AMERICAN
DECLARATION
ON THE
RIGHTS
OF
INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
Approved in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
June 14, 2016
During the Forty-sixth Ordinary Period of Sessions
of the OAS General Assembly
Organization of American States
General Secretariat
Secretariat of Access to Rights and Equity
Department of Social Inclusion
1889 F Street, NW | Washington, DC 20006 | USA
1 (202) 370 5000
www.oas.org
ISBN 978-0-8270-6710-3
More rights for more people
OAS Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Organization of American States. General Assembly. Regular Session. (46th :
2016 : Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : AG/RES.2888
(XLVI-O/16) : (Adopted at the thirds plenary session, held on June 15, 2016).
p. ; cm. (OAS. Ofcial records ; OEA/Ser.P) ; (OAS. Ofcial records ; OEA/
Ser.D)
ISBN 978-0-8270-6710-3
1. American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2016). 2.
Indigenous peoples--Civil rights--America. 3. Indigenous peoples--Legal status,
laws, etc.--America.
I. Organization of American States. Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity.
Department of Social Inclusion. II. Title. III. Series.
OEA/Ser.P AG/RES.2888 (XLVI-O/16) OEA/Ser.D/XXVI.19
AG/RES. 2888 (XLVI-O/16)
AMERICAN DECLARATION
ON THE RIGHTS OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
(Adopted at the third plenary session,
held on June 15, 2016)
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
RECALLING the contents of resolution AG/RES. 2867
(XLIV-O/14), “Draft American Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples,” as well as all previous resolutions on
this issue;
RECALLING ALSO the declaration “Rights of the
Indigenous Peoples of the Americas” [AG/DEC. 79
(XLIV-O/14)], which reafrms that progress in promoting
and effectively protecting the rights of the indigenous
peoples of the Americas is a priority for the Organization
of American States;
• • • 2 • • •
RECOGNIZING the valuable support provided by the
member states, observer states, and the organs, agencies,
and entities of the Organization of American States for
the process in the Working Group to Prepare the Draft
American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
RECOGNIZING ALSO the important participation of
indigenous peoples of the Americas in the process of
preparing this Declaration; and
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the signicant contribution that
the indigenous peoples of the Americas have made to
humanity,
RESOLVES:
To adopt the following Draft American Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
1/2/
1 The United States remains committed to addressing the urgent
issues of concern to indigenous peoples across the Americas,
including combating societal discrimination against indigenous
peoples and… (Continues on page 47).
2 Canada reiterates its commitment to a renewed relationship with
its indigenous peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect,
cooperation and partnership. Canada is now fully engaged,
(Continues on page 49)..
• • • 3 • • •
AMERICAN DECLARATION
ON THE RIGHTS OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
PREAMBLE
The member states of the Organization of American States
(hereinafter the States),
RECOGNIZING:
That the rights of indigenous peoples are both essential
and of historical signicance to the present and future of
the Americas;
The important presence in the Americas of indigenous
peoples and their immense contribution to development,
plurality, and cultural diversity, and reiterating our
commitment to their economic and social well-being, as
well as the obligation to respect their rights and cultural
identity; and
That the existence of the indigenous cultures and peoples
of the Americas is important to humanity;
• • • 4 • • •
REAFFIRMING that indigenous peoples are original,
diverse societies with their own identities that constitute an
integral part of the Americas;
CONCERNED that indigenous peoples have suffered
from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their
colonization and the 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 that respect for indigenous
knowledge, cultures, and traditional practices contributes
to sustainable and equitable development and proper
management of the environment;
• • • 5 • • •
BEARING IN MIND the progress achieved at the
international level in recognizing the rights of indigenous
peoples, especially Convention No. 169 of the International
Labour Organization and the United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
BEARING IN MIND ALSO the progress made in nations
of the Americas at the constitutional, legislative, and
jurisprudential levels to safeguard, promote, and protect
the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as the political will
of states to continue their progress toward recognition of
the rights of indigenous peoples in the Americas;
RECALLING the commitments undertaken by the
member states to guarantee, promote, and protect the
rights and institutions of indigenous peoples, including
those undertaken at the Third and Fourth Summits of the
Americas;
RECALLING ALSO the universality, inseparability, and
interdependence of human rights recognized under
international law;
CONVINCED that recognition of the rights of indigenous
peoples in this Declaration will foster harmonious and
cooperative relations among States and indigenous
peoples, based on the principles of justice, democracy,
respect for human rights, nondiscrimination, and good
faith;
CONSIDERING the importance of eliminating all forms
of discrimination that may affect indigenous peoples, and
taking into account the responsibility of States to combat
them; and
ENCOURAGING states to respect and comply with, as well
as 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,
• • • 7 • • •
DECLARE:
SECTION ONE:
Indigenous peoples. Scope of application
▼Article I.
