Political Declaration: closing session ICARRD+20
Indigenous Peoples and social movements reaffirm unity and support to ICARRD+20 organizers, but reject conference declaration at closing ceremony
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Indigenous Peoples and social movements come today in front of you to express our irreducible unity. For centuries, oppressors have been using a divide and rule strategy against us. This is over. If the rights of one of us are being attacked, we will all stand together to defend them.
We have been working for this Conference together with the government of Colombia and our appreciation of the commitment of Colombia for agrarian and social justice and the good of humanity as well as its openness to include our voices in this process is unquestioned. Colombia has spoken out against imperialism and its aggression against brother and sister peoples. In this very moment, Iran is the target of yet another imperialist attack. We recognize that all the peoples of the world, together with the government of the Global South must stand united in defense of international law and human rights.
It has taken long struggles to achieve the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). We will not accept any decision that represents a regression in recognized rights.
The concept of local communities and its conflation with Indigenous Peoples is an unacceptable attack against the rights of Indigenous Peoples. In this context, we emphasize that the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the President of the of the UN Mechanism of Experts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the President of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues have clarified that the characteristics, nature, and origins of the rights of Indigenous Peoples are very different from those of other groups. Therefore, Indigenous Peoples must not be grouped together with an undefined set of communities that may have very different rights and interests.
The concept of local communities is also an attack on the rights of fisher peoples, nomadic pastoralists, peasants and rural workers. In particular, sea peoples, artisanal fishing communities and mobile Indigenous and pastoralist peoples must be explicitly recognized as rights holders, and agrarian reform must integrate aquatic and grazing territories, as well as territories of Indigenous and pastoralist mobility. Migratory livestock routes and grazing are spaces of life, collective governance and rights.
Agrarian reform of the 21st century must be inclusive of all peoples’: Indigenous Peoples, peasants, mobile and nomadic pastoralists, fisher peoples, women, youth, gender diverse people, workers, afrodescentant communities, family farmers. Agrarian reform is not only about land, it’s about land, forests, oceans, rivers, coastal areas – our territories and territorial waters. Food sovereignty and agroecology must be at the center of agrarian reform. These are not technical approaches, but comprehensive ways in which we, as peoples and societies, relate to each other and Mother Earth. We express our strong appreciation of the importance of this Conference. It has allowed putting agrarian reform back at the center of the multilateral agenda and the recognition that there can be no solution to the current multiple and interconnected crises without genuine, comprehensive and popular agrarian reform. This Conference needs a strong follow-up and we commit to take part of this process, ensuring that our rights are respected, protected and guaranteed at all times. We cannot accept the declaration of this Conference. In the upcoming months and years, we will be feeling the effects of it in our communities and territories. However, we will continue our struggle and work so that the concepts that are undermining the rights of Indigenous Peoples and those of other rural communities will be deleted from international conventions. We stand ready to work with all governments to achieve the full realization of human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. We call on all governments to engage with us in a good faith dialogue on the issues of Indigenous Peoples, the rights of fisher peoples and nomadic pastoralists, women’s rights and agroecology. Agrarian reform, food sovereignty, social, agrarian and environmental justice will only be achieved though struggles We are now going home to organize our peoples and organizations to fight this fight for the future of people and Mother Earth.
Globalize hope! Globalize the Struggle
