The debate on indigenous peoples rights in international law : assessing the impact of the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples in Mexico

Abstract

The research begins with a broad overview of the main features of the contemporary debate about multiculturalism, from the perspectives of the political theory and the international human rights law. The second chapter focuses on the approach of international law towards a particular feature of multiculturalism, that is, indigenous rights. Particular attention is given to the analysis of the recent developments of the debate about indigenous peoples’ rights within the United Nations specialised agency for labour issues, the ILO. Also, the participation of the indigenous organizations in the process of international standardsetting, in its different stages, is described. The third chapter addresses the way indigenous peoples’ issues acquired progressive relevance within the UN system, in a process that culminated in the historical adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the most comprehensive international instrument dealing with indigenous peoples. The last chapter analyses the impact of the Declaration in Mexico, one of the countries that supported its adoption the most. Particularly, the research focuses in the State actions to implement the Declaration and the role of the UN human rights mechanisms to foster Mexico’s compliance with it. The outcome of the research is that so far Mexico has not undertaken the necessary reforms in order to make the Declaration effective in the country, with the aim of establishing substantially multicultural social relations.