1. The American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples applies to the indigenous peoples of the
Americas.
2. Self-identication as indigenous peoples will be a
fundamental criterion for determining to whom this
Declaration applies. States shall respect the right
to such self-identication as indigenous, whether
individually or collectively, in keeping with the practices
and institutions of each indigenous people.
▼Article II.
States recognize and respect the multicultural and
multilingual character of indigenous peoples, who are an
integral part of their societies.
• • • 8 • • •
▼Article III.
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 IV.
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 Organization of American States or 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.
• • • 9 • • •
SECTION TWO
Human rights and collective rights
▼Article V.
Full effect and observance of human rights
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to the full
enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the
Charter of the Organization of American States, and
international human rights law.
▼Article VI.
Collective rights
Indigenous peoples have collective rights that are
indispensable for their existence, well-being, and integral
development as peoples. In that regard, States recognize
and respect the right of indigenous peoples to their
collective action; to their juridical, social, political, and
economic systems or institutions; to their own cultures; to
profess and practice their spiritual beliefs; to use their own
tongues and languages; and to their lands, territories and
resources. States shall promote, with the full and effective
• • • 10 • • •
participation of indigenous peoples, the harmonious
coexistence of the rights and systems of different
population groups and cultures.
▼Article VII.
Gender equality
1. Indigenous women have the right to the recognition,
protection, and enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms provided for in international
law, free from discrimination of any kind.
2. States recognize that violence against indigenous
peoples and individuals, particularly women, hinders
or nullies the enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
3. States shall adopt, in conjunction with indigenous
peoples, the necessary measures to prevent and
eradicate all forms of violence and discrimination,
particularly against indigenous women and children.
• • • 11 • • •
▼Article VIII.
Right to belong to indigenous peoples
Indigenous individuals and communities have the right to
belong to one or more indigenous peoples, in accordance
with the identity, traditions, customs, and systems of
belonging of each people. No discrimination of any kind
may arise from the exercise of such a right.
▼Article IX.
Juridical personality
States shall recognize fully the juridical personality of
indigenous peoples, respecting indigenous forms of
organization and promoting the full exercise of the rights
recognized in this Declaration.
▼Article X.
Rejection of assimilation
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain,
express, and freely develop their cultural identity
in all respects, free from any external attempt at
assimilation.
• • • 12 • • •
2. States shall not carry out, adopt, support, or favor
any policy of assimilation of indigenous peoples or of
destruction of their cultures.
▼Article XI.
Protection against genocide
Indigenous peoples have the right not to be the object of
any form of genocide or attempts to exterminate them.
▼Article XII.
Guarantees against racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia, and related intolerance
Indigenous peoples have the right not to be the object
of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, or related
intolerance. States shall adopt the preventive and
corrective measures necessary for the full and effective
protection of that right.
• • • 13 • • •
SECTION THREE
Cultural identity
▼Article XIII.
Right to cultural identity and integrity
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their own
cultural identity and integrity and to their cultural
heritage, whether tangible or intangible, including
historic and ancestral heritage; and to the protection,
preservation, maintenance, and development of that
cultural heritage for their collective continuity and that
of their members and so as to transmit that heritage
to future generations.
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.
• • • 14 • • •
3. Indigenous people have the right to recognition
and respect for all their ways of life, cosmovisions,
spirituality, uses, customs, norms, traditions, forms
of social, economic, and political organization;
forms of transmission of knowledge, institutions,
practices, beliefs, values, dress, and languages,
recognizing their inter-relationship as established in
this Declaration.
▼Article XIV.
Systems of knowledge, language, and communication
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to preserve, use,
develop, revitalize, and transmit to future generations
their own histories, languages, oral traditions,
philosophies, systems of knowledge, writing, and
literature, and to designate and retain their own
names for their communities, individuals, and places.
2. States shall adopt adequate and effective measures
to protect the exercise of this right with the full and
effective participation of indigenous peoples.
• • • 15 • • •
3. Indigenous peoples have the right to promote and
develop all their systems and media of communication,
including their own radio and television programs,
and to have equal access to all other means of
communication and information. States shall take
measures to promote the broadcast of radio and
television programs in indigenous languages,
particularly in areas with an indigenous presence.
States shall support and facilitate the creation of
indigenous radio and television stations, as well as
other means of information and communication.
4. States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples,
shall make efforts to ensure that those peoples can
understand and be understood in their own languages
in administrative, political, and judicial proceedings, if
necessary through the provision of interpretation or
by other effective means.
