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<DIV align=center><FONT size=2><STRONG>INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' SEATTLE
DECLARATION</STRONG><BR>On the Occasion of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the
World Trade Organization - </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2>30 November - 3 December
1999<BR><BR> We, the Indigenous Peoples from various regions
of the world, have come to Seattle to express our great concern over
how the World Trade Organization is destroying Mother Earth and the
cultural and biological diversity of which we are a part.<BR><BR>Trade
liberalization and export-oriented development, which are the overriding
principles and policies pushed by the WTO, are creating
the most adverse impacts on the lives of Indigenous Peoples. Our
inherent right to self-determination, our sovereignty as nations, and
treaties and other constructive agreements which Indigenous nations and
Peoples have negotiated with other nation-states, are undermined by
most of the WTO Agreements.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2>The disproportionate impact of these
Agreements on our communities, whether through environmental degradation or
the militarization and violence that often accompanies development
projects, is serious and therefore should be addressed
immediately.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), which
promotes export competition and import liberalization, has allowed the
entry of cheap agricultural products into our communities. It is
causing the destruction of ecologically rational and sustainable
agricultural practices of Indigenous Peoples.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>Food security and the production of traditional
food crops have been seriously compromised. Incidents of diabetes,
cancers, and hypertension have significantly increased among Indigenous
Peoples because of the scarcity of traditional foods and the dumping of
junk food into our communities. </FONT><FONT size=2>Small-scale farm
production is giving way to commercial cash-crop plantations further
concentrating ancestral lands into the hands of few agri-corporations and
landlords. This has led to the dislocation of scores of people
from our communities who then migrate to nearby cities and become the urban
homeless and jobless.<BR><BR>The WTO Forests Products Agreement promotes free
trade in forest products. By eliminating developed country tariffs on
wood products by the year 2000, and developing country tariffs by
2003, the Agreement will result in the deforestation of many of the world's
ecosystems in which Indigenous Peoples live.<BR><BR>Mining laws in
many countries are being changed to allow free entry of foreign mining
corporations, to enable them to buy and own mineral lands, and to freely
displace Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral territories.
</FONT><FONT size=2>These large-scale commercial mining and oil extraction
activities continue to degrade our lands and fragile ecosystems, and
pollute the soil, water, and air in our communities. </FONT><FONT
size=2>The appropriation of our lands and resources and the aggressive
promotion of consumerist and individualistic Western culture continue
to destroy traditional lifestyles and cultures. The result is not
only environmental degradation but also ill health, alienation, and
high levels of stress manifested in high rates of alcoholism and
suicides.<BR><BR>The theft and patenting of our biogenetic resources is
facilitated by the TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights) of the WTO. Some plants which Indigenous Peoples have
discovered, cultivated, and used for food, medicine, and for sacred
rituals are already patented in the United States, Japan, and Europe.
A few examples of these are ayahuasca, quinoa, and sangre de drago in forests of
South America; kava in the Pacific; turmeric and bitter melon in
Asia. Our access and control over our biological diversity and
control over our traditional knowledge and intellectual heritage are threatened
by the TRIPs Agreement.<BR><BR>Article 27.3b of the TRIPs Agreement allows the
patenting of life-forms and makes an artificial distinction between
plants, animals, and micro-organisms. The distinction between
"essentially biological" and "non-biological" and "microbiological"
processes is also erroneous. As far <BR>as we are concerned all
these are life-forms and life-creating processes which are sacred and which
should not become the subject of
private property ownership.<BR><BR>Finally, the liberalization of
investments and the service sectors, which is pushed by the General
Agreement of Services (GATS), reinforces the domination and monopoly
control of foreign corporations over strategic parts of the
economy. The World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund impose conditionalities of liberalization, deregulation and
privatization on countries caught in the debt trap. These
conditionalities are reinforced further by the WTO. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>In light of the adverse impacts and
consequences of the WTO Agreements identified above, we, Indigenous
Peoples present the following demands: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>We urgently call for a social and environmental
justice analysis which will look into the agreements' cumulative
effects on Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples should be
equal participants in establishing the criteria and indicators for
these analyses so that they take into consideration spiritual as well as
cultural aspects.<BR><BR>A review of the Agreements should be done to address
all of the inequities and imbalances which adversely affect Indigenous
Peoples. The proposals to address some of these are as
follows;<BR><BR>(1) For the Agreement on Agriculture<BR><BR>a. It should not
include in its coverage small-scale farmers who are mainly engaged in
production for domestic use and sale in the local markets.<BR><BR>b. It should
ensure the recognition and protection of rights of Indigenous Peoples
to their territories and their resources, as well as their
