42 S e cti o n One – General This section outlines the rights standards relevant to Convention requires governments to eliminate racially the specific collective situation of Indigenous peoples. discriminatory policies, prohibit racial discrimination, Indigenous peoples are entitled to all the rights and encourage intercultural communication, and undertake, protections set out in the International Covenants on where required, special measures to achieve equality. It Civil and Political Rights (1968) and Economic, Social and declares all people, without distinction as to race, colour, Cultural Rights (1968), the Convention on the Elimination national or ethnic origin, to be equal before the law and of Racial Discrimination (1966), and other international human rights treaties. International instruments specifically expressing these rights, as they apply to Indigenous peoples, have been adopted by the International Labour in the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This reaffirms the guarantee of equal rights in Article 3 of the Treaty. Organisation (ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, 1991) and the United Nations General Tribal peoples 6 Assembly (the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007). Respect and participation are the core principles of ILO Convention 169. Several articles provide for states to The 2007 Declaration is particularly relevant to the Treaty respect Indigenous peoples’ culture, spirituality, social of Waitangi, as it affirms that Indigenous people have the and economic organisation, and identity. Article 6 right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of requires governments to establish means by which existing treaties and agreements (Article 37). In affirming the foundational status of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Declaration therefore upholds the rights conferred by that agreement, including the Crown’s right to govern and to make laws (as envisaged in Article One of the Treaty). Indigenous peoples can freely participate at all levels of decision-making in elective and administrative bodies. Article 7 states that Indigenous peoples have the right to decide their own development priorities and to exercise control over their own economic, social and cultural International Covenants on Civil and development. These rights affirm the right to self- Political Rights (ICCPR) and Economic, determination contained in Article 2 of the Treaty. Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) The first Article of both ICCPR and ICESCR states: “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of that right they freely determine their political status, The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in development.” This fundamental right is reiterated in 2007. As a declaration, it is not ratifiable by or binding on the Preamble to the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of states. By bringing together the various existing provisions Indigenous Peoples, which acknowledges both ICCPR and of binding human rights treaties, however, it forms part ICESCR, and affirms ”the fundamental importance of the of the international human rights framework. Interna- right to self-determination of all peoples”. This echoes tional human rights bodies – such as the Committee on the right to self-determination (rangatiratanga) in Article the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 7 – have affirmed 2 of the Treaty. International Convention on the that the declaration should be used when interpreting states’ human rights obligations, regardless of a country’s Elimination of all forms of Racial position on the declaration. New Zealand initially voted Discrimination (ICERD) against the declaration in 2007. In 2010, however, ICERD affirms the rights to equality and freedom from discrimination also contained in ICCPR and ICESCR. The New Zealand reversed its position and the Government indicated its support for the declaration as “both an 6 This convention has been so far been ratified by 20 states, but not New Zealand. 7 Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2008). USA, CERD/USA/CO/6.