Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 55th Session

11 August 2003

Thank you Chair.

I speak on behalf of Minority Rights Group International (MRG). MRG would like to address three aspects of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of minorities and indigenous peoples. Firstly, intellectual and cultural property rights, secondly, efforts and strategies to halve extreme poverty, to meet the target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and thirdly, the right to development.

Indigenous and tribal peoples, worldwide, are facing many types of threats to their survival as distinct peoples including dispossession of their lands and resources and the appropriation of their collective cultural knowledge. The appropriation of traditional indigenous knowledge of crops and medicinal plants by multinational companies is known as "biopiracy" and it happens often without consent or compensation. Indigenous peoples rarely benefit from the financial gains of pharmaceutical companies who are quick to impose patents and exploit traditional knowledge, which has existed in indigenous communities for generations.

A recent MRG report1 focuses on intellectual and cultural property rights of indigenous and tribal peoples in Asia. The report highlights the situation in different Asian countries and examines the effectiveness and limitations of UN instruments that attempt to address the issues, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169. It also examines the impact of the World Trade Organisation's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The report cites examples of action taken by indigenous peoples in Asia to protect their communities against biodiversity exploitation and offers suggestions for others. The report also suggests alternatives to the existing intellectual property regimes, one possibility being community based intellectual property rights and resource rights regimes that seek to recognise the essentially community-based nature of much of the knowledge related to biodiversity.

A related issue of serious concern to indigenous peoples is the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP). Among the aims of the project is to "collect, analyze and preserve genetic samples from a host of vanishing human populations".2 These vanishing populations tend to be indigenous peoples who, because of their relative isolation, have genes containing characteristics that are absent in the mainstream population, for example, resistance to some diseases.

Commission resolution 2003/69 requests the Sub-Commission "to consider what contribution it can make to the reflections of the International Bioethics Committee on the follow-up to the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights". Article 10 of this Declaration states that "No research or research applications concerning the human genome... should prevail over respect for the human rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity of individuals or, where applicable, of groups of people"3. The Sub-Commission therefore has an important role to play in ensuring that the rights of indigenous peoples are respected in all areas relating to the human genome.

The expanded working paper by Sub-Commission expert Ms Iulia-Antonaella Motoc acknowledges some of the problems. It states, "Scientists have gathered and examined blood and tissue samples from hundreds of indigenous communities. Often these activities are carried out by biotechnology companies that expect to profit from this research, at the expense of indigenous communities" 4. MRG's report notes that a submission by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1998 concluded that, "Some concerns of indigenous peoples... cannot be adequately addressed without a complete ban on projects such as the HGDP, and of the patenting of human genome"5. MRG, therefore, urges that any recommendations produced by the Sub-Commission reflect the concerns of indigenous peoples and include strong measures to adequately protect their rights.

Regarding the fight against extreme poverty, MRG welcomes the preliminary working paper produced by Mr Jose Bengoa and the ad hoc group of experts.6 MRG believes that respecting the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples are necessary to fulfilling the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) effectively and equitably.7 While minorities and indigenous peoples are among the poorest of the poor, poverty reduction strategies often do not reach them and do not consider the particular causes of their poverty, for example discrimination. Systematic discrimination reduces their ability to benefit from and contribute to human and economic development. Poverty reduction strategies will not benefit minorities and indigenous peoples unless discrimination against them is tackled through anti-discrimination legislation, enforcement mechanisms and special measures in development programmes. It is also vital to address issues of double discrimination against minority and indigenous women to ensure that they also benefit from poverty reduction programmes. MRG welcomes the inclusion of non-discrimination in the working paper cited as one of the underlying principles to be used when discussing a conceptual framework for elaborating guiding principles. MRG suggests however, that the Sub-Commission elaborate specific recommendations on how to ensure that the MDGs are achieved in full compliance with the standards in place for the protection and promotion of minority rights and the rights of indigenous peoples, beginning with the critical factor of ensuring their recognition.

Lastly, MRG is pleased that the Sub-Commission has been requested to work with the Independent Expert in undertaking the important task of preparing concept documents on options related to the implementation of the right to development based on the Declaration on the Right to Development.8 MRG has recently concluded a study that provides a legal analysis of rights and obligations within the right to development, and which further details the intersection between the rights of minorities, the rights of indigenous peoples and the right to development.9 This study is available to you to inform you deliberations and eventual proposals. It provides a first step in ensuring the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples - including their rights to "meaningful participation, non-discrimination and the fair distribution of the benefits of development" as emphasized in the Declaration on the Right to Development - are fully reflected in your work.

Thank you Chair.

1 Bengwayan, M. Intellectual and Cultural Property Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia, Minority Rights Group International, May 2003
2 Ibid. p.29
3 Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, Adopted 29th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO, 1997, Article 10.
4 Motoc, I. Human Rights and Bioethics UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/36 para 42
5 Bengwayan, Supra n.1, p29 referring to UN Doc. E/CB.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1998/4
6 Bengoa, J. Implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty, UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/17
7 For more detail on how the Sub-Commission can contribute to achieving the MDGs, see MRG's written statement to the Sub-Commission, UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/NGO22
8 CHR res. 2003/83.
9 Salomon, M.E and Sengupta, A. The Right to Development: Obligations of States and the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples (Minority Rights Group International, 2003).