The Road Ahead for GAIA Earth Sansad- II

With the escalating Russia-Ukraine war, once again the abject failure of the United Nations to fulfill it’s own charter, comes to the fore. With the death count increasing and untold distress and devastation at a time when humanity was already grappling with a most treacherous Plandemic that is being played out by a handful of powerful psychopaths desperate to hide their abject failures to check ecological vandalism in the name of development and amassing disproportionate amount of wealth by systemic loot and plunder.

Let us remember that the League of Nations was formally disbanded on April 19, 1946, and its powers and functions were transferred to the United Nations, which had been established on October 24, 1945. The onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 26 years; the United Nations (UN) replaced it after the end of the Second World War in April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organizations founded by the League.

The need to form a new world body arises from a deep-dive investigation into the role of the United Nations, on how its conduct over this considerably long period betrays its own Charter in over 75 years of its existence:

‘WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

· to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

· to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

· to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

· to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom’

We are stepping up our campaign to reach out to larger circles of people groups and organisations who are committed to peace health and prosperity and an overall vision of harmonious and holistic world order.

We have been collaborating together to take WORK’s agenda of compassion, peace and harmony across India and around the world through a framework for localised abundance and circular economies in conjunction with a grassroots to global governance system and structures together called as LACE-GAIA model. We launched our global pilot at Rampur in September 2021 at a town hall meeting and press conference here with great participation and tremendous enthusiasm of the civil society, media as well as local administration.

Taking cue from this historic precedence, with an even more alarming and dire situation for humanity, we announced the need for formation of GAIA Earth Sansad by 5th June, 2022 and invited coalition partners to create a truly democratic and representative world body and grassroots to global governance system and structures based on LACE-GAIA model. This was at a one-day symposium on 9th December, 2021 at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi organised together with our coalition partners Earth Keepers Connect founded by Darryl D’Souza , WORK – World Organisation for Religions and Knowledge, CRDG Foundation, Vidyadaan educational institution, Khushigram and others. Since then, we are now coalition partners with World Council for Health that in all likelihood will replace the thoroughly discredited and criminalised WHO and exploring partnership with HWPL who are spearheading the Declaration for Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

Referring to the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War document – http://www.hwpl.kr//wp-content/uploads/2021/04/dpcw_en.pdf , I would like to share following queries and suggestions (in blue color) to further strengthen the DPCW and to make it legally enforceable for a greater reset and a truly harmonious and holistic world order. I would like to further explore how together with HWPL and WORK we can work together for our shared purpose of compassion, peace and harmony worldwide. GAIA Earth Sansad is also a coalition partner with World Council for Health, which I personally believe is best placed to replace the thoroughly discredited and criminally complicit WHO. We are also partners with Earth Keepers Connect founded by good friend and fellow traveler Darryl D’souza. Darryl is also one of the founding members of Awaken India Movement.

10 Articles and 38 Clauses of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)

Article 1: Prohibition of the threat or use of force

1. States should solemnly reaffirm that they refrain from the use of force in all circumstances, save where permitted by international law, and should condemn aggression as constituting an
   international crime.
2. States should refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of military force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent
   with the purposes of the United Nations Charter or international law in general.
3. States should prohibit any act or threat of violence, whatever its motives or purposes, that occurs for the advancement of an individual or collective criminal agenda.
   States should abstain from interference in the internal con inflicts of other States.

What about treacherous use of manmade viruses, vaccines, 5G cell towers, Chemtrails, HAARP and other covert and overt instruments as bio-weapons that can cause disease, injury and kill people but are enmeshed with their beneficial sides that are disproportionately amplified and the hazards are dampened by media propaganda to unleash planned genocide and infiltration of political institutions to grab and siphon away resources? How are they to be assessed, tracked and criminal complicity to be established?

