El Consell Sami ha emès una nota pública (8.6.2015) on refusa el posicionament de Suècia negant que els lapons, o sami, siguin pobles indígenes. Així es va expressar l'advocat de l'estat en un judici el 3 de juny sobre drets de pesca i cacera; a més es va negar a admetre que Suècia tenia obligacions internacionals amb la població sami. El Consell pregunta al primer ministre suec si han deixat de reconèixer els seus pobles indígenes i, si no és així, que actuï envers el lletrat.
Saami Council strongly rejects Sweden’s suggestion that the Sami are
not an indigenous people and its statement that even if so, Sweden has
no obligations towards the Sami under international law!
The Sami are indigenous to northern Fennoscandinavia and the Kola Peninsula. Still, in a case concerning hunting and fishing rights within Girjas Sami Village’s traditional territory, the attorney representing the Swedish state on Wednesday 3 June 2015 stated before the court that:
The Sami are indigenous to northern Fennoscandinavia and the Kola Peninsula. Still, in a case concerning hunting and fishing rights within Girjas Sami Village’s traditional territory, the attorney representing the Swedish state on Wednesday 3 June 2015 stated before the court that:
”Sweden is under no international obligations to recognize particular
rights of the Sami, irrespective of whether the Sami are considered to
be an indigenous people or not.”
The Saami Council finds the statement remarkable for two interrelated reasons.
1. In the statement, Sweden is effectively saying that even if the Sami are indigenous, they have no rights as such. Sweden is thus outright rejecting the entire indigenous rights discourse that has taken form over the last couple of decades, irrespective of that this discourse today clearly contains a number of customary international norms binding upon all states that host indigenous peoples. In other words is Sweden taking the position that there are no indigenous rights, a preposterous suggestion.
2. Sweden is also questioning the Sami’s status as an indigenous people under international law. In doing so, Sweden disregards contemporary academic research, which has firmly established that the Sami are indeed indigenous to northern Fennoscandia and the Kola Peninsula. Until this point, this fact has never been questioned by any of the four states within which the Sami today find themselves residing either. The Saami Council finds its stunning, and offensive, that Sweden does so now.
Against the background of the seriousness of this matter, the Saami Council requests that Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven formally answers the following three questions:
1. Has Sweden changed its former position and no longer considers the Sami to be an indigenous people?
2. If the answer to the first question is ”no”, is its Sweden’s position that it nonetheless carry no obligations towards the Sami under the international indigenous rights regime?
3. If the answer to the first question is ”no”, why is Sweden saying something different to the court, under such circumstances seemingly trying to deliberately mislead the court?
Reunió del Consell Saami amb el secretari general del Consell Nòrdic, Dagfinn Høybråhten
The Saami Council finds the statement remarkable for two interrelated reasons.
1. In the statement, Sweden is effectively saying that even if the Sami are indigenous, they have no rights as such. Sweden is thus outright rejecting the entire indigenous rights discourse that has taken form over the last couple of decades, irrespective of that this discourse today clearly contains a number of customary international norms binding upon all states that host indigenous peoples. In other words is Sweden taking the position that there are no indigenous rights, a preposterous suggestion.
2. Sweden is also questioning the Sami’s status as an indigenous people under international law. In doing so, Sweden disregards contemporary academic research, which has firmly established that the Sami are indeed indigenous to northern Fennoscandia and the Kola Peninsula. Until this point, this fact has never been questioned by any of the four states within which the Sami today find themselves residing either. The Saami Council finds its stunning, and offensive, that Sweden does so now.
Against the background of the seriousness of this matter, the Saami Council requests that Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven formally answers the following three questions:
1. Has Sweden changed its former position and no longer considers the Sami to be an indigenous people?
2. If the answer to the first question is ”no”, is its Sweden’s position that it nonetheless carry no obligations towards the Sami under the international indigenous rights regime?
3. If the answer to the first question is ”no”, why is Sweden saying something different to the court, under such circumstances seemingly trying to deliberately mislead the court?
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