Friday, June 27, 2014

Background paper prepared by Ms. Sharon Venne, Akaitcho Dene Treaty 8



15-17 December 2003

Organized by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights

Background paper prepared by
Ms. Sharon Venne, Akaitcho Dene Treaty 8

Under item 2
Analysis of the difficulties relating to the full implementation of existing Treaties

The purpose of this discussion paper is to present some questions for consideration in relation to the future use of treaties with Indigenous Peoples and the importance of their implementation.  The difficulties encountered by Indigenous Peoples relate directly to the colonizer state’s failure to recognize the true nature of the Treaties.  The main failure is the refusal of the state governments to recognize the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples who entered into Treaties negotiated and concluded Treaties as Nations not as domestic dependent nations as claimed by various colonial courts. The lack of following international legal norms and law had led Indigenous Peoples to the League of Nations and to the United Nations.  Indigenous Peoples pushed for a study to be done as a means to find peaceful and long lasting resolution to ongoing disputes on Treaty implementation.  The State’s lack of recognition of the finding of the UN Special Rapporteur’s final report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999.20) on the Treaties and his conclusions and recommendations continues to lead to confrontations between Indigenous Peoples and the state.  It has been four years since the report was submitted and accepted by the United Nations. There has been no substantive attempt by states to implement the recommendations of the final Report. The number of factors related to the state refusing to implement Treaties will be briefly highlighted in this discussion paper.

1.              There is a lack of political will on the part of the government.  The government of Canada rather than trying to implement the Treaties wants to extinguish the Treaties and replace them with comprehensive land claim agreements in the area north of 60.  The Akaitcho Dene are opposed to the comprehensive claims process and rejected a major settlement in 1990 when it required them to extinguish their rights to the lands and resources of their territories.  When the Akaitcho Dene negotiated and concluded the peace and friendship Treaty in 1900, they did not give up their relationship with their lands and resources.  Canada wants to change the relationship while the Akaitcho Dene want to implement the spirit and intent of the Treaty concluded in good faith in 1900. Since the failure of the Dene/Métis process in 1900, the Akaitcho Dene have tried a number of times to get into a process with Canada to implement their Treaty.  In the oral understanding of the Peace and Friendship Treaty, Akaitcho Dene agreed that non-Dene could live among them. However, Dene did not agree that their lives would be controlled by the non-Dene. Dene laws would continue to apply in their lands and their rights to live within their territory was not to be interfered with by the non-Dene. Initially, the non-Dene did not interfere but as more resources were found within their lands, non-Dene have been pushing Dene out of their territory and destroying the lands and waters causing hardship to the Dene.  The Elders wants to see the respect shown by the Dene at the original Treaty to be continued.

2.              One of the major identified problems in relation to the implementation of the Peace and Friendship is the failure of the education system of the state to give the true history of the colonization of Indigenous territories and the significance of the Treaties. The lack of education among the colonizers about the rights of Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Peoples living under a Treaty has lead to racial tension and discrimination directed at Indigenous Peoples.  The racism being directed toward Indigenous Peoples by the colonizers who see themselves having to pay for the settlement of outstanding issues. In the Treaties, a number of undertakings were given by the Crown’s negotiators that the successor state has inherited.  Due to the lack of education on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, racism develops and causes conflict.  In a number of major studies on the justice system in Canada, the studies concluded that there was systemic racism shown towards Indigenous Peoples by the judicial system from the police to the prisons. The colonizers laws have taken precedent over the Indigenous laws that gives arise to Indigenous Peoples being forced into a racist and uncaring system. In these cases, the collective rights of the colonizers are used to override the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.  There are many examples in Canada where non-Indigenous Peoples have tried to undermine negotiations with Indigenous Peoples. The province of British Columbia tried to have a referendum to determine the parameters of the negotiations. The questions posed in the referendum were biased. The Courts refused to intervene when asked by Indigenous Peoples. Then, Indigenous Peoples organized a massive public campaign to bring awareness of the issue. The Indigenous Peoples were able to attach the attention of unions, church groups, environmental groups, human rights organizations and individuals who campaigned against the referendum.  Despite the campaign, the write in ballots went against the Indigenous Peoples who are trying to negotiate agreements for the first time since their lands and territories were occupied by the colonizer in a complete violation of international, British, Commonwealth and Canadian legal norms.  In the same province, a modern land claim agreement concluded with the Nisgha was subjected to court challenges and demonstrations by non-Indigenous People.