Article 2: War potential

1. States should cooperate with a view to the gradual global reduction of armament production.
2. States should not produce, assist in, encourage, or induce the production of weapons of mass destruction, inter alia, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, or weapons capable of causing indiscriminate or widespread and unnecessary suffering, or weapons incompatible with international humanitarian law.
3. States should take measures to ensure that existing weapons of mass destruction, weapons capable of causing widespread and unnecessary suffering and weapons incompatible with international humanitarian law are gradually dismantled or destroyed. States should cooperate in disarmament and the reduction of arms stockpiles, ideally under international supervision. Decommissioned weapons manufacturing facilities should be repurposed, so that they may serve purposes that are beneficial to humanity in general.
4. States should strive to reduce excessive standing armies and military bases.
5. States should cooperate to gradually diminish trade in weapons and attempt to reduce the flow of small arms to non-state actors.

In the present situation when humanity is on the verge of self-destruction, should we not call for complete global moratorium on all weapons and armies for next 50 years and deploy the people and resources to heal, repair and restore natural ecosystems?

Article 3 Friendly relations and the prohibition of acts of aggression

1. In accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), States should develop friendly relations based upon respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and should take appropriate measures to strengthen universal pe ace.
2. States have the duty to refrain from any forcible action that deprives peoples of their rights to self-determination.
3. States should condemn the illegal occupation of territory, resulting from the threat or use of force in a manner contrary to international law.
4. States should promote accountability by investigating alleged violations of international law, in particular, grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, and should take measures to ensure that States, citizens and corporations do not contribute to the commission of violations of international law.
5. States should condemn, and should criminalize in their domestic law, the planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position effectively to exercise control over, or to direct, the political or military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity

and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of international law, thus amounting to a crime of aggression.

6. States should refrain from allowing their territories to be placed at the disposal of other actors, whether States or otherwise, to engage in armed forces against a third State.
7. States should bear in mind the principle of sovereign equality of States, and should seek to consult all other States, on the basis of reciprocal respect on issues that may relate to them in order to resolve and pre-empt disputes which may arise. This provision should apply without prejudice to human rights law and human dignity.

Has United Nations failed its Charter to prevent war and is now criminally complicit in the treacherous Covid genocide? Should it not be dissolved and replaced with a truly democratic and representative world body?

Article 4 State boundaries

1. In accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), every State has the duty to refrain in its international relations from military, political, economic, or any other form of coercion aimed against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. It is without prejudice to instances when such forms of coercion may be lawfully applied, inter alia, to induce States to cease internationally wrongful acts, or when sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council.
2. Every State has the duty to refrain from the threat or use of force to violate the existing internationally recognized boundaries of another State, or as a means of resolving international disputes, including territorial and frontier disputes, in a manner inconsistent with international law.
3. Every State has the duty to refrain from any act of incitement, planning, preparation, initiation or commission of an act of aggression by a State, a group of States, an organization of States or an armed group or by any foreign or external entity, against the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of any State.

Article 5 Self-determination

1. The duty of every State to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any other State includes the duty to not engage in any action that would result in the dismemberment of any State, or force the secession or annexation of any territorial unit from that State.
2. Subject to the right to self-determination of peoples, States shall not engage in any intervention that seeks to divide or separate a State in a manner that is contrary to the rules of international law. 3. Every State has the duty to refrain from prematurely recognizing an entity that has purported to secede from another State, until such a time, as the latter entity has developed the necessary attributes, capacities and legitimacy to function as a State.
3. Subject to the provisions of the present article, States should encourage identifiable nation-states that have been divided by long standing external or historical factors to engage in cooperation and dialogue. States should ensure that divided peoples are provided with their right to self-determination, including inter alia, measures which may result in unified government.
4. Any political system in which power is exercised in perpetuity by an individual or regime amounting to a manifest denial of the right to self-determination should be condemned.

Article 6 Dispute settlement

1. States should recognize the obligation to settle their international disputes through peaceful means, including reference to the International Court of Justice, other judicial bodies, regional judicial arrangements, or through arbitration, mediation, conciliation, or other forms of alternative dispute resolution and in such a manner that international peace and security are not endangered. States should carry out any judgment or decision reached by a judicial body in good faith.
2. All States are encouraged to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in accordance with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court, without reservations, as a means of ensuring that disputes are settled peacefully and in accordance with international law.

