For example, our right to “self-determination” is protected in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 1);3 self-determination means
that Indigenous Peoples can choose “the way they want to develop.”4 Can we really choose the way we want to
develop if we can’t say “yes” or “no” to a project that will impact our territory? No!
We need to learn about our rights and teach outsiders about them. Do not just talk about FPIC or the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our rights are inherent because we are Indigenous. Outsiders cannot “give”
us the rights we already have, as some companies and governments claim they are doing with FPIC. Our rights do
not depend on the government recognising them. But our community’s position will be stronger if we back it up by
asserting all of our rights under international law and national law.
1.4 FPIC in international “best practice” standards
Because governments have been slow to apply international laws that protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples,
“best practice” standards have also been created. We say best practices in quotation marks (“”) because they are the
practices and standards that the best companies, banks or organisations are supposed to be following — although
they may not be the very best that they could be if they don’t respect all of our rights. But they are usually much
stronger than national laws in a lot of countries.
These standards are meant to guide companies, banks and other outsiders on how they should be working with
Indigenous Peoples.
They have resulted from the concerns of Indigenous Peoples and have been developed by commissions set up by
banks that fund projects like dams and mines, by conservation organisations, and by responsible business groups.
Some of these standards include respect for Free, Prior and Informed Consent or other Indigenous rights that
support our FPIC rights. See Box 2 for examples. Others do not go that far but might still recommend that we be
included in more meaningful ways than we are now.
Sadly, many of these standards are voluntary, which means they are not required by law. Individual companies,
organisations or funders do not always respect “best practices” in the way they act in our communities. But many
will say publicly that they do. Other times, the people that actually work for these companies on the ground do not
even know what standards their companies or organisations are supposed to respect.
If we know what these standards are, we can demand that they be respected from the very beginning. If a company
or organisation still fails to respect them, we have to make sure others know. We can do this by writing to their
presidents, our government and other organisations we work with, or by getting in touch with newspapers.
Companies do not like to be embarrassed!
3
4
Both treaties are available to download from the Internet at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm (Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights) and http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html (Covenant on Civil and Political Rights).
See International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. “Plain language version of the Declaration.” 2004. This is a plain language version of
the draft Declaration, so it might not fully reflect the final document that was signed by Guyana and other countries. It is available on the
Internet at http://www.iwgia.org/sw1592.asp
A practical guide for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana
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