Communicator 215
September 14, 227
ONIC: Nacional Indigenous Organization of Colombia,
ONIC25 years of resistance for a more inclusive society!!!
[Translated by Lais Rumel, La Chiva], a CSN translator
The Uribista position on the declining situation of 92 ancestral towns in Colombia is finally on paper.
*OF ONLY 11 THAT ABSTAINED FROM VOTING, LATIN AMERICA EMPHASIZES THE UNILATERAL DECISION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF DEMOCRATIC SECURITY. *
HISITORICAL FACT! The 61st General Assembly of the UN accepted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This past September 13, 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with 143 countries voting in favor. Only four countries voted against it: Canada, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Even though 11 abstained from voting, including our beloved country of the government of ‘democratic security,’ it is assured that we will continue to not be recognized as part of the ancestral-fundamental, not only in history, but also in the present and future of Colombia.
So as it was mentioned, Colombia was the only country in Latin America that abstained from signing it. Also, the government of Alvaro Uribe, in the name of all Colombians, literally abstained himself because several dispositions of the Declaration contradicted the Colombian juridical system and the power of the state.
The truth is shown about what the Uribe government thinks about us, the Indigenous peoples. That we are a hindrance for his risk transactions to sell at whatever price, including at the cost of our destruction, the riches that we possess today in our ancestral lands. As it was indicated by Luis Evelis Andrade Casama, who at his turn, manifested that the worse part is that we are called to talk about human rights and territory with little mirrors, while on the other hand, Uribe imposes his effort in the name of more than 40 million Colombians. For this, we stand away from the negotiation tables and territory, because the spirits show us the way, whose tracks are against the government of the so-called ‘democratic security.’
It must be brought to attention that the African status voted in favor in large majority, and a very small number (Nigeria, Kenya, and Burundi) did not.
The main opposing points of the text of the Declaration expressed in the interventions of the four countries that voted against are: The recognition of the presented text in the right of free determination of Indigenous peoples; the recognition in different sections of the Declaration on the rights to land, territories and natural resources; the right of Free and Informed Consent (interpreted as the right of veto for Indigenous peoples); the rights of Intellectual Property; and the recognition of the right of our customs that may be contrary to national laws. Proceed to the complete text approved in the section of the documents of our website www.onic.org.co <http://www.onic.org.co/> , and listen to our voices on the virtual radio Dachi Bedea
Nacional Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC
ONIC: 25 years of resistance for an inclusive society!!
May our silence convert into one single scream!!!
Before the gun, comes the word!!
Get on the move!!!
For our permanence, we cut the wire! We confirm our civil disobedience!!
315.8572995 PRESIDENTE ONIC / 312-6394123.
Colombia Support Network
P.O. Box 1505
Madison, WI 53701-1505
phone: (608) 257-8753
fax: (608) 255-6621
e-mail: csn@igc.org
http://www.colombiasupport.net