Article 7 Right to self-defence

1. Nothing in the present Declaration should be construed so as to impair the inherent right to individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a State, until such time as the Security Council has taken measures to maintain international peace and security
2. Measures taken by States in the exercise of their right to self-defence should be immediately reported to the Security Council and should not, in any way, affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the United Nations Charter to take, at any time, such action, as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Referring to Article 3-7 Should the state boundaries be removed and replaced by localised Community-States with ~2 million population and 78 regions with population of 100 million for administrative purposes for world’s 7.8 billion human population and equitably represented in a truly democratic and representative world body? GAIA Earth Sansad is one such proposed initiative for further consideration.

What is GAIA Earth Sansad?
https://gaiasansad.org/about-ges

1. GAIA Earth Sansad aims for a truly representative democratic institution that fairly and equitably represents 7.8 billion people living on Mother Earth. GAIA which means mother or goddess earth is also used here as an acronym for Global Assembly of Indigenous and Autonomous communities of nation-states (CNS). Each CNS has a population of 100 million (+/- 10%) as clusters of smaller countries or of provinces of larger countries on the world political map. 6 CNS each out of a total of 78 CNS for global human population of 7.8 billion, combine to form one GES Region of .~600 million people. There are 13 GES Regions (see section ‘GES Regions’ for detailed maps).
2. Every CNS will further have 50 Community-States of 2 million each where LACE* protocol will be mandated. By 5th of June, 2022, we plan to have global elections for both regional and CNS heads and a fully operational Global Program office along with 13 Regional and 78 CNS Program Offices.
3. GAIA is a grassroots-to-global governance system that empowers localized self-governance at the grassroots in cities towns and villages even as its worldwide reach creates scaleable opportunities for effective and efficient global collaboration, benchmarking and best practices transfer to meet the mounting challenges of ecological healing and restoration including that of the human race itslef. The agenda encompasses a one-time population redistribution to correct present distortions in human habitats worldwide towards a holistic and harmonious world order.

Why do we need to reset the World Order?

1. Current world order is infested with gaping inequality, injustice and mockery of democracy right from the United Nations as the common global body
2. The world today has not stepped out of the shadows of colonialism – subjugation of indigenous people as subjects and slaves – despite the notional independence to large number of countries/regions since the Euro-western Wars dubbed as World War II and the dehumanising European Holocaust. It has only become far more complicated and continues to subvert indigenous people in several ways
3. The key marker for the current dystopian world that is at the brink of ecological catastrophe with the red alert sounded by the United Nations can best be described as the subversive Car Culture.
4. This has been further degraded as Covid Culture as a desperate attempt to kill large population of humans by misinforming them about the truth of the Covid pandemic, paralysing lockdowns and the vaccine as an antidote

Article 8 Freedom of religion

1. States should unite to strengthen international efforts to foster a global dialogue for the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace at all levels, based on respect for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs.
2. States should activate and participate in systems to enforce and protect fundamental human rights, eliminating discrimination on the basis of religion or belief, and should refrain from and prohibit the usage of religion by governments, groups, or individuals in order to justify, or to incite acts of, violence against others. These systems should include, inter alia, judicial mechanisms.
3. States should foster religious freedom by allowing members of religious communities to practice their religion, whether publicly or in private, and by protecting places of worship a nd religious sites, cemeteries, and shrines.

Article 9 Religion, ethnic identity and peace

1. States should engage in multilateral consultations to deal with situations where differences attributable to religion or ethnicity pose a threat to peace, so that necessary remedial action may be taken and to identify the root causes of a situation causing tension between different religious or ethnic groups, in order to adopt necessary measures to promote mutual understanding between the groups concerned. 2. States should take measures to ensure that religious belief or ethnic identity are not utilized as a pretext for gross and systematic acts of violence. In circumstances where individuals or groups perpetrate or assist in such acts in the name of their religion, States should take adequate measures that lead to the prosecution and punishment of such activities.
2. Recognizing the threat to peaceful coexistence that violent religious extremism may cause, States should implement in good faith, legal measures against individuals or groups attempting to perpetrate or assist in gross and systematic acts of violence in the name of religion. Such measures should, in extreme cases, include the proscription of faith groups – including sects or cults – that perpetrate acts of violence against the territorial integrity and political independence of any State.