• • • 16 • • •
▼Article XV.
Education
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals, particularly
indigenous children, have the right to all levels and
forms of education, without discrimination.
2. States and indigenous peoples, in keeping with the
principle of equality of opportunity, shall promote
the reduction of disparities in education between
indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
3. 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.
4. States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples,
shall take effective measures to enable indigenous
individuals living outside their communities,
particularly children, to have access to education in
their own languages and cultures.
• • • 17 • • •
5. States shall promote harmonious intercultural
relations, ensuring that the curricula of state
educational systems reect the pluricultural and
multilingual nature of their societies and encourage
respect for, and knowledge of, the different indigenous
cultures. States, in conjunction with indigenous
peoples, shall promote intercultural education that
reects the cosmovision, histories, languages,
knowledge, values, cultures, practices, and ways of
life of those peoples.
6. States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, shall
adopt necessary and effective measures to ensure
the exercise and observance of those rights.
▼Article XVI.
Indigenous spirituality
1. Indigenous peoples have the right freely to exercise
their own spirituality and beliefs and, by virtue of that
right, to practice, develop, transmit, and teach their
traditions, customs, and ceremonies, and to carry
them out in public and in private, whether individually
or collectively.
• • • 18 • • •
2. No indigenous people or individual shall be subjected
to pressures or impositions, or any other type of
coercive measures that might impair or limit their right
freely to exercise their indigenous spirituality and
beliefs.
3. Indigenous peoples have the right to preserve,
protect, and access their sacred sites, including their
burial grounds, to use and control their sacred objects
and relics, and to recover their human remains.
4. States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, shall
adopt effective measures, to promote respect for
indigenous spirituality and beliefs, and to protect
the integrity of the symbols, practices, ceremonies,
expressions, and spiritual protocols of indigenous
peoples, in accordance with international law.
▼Article XVII.
Indigenous family
1. The family is the natural and fundamental group
unit of society. Indigenous peoples have the right
to preserve, maintain, and promote their own family
• • • 19 • • •
systems. States shall recognize, respect, and protect
the various indigenous forms of family, in particular,
the extended family, as well as their forms of
matrimonial union, liation, descent, and family name.
In all cases, gender and generational equity shall be
recognized and respected.
2. In matters relating to custody, adoption, severance
of family ties, and related matters, the best interests
of the child shall be a primary consideration. In
determining the best interests of the child, courts and
other relevant institutions shall take into account the
right of every indigenous child, in community with
members of his or her people, to enjoy his or her
own culture, to profess and practice his or her own
religion, and to use his or her own language, and, in
that regard, shall take into account the indigenous
law of the people concerned and their points of view,
rights and interests, including the positions of the
individuals, the family, and the community.
• • • 20 • • •
▼Article XVIII.
Health
1. Indigenous peoples have the collective and individual
right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical, mental, and spiritual health.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to their own health
systems and practices, as well as to the use and
protection of their vital medicinal plants, animals and
minerals, and other natural resources for medicinal
use in their ancestral lands and territories.
3. States shall take measures to prevent and prohibit
indigenous peoples and individuals from being
subjects of research programs, biological or medical
experimentation, or sterilization without their free,
prior and informed consent. Likewise, indigenous
peoples and individuals have the right, as appropriate,
to access to their data, medical records, and
documentation of research conducted by individuals
and institutions, whether public or private.
• • • 21 • • •
4. Indigenous peoples have the right to use, without
discrimination of any kind, all the health and medical
care institutions and services accessible to the
general population. States, in consultation and
coordination with indigenous peoples, shall promote
intercultural systems and practices in the medical and
health services provided in indigenous communities,
including training of indigenous technical and
professional health care personnel.
5. States shall ensure the effective exercise of the rights
contained in this article.
▼Article XIX.
Right to protection of a healthy environment
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to live in harmony
with nature and to a healthy, safe, and sustainable
environment, essential conditions for the full
enjoyment of the rights to life and to their spirituality,
cosmovision, and collective well-being.
• • • 22 • • •
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to conserve,
restore, and protect the environment and to manage
their lands, territories and resources in a sustainable
way.
3. Indigenous peoples have the right to be protected
against the introduction, abandonment, dispersion,
transit, indiscriminate use, or deposit of any harmful
substance that could adversely affect indigenous
communities, lands, territories and resources.
4. 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 programs for indigenous peoples for such
conservation and protection, without discrimination.
• • • 23 • • •
SECTION FOUR
Organizational and political rights
▼Article XX.
