THE SOVEREIGNTY OF STATES OVER NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE RIGHT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Abstract

This paper focuses on the analysis of the principle of State sovereignty over natural resources (PSNR) from the perspective of International Human Rights Law. The United Nations Declaration and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognize their right to self-determination and the right to collective property, raise the hypothesis about the extension of the PSNR towards the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to exercise jurisdiction over their ancestral lands and territories. A documentary study of the origin and development of the PSNR has been carried out in relation to the right of self-determination of peoples and it is concluded that in a non-colonial context, indigenous peoples are holders of that right and that the right to their territories, to Land and natural resources are elements of the PSNR, which is the basis of its political and economic autonomy. The failure of States to respect and guarantee these rights promotes the risk of secession.