Indigenous people under threat
2007-03-21 08:21
Geneva - Indigenous communities in
Africa are "on the brink of destruction" due to the expansion of
national game parks and insufficient law enforcement, a United
Nations expert said on Tuesday.
Rodolfo Stavenhagen, a special rapporteur on the human
rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, said
reserves in countries such as Kenya and Botswana had disrupted
hunter-gatherer and pastoralist populations, such as the Maasai.
Many of the countries have enacted laws formally entrenching
the rights of indigenous populations in maintaining their
lifestyles and culture, but their governments have done little
to uphold them, he told journalists in Geneva.
"(Indigenous) communities are on the brink of destruction,
of dispersal," Stavenhagen said. "Not enough is being done to
protect their rights."
Such populations have also come under pressure in Cambodia,
Thailand, the Philippines and large swathes of Latin America as
a result of the expansion of mining, oil exploration and other
extractive activities, Stavenhagen said.
Assimilation
There are about a quarter of a billion indigenous people.
They make up about 4% of the world's population, but
their numbers are shrinking as many assimilate into popular
culture.
The Mexican sociologist said he feared commercial and
political pressures, including attempts by some governments to
block indigenous land-rights claims, were "weakening these
communities to such an extent that they can no longer survive".
He cited reports from Chile, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico
that said government forces were applying anti-terrorism laws
that would allow leaders of indigenous groups seeking to make
claims on the state to be detained.
"Anti-terrorist legislation provides some countries with an
alibi to persecute," he said, citing recent arrests of Mapuche
tribal leaders in Chile.
Indigenous communities along the Colombia-Ecuador border
have also suffered health problems and struggle to find food
because of fumigation operations against illegal drugs, he said.