A/HRC/18/35/Add.2
IV.
Areas of concern
A.
Self-determination
32.
While the laws and policies of Nordic countries with respect to the Sami people are
relatively advanced, there are still ongoing barriers to the full realization of the right of
Sami people to self-determination, both at the cross-border and national levels. In this
regard, the United Nations Declaration affirms, in its article 3, that “indigenous peoples
have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their own
political status and freely pursue their own economic, social and cultural development.”
This provision of the Declaration mirrors the common article 1 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, to which all three Nordic countries are parties.
1.
Cross-border Sami self-determination
33.
It should be stated at the outset that Sami representatives have made clear that their
goal of securing relations among their people across borders and of advancing the selfdetermination of the Sami people as a whole is not based on a desire to form a separate
Sami State. This stance on the exercise of self-determination is consistent with the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which makes clear through its
overall structure and specifically in its article 46, that self-determination for indigenous
peoples is ordinarily to be exercised within the framework of the unity and territorial
integrity of the State.
34.
Throughout the world few examples exist to date of specific, formal arrangements to
advance the self-determination of one indigenous people across the borders of several
States. However, the move toward such arrangements is part of developments over the last
several decades that challenge the assumption that national borders are the sole markers of
political organization and authority. As noted, the Sami people have made significant
efforts to advance their collective self-determination through the development of crossborder institutions and initiatives, and have taken noteworthy steps in this regard; but
ongoing barriers persist.
35.
As understood by the Special Rapporteur, the draft Nordic Sami Convention
provides the principal framework for defining the common objectives of the Sami people
and is an important component of the effort to advance Sami self-determination as one
people (its clear shortcoming in this regard being that it does not apply to the Sami people
residing in the Russian Federation). The Special Rapporteur understands the complexities
involved in developing such a novel document, which some have described as a kind of
“modern treaty” between Nordic States and the Sami people (even though the Sami are not
anticipated to be a formal party to the Convention along with the Nordic States).
Nonetheless, he echoes the concern expressed by several United Nations treaty bodies
regarding the delayed progress towards adoption of the Nordic Sami Convention.23
36.
After years of debate, in November 2010 representatives of the Governments of
Norway, Finland and Sweden and the presidents of the three Sami parliaments agreed on a
model for negotiations on the Nordic Sami Convention. Under the agreed model, the
negotiations will be carried out between three delegations, each with a maximum of six
persons, which must include representatives both of the respective Governments and of the
23
10
See e.g., E/C.12/SWE/CO/5, para. 15; CERD/C/SWE/CO/18, para. 21.