NEW YORK – The United States remains the only major country not to have ratified a United Nations document asserting cultural, religious and language rights for the children of indigenous populations.
The document, called “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” was adopted by the General Assembly of the UN in 1989, after 10 years of discussion following the UN’s “Year of the Child” in 1979.
But the U.S., apparently out of anti-UN sentiment according to one UN staffer, is one of only three countries in the assembly not to have ratified the convention. The other two are Somalia, and the newly independent country of Timor-Leste.
One hundred ninety-one countries have ratified the convention. The United States and Somalia have signed the document (the United States in 1995) but their governments have never ratified it.
Although the Convention is a general document, applying to children everywhere, it references indigenous children specifically in one of its articles.
Article 30 of the Convention provides that “a child ? who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her culture, to profess and practice his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.”
Although the U.S. decision not to sign the document apparently is not directly related to Native populations, for many people in Indian country the non-recognition of indigenous children’s rights will bring up echoes of the U.S. government’s odious long-time policy of “legal kidnapping,” separating American Indian children from their parents and adopting them out. Many Native families still feel the heartrending effects of these forced separations.
In this context, Article 9 of the Convention addresses separation from parents, saying, “A child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child.”
Article 9 also states “all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known.”
The 54-article Convention is a wide-ranging document that addresses both human rights concerns raised by Western nations and social concerns raised by Eastern countries.
According to an unofficial summary of the preamble, the document “affirms the fact that children, because of their vulnerability, need special care and attention, and it places special emphasis on the primary caring and protective responsibility of the family.”
And it also “reaffirms the need for legal and other protection of the child before and after birth.”
The articles of the document provide for children’s freedom of expression, thought, conscience, religion and association. There are sections on non-discrimination, protection from abuse and neglect, adoption, refugees, health services, education, child labor, prevention of sexual exploitation, prevention of torture, juvenile justice, and many others.
