the right to
decide
Even when sufficient information is
provided about a particular project or
plan, people, and particularly marginalized
groups like indigenous people, people of
color and women, are not always allowed
access to decision-making channels. The
right to decide is crucial to people's
self-determination, a fundamental principle
in human rights law that holds that people
can “ freely determine their political
status and freely pursue their economic,
social and cultural development” (UN
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights).
The principle of free, prior and
informed consent requires securing the
consensus of all members of a group to a
project within their area. In Papua New
Guinea , for example, it requires that
communities confer amongst themselves
according to their customary decision
making systems and through their own
representative institutions. Adequate time,
a full and transparent provision of
information in appropriate forms and
languages, and the absence of duress,
intimidation, threat and negative
incentives are all required. This right has
been instrumental in the stoping of illegal
logging by a Malaysian corporation in Papua
New Guinea . Furthermore, the 1997
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act in the
Philippines requires prior informed consent
for corporate projects in ancestral lands
and domains (see
page
).
n Nigeria , communities affected by the
proposed West African Gas Pipeline are
asking the Federal High Court to cancel the
Environmental Impact Assessment for the
project on the grounds that the companies
did not consult communities as legally
required. As the people living along the
route of the pipeline will be most affected
by the project, they are asserting their
rights to be involved in the
decision-making process and to determine
their own futures
