Fragmentation – A Continuous Obstacle to the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to their Cultural Resources

Abstract

Indigenous cultural resources are addressed in international law by several regimes, mainly UNESCO, the intellectual property regime, and, of course, international human rights. The recognition of indigenous rights, especially though the adoption in 2007 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (hereinafter the “UNDRIP”) (United Nations General Assembly 2007), has certainly intensified the discussion on the protection of indigenous cultural resources and has helped their untangling. Yet, the implementation of the newly recognised rights still leaves a lot to be desired.

This chapter discusses the current standards of international human rights law governing indigenous cultural resources...