Indigenous rights are human rights

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, Gatjil Djerrkura, Chairman of the Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander Commission has strongly criticised the Australian 
Government on its human rights record and on its recent stand against 
indigenous people having the right to self-determination.

While "it is right to celebrate progress towards human rights, it is also 
important to realise how far we have yet to go", said Mr Djerrkura.

"The Universal Declaration has been the basis for human rights struggles 
all over the world. It stresses the commonality of all humankind and that 
there are certain minimum rights that apply to all peoples.

"But we need to keep working toward the international recognition of the 
rights of indigenous peoples. In Australia, the evidence of this struggle 
is obvious.

"We are currently seeing the property and cultural rights of indigenous 
Australians being removed, piece by piece.

"The dismantling of our property rights under changes to the Native Title 
Act has moved away from national attention, but we are now fighting to 
retain our rights at the level of state and territory governments.

"The Federal parliament is currently considering amendments to the 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. These 
further reduce our hopes of guarding what's left of our cultures.

"Australia prides itself on its human rights record, yet we now hold the 
honour of being the first western country to fall under UN investigation 
for the direction of its human rights policy."

The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights has issued a press release which 
includes Australia among countries causing concern about their handling of 
human rights. 

Australia has been asked to provide information on changes to native title, 
Aboriginal affairs policy and the role of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Mr Djerrkura also expressed concern about the Government's recent 
announcement that it is seeking to have the term "self determination" 
removed from the UN's Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous 
Peoples.

"There is no right more fundamental for indigenous people than self 
determination. It is an inherent right of all peoples.

"Self-determination is recognised in international law in the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on 
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Australia has signed both these 
Covenants.

"But the [Howard] Government prefers terms such as `self-empowerment' and 
`self-management'.

"It is blatantly discriminatory to proclaim self-determination as a right 
of all peoples while denying it to indigenous peoples.

"ATSIC will use whatever processes are available to us to protect 
indigenous rights at both the national and international level."