3.              In attempting to negotiate the implementation of a Treaty within Canada, the negotiators have policies and procedures to follow.  The negotiations are not based on the rule of law.  While the laws are in place to protect the relationship under the Treaties, the government’s negotiators do not appear to be bound by those laws. Rather, there is reference to policies and procedures that Treaty Peoples neither negotiated nor agreed to be bound.  These policies and programs used by government to undermine the treaties by degrading their status to administrative issues rather than political arrangements between Peoples.

4.              The federal government of Canada is not prepared to accept that Indigenous Governments and laws had previously negotiated and entered into Treaties.  The process proposed by the state is an attempt to impose Eurocentric values rather than have recognition and acceptance of the Dene governments and legal system. The preferred method of Canada is to “impose” a government based on the model developed by Canada. The most recent attempts are to incorporate the governments and laws into the legislative framework of the state thereby undermining the original spirit and intent of the Treaties to live side by side in peace and friendship.

5.              In the negotiation process to implement the Treaty, Canada wants the Dene to give up their lands and resources as a means to settle outstanding disputes. The negotiations are an attempt to sever the Dene relationship with their lands and resources. For the Akaitcho Dene, the severance of their links to their lands and resources is to relinquish an integral part of themselves. When Dene give up their lands, what happens to the future generations?  It was the future generations that the Elders considered at the time of treaty making.

6.              These restrictions imposed on Indigenous Peoples by the state prohibit the full intent of the original treaties from being implemented. Indigenous Peoples spend extraordinary time and their limited funds fighting for their basic rights guaranteed under the original treaties.  The lands of the Treaty areas are being depleted from their resources causing damage to the animals, plants, waters, fish and other living organisms leaving Indigenous Peoples dependent on the colonizers for their basic needs from clothing to health care.

There are other factors related to the implementation of a Treaty:

1.              There is the difficulty of the oral and written version of the treaties.  Governments tend to follow the written version which contains much general and ambiguous language especially with respect to bring the words into language giving it life as intended.  In the new arrangements made under so-called land claims - the agreements are general and have ambiguous language, especially with respect to programs, funding and technical assistance. It is a huge problem for the so-called modern land claim groups to have their agreements implemented.

2.              In relation to new land claim agreements, there is a general failure to index compensation to take into account the impact of inflation and delayed capital payments.

3.              There were no appropriate mechanisms included in the original treaties and the modern-agreements related to implementation and that implementation would be worked out through a process of continuing negotiations.

4.              There is a perception on the part of governments that programs are not negotiable regardless of the words contained in the original treaties or the modern agreements.

5.              In most agreements, there are no provisions to discuss the view of the Indigenous Peoples. It is a government driven process which is unilateral and unyielding that undermines the spirit of making a treaty.

Item 3 (c)
The practical experiences from negotiating process are given in point form:

1.              The process is long and cumbersome.  For example, the state of Canada does not have a policy on Treaty implementation. There are two broad and general categories: land claims and treaty land entitlement.  Both of these process require at the end of the day that Indigenous Peoples must give certainty or “non-assertion undertakings” to the government in exchange for an agreement. A “non-assertion” undertaking means that Indigenous Peoples are locked into the written text of the agreement based on the colonizers language and passed through the parliament making any amendments to the original text very difficult if possible.

2.              Canada wants the negotiations to be done within the context of the state laws rather than recognizing Indigenous laws and governments.  If an Indigenous Nation wants to negotiation based on their laws and governments, the government puts them to the bottom of the list of negotiations.

3.              In Canada, the state controls all the funds for negotiations.  In this way, the state officials can arbitrarily decide who is funded and to what level.  In some instances, Indigenous Peoples negotiated for more than ten years and going into debt up to $50 million Canadian dollars.  As the debt mounts, the pressure to make an agreement becomes more intense.

4.              The state has more resources making more ably to drag on negotiations to wear down the Indigenous Peoples. 

