UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF BUDDHIST PEOPLES AND SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES
The Presidency of Maitreya
Buddhist University, of the World
Association of Buddhism and of the Buddhist
Tribunal on Human Rights;
Presenting this Declaration before the World Association of Theravada on
October 10, 2016;
Guided by the principles and purposes of the Awakening,
the Law and the Commune of Buddhist People, which entail both rights and
special duties;
Consistent with international instruments developed
within the Maitriyana movement such as the Universal
Declaration of Spiritual Rights, the Universal
Declaration of Ecological Rights and the Universal Declaration on the Right to World Peace;
Recalling the principles of the international
community, such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Declaration on the rights of persons
belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;
Observing the international standards mentioned in International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention
No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (1989), and also in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples;
Whereas the evolution of Buddhist Law since two
thousand six hundred years has produced social changes in the situation of
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities in all continents of the world,
requiring that International Law to adopt new laws that recognize the
pre-existence and validity of these ancestral ethical rules;
Assuming that Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities have their own laws, spiritual values, customs and perspectives
which have been eroded by the States;
Perceiving that in many countries of the world the
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities cannot enjoy their fundamental
freedoms and their individual and collective human rights and with the same
general quality than the rest of the population of the States in which they
inhabit;
Recognizing that the aspirations of Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities toward the Cure from suffering involve taking control
of their own lifestyles and social institutions, practicing a pacifist
politics, developing an equitable economy, strengthening an educational culture
and maintaining a sustainable ecology within the framework of the States in
which they live;
Affirming the enormous contributions of the Buddhist
Peoples and Spiritual Communities to the history of different civilizations and
cultures, human thought, social peace, planetary harmony and spiritual heritage
of humanity;
Establishing that members of the Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities have the same human rights as the rest of humanity,
including the right to be different and to be respected as such;
By stating that all members of the Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities have the same spiritual value, so that any doctrine
or practice manifesting superiority of certain individuals over others for
reasons of national, geographic, racial, ethnic or cultural origin constitutes
an expression that is philosophically racist, scientifically false, juridically
illegal, ethically questionable and socially unjust;
Reaffirming that compliance with human rights, both
individual and collective, implies that Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities are not subject to discrimination;
Concerned about the fact that historically the
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities have suffered social injustice as a
result of phenomena such as discrimination, oppression, colonization, genocide,
ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, among others, being dispossessed
of their territories, monuments, freedom of expression and cultural resources, particularly
their right to development in accordance with their spiritual interests;
Promoting the need to respect the inherent rights of
the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities that emerge from their
political, economic, cultural and environmental structures, as well as their
spiritual traditions and philosophies of life, especially the rights to
self-determination and freedom;
Celebrating the fact that Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities around the world are organizing themselves into
international associations and federations in order to promote its political,
economic, cultural and environmental development, that involves vanishing all
social injustice that their members are suffering;
Convinced that if Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities exercise control over their territories and social resources, their
cultural institutions and spiritual traditions will be developed to the maximum
to meet their needs and supreme aspirations;
Respecting the ancient knowledge, traditional laws and
contemplative practices of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities as a way
to contribute to sustainable and equitable development of all humankind;
Highlighting the enormous contribution of the demilitarization
of lands on the part of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities in favor of
world peace, social justice, advanced education and ecological harmony, by
teaching that friendship and reconciliation between nations is indispensable
for the survival of the world;
Appreciating the right of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities to participate in social responsibility for welfare,
education and raising of children in their communes;
Appreciating that the rights affirmed in international
conventions, covenants and declarations, especially those involving Buddhist
Peoples and Spiritual Communities, are issues of international concern;
Considering that the recognition of collective rights
of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities will encourage harmonious
relations with States on the basis of the principles of justice, democracy and
human rights;
Encouraging States to respect and fully comply with their
internationally legal obligations toward the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities, establishing relations based on liberty, equality and fraternity;
Considering that it is the task of spiritual masters,
apprentices and followers to play a significant role for the promotion and
protection of collective rights of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities;
Evaluating that this Universal Declaration constitutes
a fundamental step towards the recognition and fulfillment of the collective
rights and fundamental freedoms of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities;
Contemplating that the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities not only possess all individual human rights without discrimination
but they also possess collective human rights that are indispensable for their
existence, welfare and tribal or communal development;
Admitting that the situation of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities varies in each region of the world, having to take into
account the importance of national and regional particularities of the
countries where its members dwell;
Confirming that nothing contained in this Universal
Declaration shall be construed as giving any community or Buddhist People the
right to perform an act contrary to the Ethics, Fundamental Freedoms and Human
Rights;
Clarifying that the following provisions have been
established thanks to the contributions of wisdom and compassion of thousands
of masters, apprentices and followers of different times and places, who from
their different levels have had the Supreme Purpose to continue and promote the
Spiritual Path resurged by Siddharta Gautama 2600 years ago;
Solemnly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities,
on October 10, 2016, whose text below indicates the common ideal to be achieved
in pursuit of the spirit of solidarity and mutual support:
Part I: Politics
Article 1: This Universal Declaration applies to
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities living in independent countries who
are descended from indigenous, aboriginal or native populations which inhabited
the country or geographical region prior to colonization or establishment of
the current State, and preserve part of their own political, economic, cultural
and legal institutions.