rights to continue practicing their indigenous sustainable agriculture
and resource management practices and traditional livelihoods.<BR><BR>c. It
should ensure the food security and the capacity of
Indigenous Peoples to produce, consume and trade their traditional
foods.<BR><BR>(2) With regard to the liberalization of services and investments
we recommend the following:<BR><BR>a. It must stop unsustainable mining,
commercial planting of monocrops, dam construction, oil exploration,
land conversion to golf clubs, logging, and other activities which
destroy Indigenous Peoples' lands and violate the rights of
indigenous peoples' to their territories and resources. <BR><BR>b. The
right of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional
lifestyles, cultural norms and values should likewise be recognized
and protected. <BR><BR>c. The liberalization of services, especially in the
areas of health, should not be allowed if it will prevent Indigenous
Peoples from having access to free, culturally appropriate as well as
quality health services.<BR><BR>d. The liberalization of finance services which
makes the world a global casino should be
regulated. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>(3) On the TRIPs Agreement, the proposals are
as follows:<BR><BR>a. Article 27.3b should be amended to categorically disallow
the patenting of life-forms. It should clearly prohibit the
patenting of micro-organisms, plants, animals, including all their
parts, whether they are genes, gene sequences, cells, cell lines,
proteins, or seeds.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>b. It should also prohibit the patenting of
natural processes, whether these are biological or microbiological,
involving the use of plants, animals and micro-organisms and their
parts in producing variations of plants, animals and
micro-organisms.<BR><BR>c. It should ensure the exploration and development of
alternative forms of protection outside of the dominant western
intellectual property rights regime. Such alternatives must protect
the knowledge and innovations and practices in agriculture, health care,
and conservation of biodiversity, and should build upon indigenous
methods and customary laws protecting <BR>knowledge, heritage and
biological resources.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>d. It should ensure that the protection offered
to indigenous and traditional knowledge, innovation and practices is
consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity (i.e., Articles 8j,
10c, 17.2, and 18.4) and the International Undertaking on Plant
Genetic Resources.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2>e. It should allow for the right of Indigenous
Peoples and farmers to continue their traditional practices of saving,
sharing and exchanging seeds, and cultivating, harvesting and using
medicinal plants.<BR><BR>f. It should prohibit scientific researchers and
corporations from appropriating and patenting indigenous seeds, medicinal
plants, and related knowledge about these life-forms. The
principles of prior informed consent and right of veto by Indigenous
Peoples should be respected.<BR><BR>If the earlier proposals cannot be ensured,
we call for the removal of the Agreement on Agriculture, the Forest
Products Agreements and the TRIPs Agreement from the WTO.<BR><BR>We call on
the member-states of the WTO not to allow for another round whilst the
review and rectification of the implementation of existing agreements has
not been done. We reject the proposals for an investment treaty,
competition, accelerated industrial tariffs,
government <BR>procurement, and the creation of a working group on
biotechnology. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>We urge the WTO to reform itself to become
democratic, transparent and accountable. If it fails to do this we call for
the abolition of the WTO.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2>We urge the member nation-states of the WTO to
endorse the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the current text of
the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the
ratification of ILO Convention l69.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>We call on the peoples' organizations and
NGOs to support this "Indigenous Peoples' Seattle Declaration"
and to promote it among their members.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2><BR>We believe that the whole philosophy
underpinning the WTO Agreements and the principles and policies it
promotes contradict our core values, spirituality and worldviews, as
well as our concepts and practices of development, trade and
environmental protection. Therefore, we challenge the WTO
to redefine its principles and practices toward a "sustainable
communities" paradigm, and to recognize and allow for the continuation of
other worldviews and models of development. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2>Indigenous peoples, undoubtedly, are the ones most
adversely affected by globalization and by the WTO Agreements. However, we
believe that it is also us who can offer viable alternatives to the
dominant economic growth, export-oriented development model. Our
sustainable lifestyles and cultures, traditional knowledge,
cosmologies, spirituality, values of collectivity, reciprocity, respect and
reverence for Mother Earth, are crucial in the search for a
transformed society where justice, equity, and sustainability will
prevail. <BR><BR><EM>Statement by the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus convened
and sponsored by the Indigenous Environmental Network USA/CANADA, Seventh
Generation Fund USA, International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous
Peoples Council on Biocolonialism, the Abya Yala Fund, and TEBTEBBA
(Indigenous Peoples' Network for Policy Research and Education), 1
December 1999, Seattle, Washington, USA.<BR><BR></EM>Other indigenous
peoples' organizations, NGOs and individuals who wish to sign on to this
statement, send email to <A href="mailto:ien@igc.org">ien@igc.org</A> or <A
href="mailto:tebtebba@skyinet.net">tebtebba@skyinet.net</A>. </FONT><FONT
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