Right to Self Determination, Right to Development and Biocultural Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

The international law and international customary law recognised the right to self-determination as the human right of the indigenous people which significantly contributed in the development of the rights of the indigenous peoples. This right to self-determination started the debate on the sovereign rights of the indigenous people over their forests, traditional and ancestral lands. The right to development ensures that the indigenous peoples and local communities have right to equitable distribution in the national and world natural and economic resources. The United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986 is a new jurisprudential development in the struggle for the protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples. The right to development requires an equitable, beneficial and inclusive development efforts for all. The displaced, dispossessed and uprooted indigenous peoples are considered as development refugee. The right to development is considered as a significant contribution in the struggle for the protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples in raising their voices for sharing benefits of the economic development.