Australia and Other Rich Nations Hold Out Against Indigenous Peoples
22 Dec 2008
On 13 September 2007 144 of the United Nations member states signed a declaration which committed them to upholding the human rights of Indigenous people. Another 11 abstained. There were four countries who voted against the declaration -, USA, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.
One year later Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has promised to sign the declaration but is yet to. Indigenous Australians are calling for long-term commitment, partnership and recognition of their rights. The Mapuru community in the Northern Territory is asking Australians to write to the Prime Minister directly urging him to keep his pre-election promise.
“It seems clear that the Rudd government is reluctant to honour its pre-election promise to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (This) will negatively impact (all) Australia’s Indigenous people…write to your Federal member and the Prime Minister asking them why they are opposing the UN Declaration,” Linda Millar representative from Mapuru urged.
According to the UN, the Declaration is a non-binding text that sets out individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues. It prohibits discrimination against Indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them.... more
|