Article 10 Spreading a culture of peace

1. States should recognize and engage with groups and organizations that seek to further the cause of peace as a global movement. States should facilitate such groups in their awareness-raising activities, including providing tuition in human rights and peace studies, as provided for, inter alia, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1999 UN Declaration on a Culture of Peace.
2. States should recognize that, in order to preserve a lasting culture of peace, public awareness of the need for, and value of, peace should be created. In this regard, States are encouraged to facilitate activities, commemorations, and initiatives that engage public consciousness with peace, including the erection of peace monuments as an alternative to war monuments.
3. Heads of State and heads of government should acknowledge that they are uniquely well placed to encourage a culture of peace, and should act to support this declaration to bring about the cessation of war.
4. States should promote a culture of peace, including ensuring conditions in which- (a) citizens are able to participate in the political affairs of the State as equals, regardless of religious or ethnic differences; (b) a free media is maintained, which allows grievances to be aired and addressed; and (c) education is imparted to promote respect and mutual understanding among different religious, belief and ethnic groups; (d) the right to the development of peoples, including the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals can be realized; and (e) the wellbeing of all human kind, with the participation of women and men, to ensure peaceful coexistence amongst Nations, States, and peoples may be guaranteed.

Referring to Article 8-10 Should the UN Declaration for Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP 2007) be the reference document for a new global constitution for global peace and harmony that celebrates the diversity of cultures and religious choices and return to the indigenous way of life in harmony with nature and with itself?

Why indigenous?

Unraveling ‘the indigenous paradox’ could be the key to resolve the prevailing Covid crises that threatens to rip human society apart and drive the human species to extinction. And instead, turn it around into an opportunity for humanity as a whole to transcend to a world we truly care about
By Chandra Vikash I Convenor – GAIA Earth Sansad
w: http://www.gaiasansad.org I e: gaiasansad@gmail.com

If there is one word that is even more misunderstood than Covid itself, it is the word indigenous. Even more remarkable is that the two share an intricate connection at the level of a deeper simplicity.
Indigenous is the essence of being humane. Non-indigenous therefore borders on being inhumane and even transgresses the boundaries as it has done several times in the past few centuries since the early modern period, notably the witch-burning in Europe with its epicentre in Germany, the jewish Holocaust in Europe, with its epicentre in Germany. It is the non-indigenous that has turned humans into inhuman, as many across the world identify themselves as, that lends itself to ‘transhumanism’ and its presumption of an ideology of ‘technocracy’ that propels the depopulation agenda and resulting in cold-blooded mass killings by deceptively injecting a poison. This is the stark reality of the present Covid crises, its testing protocols, the craftily-orchestrated lockdowns, social distancing, mask and vaccine mandates that not only makes a travesty of science but also blatantly mocks at common sense but covered up in loads of propaganda that creates smokescreens and cobwebs, that obfuscates this simple reality to large sections of educated and powerful sections of human society in most parts of the world, which once again has its epicenter in Germany. Hannah Arendt, is one of the philosophers and seer-scientists who forebode this dark chapter in human history that she calls as the Totalitarian monster that devours its own children.

This is how it is. At the heart, or rather the heartessness of the Covid crises, as perceived by those who conceived and are craftily orchestrating this massive hoax, is an imagined vision of ‘transhumanism’ – not different from the Doctrine of Discovery, Witch Burning doctrines, Nazi doctrines of racial superiority and the presumed ideology of self-righteous ‘technocracy’ in the name of science that replaces the self-righteous theocracy in the name of religion in the earlier episodes of #MassFormationPsychosis that preceded the mass killings. In each case, perhaps, and as we have ample evidence in the case of the Covid mass killings,, the perpetrators were neither telling the truth, at least publicly, nor they claimed that they are telling the truth, in private or in leaked conversations.

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Article 1
Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms
as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law.

Article 2
Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that
based on their indigenous origin or identity.

Article 3
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Article 4
Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.

Article 5
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.

Article 6
Every indigenous individual has the right to a nationality.

Article 7

1. Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person.
2. Indigenous peoples have the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly
   removing children of the group to another group.

Article 8

1. Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.
2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:
   (a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
   (b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources;
   (c) Any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights;
   (d) Any form of forced assimilation or integration;
   (e) Any form of propaganda designed to promote or incite racial or ethnic discrimination directed against them.