Rights of association, assembly, and freedom
of expression and thought
1. Indigenous peoples have the rights of association,
assembly, organization and expression, and are
entitled to exercise them without interference and
in accordance, inter alia, with their cosmovision,
values, uses, customs, ancestral traditions, beliefs,
spirituality, and other cultural practices.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to assemble on
their sacred and ceremonial sites and areas. For that
purpose they shall have free access to, and use of,
such sites and areas.
3. Indigenous peoples, in particular those who are
divided by international borders, have the right
to travel and to maintain and develop contacts,
relations, and direct cooperation, including activities
for spiritual, cultural, political, economic, and social
purposes, with their members and other peoples.
• • • 24 • • •
4. States, in consultation and cooperation with
indigenous peoples, shall adopt effective measures to
ensure the exercise and enforcement of these rights.
▼Article XXI.
Right to autonomy or self-government
1. 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 nancing
their autonomous functions.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
develop their own decision-making institutions. They
also have the right to participate in decision-making
in matters which would affect their rights. They may
do so directly or through their representatives, and
in accordance with their own norms, procedures,
and traditions. They also have the right to equal
opportunities in accessing and participating fully and
effectively as peoples in all national institutions and
forums, including deliberative bodies.
• • • 25 • • •
▼Article XXII.
Indigenous law and jurisdiction
1. 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.
2. Indigenous law and legal systems shall be recognized
and respected by national, regional and international
legal systems.
3. Matters concerning indigenous individuals or their
rights or interests in the jurisdiction of each State shall
be conducted in such a way as to afford indigenous
individuals the right to full representation with dignity
and equality before the law. Consequently, they are
entitled, without discrimination, to equal protection
and benet of the law, including the use of linguistic
and cultural interpreters.
• • • 26 • • •
4. States shall take effective measures in conjunction
with indigenous peoples to ensure the implementation
of this article.
▼Article XXIII.
Participation of indigenous peoples and contributions
of indigenous legal and organizational systems
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to full and
effective participation in decision-making, through
representatives chosen by themselves in accordance
with their own institutions, in matters which affect their
rights, and which are related to the development and
execution of laws, public policies, programs, plans,
and actions related to indigenous matters.
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, prior and informed consent before adopting and
implementing legislative or administrative measures
that may affect them.
3/
3 The State of Colombia breaks with consensus on Article XXIII,
paragraph 2, of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indi-
genous Peoples, which deals with consultations for obtaining …
(Continues on page 49).
• • • 27 • • •
▼Article XXIV.
Treaties, agreements, and other constructive
arrangements
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, in accordance with
their true spirit and intent in good faith and to have
States honor and respect same. States shall give due
consideration to the understanding of the indigenous
peoples as regards to treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements.
2. When disputes in relation to such treaties,
agreements and other constructive arrangements
cannot be resolved between the parties, they shall
be submitted to competent bodies, including regional
and international bodies, by the states or indigenous
peoples concerned.
3. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as
diminishing or eliminating the rights of indigenous
peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements.
• • • 29 • • •
SECTION FIVE
Social, economic, and property rights
▼Article XXV.
Traditional forms of property and cultural survival.
Right to land, territory, and resources
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
strengthen their distinctive spiritual, cultural, and
material relationship with their lands, territories, and
resources and to uphold their responsibilities to pre-
serve them for themselves and for future generations.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands,
territories and resources which they have traditionally
owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
3. 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.
• • • 30 • • •
4. 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.
5. Indigenous peoples have the right to legal recognition
of the various and particular modalities and forms of
property, possession and ownership of their lands,
territories, and resources, in accordance with the legal
system of each State and the relevant international
instruments. States shall establish special regimes
appropriate for such recognition and for their effective
demarcation or titling.
▼Article XXVI.
Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation or initial
contact
1. Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation or initial
contact have the right to remain in that condition and
to live freely and in accordance with their cultures.
• • • 31 • • •
2. States shall, with the knowledge and participation
of indigenous peoples and organizations, adopt
appropriate policies and measures to recognize,
respect, and protect the lands, territories, environment,
and cultures of these peoples as well as their life, and
individual and collective integrity.
▼Article XXVII.
Labor rights
1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the
rights and guarantees recognized in national and
international labor law. States shall take all special
measures necessary to prevent, punish and remedy
any discrimination against indigenous peoples and
individuals.
2. States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, shall
adopt immediate and effective measures to eliminate
exploitative labor practices with regard to indigenous
peoples, in particular, indigenous children, women
and elderly persons.
