The Deputy Chairman of the State Assembly of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Il Tumen), the President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Yakutia, the Vice-President of RAIPON Mr. Andrei Krivoshapkin received a reply for his letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mr. Sergey Lavrov, informed the press-service of the State Assembly of the Republic.  In his letter to the Minister, the People's Deputy and the public figure reminded about September 2007, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the World.

«It was a truly the historic, world's values event. But we do not exactly understand the attitude of the Russian Federation, when during the voting at the General Assembly, Russia has abstained. Could this issue be elaborated in a way that the position of the Russian Federation have not been in doubt, that there would be no ambiguity any more?

After all, about forty Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East live in our country and the relatively big number of indigenous peoples of the Caucasu», - wrote Andrei Krivoshapkin.

The Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mr. Oleg Malguinov replied to this letter:

«Russia has supported the idea of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the very beginning, and has actively participated in the drafting of the document to give a more balanced character, taking into account the interests of both: states and indigenous peoples. The vast majority of the Declaration’s articles are reflected in the legislation of Russia. In our country there was created and is continued to be improved the system of laws and regulations to protect the rights of indigenous people.

Unfortunately, in the process of drafting the Declaration many important procedural rules have been violated; the concerns of all interested States, and especially of those in which territories a large number of indigenous peoples of the world live, were not taken into account. For this reason, this document has not become this balanced and credible international instrument, many United Nations Member States were hoped to get, and it did not receive the consensus.

Nevertheless, the Russian Federation is making significant efforts to strengthen the international cooperation aimed at consolidation the protection of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples, including those residing in the territory of Russia. Herewith, we also work closely with organizations of indigenous peoples of our country and consider this as a key to the impact of the measures taken at the international level ».

Source: Press-Service of IL Tumen