5.              There is a general starting point that the lands and resources of Indigenous Peoples have been vested in the Crown in complete violation of international, commonwealth, English common law and Canadian law.

6.              There are many preconceived notions such as three party interests in the lands of Indigenous Peoples. If Indigenous Peoples are the owners of the lands - how can a third party have an interest in their lands and resources without the consent of the Indigenous Peoples?

7.              There are no effective mechanisms for consultation and getting the consent for use of the land and resources of Indigenous Peoples living under treaties despite rulings from various courts within the state recognizing the need to have an effective consultation process. Some courts in Canada have written that there might be a need to get the fully informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples when a treaty right is going to be impinged or interfered with.

8.              There is no attempt by the state to implement decisions of the courts.  It might take several million dollars to take a case to the Supreme Court of Canada. When a decision is made in favour of Indigenous Peoples, there are no political decisions to implement the decision. As a result, Indigenous Peoples question the true nature of the concept rule of law. What law? When is it implemented?  Only when it benefits the colonizers seem to be the answer.

Item 4 (a)
Roles of the UN

The Study on Treaties (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999.20) made a number of important findings on the nature of Indigenous Treaties and international law.  It seems that the UN has a real role to play with regard to implementation of the Treaties.   The whole issue of exhaustion of internal mechanisms within a state makes it almost impossible for Indigenous Peoples to access the UN system. At any rate, the present UN system does not have a mechanism for Indigenous Peoples to use when dealing with violations of the Treaties. There is no effective state mechanism to deal with disputes arising from Treaty violation. Different states have developed and controlled tribunals, claims panels and commissions. These different internal bodies have not brought about an equitable and lasting resolution to the problems created by Treaty violations. Most treaty violation usually occurs as a result of a state intervention in the lives of the Indigenous Peoples.  There should be an external process at the UN when there is no effective dispute resolution within a state.  The dispute resolution process must be developed on an equal basis with Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous laws and legal norms must form an integral part of the process. The mechanism has to be independent and free from political interference.  The international system needs to recognize the collective nature of the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the collective rights to their lands and resources. An appropriate dispute resolution mechanism must have international supervision of disputes arising from Treaty violations. Treaties were made with independent sovereign nations. Indigenous Peoples were not subjects of the Crowns of Europe.  Treaties were made to ensure a peaceful settlement of Indigenous territories.  The fact that settlement has occurred in Indigenous lands does not diminish Indigenous Peoples international legal persona.   As the Special Rapporteur wrote in his final report, the treaties continue “to be fully in effect and consequently are sources of rights and obligations for all the original parties to them (or their successors) who shall fulfill their provisions in good faith.” The United Nations has a role to fulfill if there is going to be justice for Indigenous Peoples.

     The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the OHCHR.

Study on Treaties, Agreements and other Constructive Arrangments

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United Nations 
Economic and Social Council
Commission on Human Rights

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales: DEMANDA al ONU

Oaxaca, México, a 30 de mayo de 2014.

A la opinión pública

A los medios de comunicación

A la Presidencia de la Asamblea General de la ONU

Al Gobierno Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos

A la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos

Al Congreso Nacional de México

A las Radios Comunitarias de México y los Estados Unidos

Al Foro Permanente sobre las Cuestiones Indígenas de Naciones Unidas

A las organizaciones defensoras de los Derechos Humanos

El Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales (FIOB), integrado por individuos y organizaciones indígenas, migrantes y no migrantes con base social en los estados de Oaxaca y Baja California de México así como en el estado de California de los Estados Unidos, demanda la cancelación de la Conferencia Mundial sobre los Pueblos Indígenas que tendrá verificativo en el mes de septiembre los días 22 y 23 en la Ciudad de Nueva York, debido a que no existieron las condiciones necesarias para la generación de una amplia convocatoria en la preparación, ejecución y elaboración de los resolutivos que darán lugar sobre la problemática ancestral que hemos sufrido los pueblos indígenas originarios en el mundo por más de 500 años.

