Indian and other Native nations and communities have long used international law, especially human rights law, to challenge the discrimination and injustice that affect them. International human rights offer some real hope for overcoming the severe unfairness of the laws and policies in many countries.
The Indian Law Resource Center has for more than 30 years used international human rights and international legal procedures to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in many countries. We are leading a campaign to create new human rights specifically for indigenous peoples — to make it clear that countries must respect our right to exist as peoples, our right of self-determination, our rights to our lands, our rights to be free from discrimination and oppression, and other human rights.