Article 9
Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the community or nation concerned. No discrimination of any kind may arise from the exercise of such a right.

Article 10
Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after
agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.

Article 11

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of
   their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artefacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.
2. States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.

Article 12

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practise, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy
   to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains.
2. States shall seek to enable the access and/or repatriation of ceremonial objects and human remains in their possession through fair, transparent and effective mechanisms developed in conjunction with
   indigenous peoples concerned.

Article 13

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate
   and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected and also to ensure that indigenous peoples can understand and be understood in political, legal and administrative proceedings,
   where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means.

Article 14

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of
   teaching and learning.
2. Indigenous individuals, particularly children, have the right to all levels and forms of education of the State without discrimination.
3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have
   access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language.

Article 15

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.
2. States shall take effective measures, in consultation and cooperation with the indigenous peoples concerned, to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination and to promote tolerance, understanding and good relations among indigenous peoples and all other segments of society.

Article 16

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media in their own languages and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States, without
   prejudice to ensuring full freedom of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural diversity.

Article 17

1. Indigenous individuals and peoples have the right to enjoy fully all rights established under applicable international and domestic labour law.
2. States shall in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples take specific measures to protect indigenous children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, taking into account their special vulnerability and the importance of education for their empowerment.
3. Indigenous individuals have the right not to be subjected to any discriminatory conditions of labour and, inter alia, employment or salary.

Article 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures,
as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision making institutions.

Article 19
States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.

Article 20

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities.
2. Indigenous peoples deprived of their means of subsistence and
   development are entitled to just and fair redress.

Article 21

1. Indigenous peoples have the right, without discrimination, to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.
2. States shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.

Article 22

1. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities in the implementation of this Declaration.
2. States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination.

Article 23
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular, indigenous peoples have the right to be actively involved
in developing and determining health, housing and other economic and social programmes affecting them and, as far as possible, to administer such programs through their own institutions.

Article 24

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services.
2. Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively
   the full realization of this right.

Article 25
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal
seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.

Article 26

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use,
   as well as those which they have otherwise acquired.
3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the
   indigenous peoples concerned.

Article 27
States shall establish and implement, in conjunction with indigenous peoples concerned, a fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent process, giving due recognition to indigenous peoples’
laws, traditions, customs and land tenure systems, to recognize and adjudicate the rights of indigenous peoples pertaining to their lands, territories and resources, including those which were traditionally
owned or otherwise occupied or used. Indigenous peoples shall have the right to participate in this process.

Article 28

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to redress, by means that can include restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for the lands, territories and resources which they
   have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.
2. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the peoples concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status or of monetary compensation
   or other appropriate redress.

Article 29

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources. States shall establish and implement
   assistance programmes for indigenous peoples for such conservation and protection, without discrimination.
2. States shall take effective measures to ensure that no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples without their free, prior and informed
   consent.
3. States shall also take effective measures to ensure, as needed, that programs for monitoring, maintaining and restoring the health of indigenous peoples, as developed and implemented by the
   peoples affected by such materials, are duly implemented.

Article 30

1. Military activities shall not take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples, unless justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed with or requested by the indigenous peoples
   concerned.
2. States shall undertake effective consultations with the indigenous peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military activities.

Article 31

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their
   sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional
   games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional
   cultural expressions.
2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights.

Article 32

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources.
2. States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.
3. States shall provide effective mechanisms for just and fair redress for any such activities, and appropriate measures shall be taken to mitigate adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or spiritual impact.

Article 33

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain
   citizenship of the States in which they live.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.

Article 34
Indigenous peoples have the right to promote, develop and maintain their institutional structures and their distinctive customs, spirituality, traditions, procedures, practices and, in the cases where they exist, juridical systems or customs, in accordance with international human rights standards.

Article 35
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the responsibilities of individuals to their communities.

Article 36

1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the implementation of this right.

Article 37

1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors and to have States honour and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.
2. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as diminishing or eliminating the rights of indigenous peoples contained in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.

Article 38
States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take the appropriate measures, including legislative measures, to achieve the ends of this Declaration.

Article 39
Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to financial and technical assistance from States and through international cooperation, for the enjoyment of the rights contained in this Declaration.

