UNITED NATIONS, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a declaration on the right of indigenous peoples to maintain their own institutions, cultures and spiritual traditions.
The declaration, finally approved in a session in New York on Thursday after more than 20 years of consideration, calls on states to prevent or redress the forced migration of indigenous peoples, the seizure of their land and their forced integration into other cultures.
It also gives native peoples control over their religious and cultural sites, and the right to determine their own education systems.
"This marks a historic moment when UN member states and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories and are resolved to move forward together on the path of human rights, justice and development for all," a Secretary General spokeswoman said.
The declaration, which is not legally binding, was approved by a vote of 143-4, with 11 abstentions. The U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, which all have large indigenous populations, voted against the declaration, expressing concerns with some of the provisions on self-determination and rights to land and finances. Russia was among the abstainers.
The declaration was met with an ovation by a large number of UN delegates.
Russia's permanent representative to the UN said the declaration's position was "unacceptable" to the Russian Federation.
Russia said it disagreed with the "closed" format of work on the document, which left a group of countries with a substantial number of indigenous peoples outside of the negotiating process.
Moreover, Moscow said that unlike most provisions of the draft declaration that were correctly formulated, the wording of the draft declaration submitted to the General Assembly was ambiguous.
"In particular, like many other countries, including those who voted in favor, Russia had difficulty with provisions on indigenous peoples' rights to land and mineral resources and the procedure of paying compensation and damages," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also said that Russia's refusal to support the declaration did not imply that the country would abstain from international cooperation in the sphere.
Russia, a diverse multi-ethnic country, has more than 100 separate ethnic groups.
Many of these ethnic groups already enjoy a certain amount of independence within autonomous or semi-autonomous republics, such as the Republics of Kalmykia and Tatarstan.
According to the UN, there are more than 370 million native people in the world, living in more than 70 countries. Many of the smaller groups are currently in danger of dying out entirely.
