SODELPA WELCOMES US SUPPORT FOR UNDRIP SODELPA Party Leader, Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa has warmly welcomed President Obama’s announcement last week, that the US government will lend support to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We are especially glad because the UNDRIP has been the cornerstone of our campaign to protect the rights of indigenous Fijians, Ro Teimumu said. The US government decision is a reversal of the position adopted by the Bush administration in 2007, when the U.S. voted against UNDRIP. At that time 145 member nations of the UN supported the UNDRIP. In the first go round, Fiji’s largest metropolitan neighbours Australia and New Zealand, also withdrew their support of this instrument. The initial position taken by President Bush was seen by many indigenous communities around the world as a rejection of our basic human rights. I am sure many Indigenous Peoples will thank President Obama for taking this stand, reaffirming the basic human rights that protect our precarious position, Ro Teimumu said. Under the Bainimarama government many indigenous Fijians have been alarmed at the erosion of their land rights and the forced re-ordering of their societal arrangements, Ro Teimumu said. A few days away from the most important elections in our history, here we have the office of the most powerful man on earth supporting an international agreement guaranteeing basic human rights for our indigenous People. We hope this endorsement of the UNDRIP will not only be regarded as domestic US policy, but will become a global position taken by the American government to bolster human rights protections. ENDS The UNDRIP can be accessed online at: un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/drip.html
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:22:26 +0000
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