Es así que por lo anteriormente expresado, comulgamos en el llamado que hacen nuestros hermanos en el Continente Americano, al exigir la cancelación de la conferencia por lo que exhortamos a los miembros que constituyen el Foro Permanente sobre las Cuestiones Indígenas en la ONU a que habiliten las condiciones necesarias para realizar una Consulta Popular a los Pueblos Indígenas del Mundo a efectos de que subsanar las omisiones citadas para así dar paso a la reprogramación a una conferencia mundial incluyente y participativa.

Estamos ciertos que bajo ninguna circunstancia se dará marcha atrás a las conquistas logradas en lo que prescribe el Convenio 169 de la OIT sobre Pueblos Indígenas y Tribales en Países Independientes en su numeral 6, de la propia Declaración sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas en su numeral 19, de la resolución 59/154 del Segundo Decenio Internacional de los Pueblos Indígenas del Mundo, establecida en el preámbulo de su segundo párrafo en concordancia con el Convenio sobre Diversidad Biológica en su anexo II, numeral 10, y demás instrumentos relativos como la Declaración Interamericana sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas en su resolutivo 3, inciso c) que amparan el principio del Consentimiento Libre Previo e Informado (CLPI), y que otorgan la base normativa para demandar su cumplimiento a efectos de generar un diálogo respetuoso y pro positivo con los Estados en un plano de igualdad y de representatividad, salvaguardando a su vez el derecho de determinar nuestro futuro, y el de nuestras tierras.

“Por el respeto de los derechos de los pueblos indígenas”

Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Mapuche Nation sends Message to UN HLPM via President Evo Morales of Bolivia

Mapuche Nation to Evo Morales:
“The United Nations is denying the direct, effective and equal participation of the Indigenous Peoples in the proceedings leading up to the UN High Level Plenary Meeting of September 2014.”


A delegation of the Mapuche Nation of Chile on Wednesday (June 18, 2014) called upon President Evo Morales of Bolivia to carry a message on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples of the world to the High Level Plenary Meeting (HLPM) of the UN General Assembly, (aka World Conference on Indigenous Peoples) to be held on 22 and 23 September in New York at UN headquarters.

The Mapuche delegation was led by Aucan Huilcaman, head of the International Relations of the Mapuche Council of All Lands, who met with President Morales for that purpose at the Government Palace.

"We want president Evo Morales carry the message of all indigenous peoples of the world, by directly addressing the fact that the United Nations has applied its rules of procedure as a system of states in the organizing of the HLPM, restricting the participation of indigenous peoples and preventing a direct and effective dialogue with equality as peoples, equal to all other peoples."said Aucan.

The Mapuche Nation representative also anticipated that along with the message to the UN,  the Mapuche also seek to open a dialogue with the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which is an organ of state governments which includes constituencies of indigenous peoples.

"Among the constituencies of the governments that make up UNASUR there is a majority of indigenous peoples therefore we need to establish dialogue between the states and Indigenous Peoples operating under the framework of UNASUR," he said.

Aucan Huilcaman explained that the Bolivian President informed the Mapuche delegation that his government has prepared some formulas to respond to that particular situation, which, in his opinion, is a reality of which he himself is evidence as president of Bolivia. On separate issue, the Mapuche diplomat claimed that the indigenous peoples of Chile and Latin America are concerned about the maritime dispute between Bolivia and Chile, and said that the Mapuche support the search for an amicable solution.

"We call on both governments to make efforts so that they arrive at an amicable solution. We are concerned that be no more tensions, no more disputes between neighbor countries and peoples in the region of South America and that we should all seek an appropriate path of amicable settlement of the issues," said Aucan.

Pueblo Mapuche a Evo Morales: "Las Naciones Unidas nos ha aplicado su reglamiento restringido sin igualdad."

Una delegación del pueblo Mapuche de Chile pidió el miércoles alpresidente boliviano Evo Morales que lleve un mensaje de los pueblos indígenas del mundo a la Conferencia Mundial sobre Pueblos Indígenas que se realizará el 22 y 23 de septiembre próximo en Nueva York, sede de las Naciones Unidas.

La delegación chilena, encabezada por el encargado de Relaciones Internacionales de la Organización del Pueblo Mapuche Consejo de Todas las Tierras, Aucan Huilcaman, se reunió con ese propósito con Morales en Palacio de Gobierno. 

