Press Statement of the Indigenous Peoples Delegation to the UN WSIS Geneva 11 (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Press Statement of the Indigenous Peoples Delegation to the UN WSIS
Geneva 11 December 2003

STATES BETRAY THE WORLDS 400 MILLION INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
http://www.indymedia.ch/fr/2003/12/16442.shtml

Indigenous delegations from the four corners of the world arrived in
Geneva to learn that States have once again betrayed their agreements
to address the central concerns of Indigenous Peoples.

Language in earlier drafts contained specific references to the right
of Indigenous Peoples to fundamental freedoms and human rights
protections had been deleted from the documents. In addition,
references providing that Indigenous Peoples have the right to
protection of their collective intellectual property and traditional
knowledge had also disappeared from the current WSIS Plan of Action.
States have also deleted the term "Indigenous Peoples" from section C8
of the Plan of Action covering cultural diversity, identity, linguistic
diversity and local content. The current language in the WSIS Plan of
Action allows the wholesale theft, commodification and
commercialisation of indigenous knowledge and genetic and biological
diversity without the free, prior and informed consent of the
Indigenous Peoples who are the guardians of these cultural resources
and the owners of traditional knowledge. The language in the WSIS Plan
of Action will facilitate biopiracy and further marginalize the
millions of Indigenous Peoples who live in extreme poverty without
electricity or any infrastructure for ICT.

We urge all States, human rights groups and civil society NGOs to help
lobby for changes to the Plan of Action to reinsert the protective
language that has been deleted.

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