Article 2: The present Universal Declaration applies
to Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities living in independent countries,
even if they are not original inhabitants thereof, provided that their social
lifestyle is tribal or communitarian, being ruled partially or completely by
its own traditions, customs and special legislations.
Article 3: The awareness of their tribal or communal
identity is a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the
provisions of this Universal Declaration apply.
Article 4: States have the duty to take legal
responsibility for developing systematic and coordinated actions in order to
protect individual rights and collective rights of the Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities, ensuring respect for their physical, mental and
spiritual integrity. These governmental actions must include:
·
measures
to ensure that members of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities are
able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities as the rest of the population;
·
measures
to promote full compliance with the political, economic, cultural and
environmental rights, respecting their social identity, their spiritual
traditions and their institutions;
·
measures
to help members of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities to eliminate
socio-economic differences that exist with the other members of the national
population in a way that is consistent with their spiritual aspirations and
lifestyles.
Article 5: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to fully enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms without any
discrimination, coercion or obstacle, by applying the provisions of this
Universal Declaration into men members and women members without discrimination.
Article 6: States have the duty to take necessary
special measures to safeguard individuals and institutions of Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities, having to take care of their security, their jobs
and communal assets as well as their cultures and environment. These special
measures should not be contrary to public expressions of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities, nor should they undermine the civil rights of the
beneficiaries.
Article 7: States have the duty to recognize and protect
institutional integrity and spiritual practices of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities by giving full attention to individual and collective
problems these peoples face, especially the difficulties associated with living
conditions and subsistence.
Article 8: States have the duty to consult Buddhist
Peoples and Spiritual Communities in order to reach agreements or obtain informed,
prior and free consent, by means of appropriate and respectful procedures of
their tribal representative institutions, at each time administrative,
legislative or judicial measures that are designed to affect them directly,
providing them with the ability to manage or participate in decision-making
(formulation, implementation and evaluation) of programs and projects of state
development that directly affect them, in accordance with their own procedures
and institutions.
Article 9: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to maintain and develop their own political, economic, cultural
and legal institutions, while maintaining the right to fully participate -if
they wish- in the political, economic, cultural and environmental life of the
rest of society.
Article 10: States have the duty to take social
customs, legislative institutions and customary Law of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities into account, provided these are not incompatible with
the fundamental freedoms and human rights nationally and internationally
recognized, having to highlight the traditional methods of conflict resolution
both in cases of crimes committed by their members as well as in cases where
the members are the victims. To do this, the judicial authorities and state
courts should take duly into account the customary Law and social customs of
the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities.
Article 11: The Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities have the right to fast, fair and equitable procedures for the
peaceful resolution of conflicts with States and disputes with private
institutions and other citizens, as well as full reparation of the injuries
they have suffered on their individual and collective rights. In these
procedures it should be duly taken into account the international human rights
laws, traditional customs, ethical standards and Tribal legal systems of
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities.
Article 12: The Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities have the right to combat greed, hatred and deceit, by seeking the
evanescence of these psychological and social venoms simultaneously
promulgating precepts against the killing of living beings, corruption,
slander, sexual crimes and drug addiction.
Article 13: States have the duty to take account the
political, economic, cultural and environmental characteristics of the members
of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, when attempting to impose
criminal or civil penalties to those members, having to prioritize other types
of sanctions different from imprisonment and violence. These legal procedures
should respect the human rights of members but also the collective rights of
the representative bodies of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities.
