, is a violation of the right to self-determination. 8. State imposition of governmental or organizational systems and forms without consent by the indigenous people concerned violates the right to self- determination, even where the ostensible purpose is to provide a measure of self-rule or autonomy. 9. The existence of international or other legal boundaries must not be permitted to derogate from the right to self- determination of indigenous peoples. 10. Where there is a treaty, it shall be interpreted and complied with in accordance with the principles of self- determination. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: A service provided by :: :: The Center For World Indigenous Studies :: :: www.cwis.org :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Originating at the Center for World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, Washington USA www.cwis.org © 1999 Center for World Indigenous Studies (All Rights Reserved. References up to 500 words must be referenced to the Center for World Indigenous Studies and/or the Author Copyright Policy Material appearing in the Fourth World Documentation Project Archive is accepted on the basis that the material is the original, unoccupied work of the author or authors. 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