An Aboriginal group organized a seminar yesterday to remind President Chen Shui-bian (
The Association of Taiwan Indigenous People Policy (ATIPP) seminar yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of a treaty signed by Chen with Aboriginal groups.
On Sept. 10 last year, 11 Aboriginal representatives signed a treaty called "A New Partnership Between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Taiwan" with Chen. Chen was still a candidate running for the presidency at the time.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The treaty aims to promote the autonomy of indigenous peoples and retrocede the indigenous people's ownership of the land. The treaty also said an Aboriginal Congress, consisting solely of Aboriginal representatives, should be established to handle matters related to Aboriginal rights and autonomy.
Other Aboriginal rights, such as resources and land, are also mentioned in the treaty.
The treaty was submitted in July to the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the International Court by ATIPP with the support of 29 other Asian Aboriginal associations.
If the government fails to follow through on its responsibilities to Aborigines as spelled out in the treaty, the documents will be used as evidence in a lawsuit against the central government, according to the association.
"Although the document may not be accepted by the UN, as it is an informal treaty, we hope to pressure the government to make good on its promises," Isak Afo, head of ATIPP, told the Taipei Times.
Isak Afo said: "The `government for all the people' shouldn't ignore minority groups. Although the new government has bounced its `election checks' in social welfare, the new government has been in office for less than four months and we remain cautiously optimistic."
Isak Afo said autonomy would help Aborigines save their culture from disappearing.
The government's autonomy policy, however, has received little input from Aboriginal people, Afo said.
"Only the government directs the agenda relating to Aboriginal autonomy. The Aboriginal congress should be formed and responsible for the autonomy policy. Not the government," Isak Afo said.
"The public wrongly perceives the autonomy of Aborigines as a kind of reward from the ROC government. This greatly distorts the spirit of autonomy. The relationship between government and Aborigines should be nation to nation. This concept emphasizes our native sovereignty and the equality between government and indigenous peoples."
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