• • • 32 • • •
3. Where indigenous peoples are not effectively
protected by the laws applicable to workers in general,
States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, shall
adopt all necessary measures to:
a. protect indigenous workers and employees in
relation to hiring under fair and equal conditions in
both formal and informal employment;
b. establish, apply, or improve labor inspection and the
enforcement of rules with particular attention to, inter
alia, regions, companies, and labor activities in which
indigenous workers or employees participate;
c. establish, apply, or enforce laws so that both female
and male indigenous workers:
i. enjoy equal opportunities and treatment in all
terms, conditions, and benets of employment,
including training and capacity building, under
national and international law;
• • • 33 • • •
ii. enjoy the right of association, the right to form
trade unions and participate in trade union
activities, and the right to collective bargaining
with employers through representatives of their
own choosing or through workers’ organizations,
including traditional authorities;
iii. are not subject to discrimination or harassment
on the basis of, inter alia, race, sex, origin, or
indigenous identity;
iv. are not subject to coercive hiring systems,
including debt servitude or any other form of
forced or compulsory labor, regardless of whether
the labor arrangement arises from law, custom,
or an individual or collective arrangement, in
which case the labor arrangement shall be
deemed absolutely null and void;
v. are not forced to work in conditions that
endanger their health and personal safety; and
are protected from work that does not conform to
occupational health and safety standards;
• • • 34 • • •
vi. receive full and effective legal protection, without
discrimination, when they provide their services
as seasonal, occasional, or migrant workers, as
well as when they are hired by employers, such
that they receive the benets of national laws
and practices, which shall be in accordance with
international human rights laws and standards
for this category of workers;
d. ensure that indigenous workers and their employers
are informed of the rights of indigenous workers
under national law and international and indigenous
standards, and of the remedies and actions available
to them to protect those rights.
4. States shall take measures to promote employment of
indigenous individuals.
• • • 35 • • •
▼Article XXVIII.
Protection of cultural heritage and intellectual property
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to full recognition
and respect for the ownership, dominion, possession,
control, development, and protection of their tangible
and intangible cultural heritage and intellectual
property, including its collective nature, transmitted
over millennia from generation to generation.
2. The collective intellectual property of indigenous
peoples includes, inter alia, traditional knowledge and
traditional cultural expressions, including traditional
knowledge associated with genetic resources,
ancestral designs and procedures, cultural, artistic,
spiritual, technological, and scientic expressions,
tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as
knowledge and developments of their own related
to biodiversity and the utility and qualities of seeds,
medicinal plants, ora, and fauna.
3. States, with the full and effective participation of
indigenous peoples, shall adopt measures necessary
to ensure that national and international agreements
• • • 36 • • •
and regimes provide recognition and adequate
protection for the cultural heritage of indigenous
peoples and intellectual property associated with that
heritage. In adopting such measures, consultations
shall be held to obtain the free, prior and informed
consent of indigenous peoples.
▼Article XXIX.
Right to development
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and
determine their own priorities with respect to their
political, economic, social, and cultural development
in conformity with their own cosmovision. They also
have the right to be guaranteed the enjoyment of their
own means of subsistence and development, and to
engage freely in all their economic activities.
2. This right includes the development of policies, plans,
programs, and strategies in the exercise of their right
to development and to implement them in accordance
with their political and social organization, norms and
procedures, own cosmovisions, and institutions.
• • • 37 • • •
3. Indigenous peoples have the right to be actively
involved in developing and determining development
programs that affect them and, to the extent possible,
to administer such programs through their own
institutions.
4. 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.
4/
5. Indigenous peoples have the right to effective mea-
sures to mitigate adverse ecological, economic, so-
cial, cultural, or spiritual impacts of the implementa-
tion of development projects that affect their rights.
Indigenous peoples who have been deprived of their
4 The State of Colombia breaks with consensus on Article XXIX,
paragraph 4, of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indi-
genous Peoples, which deals with consultations for obtaining …
(Continues on page 51)
• • • 38 • • •
means of subsistence and development have the
right to restitution and, where this is not possible, to
fair and equitable compensation. This includes the
right to compensation for any harm caused to them
by the implementation of plans, programs, or projects
of the State, international nancial institutions, or pri-
vate business.
▼Article XXX.
Right to peace, security, and protection
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to peace and
security.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to recognition and
respect for their institutions for the maintenance of
their organization and control of their communities
and peoples.
3. Indigenous peoples have the right to protection
and security in situations or periods of internal or
international armed conict, in accordance with
international humanitarian law.
• • • 39 • • •
4. States, in compliance with international agreements
to which they are party, in particular those of
international humanitarian law and international
human rights law, including the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War and Protocol II thereof relating to the protection
of victims of non-international armed conicts, shall, in
the event of armed conicts, take adequate measures
to protect the human rights, institutions, lands,
territories, and resources of indigenous peoples and
their communities. Likewise, States:
a. Shall not recruit indigenous children and
adolescents into the armed forces under any
circumstances;
b. Shall adopt effective reparation measures and
provide adequate resources for said reparation,
in conjunction with the indigenous peoples
concerned, for the damages or harm caused by
an armed conict.