"Queremos que el presidente Evo Morales lleve un mensaje de todos los pueblos indígenas del mundo, en vista de que Naciones Unidas nos ha aplicado su reglamento que es restringido que no permite la participación de los pueblos indígenas para un diálogo directo, eficaz y en pie de igualdad", explicó Aucan.

Anticipó también que el mensaje busca abrir un diálogo con la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur), que es un órgano preferentemente de Estado en el que están incluidos los pueblos indígenas. 

"Entre los gobiernos que conforman UNASUR Hay mayoría de pueblos indígenas por tanto necesitamos un diálogo entre Estado y pueblo indígena en el marco de Unasur", remarcó. 

Explicó que el Presidente boliviano les informó que su Gobierno preparó algunas fórmulas para responder ante esa situación, lo que -a su juicio- es un acto que realza al Ejecutivo boliviano.  Por otra parte, afirmó que los pueblos indígenas de Chile y América Latina ven con preocupación el diferendo marítimo entre Bolivia y Chile, y aseguró que los mapuches apoyan la búsqueda de una solución amistosa. 

"Queremos llamar a ambos gobiernos para hacer los esfuerzos a fin de que se arribe a una solución amistosa. Nosotros somos interesados en que en la región de Sud América no haya más tensiones, no controversias entre países y pueblos hermanos y nos parece que el camino apropiado es la solución amistosa", fundamentó.

VIDEO: HLPM Interactive Hearings June 17-18, 2014

Thursday, June 19, 2014

GUATEMALA: Political Position of Council of Ancestral Authorities

National Grand Council of Ancestral Authorities
Iximulew, Guatemala May 14, 2014
The neoliberal project being promoted in our country is articulated via a triple alliance: the oligarchy, the military and the national and transnational corporations, who seek to plunder natural resources while destroying and contaminating our Mother Earth of Iximulew. To achieve their purposes they have used everything from threats to persecution, imprisonment and even outright murder of our people who lead the defense of our Mother Earth.  But above all, these assaults are intended to breakdown the social fabric of our indigenous pueblos and bring about the destruction of our community life.  The neoliberal project in Guatemala uses blackmail,  the cooptation supposed "leaders", "authorities" and "organizations" to give apparent legitimacy to their designs.

This cooptation of leaders we are witnessing in the United Nations Permanent Forum which is now taking in place in New York, specifically the case of the indigenous mayors of Solola, Chichicastenango, and Alberto García Marroquín of Palin as well as the President of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapan, who identify themselves representatives of indigenous peoples Guatemala at the UN Permanent Forum, while by defending the national and transnational corporations. These people in less than two years have apparently forgotten the massacre of the brothers at the Summit of Alaska in Totonicapan on October 4, 2012, which resulted in the death of six children, more than a dozen wounded, and whose victim’s widows and orphans continue to demand their legitimate rights.

This slaughter was especially significant because once again the national government deployed the army to defend the economic interests of their allies within the oligarchy and national and transnational corporate regime, making use again of the tactics of brutal repression and even genocide as was applied during the bloody internal armed conflict where senior military commanders of the Guatemalan Army have still not yet been tried for crimes they committed during that period against our communities.

We call upon the delegations of organizations now present in the UN Permanent Forum, to be consistent in the fight for the protection of our collective rights as Indigenous Peoples and the defense of Mother Earth and our territories. We urge you to maintain a policy firmly denouncing the violations of the rights of communities that are being perpetrated by the national and transnational companies who are only motivated by the profits of their capitalist logic and whose intent is the extraction of the all of the natural resources of Mother Earth.  We must be clear that the presence of these corporations in our territories represents the continuity of centuries of looting, criminalization and racism, which has led our Indigenous Peoples to impoverishment, illiteracy and chronic malnutrition among other violations of our rights.
We reject and condemn any intention to reduce or restrict our individual and collective rights as Indigenous Peoples by states and companies looking to accommodate national and international legislation in order to impose and facilitate the extractive industrial model.

We call upon the representative of the State of Guatemala to the Permanent Forum, Alvaro Pop, to redouble efforts to inform and/or communicate to our Pueblos of  Indigenous Peoples, communities and organizations, regarding all relevant proposals and/or decisions being considered at the UN Permanent Forum in terms of these issues.

