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Statement by MENSCHENRECHTE (HUMAN RIGHTS) 3000 on Indigenous Peoples' Day August 9, 2021
This year, a success was achieved for Indigenous Peoples in the Federal Republic of Germany: on April 15, 2021, the German Parliament (Bundestag) decided to ratify ILO Convention 169, the only legally binding international agreement for the protection of Indigenous Peoples. Non-governmental organizations and human rights representatives from various parties in the Parliament had worked for years to get the federal government to take this step.
On the occasion of the UN Day of Indigenous Peoples, August 9, we commemorate this important decision.
This is the first step on a long road: the rights of indigenous peoples enshrined in ILO Convention 169 must be taken into account and implemented in the (government) policies of the Federal Republic of Germany - and must be respected by companies.
Indigenous peoples around the world are still often subjected to massive oppression. The human rights organization Global Witness states in its 2020 report that 212 persons were murdered in 2019 for standing up for human rights and environmental protection.
Frontline Defenders, another Human Rights NGO, reports that 331 environmentalists and human rights defenders were murdered in 2020 - a significant proportion of whom were specifically advocating for indigenous rights (26%).
Since 2017, Front Line Defenders has documented the murder of 327 people advocating for Indigenous rights.
The numbers only include documented cases; the number of unreported cases is high. In addition, many indigenous human rights activists are intimidated, unlawfully imprisoned, etc. Many human rights defenders suffer this fate, however the percentage of indigenous people is disproportionately high compared to the percentage of the population.
Sources
Bundestag ratifiziert Konvention zu Rechten indigener Völker (German Parliament (Bundestag) ratifies convention on rights of indigenous peoples)
https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2021/kw15-de-rechte-indigener-voelker-830908
Defending Tomorrow - Global Witness Report 2020
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/ file:///C:/Users/Wippel/AppData/Local/Temp/Defending_Tomorrow_EN_low_res_-_July_2020.pdf
FRONT LINE DEFENDERS GLOBAL ANALYSIS 2020
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/sites/default/files/fld_global_analysis_2020.pd