Legis

United Nations A/RES/61/295
General Assembly Distr.: General
2 October 2007
Sixty-first session
Agenda item 68
06-51207
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007
[without reference to a Main Committee (A/61/L.67 and Add.1)]
61/295. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
The General Assembly,
Taking note of the recommendation of the Human Rights Council contained in
its resolution 1/2 of 29 June 2006,1 by which the Council adopted the text of the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
Recalling its resolution 61/178 of 20 December 2006, by which it decided to
defer consideration of and action on the Declaration to allow time for further
consultations thereon, and also decided to conclude its consideration before the end
of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly,
Adopts the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as
contained in the annex to the present resolution.
107th plenary meeting
13 September 2007
Annex
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The General Assembly,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
and good faith in the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by States in accordance
with the Charter,
Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while
recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different,
and to be respected as such,
Affirming also that all peoples contribute to the diversity and richness of
civilizations and cultures, which constitute the common heritage of humankind,
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1 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/61/53), part one,
chap. II, sect. A.
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Affirming further that all doctrines, policies and practices based on or
advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin or
racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally
invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust,
Reaffirming that indigenous peoples, in the exercise of their rights, should be
free from discrimination of any kind,
Concerned that indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a
result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories
and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to
development in accordance with their own needs and interests,
Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of
indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures
and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially
their rights to their lands, territories and resources,
Recognizing also the urgent need to respect and promote the rights of
indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements with States,
Welcoming the fact that indigenous peoples are organizing themselves for
political, economic, social and cultural enhancement and in order to bring to an end
all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they occur,
Convinced that control by indigenous peoples over developments affecting
them and their lands, territories and resources will enable them to maintain and
strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to promote their
development in accordance with their aspirations and needs,
Recognizing that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional
practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper
management of the environment,
Emphasizing the contribution of the demilitarization of the lands and
territories of indigenous peoples to peace, economic and social progress and
development, understanding and friendly relations among nations and peoples of the
world,
Recognizing in particular the right of indigenous families and communities to
retain shared responsibility for the upbringing, training, education and well-being of
their children, consistent with the rights of the child,
Considering that the rights affirmed in treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples are, in some
situations, matters of international concern, interest, responsibility and character,
Considering also that treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements, and the relationship they represent, are the basis for a strengthened
partnership between indigenous peoples and States,
Acknowledging that the Charter of the United Nations, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights2 and the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights,2 as well as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
_______________
2 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
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Action,3 affirm the fundamental importance of the right to self-determination of all
peoples, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely
pursue their economic, social and cultural development,
Bearing in mind that nothing in this Declaration may be used to deny any
peoples their right to self-determination, exercised in conformity with international
law,
Convinced that the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in this
Declaration will enhance harmonious and cooperative relations between the State
and indigenous peoples, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect for
human rights, non-discrimination and good faith,
Encouraging States to comply with and effectively implement all their
obligations as they apply to indigenous peoples under international instruments, in
particular those related to human rights, in consultation and cooperation with the
peoples concerned,
Emphasizing that the United Nations has an important and continuing role to
play in promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples,
Believing that this Declaration is a further important step forward for the
recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms of indigenous
peoples and in the development of relevant activities of the United Nations system
in this field,
Recognizing and reaffirming that indigenous individuals are entitled without
discrimination to all human rights recognized in international law, and that
indigenous peoples possess collective rights which are indispensable for their
existence, well-being and integral development as peoples,
Recognizing that the situation of indigenous peoples varies from region to
region and from country to country and that the significance of national and regional
particularities and various historical and cultural backgrounds should be taken into
consideration,
Solemnly proclaims the following United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples as a standard of achievement to be pursued in a spirit of
partnership and mutual respect:
Article 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as
individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the
Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 4 and
international human rights law.
Article 2
Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and
individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the
exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or
identity.
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3 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
4 Resolution 217 A (III).
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Article 3
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right
they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social
and cultural development.
Article 4
Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the
right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local
affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.
Article 5
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct
political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right
to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural
life of the State.
Article 6
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.
Article 7
1. Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental
integrity, liberty and security of person.
2. Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace
and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or
any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to
another group.
Article 8
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to
forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress
for:
(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their
integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
(b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their
lands, territories or resources;
(c) Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of
violating or undermining any of their rights;
(d) Any form of forced assimilation or integration;
(e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic
discrimination directed against them.
Article 9
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an indigenous
community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the
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community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the
exercise of such a right.
Article 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or
territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed
consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair
compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.
Article 11
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural
traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the
past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and
historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and
performing arts and literature.
2. States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may
include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect
to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their
free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and
customs.
Article 12
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, develop and
teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to
maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the
right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the
repatriation of their human remains.
2. States shall seek to enable the access and/or repatriation of ceremonial
objects and human remains in their possession through fair, transparent and
effective mechanisms developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned.
Article 13
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit
to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing
systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for
communities, places and persons.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected
and also to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in
political, legal and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the
provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means.
Article 14
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their
educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in
a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.
2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have the right to all levels
and forms of education of the State without discrimination.
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3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective
measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those
living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in
their own culture and provided in their own language.
Article 15
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their
cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected
in education and public information.
2. States shall take effective measures, in consultation and cooperation with
the indigenous peoples concerned, to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination
and to promote tolerance, understanding and good relations among indigenous
peoples and all other segments of society.
