Topic: Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Country: Uganda
Delegate Name: Joe Heitmeier
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Uganda position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Often overlooked during the process of colonization, the human rights of indigenous people all across the globe have been systematically oppressed since the beginning of expansion. As activists for indigenous rights have become increasingly repressed, a call for nations to protect their indigenous populations and their personal liberties has been made. The Republic of Uganda (hereafter Uganda) has no formal legislation that protects the rights of its indigenous people, and thus is not as interested in this call as other delegations.
Uganda’s indigenous population consists of traditional hunter/gatherer communities and pastoralists. Hunter-gatherers include the Benet (around 20,000 people), and the Batwa (around 6,700 people). Pastoralists include the Ik (around 1,600 people), and the Karamojong (around 988,429 people). None of these indigenous population groups are specifically recognized as indigenous by the Ugandan government, and all of these communities have a similar past of state-induced landlessness and historical injustices caused by the creation of conservation areas in Uganda. Forced evictions, exclusions from ancestral lands without proper compensation, and violence and restriction towards indigenous subsistence are common themes. The indigenous people of Uganda are protected only under Article 32 to the 1995 Constitution which places a mandatory duty on the state to take affirmative action in favor of groups that have been historically disadvantaged. However, this provision is meant to protect women and children and thus is not implemented as often in the situation of indigenous rights violations. The Land Act of 1998 and the National Environment Statute of 1995 protect customary interests in land, but they also authorize the government to exclude human activities in these areas, effectively nullifying the land rights of indigenous people. Uganda has never ratified the ILO convention 169, but is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).
The Republic of Uganda would look favorably upon legislation that emphasizes the importance of continual economic and structural development and minimal human rights protections for indigenous populations. We understand the importance of protecting disadvantaged peoples, and we won’t be opposed to these protections so long as they don’t impede on the sovereignty of the Ugandan government.