The National Grand Council of Ancestral Authorities and the National Maya Convergence Waqib 'Kej will not tolerate or recognize alleged authorities, "representatives" of Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala, who arrogantly claim to represent indigenous peoples while simultaneously being used by the corporations and the government to sanitize the image of the oligarchy.  These delegations are being used to legitimize and endorse the neoliberal economic project in Guatemala that plunders, destroys, and pollutes Mother Earth and our territories.

Finally we restate those that human rights violators who committed genocide during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala will always try to erase the history of condemnation for their criminal acts.   The landmark decision of judgment regarding genocide of the Maya in Guatemala has been delivered: GUILTY.   Therefore, we reject and condemn the recent resolution of the National Congress, as an attempt to perpetuate their collusion of the policy of impunity in Guatemala.

We reaffirm that in Guatemala: "It was genocide."

Gran Consejo Nacional Autoridades Ancestrales 


El proyecto neoliberal que se impulsa en nuestro país, se articula en una triple alianza;  oligarquía, militares y empresas nacionales y transnacionales,  que pretenden saquear las riquezas, destruyendo y contaminado  la Madre Tierra en Iximulew. Para alcanzar sus propósitos se han valido de todo, desde la amenaza, la persecución, el encarcelamiento e incluso el asesinato a personas que impulsan la defensa de nuestra madre  tierra. Pero sobre todo el rompimiento del tejido social de nuestros pueblos y destruye la vida comunitaria.  Este proyecto también utiliza el chantaje, la cooptación de supuestos “dirigentes”, “autoridades” y “organizaciones” para dar legitimidad a su proyecto.

Esta situación de cooptación a líderes lo estamos presenciando en el Foro de Naciones Unidas que se está llevando a cabo en New York, como el caso de Alcaldía indígena de Sololá, Alcaldía Indígena de Chichicastenango y Alberto Marroquín García de la Alcaldía Indígena de Palín, así como el  Presidente de los 48, cantones de Totonicapán, que se hacen llamar representantes de los pueblos indígenas Guatemala, en ese espacio, haciendo apología a las empresas nacionales y transnacionales estas personas en menos de dos años se le olvido la masacre de los hermanos en Alaska del 4 de octubre del 2012, donde seis hermanos  perdieron la vida, quedan más de una decena de heridos, las viudas y huérfanos por reclamar sus legítimos derechos.

Esta masacre fue significativa, porque nuevamente utilizan al ejército cuando sienten amenazados sus intereses y la de sus aliados (oligarquía y las nacionales y transnacionales) acuden nuevamente a la brutal represión e incluso genocidio como se aplicó durante el conflicto armado interno donde los altos mandos castrenses aún no han sido juzgados por crímenes que cometieron durante el conflicto armado interno en contra de nuestras comunidades.

A la delegación de las organizaciones, consecuentes con la defensa de los derechos colectivos y la defensa de la Madre Tierra y territorio, presentes en el Foro permanente les exigimos que sean beligerantes con los derechos de los pueblos originarios. Los exhortamos a mantener una firmeza política, denunciando las violaciones a los derechos de las comunidades que están llevando  a cabo las empresas nacionales y transnacionales que respondiendo a su lógica capitalista pretenden acabar con los bienes de la madre tierra, debemos dejar claro que la presencia de empresas en nuestros territorios es la continuidad del saqueo, la criminalización y el racismo, iniciado desde hace muchos años, que ha llevado a nuestros pueblos al empobrecimiento, analfabetismo,  y desnutrición crónica entre otras violaciones a nuestros derechos.

Rechazamos y condenamos cualquier intencionalidad de reducir o restringir derechos individuales y colectivos de los pueblos originarios por parte de los Estados y empresas que buscan acomodar la legislación Nacional e Internacional para imponer el modelo extractivo.

Se le exige al comisionado del Estado de Guatemala ante el Foro permanente Sr. Álvaro Pop que redoble los esfuerzos para informar y/o comunicar a los pueblos, comunidades y organizaciones, propuestas y/o de decisiones que se quieran tomar en el foro en mención.

