ASEAN

For Immediate Release: 30 March 2012

Indigenous Peoples representing 15 organizations from six ASEAN countries and other support organizations under the banner of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force on ASEAN (IPTF-ASEAN) have expressed their disappointment and condemnation for not allowing them to hold a workshop to discuss Indigenous Peoples rights to land, territories and resources and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People at the venue of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The workshop was intended to discuss the common issues of indigenous peoples in the ASEAN in relation to their rights over their lands, territories and resources and come up with recommendations for action of the ASEAN and its member states. The group learned late last night the cancellation of their venue and for the reason that the workshop theme is a sensitive issue. 

En un taller de cuatro días celebrado en noviembre en Bali, Indonesia, se logró un hito de gran importancia gracias al diálogo constructivo y a las posibles sinergias entre las comisiones e instituciones nacionales de derechos humanos de Indonesia, Malasia, Tailandia, Filipinas y Camboya. El taller fue convocado por la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Indonesia y organizado por el Forest Peoples Programme o FPP (Programa para los pueblos de los Bosques) y la ONG indonesia Sawit Watch, con el apoyo de la Iniciativa para los Derechos y los Recursos, el Instituto Samdhana y RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests  (El Centro para los Pueblos y los Bosques, traducción no oficial).

En este histórico taller sobre «Los derechos humanos y las actividades empresariales: enfoques jurídicos plurales de la resolución de conflictos, el fortalecimiento institucional y la reforma jurídica» hubo 60 participantes, entre los que se incluían distinguidos académicos, representantes de pueblos indígenas y miembros de ONG nacionales e internacionales que los apoyan. El Relator especial de la ONU sobre el derecho a la alimentación, Olivier de Schutter, dio el discurso inaugural, y Raja Devasish Roy, miembro elegido del Foro Permanente de las Naciones Unidas para las Cuestiones Indígenas (UNPFII por sus siglas en inglés) y jefe tradicional del círculo Chakma en la región montañosa de Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, ofreció una presentación.

PRESS INFORMATION – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A landmark workshop, “Human Rights and Business: Plural Legal Approaches to Conflict Resolution, Institutional Strengthening and Legal Reform”, is taking place at the Santika Hotel, Kuta, Bali, from today until 1 December 2011, convened by the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and supporting NGOs SawitWatch and Forest Peoples Programme. The event will be attended by over 60 participants, from the National Human Rights Commissions of the Southeast Asian region, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission, notable academics, representatives of indigenous peoples, as well as members of supportive national and international NGOs.

Nur Kholis, Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), said,

“We are taking this initiative in collaboration with the other human rights commissioners of South East Asia as a way of ensuring a more balanced approach to development based on respect for peoples’ rights, with an emphasis on the need to secure livelihoods and the right to food.”