Indigenous Peoples and Peace Agreements: Transforming Relationships or Empty Rhetoric?

Abstract

Peace agreements are instrumental not only in ensuring that peace prevails but also in setting up a new relationship between conflicting parties. Peace agreements have proven to be an important tool for indigenous peoples and states in establishing new relationship. The numerous recent peace agreements signed between states and indigenous peoples have been instrumental in establishing an agenda for social justice and equality for indigenous peoples. The chapter analyses to what extent such peace agreements have been successful in establishing new relationships between governments and indigenous peoples, notably by looking at central issues of self-determination, land rights and cultural rights. As the chapters examines one of the limitations of the peace agreements is their lack of implementation by states’ governments and the lack of monitoring of the implementation by the international community. The chapters examine to what extent international bodies such as the International Labour Organisation or the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Bodies can play an important role in monitoring the implementation of such agreements.