El Gran Consejo de Autoridades Ancestrales y la Convergencia Nacional Maya Waqib’ Kej no toleramos ni reconocemos a supuestas autoridades, “representantes” de Pueblos Indígenas de Guatemala, que arrogándose representar a los pueblos indígenas los usan las empresas y gobierno para limpiar su imagen, están siendo utilizados para legitimar y  avalar el proyecto que saquea, destruye y contamina la madre tierra y territorio.

Por último resaltamos que los violadores de DDHH que cometieron genocidio durante el Conflicto Armado Interno en Guatemala siempre trataran que la historia que los condena se olvide. La sentencia histórica del juicio por genocidio esta dicha: culpables. Por lo tanto, rechazamos y condenamos la reciente resolución del Congreso, como un intento más de perpetuar la impunidad en Guatemala.

Gran Consejo de Autoridades Ancestrales,
Iximulew, Guatemala 14 mayo 2014

Un momento en el que las y los Kamol B'e del GCNAA dan sus declaraciones a la prensa para denunciar la realidad vivida por los pueblos indígenas: SÍ HUBO GENOCIDIO

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Communique from the Council of Maya Pueblos of Guatemala

Maya Pueblos of Guatemala call for National Strike on June 23, 2014 

On June 23, 2014 the Mayan Peoples will enter into a NATIONAL STRIKE in the parks and streets of our territories, to demand and demonstrate to those who still do not understand the importance of the Pueblo Maya in the political, economic and social advancement towards fulfillment of the mandate of our Political Constitution: the common good.

The actual application and practice of our rights contained in the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, obligates us to stand firm in our organized and permanent struggle.

We are the Pueblo Maya, we live in our territory and we demand the practical application of our rights contained in the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ratified by the State of Guatemala.

in PROTEST of the ILLEGAL ALLOCATION of Mining Concessions on Maya Territory enforced by the Guatemalan National Military in violation of the the Right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, in violation of the Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, in violation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in COMPLETE CONTRADICTION to the official position taken by the Guatemalan Government as a "Friendly State" in the proceedings leading up to the UN High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly September 2014, aka FAKE WORLD CONFERENCE ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.



May 15, 2014 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Declaration of the Maya Mam Council of Quetzaltenango

"As indigenous peoples, we do not recognize and wholly reject the representation of "Ancestral Authorities" of which CACIF and FUNDESA mention in their newly released Statement. We therefore do not endorse any proposals that they make within the context of the Forum and other political spaces. These authorities are being manipulated and utilized for the benefit of the traditional oligarchy in Guatemala."

Press Release: Mayan councils express deep concern over UNPFII announcement

Communique to the North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus

"Permit us the honor to refer to you to follow up with the agreement of the encounter
DISMANTLING the Doctrine of Discovery
realized in Phoenix, Arizona where Maya Vision Guatemala, Maya Vision of Los Angeles, and Techantit Cultural Center of the sister Republic of El Salvador, along with TONATIERRA agreed to mutually support ourselves in the defense of the Natural Resources and Human Rights of the peoples that are being criminalized by the states and the transnational companies; in our last conference via telephone it was sustained and agreed, to streamline and make said accords viable, in formalizing our request before the Nahuacalli, Embassy of Indigenous Peoples and have a team of accompaniment in capacity of
International Observers of Indigenous Human Rights
to Guatemala."

El Consejo del Pueblo Maya -CPO- COMUNICA: 

Que el día 23 de Junio del 2014 el Pueblo Maya entrará en Paro Nacional saliendo en los parques y calles de nuestro territorio, para exigir y demostrar a quienes todavía no entienden la importancia del Pueblo Maya en el avance político, económico y social para cumplir el mandato de nuestra Constitución Política: el bien común. 

La aplicación real y práctica de nuestros derechos contenidos en el Convenio 169 de la OIT y la declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas, nos obliga a mantenernos firmes en luchar de forma organizada y permanente. 

Somos el pueblo Maya, vivimos en Nuestro territorio y exigimos la aplicación práctica de nuestros derechos contenidos en el Convenio 169 de la OIT y la declaración de las Naciones Unidas, sobre Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas ratificados por el Estado de Guatemala.