• • • 40 • • •
c. Shall take special and effective measures in
collaboration with indigenous peoples to guarantee
that indigenous women and children live free from
all forms of violence, especially sexual violence,
and shall guarantee the right of access to justice,
protection, and effective reparation for harm
caused to the victims.
5. Military activities shall not take place in the lands or
territories of indigenous peoples, unless justied by a
relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed to
or requested by the indigenous peoples concerned.
5/
5 The State of Colombia breaks with consensus as regards Article
XXX, paragraph 5, of the OAS Declaration on Indigenous Peoples
since, according to the mandate contained in the …. (Continues
on page 53)
• • • 41 • • •
SECTION SIX
General provisions
▼Article XXXI
1. States shall ensure the full enjoyment of civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights by indigenous
peoples; their right to maintain their cultural and
spiritual identity, religious traditions, cosmovision, and
values; the protection of their sacred sites and places
of worship, and all the human rights contained in this
Declaration.
2. States shall promote, with the full and effective
participation of indigenous peoples, the adoption
of such legislative and other measures as may be
necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in
this Declaration.
• • • 42 • • •
▼Article XXXII
All the rights and freedoms recognized in the present
Declaration are guaranteed equally to indigenous women
and men.
▼Article XXXIII
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to
effective and suitable remedies, including prompt judicial
remedies, for the reparation of any violation of their
collective and individual rights. States, with the full and
effective participation of indigenous peoples, shall provide
the necessary mechanisms for the exercise of this right.
▼Article XXXIV
In the event of conicts or disputes with indigenous
peoples, States shall provide, with the full and effective
participation of those peoples, just, equitable and effective
mechanisms and procedures for their prompt resolution.
For that purpose, due consideration and recognition shall
be accorded to the customs, traditions, norms and legal
systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.
• • • 43 • • •
▼Article XXXV
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as
limiting, restricting, or denying human rights in any way,
or as authorizing any action that is not in keeping with
international human rights law.
▼Article XXXVI
In the exercise of the rights enunciated in the present
Declaration, the 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 as required for the
purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the
rights and freedoms of others and for meeting the just and
most compelling needs of a democratic society.
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.
• • • 44 • • •
▼Article XXXVII
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to
nancial and technical assistance from States and through
international cooperation, for the enjoyment of the rights
contained in this Declaration.
▼Article XXXVIII
The Organization of American States, its organs, agencies,
and entities, shall adopt all necessary measures to
promote the full observance, protection, and application
of the provisions contained in this Declaration, and shall
endeavor to ensure their efcacy.
▼Article XXXIX
The nature and scope of the measures that shall be adopted
to implement this Declaration shall be determined in
accordance with the spirit and purpose of said Declaration.
• • • 45 • • •
▼Article XL
Nothing in this Declaration shall be construed as
diminishing or extinguishing rights that indigenous peoples
now have or may acquire in the future.
▼Article XLI
The rights recognized in this Declaration and the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity,
and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
• • • 47 • • •
FOOTNOTES
1 -… individuals, increasing indigenous participation in na-
tional political processes, addressing lack of infrastructure
and poor living conditions in indigenous areas, combating
violence against indigenous women and girls, promot-
ing the repatriation of ancestral remains and ceremonial
objects, and collaborating on issues of land rights and
self-governance, among many other issues. The multitude
of ongoing initiatives with respect to these topics provides
avenues for addressing some of the consequences of past
actions. The United States has, however, persistently ob-
jected to the text of this American Declaration, which is not
itself legally binding, does not, therefore, create new law,
and is not a statement of Organization of American States
(OAS) member states’ obligations under treaty or custom-
ary international law.
The United States reiterates its longstanding belief that
implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UN Declaration”) should
remain the focus of the OAS and its member states.
OAS member states joined other UN Member States
• • • 48 • • •
in renewing their political commitments with respect
to the UN Declaration at the World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples in September 2014. The important
and challenging initiatives underway at the global level to
realize the respective commitments in the UN Declaration
and the outcome document of the World Conference are
appropriately the focus of the attention and resources of
States, indigenous peoples, civil society, and international
organizations, including in the Americas. In that regard, the
United States intends to continue its diligent and proactive
efforts, which it has undertaken in close collaboration with
indigenous peoples in the United States and many of its
fellow OAS member states, to promote achievement of the
ends of the UN Declaration, and to promote fulllment of the
commitments in the World Conference outcome document.
