NOTES Occupation 1988, p. 99 16 In practice, the ILO deals with indigenous questions mainly under Convention Nos 107 and 169, if the country in question has ratified either of these Conventions. Indigenous rights can also be raised under Convention No. 111, if the country concerned has not ratified Convention Nos 107 or 169. Minority and indigenous organizations and other concerned NGOs can decide which one will be the most useful to protect their rights and interests. 17 Report of the Committee of Experts 2001, p. 467. 18 Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: Stopping Forced Labour, International Labour Conference, 89th Session 2001, Report I (B), Geneva, ILO, p. 18. 19 See Report of the Committee of Experts: Application, International Labour Conventions, International Labour Conference 39th session, Geneva, ILO, 2001, p. 128, for more details. 20 As note 19, p. 137. 21 See later under ch. V for details on how the Committee functions. 22 Stopping Forced Labour, pp. 21–9. 23 The ILO: What it is, What it does, Geneva, ILO, 1999. 24 Stopping Forced Labour, p. 22. 25 Somavia, J., ILO Director-General, A Call for Universal Ratification, ILO-IPEC public website. 26 The first Global Report focused on freedom of association (2000), the 2001 Global Report focused on forced labour, the third one in 2002 is to cover child labour, and the fourth in 2004 will be on discrimination. 27 The first session was held in 1951, and the second and last in 1954. 28 Indigenous Peoples: Living and Working Conditions of Aboriginal Populations in Independent Countries, Studies and Reports, New Series, no. 35, Geneva, ILO, 1953. 29 Swepston, L., Indigenous and Tribal Populatons: A Return to Centre Stage, International Labour Review, vol. 126, no. 4, July–August 1987. 30 As note 29, pp. 450–1. 31 For more details, consult the full text of Convention No. 107, available from the ILO offices and also at the ILO website: www.ilo.org 32 Convention No. 107 uses the term ‘population’, but MRG, Anti-Slavery International and the authors prefer to use the term ‘peoples’. 33 Article 1(1) states that Convention No. 107 applies to: ‘(a) members of tribal or semi-tribal populations in independent countries whose social and economic conditions are at a less advanced stage than the stage 46 reached by the other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations; (b) members of tribal or semitribal populations in independent countries which are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation and which, irrespective of their legal status, live more in conformity with the social, economic and cultural institutions of that time than with the institutions of the nation to which they belong.’ 34 Initially there were 27 ratifications of Convention No. 107. Eight countries have since ratified Convention No. 169, which amounts to an automatic denunciation of Convention No. 107 (see box for list). 35 See Report of the Committee of Experts 1993, pp. 310–11. 36 See Report of the Committee of Experts 1997, p. 303 for details. 37 See Report of the Committee of Experts 1999, pp. 438–40 for more details. 38 Swepston, p. 450. 39 This has recently been renamed as the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. 40 UN Document No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7 (vols 1–5). 41 The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DDIP) was adopted by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1994 and submitted to its parent body the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (now the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights). The Sub-Commission endorsed the Draft in 1994 and sent it to the Commission on Human Rights in 1995. Currently, the Draft Declaration is being discussed at a working group of the Commission specifically established to elaborate a text. 42 Swepston, p. 451. 43 For more detailed information, see ILO Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, 1989 (No. 169): A Manual, Project to Promote ILO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Geneva, ILO, 2000. 44 As note 43, p. 84. 45 See later in ch. VI ‘Complaints’ for more details on this procedure. 46 See Report of the Committee of Experts 2001, p. 609. 47 As note 46, pp. 612–4. 48 See Report of the Committee of Experts 1999, p. 569 and Tomei, M. and Swepston, L., Indigenous and Tribal Peoples: A Guide to ILO Convention No. 169, Geneva ILO, and Montreal, the International Centre THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES