In 2007 the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN General Assembly. Last year, CPT’s Aboriginal Justice Team (AJT) supported a campaign to press Canada to endorse the declaration. In November 2010 Canada signed on, followed in December by the last country left, the United States.
The next step is for the declaration to influence law and decision-making. Many of the issues facing communities that the Aboriginal Justice Team have relationship with are addressed by one or more of the 46 articles, and which assert the state’s minimum duty towards indigenous peoples. If the declaration is to have any effect it must be used to inform the government’s position in ongoing and future debates about land, culture and rights.