HRES 574 IH 
introduced the text of the Declaration on the Rights of 
Indigenous Peoples to the U.N. General Assembly; 
Whereas that Declaration called upon governments and cor-
porations to seek the ‘‘informed consent’’ of those indige-
nous peoples before engaging in commercial activities on 
the land of the affected indigenous peoples; 
Whereas Chairman Basagoita, in introducing the Declaration 
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the U.N. General 
Assembly, noted that indigenous peoples were among the 
most vulnerable; that the process of developing that Dec-
laration had begun in 1982; that representatives of indig-
enous peoples had taken part in working on the text, 
thus giving legitimacy to the text; that many efforts had 
been made to meet the concerns expressed by various 
Member States of the U.N. on the draft; that as a result 
of such efforts, several changes were made to the text 
which had been duly communicated to U.N. Member 
States and representatives of indigenous peoples; and 
that the changes to the text, which had not undermined 
the protection of indigenous peoples, would help ensure 
the Declaration’s adoption; 
Whereas, on September 13, 2007, the United Nations Gen-
eral Assembly adopted the landmark Declaration, bring-
ing to an end nearly 25 years of contentious negotiations 
over the rights of native people to protect their lands and 
resources, and to maintain their unique cultures and tra-
ditions; 
Whereas, on June 28, 2008, the National Congress of Peru 
enacted Legislative Decree 1090, which significantly di-
minished the size of Peru’s Forestry Heritage protection 
system; 
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HRES 574 IH 
Whereas, on June 28, 2008, the National Congress of Peru 
also enacted Legislative Decree 1064, which allowed com-
panies with forestry concessions to change their zoning 
permits through Peru’s central government rather than 
the relevant local government; 
Whereas, on May 9, 2009, Peruvian President Alan Garcia 
declared a 60-day state of emergency in certain regions 
of the country, placed those regions under martial law 
and suspended the constitutional rights of the people in 
the region; 
Whereas, on June 5, 2009, in response to Decrees 1064 and 
1090, indigenous peoples in the northern province of 
Bagua, located in Peru’s region of Amazon, protested the 
anticipated exploitation of their ancestral homelands by 
the Peruvian government and foreign and domestic firms; 
Whereas dozens of people were killed when police officers in-
tervened in the protests; 
Whereas, on June 15, 2009, a coalition of 15 organizations 
delivered a letter to Members of Congress as well as high- 
level Obama Administration officials, including Secretary 
of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor Gen-
eral James L. Jones, and U.S. Trade Representative 
Ronald Kirk, calling for the United States ‘‘to take im-
mediate, concrete and public action’’ concerning the on-
going political conflict in Peru between state authorities 
and indigenous peoples; 
Whereas the Constitutional Commission of the Peruvian Con-
gress deemed Legislative Decrees 1090 and 1064 uncon-
stitutional; 
Whereas Peru’s revocation of Legislative Decrees 1090 and 
1064 on June 18, 2009, was a welcome development; and 
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HRES 574 IH 
Whereas the government of Peru as failed to comply with its 
obligations under both the U.N. Declaration on the Right 
of Indigenous Peoples and International Labor Organiza-
tion Convention 169: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) Peru should immediately cease any hostile 
activity against its indigenous peoples and instead 
engage in dialogue to address ongoing political con-
flict between state authorities and indigenous peo-
ples; and 
(2) Peru should comply with the U.N. declara-
tion on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and with 
ILO Convention 169. 
Æ 
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