, A Further Dimension to the Interdependence and Indivisibility of Human Rights?: Recent Developments Concerning the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

This article analyzes international indigenous rights law through the lens of the UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring System and the UN Charter-Based System. The article highlights the conflict between framing indigenous peoples as both a minority and a people, and argues that this conflict and the diversity of treaties relating to indigenous peoples rights have blurred the contents of the rights to self-determination, respect for identity, and effective participation. The article examines the evolution of indigenous peoples rights in regards to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and determines that there has been an erosion of divisions between large ranges of rights, which are clearly separated in the traditional system of international human rights protection. The article concludes by recommending that indigenous groups be concurrently classified as both a people and a minority, and notes the risks to people and states inherent in a lack of recognition for the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights.

Helen Quane, A Further Dimension to the Interdependence and Indivisibility of Human Rights?: Recent Developments Concerning the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2012) 25 Harv Hum Rts J 49.