Thursday, September 13, 2007

UN Signs Indigenous Rights Declaration


The United Nations has today adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Declaration is an historic victory for the world's 370 million indigenous peoples and their supporters, and a slap in the face for the reactionary bloc comprising Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand who voted to oppose the statement.

The full text of the Declaration is available here.

What an acute embarrassment to Australians our Prime Monster is!

We are now playing a role internationally that was once reserved for the likes of apartheid South Africa.

We are one of four, out of 158 countries that voted on the Declaration, to have opposed a statement that defines the rights of indigenous peoples.

Disgusting.

However, it is no surprise. John Howard has all along opposed native title and land rights; has actively promoted forced assimilation (only a week ago insulting NT Aborigines by telling them they had no future oustide of mainstream society); and has instituted the so-called NT "intervention" which is, in every respect, in total contradiction to the spirit of the UN Declaration.

Howard also stands condemned before the indigenous peoples of Canada and their supporters: his lobbying of fellow servant of imperialism, Canadian Prime Monster Harper, resulted in Canada changing its support of the draft Declaration to today's vote in opposition.

Australia must sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples!

Australia must rescind the reactionary legislation behind the so-called emergency "intervention" in the Northern Territory!

Australia must work with its indigenous communities and empower their leadership structures so as to deal with all of the problems in their communities!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you write
'Australia must sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples!
Australia must rescind the reactionary legislation behind the so-called emergency "intervention" in the Northern Territory!
Australia must work with its indigenous communities and empower their leadership structures so as to deal with all of the problems in their communities! "
Yes .sign some more papers it will make us feel good
But what is this "Australia" except the white settler nation?
Can a leopard change its spots without a revolution ?
Will this white settler colonising nation forego the colonialist control of the land and its natural resources and start empowering leadership in the First Nation peoples?
And pigs fly.
A couple of hundred years of practice at robbery and racism shows they will not
Sign but read the UN articles first and think how they might be supported and actually applied.
These civilised rights include; The right to nationality and self determination.
Oh ,Oh.
Forty years ago,in changing the rules of the white settler racist constitution that had an article that specifically denied the right to make laws for the Aboriginal 'race' ,the dominant Australian settler nationality benevolently imposed on the Aborigines an Australian nationality . They could even now be counted as Australians and even vote.
Thereby denying that we white settlers were different ,with the laws now sanitised and different from white South African racist rules. This is simply numbers in democracy.
The settler state in South Africa exluded the majority.Here even after inclusion the white settler nation held the vast majority.
We let our small minority have a vote in this great democracy.
Knowing full well their total vote would not amount to a hill of beans and could change nothing.
Not even proportional seats in the national assemblies.
So, forty years later we still have continual apartheid style colonialist land seizing ' interventions" into the Aborigines communities ,after first disallowing any racial discrimination laws etc.
Showing that in fact that the Aborigines are not actually treated as "real Australians" equal before the white settler laws.
So ,there can be demands as put forward here, to sign some more paper.
And even to (paternalistically?)help them get a bit of leadership for "community control" as their remaining communities are destroyed, their land and resources stolen ,their communities dismantled and Youth gaoled as the process of genocide continues
And as the process of colonialism still continues to its final completion (or solution)today.
But, we need reconciliation amongst 'all us Aussies" and with equal rights under the colonialist state.
"Smooth the pillow" on the left hand side a bit.
Sign here .All that good leftist anti- racist stuff as paper rights.Support the new preamble too.
Or the clear demand can be put forward to support the rights of the First nation peoples to nationality and help for real self determination ,to real treaty rights ,in short their full rights as First Nation peoples under the UN declaration.
Including (shush) national rights.
Not necessary for us Marxists of course. as we have declared them part of the Australian working people and the capitalist reserve army of labour and under a future socialist state it will all be right mate .
Class trumpts nation in a colonialist state ?
It is no accident that the opposers of that declaration at the UN were the big white settler nations,
I wonder what demands socialists should support?
The Marxist left in australia, while historicaly carrying out good struggles for bourgeios democracy and 'human rights"equal pay right to vote etc and supported many land rights claims under white settler law.
But,has never in practice ,as part of white settlerism ,raised the need for or encouraged or supported NATION right.
So ,that if the subject is even raised as here, it is a shock to the entenched colonialist paternalism of the socialists.
(delete these 'ultaleft" and divisive bourgeious nationalist 'racist "comment ?)
What would Lenin Stalin or Mao as internationalists have said about the national rights of colonial peoples still subject to the continual stealing of their land under cover of "leases" imposed by the armed forces of a settler state?
Still, you have your rebel flag for an anti-imperialist working peoples nation of Australia and you fly the Aborigine flag too .
But is that Aboriginal flag ,the flag of The First peoples Nation and of actual national self determination ?
A community leadership flag or an anti-colonialist even "blood and soil " or 'racist" Aboriginal national flag?
Marx reckoned the British workers would never be free as long as they benefited from and supported the colonialist rule of Ireland.
underclasswp.