Article 40
Indigenous peoples have the right to access to and prompt decision through just and fair procedures for the resolution of conflicts and disputes with States or other parties, as well as to effective remedies
for all infringements of their individual and collective rights. Such a decision shall give due consideration to the customs, traditions, rules and legal systems of the indigenous peoples concerned and international human rights.

Article 41
The organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations shall contribute to the full realization of the provisions of this Declaration through the mobilization, inter alia, of financial cooperation and technical assistance. Ways and means of ensuring participation of indigenous peoples on issues affecting them shall be established.

Article 42
The United Nations, its bodies, including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and specialized agencies, including at the country level, and States shall promote respect for and full application of
the provisions of this Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration.

Article 43
The rights recognized herein constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.

Article 44
All the rights and freedoms recognized herein are equally guaranteed to male and female indigenous individuals.

Article 45
Nothing in this Declaration may be construed as diminishing or extinguishing the rights indigenous peoples have now or may acquire in the future.

Article 46

1. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, people, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the Charter of the United Nations
   or construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.
2. In the exercise of the rights enunciated in the present Declaration, human rights and fundamental freedoms of all shall be
   respected. The exercise of the rights set forth in this Declaration shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law and in accordance with international human rights obligations. Any
   such limitations shall be non-discriminatory and strictly necessary solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for meeting the just and most
   compelling requirements of a democratic society.
3. The provisions set forth in this Declaration shall be interpreted in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith.

What is the UNDRIP?

From the Ninth Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. New Zealand delegation celebrates the endorsement by the Government of New Zealand of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Photo: Broddi Sigurdarson. (c) 2010 UNPFII. Used with permission from UNPFII.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an international instrument adopted by the United Nations on September 13, 2007, to enshrine (according to Article 43) the rights that “constitute the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.” The UNDRIP protects collective rights that may not be addressed in other human rights charters that emphasize individual rights, and it also safeguards the individual rights of Indigenous people. The Declaration is the product of almost 25 years of deliberation by U.N. member states and Indigenous groups.

The first of the UNDRIP’s 46 articles declares that “Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(4) and international human rights law.” The Declaration goes on to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples to enjoy and practice their cultures and customs, their religions, and their languages, and to develop and strengthen their economies and their social and political institutions. Indigenous peoples have the right to be free from discrimination, and the right to a nationali

Significantly, in Article 3 the UNDRIP recognizes Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination, which includes the right “to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” Article 4 affirms Indigenous peoples’ right “to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs,” and Article 5 protects their right “to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions.” Article 26 states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired,” and it directs states to give legal recognition to these territories. The Declaration does not override the rights of Indigenous peoples contained in their treaties and agreements with individual states, and it commands these states to observe and enforce the agreements.
The UNDRIP was adopted by 144 countries, with 11 abstentions and 4 countries voting against it. These four countries were Canada, the USA, New Zealand, and Australia. Since 2009 Australia and New Zealand have reversed their positions and now support the Declaration, while the United States and Canada have announced that they will revise their positions.
Read the UNDRIP here.

Drafting the UNDRIP

In 1982, UN Special Rapporteur of the Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, José R. Martinez Cobo, released a study about the systemic discrimination faced by Indigenous peoples worldwide. His findings were released as the “Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations” and can be read online. The UN Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) responded to these findings by creating the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), comprised of five independent experts as well as Indigenous advisors, in order to focus exclusively on Indigenous issues worldwide. Its role was to make recommendations to the Commission of Human Rights through the Subcommission.1
In consultation with Indigenous representatives from around the world, the WGIP began to draft a declaration of Indigenous Rights in 1985. The initial draft was developed over eight years, and was submitted in 1993 to the Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (now known as the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights), who approved it the following year. Upon its approval, the draft declaration was sent to the Commission of Human Rights, which established another working group consisting of human rights experts and over 100 Indigenous organizations.2 The draft declaration was subject to a series of reviews to assure U.N. member states that it remained consistent with established human rights, and did not contradict nor override them.

15years hence, this epochal declaration has been lying in cold storage of the failed United Nations needs to breathe free with a fresh lease of life with GAIA Earth Sansad.

The Road Ahead for GAIA Earth Sansad

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