Article 16
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their
own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without
discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media
duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full
freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately
reflect indigenous cultural diversity.
Article 17
1. Indigenous individuals and peoples have the right to enjoy fully all rights
established under applicable international and domestic labour law.
2. States shall in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples take
specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and
from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the
child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental,
spiritual, moral or social development, taking into account their special vulnerability
and the importance of education for their empowerment.
3. Indigenous individuals have the right not to be subjected to any
discriminatory conditions of labour and, inter alia, employment or salary.
Article 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters
which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in
accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own
indigenous decision-making institutions.
Article 19
States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples
concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free,
prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or
administrative measures that may affect them.
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Article 20
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political,
economic and social systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their
own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their
traditional and other economic activities.
2. Indigenous peoples deprived of their means of subsistence and
development are entitled to just and fair redress.
Article 21
1. Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the
improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the
areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing,
sanitation, health and social security.
2. States shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special
measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social
conditions. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of
indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.
Article 22
1. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of
indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the
implementation of this Declaration.
2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to
ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees
against all forms of violence and discrimination.
Article 23
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and
strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular, indigenous peoples
have the right to be actively involved in developing and determining health, housing
and other economic and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to
administer such programmes through their own institutions.
Article 24
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to
maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal
plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access,
without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the
necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of this
right.
Article 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive
spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used
lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their
responsibilities to future generations in this regard.
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Article 26
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources
which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the
lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership
or other traditional occupation or use, as well as those which they have otherwise
acquired.
3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands,
territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to
the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples
concerned.
Article 27
States shall establish and implement, in conjunction with indigenous peoples
concerned, a fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent process, giving due
recognition to indigenous peoples’ laws, traditions, customs and land tenure
systems, to recognize and adjudicate the rights of indigenous peoples pertaining to
their lands, territories and resources, including those which were traditionally
owned or otherwise occupied or used. Indigenous peoples shall have the right to
participate in this process.
Article 28
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to redress, by means that can include
restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for
the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise
occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or
damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.
2. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the peoples concerned,
compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality,
size and legal status or of monetary compensation or other appropriate redress.
Article 29
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of
the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and
resources. States shall establish and implement assistance programmes for
indigenous peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal
of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of indigenous
peoples without their free, prior and informed consent.
3. States shall also take effective measures to ensure, as needed, that
programmes for monitoring, maintaining and restoring the health of indigenous
peoples, as developed and implemented by the peoples affected by such materials,
are duly implemented.
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Article 30
1. Military activities shall not take place in the lands or territories of
indigenous peoples, unless justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely
agreed with or requested by the indigenous peoples concerned.
2. States shall undertake effective consultations with the indigenous peoples
concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their
representative institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military
activities.
Article 31
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and
develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural
expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and
cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of
the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and
traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to
maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural
heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.
2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective
measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights.
Article 32
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and
strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources.
2. States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous
peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain
their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their
lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the
development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.
3. States shall provide effective mechanisms for just and fair redress for any
such activities, and appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate adverse
environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact.
Article 33
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or
membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair
the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they
live.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to
select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.
Article 34
Indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and maintain their
institutional structures and their distinctive customs, spirituality, traditions,
procedures, practices and, in the cases where they exist, juridical systems or
customs, in accordance with international human rights standards.
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Article 35
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the responsibilities of
individuals to their communities.
Article 36
1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders,
have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including
activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their
own members as well as other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall
take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the implementation of
this right.
Article 37
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and
enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded
with States or their successors and to have States honour and respect such treaties,
agreements and other constructive arrangements.
2. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as diminishing or
eliminating the rights of indigenous peoples contained in treaties, agreements and
other constructive arrangements.
Article 38
States in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take the
appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of this
Declaration.
Article 39
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to financial and technical
assistance from States and through international cooperation, for the enjoyment of
the rights contained in this Declaration.
Article 40
Indigenous peoples have the right to access to and prompt decision through
just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes with States or
other parties, as well as to effective remedies for all infringements of their
individual and collective rights. Such a decision shall give due consideration to the
customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned and
international human rights.
Article 41
The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system and other
intergovernmental organizations shall contribute to the full realization of the
provisions of this Declaration through the mobilization, inter alia, of financial
cooperation and technical assistance. Ways and means of ensuring participation of
indigenous peoples on issues affecting them shall be established.
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Article 42
The United Nations, its bodies, including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, and specialized agencies, including at the country level, and States shall
promote respect for and full application of the provisions of this Declaration and
follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration.
Article 43
The rights recognized herein constitute the minimum standards for the
survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.
Article 44
All the rights and freedoms recognized herein are equally guaranteed to male
and female indigenous individuals.
Article 45
Nothing in this Declaration may be construed as diminishing or extinguishing
the rights indigenous peoples have now or may acquire in the future.
Article 46
1. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State,
people, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act
contrary to the Charter of the United Nations or construed as authorizing or
encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the
territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.
2. In the exercise of the rights enunciated in the present Declaration, human
rights and fundamental freedoms of all shall be respected. The exercise of the rights
set forth in this Declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as are
determined by law and in accordance with international human rights obligations.
Any such limitations shall be non-discriminatory and strictly necessary solely for
the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of
others and for meeting the just and most compelling requirements of a democratic
society.
3. The provisions set forth in this Declaration shall be interpreted in
accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights,
equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith.