By Ben Shapiro:
On the second and final day of TIMEMUN, I viewed UNPFII (United Nations Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues) discussing tribal rights vs states rights. It is obvious that states have rights over tribes. Tribe members should be treated as people, not have special rights and given land. Did they win that land? In most scenarios, a nation took their land through war or other means. They lost, they have rights as humans, but not as a people. But this is not my debate.
As the delegates give their opening remarks, it becomes evident that most of them want to give the tribes rights and land that gives them free reign. That doesn’t make any sense, that is basically giving them their own small county. And in that county they can do whatever they want. If a guy goes onto their land, they can kill him without law.
As the conference breaks for an unmoderated caucus, it seems that the delegates are splitting into simple groups. The groups seem to be those who like tribal rights and those who don’t. They break down a bit more to a normal level of blocs. Now it’s the extremists and the more docile of each side.
As the Philippines try to gain support, noise levels rise so high that some delegates have to step out. Many shouting matches start and the noise rises more. Thankfully the chairs stop the caucus before the delegates explode… then they extend the unmoderated caucus.
After the USA promised land for fuel, minerals, and resources, the Chippewa nation spoke about how these promises almost always end in the destruction of the tribe and their land. The USA was offended by this comment.
After a lunch break, the UNPFII resumed with opening the General Speakers List. With a rousing speech from the Philippines. They tried to draw everyone together. “An alliance cannot work without compromise”. That is true, but you cannot expect everyone to merge together under a rainbow and still be happy. The Chippewa nation would not compromise. Refusing a bit too much, “Our boundary is basic human rights”, their human rights wouldn’t fly in the freest of nations. Then the Cherokee nation lost it while resaying what was previously said by the Chippewa.
Finally, it is the moment that the delegates present the draft resolutions. First up is the Philippine’s resolution. Looks like it is giving the tribes autonomy, security, and allows mining with compensation with consent. It has some clauses that are stupid, like the autonomy, and mining clauses. Not the best decisions here.
After presenting their resolution, the USA tried to end debate and move to voting on their resolution… but they didn’t get enough votes. The Amazon Watch took the chance and presented their resolution. Theirs looks like it gives the tribes full consensual rights over things in their land, and gives them full autonomy on their land. Basically this gives tribes a small state with laws of both the tribe’s decision and their ‘mother state’. It also allows tribes to take out loans from banks, which is a useless clause.
The USA tried again and failed again to end debate and vote on their resolution. The opposition tried the same and succeeded to vote on their resolution. Requiring fifteen votes for a majority the odds are not in Amazon Watch’s favor. The vote failed and UNPFII failed to resolve the issue, leaving tribes disappointed. Thus concludes TIMEMUM, maybe they will rethink next time.