Of nal note, the United States reiterates its solidarity with
the concerns expressed by indigenous peoples concerning
their lack of full and effective participation in these
negotiations.
• • • 49 • • •
2 -… in full partnership with indigenous peoples in Canada,
to move forward with the implementation of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in
accordance with Canada’s Constitution. As Canada has not
participated substantively in recent years in negotiations
on the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, it is not able at this time to take a position on the
proposed text of the Declaration. Canada is committed to
continue working with its partners in the OAS on advancing
indigenous issues across the Americas.
3 -… indigenous communities’ free, prior and informed
consent before adopting and enforcing legislative or
administrative measures that could affect them.
This is because Colombian law denes such communities’
right to prior consultation in accordance with Convention
No. 169 of the International Labour Organization. Thus,
the Colombian Constitutional Court has ruled that the
consultation process must be pursued “with the aim
of reaching an agreement or securing the consent of
indigenous communities regarding the proposed legislative
• • • 50 • • •
measures.” It must be noted that this does not translate
into the ethnic communities having the power of veto over
measures affecting them directly whereby such measures
cannot proceed without their consent; instead, it means that
following a disagreement “formulas for consensus-building
or agreement with the community” must be presented.
Moreover, the Committee of Experts of the ILO has estab-
lished that prior consultation does not imply the right to veto
State decisions, but is, rather, a suitable mechanism for in-
digenous and tribal peoples to enjoy the right of expression
and of inuencing the decision-making process.
Accordingly, on the understanding that this Declaration’s
approach to prior consent is different and could amount to
a possible veto, in the absence of an agreement, which
could bring processes of general interest to a halt, the
contents of this article are unacceptable to Colombia.
• • • 51 • • •
4 -… indigenous communities’ free, prior and informed
consent before approving projects that could affect their
lands or territories and other resources.
This is because, although the Colombian State has included
in its legal order a wide range of rights intended to recog-
nize, guarantee, and uphold the constitutional rights and
principles of pluralism and ethnic and cultural diversity in
the nation within the framework of the Constitution, the rec-
ognition of the collective rights of indigenous peoples is gov-
erned by legal and administrative provisions, in line with the
objectives of the State and with principles such as the social
and ecological function of property as well as State own-
ership of the subsoil and nonrenewable natural resources.
Accordingly, in those territories indigenous peoples
exercise their own political, social, and judicial organization.
By constitutional mandate, their authorities are recognized
as public State authorities with special status and, as
regards judicial matters, recognition is given to the special
indigenous jurisdiction, a signicant advance compared to
other countries of the region.
• • • 52 • • •
In the international context, Colombia has led the way
in enforcing the rules governing prior consultation set
out in Convention No. 169 of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), to which our State is a party.
On the understanding that this Declaration’s approach to
prior consent is different and could amount to the possibility
of vetoing the exploitation of natural resources found in
indigenous territories, in the absence of an agreement,
which could halt processes of general interest, the contents
of this article are unacceptable to Colombia.
In addition, it is important to note that the constitutions
of many States, including Colombia’s, stipulate that the
subsoil and nonrenewable natural resources are the
property of the State to preserve and ensure their public
usefulness for the benet of the entire nation. For that
reason, the provisions contained in this article are contrary
to the domestic legal order of Colombia, based on the
national interest.
• • • 53 • • •
5 -… Constitution of Colombia, the security forces are
obliged to be present in any part of the nation’s territory
to provide and ensure for all inhabitants protection and
respect for their lives, honor, and property, whether
individual or collective. The protection of the rights and
integrity of indigenous communities depends largely on the
security of their territories.
Thus, in Colombia the security forces have been given
instructions to observe the obligation of protecting
indigenous peoples. Accordingly, the above provision
of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples would be in breach of the principle of need and
effectiveness of the security forces, preventing them
from fullling their institutional mission, which renders it
unacceptable to Colombia.
• • • 55 • • •
● ANNEX I
Notes of Interpretation of the Delegation of Colombia
INTERPRETATIVE NOTE N
O.
1
OF THE STATE OF COLOMBIA WITH RESPECT TO
ARTICLE VIII OF THE AMERICAN DECLARATION ON
THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
As regards Article VIII, on the right to belong to indigenous
peoples, Colombia expressly declares that the right
to belong to one or more indigenous peoples is to be
governed by the autonomy of each indigenous people.
The foregoing is in accordance with Article 8, paragraph
2 of Convention No. 169 of the International Labour
Organization (ILO): “These peoples shall have the right
to retain their own customs and institutions, where these
are not incompatible with fundamental rights dened by the
national legal system and with internationally recognised
human rights. Procedures shall be established, whenever
necessary, to resolve conicts which may arise in the
application of this principle.”
