Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.7: International Processes and Complaints Mechanisms
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contained in this Convention.” The lack of limitation in terms of the
activities of the Spanish multinationals in indigenous territory constitutes
an exertion of force and intolerable violence from a human rights based
perspective.
To this we would have to add two further arguments:
1. On the one hand, the obligations which emanate from the Constitution
of the ILO, expressed, in relation to our subject matter, in Article 19 (5)
(d), in which State Parties under an international labor agreement, “would
adopt the measures necessary to make the regulations of said Convention
effective.” From this statement, together with the text of the Convention,
we can deduce that states have legal obligations in relation to it, and that
extraterritoriality constitutes an important means to adopt “the necessary
measures” to render the regulations of the Convention effective. To
contextualize the obligations of the Convention within the specific and
concrete situation of each country is a demand which acts as an indicator,
as an expression of the main problems which each state encounters in
terms of indigenous peoples’ rights. It is significant, in this sense, the
difficulties which Spanish corporations are having in complying with the
demands of the Convention. Consequently, it is the obligation of the state
to assume all the necessary measures to achieve effectiveness in terms
of the Convention, and extraterritoriality is a means among many.
2. A second argument is related to the practices and positions, which
the Spanish state has adopted in relation to indigenous peoples’ rights
in the international arena. Today, the Convention is no longer the only
international text in force regarding indigenous people’s rights. In parallel
with the ratification of the Convention by the Spanish state, the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also came into
effect, adopted by the General Assembly, with Spain voting for it, and
indeed having played an active part in the group of states who sponsored
the Declaration. The Declaration recognizes, in Article 42, the special
role which the entire international community plays in the promotion
and protection of indigenous people’s rights in the world, affirming that
“The United Nations, its bodies…and specialized agencies…and States
shall promote respect for and full application of the provisions of this
Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration.” 78
Therefore, not only are the obligations of the Spanish state in relation to
the Convention ratified, but as a consequence of the Declaration coming
into effect, whose articles go significantly deeper than the Convention in
terms of indigenous rights, they are energetically reinforced. This same
argument, of reinforcement of legal obligations makes the extraterritorial