Editors --- "Conference Statement - Digest" [1999] AUIndigLawRpr 20; (1999) 4(2) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 133

Collective Human Rights of the Pacific Peoples Conference
Conference Statement

Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland

28-30 August 1998

The Collective Human Rights of the Pacific Peoples Conference took place in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland), New Zealand, in August 1998. It was convened by members of the University of Auckland's Faculty of Law, Department of Maori Studies, the New Zealand Asia Institute, and the Human Rights Commission of New Zealand. 1998 was the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sets out a list of fundamental international human rights. The Declaration includes the essential principles of freedom and equality for everyone, regardless of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. However, the Declaration does not include articles which relate to the rights of indigenous peoples, self-determination, the right to development and the rights of minority groups. Many rights of indigenous peoples in the Pacific, including indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights, are collective rights. The Conference discussed the nature of collective human rights amongst Pacific indigenous people and the following statement was developed and adopted.

The Conference acknowledges the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments in advancing human rights. It notes however that such instruments primarily concern the human rights of individuals.

The Conference recognises the importance of individual human rights but notes that many of the most important rights of indigenous Pacific Peoples are collective rights.

Foremost among such collective rights is the right of indigenous Pacific Peoples to self-determination. The Conference notes that for many indigenous Pacific Peoples this right has been and continues to be denied.

The Conference also recognises the following collective rights:

1) to the promotion and enhancement of indigenous Pacific cultures including language and customs;

2) to forms of sustainable development which are consistent with the interests, cultures and economies of indigenous Pacific Peoples themselves;

3) to the sustainable management of the land, fisheries and other resources of indigenous Pacific Peoples; and

4) to the protection and conservation of the environment of the Pacific;

The Conference affirms the important roles and responsibilities of indigenous Pacific women and men within the cultures and traditions of the Pacific region. The Conference also states that reclaiming the gender balance within those cultures and traditions is essential to the achievement of self-determination.

The conference also affirms the Mataatua Declaration and condemns the lack of progress towards finalising the Draft Convention on the Rights of Indigenous People.

The Conference resolved:

1) to publish and distribute the papers presented at the Conference;

2) to continue to work towards the realisation of the collective human rights of indigenous Pacific Peoples;

3) to strengthen the existing information networks among interested parties;

4) to welcome the decision to establish a Human Rights Commission in Fiji;

5) to promote a Pacific regional human rights instrument; and

6) to call on Pacific States to ratify International Labour Organisation Convention 169 and to support the establishment of a permanent forum for indigenous peoples within the United Nations system.