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Attorney: Kim Gottschalk
Case Update
On September
13, 2007, the United Nations
General Assembly overwhelmingly
adopted the
Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. The vote
was 143 in favor, 4 opposed,
and 11 abstaining. The only
votes in opposition were Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and
the United States. This historic
vote comes after 30 years of
worldwide indigenous efforts.
The Declaration
recognizes that indigenous
peoples have important collective
human rights in a multitude
of areas, including self-determination,
spirituality, and lands, territories
and natural resources. The
Declaration sets out minimum
standards for the treatment
of indigenous peoples and can
serve as the basis for the
development of customary international
law.
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