• • • 56 • • •
It is important to specify that when a person shares different
indigenous origins—in other words, when, for instance, his
or her mother belongs to one ethnic group and his or her
father belongs to another—his or her belonging to one or
another of those indigenous peoples may only be dened
according to the traditions involved. In other words, to
determine an individual’s belonging to a given indigenous
people, the cultural patterns that determine family ties,
authority, and ethnic attachment must be examined on a
case-by-case basis.
A case of contact between two matrilineal traditions is not
the same as a contact between a matrilineal tradition and
a patrilineal one. Similarly, the jurisdiction within which the
individual lives, the obligations arising from the regime
of rights contained in that jurisdiction, and the socio-
geographical context in which he or she specically carries
out his or her everyday cultural and political activities must
be established.
The paragraph to which this note refers is transcribed
below:
• • • 57 • • •
▼ARTICLE VIII
Right to Belong to Indigenous Peoples
“Indigenous individuals and communities have the right to
belong to one or more indigenous peoples, in accordance
with the identity, traditions, customs, and systems of
belonging of each people. No discrimination of any kind
may arise from the exercise of such a right.”
• • • 59 • • •
INTERPRETATIVE NOTE N
O.
2
OF THE STATE OF COLOMBIA WITH RESPECT
TO ARTICLE XIII, PARAGRAPH 2; ARTICLE XVI,
PARAGRAPH 3; ARTICLE XX, PARAGRAPH 2; AND
ARTICLE XXXI, PARAGRAPH 1, OF THE AMERICAN
DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
As regards the idea of sacred sites and objects referred
to in Article XIII, paragraph 2; Article XVI, paragraph 3;
Article XX, paragraph 2; and Article XXXI, paragraph 1,
of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, the Colombian State expressly declares that the
determination and regulation of indigenous peoples’ sacred
sites and objects is to be governed by developments
attained at the national level. This is because there is
no internationally accepted denition and neither ILO
Convention No. 169 nor the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples makes reference to or
denes those terms.
Colombia has been making progress with the regulation of
the issue, which has involved and will continue to involve
• • • 60 • • •
the participation of the indigenous peoples, and it will
continue to advance toward that goal in accordance with
Colombian law and, where appropriate, the applicable
international instruments.
The paragraphs to which this note refers are transcribed
below:
▼ARTICLE XIII
Right to Cultural Identity and Integrity
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 XVI
Indigenous Spirituality
3. “Indigenous peoples have the right to preserve, protect,
and access their sacred sites, including their burial
grounds, to use and control their sacred objects and
relics, and to recover their human remains.”
• • • 61 • • •
▼ARTICLE XX
Rights of Association, Assembly, and Freedom of
Expression and Thought
2. “Indigenous peoples have the right to assemble on
their sacred and ceremonial sites and areas. For that
purpose they shall have free access to, and use of,
such sites and areas.”
▼ARTICLE XXXI
1. “States shall ensure the full enjoyment of civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights by indigenous peo-
ples; their right to maintain their cultural and spiritual
identity, religious traditions, cosmovision, and values; the
protection of their sacred sites and places of worship,
and all the human rights contained in this Declaration.”
• • • 63 • • •
INTERPRETATIVE NOTE N
O.
3
OF THE STATE OF COLOMBIA WITH RESPECT
TO ARTICLE XIII, PARAGRAPH 2, OF THE OAS
DECLARATION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES:
The State of Colombia expressly declares that the right
of indigenous peoples to promote and develop all their
systems and media of communication is subject to the
requirements and procedures established in the domestic
regulations in force.
The paragraph to which this note refers is transcribed
below:
▼ARTICLE XIV
Systems of Knowledge, Language, and Communication
3. “Indigenous peoples have the right to promote and
develop all their systems and media of communication,
including their own radio and television programs, and to
have equal access to all other means of communication
and information. States shall take measures to promote
the broadcast of radio and television programs in
• • • 64 • • •
indigenous languages, particularly in areas with
an indigenous presence. States shall support and
facilitate the creation of indigenous radio and television
stations, as well as other means of information and
communication.”
• • • 66 • • •
AMERICAN
DECLARATION
ON THE
RIGHTS
OF
INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
Approved in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
June 14, 2016
During the Forty-sixth Ordinary Period of Sessions
of the OAS General Assembly
Organization of American States
General Secretariat
Secretariat of Access to Rights and Equity
Department of Social Inclusion
1889 F Street, NW | Washington, DC 20006 | USA
1 (202) 370 5000
www.oas.org
ISBN 978-0-8270-6710-3
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