Treaties Laws and Policies Related to the Recogniion of the Right

RIGHTS AIPP AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP 33 • Nepal has a similar system with a very high status accorded to international agreements. This is likewise the case with several countries in Latin America and a few countries in Eu- rope. • In most other countries, the provisions of international treaties or other intra-state politi- cal agreements may not be directly enforced in the domestic courts of law. • In some countries in Asia, governments have entered into political agreements with indig- enous peoples, e.g., the Mizo Accord 1985, India, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord 1997, Bangladesh. In many cases, non-implementation of the provisions of accords is a crucial feature in the denial of indigenous peoples’ rights, such as in the case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. FOR FURTHER READING Roy, Raja Devasish. 2008. “The Chittagong Hill Tracts ‘Peace’ Accord: Whose Peace?” in Danilo Geiger, ed. Frontier Encounters: Indigenous Communities and Settlers in Asia and Latin America Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs: 483-532. Boltjes, Miek, ed. 2007. Implementing Negotiated Agreements: The Real Challenge to Intra-State Peace The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press.

C. Challenges in Implementaion

1. The right to self-determination

While certain aspects of the right to self-determination can be understood within a legal context and implemented through a human rights body or domestic court of law, certain other aspects of this right may only be exercised in a political rather than a legal context. These include the ultimate exercise of the right to self-determination through victory in a war of liberation, or through negotiated political settlement, or a combination of both. For example, while the independence of India and Pakistan was actually legislated upon by the British parliament through the Act of Indian Independence 1947, Bangladesh exercised its right in the political sense and became independent from Pakistan through a war of liberation. Once Bangladesh became independent in fact in 1971, and member states of the UN started to recognize it, and later provide UN membership, it mattered little what the legal status of Bangla- desh was under Pakistani law. For international contexts of the exercise of this right, see: • the status of Greenland in its relations with the European Community and the member- ship of the ICC and Saami Council, along with USA, Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway in the Arctic Council; • the inclusion of indigenous peoples’ representatives in national delegations such as Can- ada and Norway to international meetings such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and UN bodies; • the recognition of the Chin National Front, NSCN, as signatories in the international agree- ment on land mines. Module-1 RIGHTS AIPP AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP 34 2. The right to autonomy and self-government The exercise of the right to autonomy and self-government has many obstacles, limitations and challenges including: • lack of fiscal autonomy and insufficient access to finances; • discrimination by national governmental entities; • political unrest; • militarization; • population transfer and minoritization.

IV. EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS LEARNED

A. Advocacy and Lobbying Related to the Right

1. Examples in the Asian setting:

• East Timor vis-à-vis Indonesia • Ainu in Japan • Cordillera in the Philippines

2. Examples from outside Asia:

• Cree in Canada • Saami in Northern Europe

B. Acion and Mobilizaion to Defend Rights

1. Examples in the Asian setting:

• Northeast India • Chittagong Hill Tracts • Java, Indonesia

2. Example from outside Asia:

• Saami Council in Northern Europe

C. Actual Exercise of the Right

1. Examples in the Asian setting:

There are a few examples of a relatively high degree of autonomy or self-government that are recognized in different countries. • In Asia, some of the best examples are in Northeast India special constitutional dispensa- tions on Nagaland and Mizoram, and Autonomous District Councils to which the 6th Sched- ule to the Constitution of India applies. • The states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo also include both special provisions in the Fed- eral Constitution of Malaysia and in the Constitutions of Sabah and Sarawak on land rights, the status of the indigenous peoples, the restrictions on the entry into the states of non-na- tives. This is similar to the Inner Line Regulation of Northeast India 1873, which applies to Module-1 Ask the participants to give any examples they know about good practices, experi- ences, and lessons learned in the assertion or exercise of the right to self-determina- tion, autonomy, and self-government. Suggested Method