Article 14: States have the duty to ensure that
governmental authorities in charge of the collective rights of Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities properly recognize, observe, abide, respect and
comply their constitutional functions and also the agreements and laws of
international treaties, especially on tribal communities and ethnic minorities,
having to consult to the spiritual commune about legislative measures, planning,
coordination, implementation and evaluation of social programs that affect them
directly, such as health and housing.
Article 15: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the collective right to live in liberty and peace, maintaining their
spiritual difference with regard to the general population without being
subjected to any act of violence.
Article 16: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the collective right to reject the militarization of their territories,
while this state practice infringes upon the healthy and adequate survival of
their social lifestyle.
Article 17: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to struggle against the evils of war, injustice, ignorance and
pollution.
Part II: Economics
Article 18: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to establish and determine their own development projects of
their social institutions, such as political, economic, juridical and
educational systems and for such purposes they should receive the financial and
technical resources through States or international organizations, without
discrimination regarding their own priorities and strategies with regards to
the processes of social development, to the extent that it affects their
survival, lifestyles, beliefs, lands and spiritual well-being.
Article 19: International bodies and intergovernmental
organizations have a duty to contribute with technical and financial means to
the full realization of the rights of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities, establishing procedures to ensure the participation of communes in
matters that involve them.
Article 20: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to free determination and control of their own political,
economic, cultural and environmental development in order to enforce their
human rights. Whenever they have been deprived of their means of survival and
development activities, they are entitled to demand a just and fair redress.
Article 21: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities, from their right to self-determination, have collective rights to
autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal affairs, also
having the right to dispose of means for financing their autonomous functions
and activities.
Article 22: States have a duty to consider the
improvement of living conditions, such as health, education, work, housing and security
as a priority of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, carrying out
effective measures and special projects of ongoing social development in the
regions where they live without negatively influence in their politics,
economy, culture and environment, and mindfully taking care of the conditions
of women, children, elderly and disabled people of the communes.
Article 23: States have the duty to take special
measures to ensure work or to protect the economic conditions of the Buddhist
Peoples and Spiritual Communities, in so far as members are not effectively
protected by labor legislation.
Article 24: States have the duty to undertake measures
to prevent any kind of discrimination against Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities, especially in matters of social justice and freedom of association.
Article 25: States have the duty to refrain from
attempt to charge taxes on Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities,
respecting not only their economic autonomy but also the reality that they have
limited income and it is mainly used for humanitarian purposes.
Article 26: States have the duty to advocate for the
strengthening and promotion of activities of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities that are related to their subsistence economy, such as donations,
agriculture, meditation retreats and handicrafts, among others, and must
recognize the preservation of their culture as an element inseparable of
economic and social development which is always sustained, equitable,
sustainable and healthy.
Article 27: States have the duty to make adequate and
totally free health services available to the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities, without discrimination about their economic or geographical
conditions, giving them the option to organize and control their own
traditional systems of integrative medicine with the aim that its members enjoy
the highest level of physical, mental, social and spiritual health. Therefore,
prevention methods, Healing practices and natural medicines of Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities must be respected.
Article 28: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop intellectual property
of their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, artistic cultural expressions
and scientific discoveries.
Part III: Culture
Article 29: States have the duty to take measures in
cooperation with the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, in order to
protect and preserve their spirituality and transmission system of knowledge.
Article 30: Members of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities have the right to be provided with professional training means,
with at least the same quality as the rest of citizens, and these professional
training means being provided by the State or by its own educational
institutions.
Article 31: States have the duty to create or support
professional training programs that respond to the cultural and spiritual needs
of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, which if they wish can progressively
assume responsibility to organize such special training programs.
Article 32: States have the duty to take measures to
ensure that members of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities have the
chance to learn all the available skills and educational levels they wish, on
equal rights with the rest of the national population by providing them with
educational programs that meet their historical needs, knowledge, languages,
techniques, spiritual values and social aspirations.
Article 33: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
not only have the right to participate in the formulation and implementation of
programs of state education, but also have the right to assume responsibility
for the establishment and monitoring of their own institutions and educational
facilities in harmony with their own cultural methods of teaching and learning.
Article 34: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to teach, preserve and promote their own original or native
languages, having to simultaneously learn the main national language of the
country they inhabit to avoid alienating themselves from the rest of the
citizens. Even, they also have the right to access the possibility to learn the
main international language in order to set cultural ties with members of the
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities around the world.
Article 35: States have the duty to implement
appropriate measures and even international treaties to facilitate the
maintenance and development of relations, social links and spiritual
cooperation of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, both among its
members and with other nations whose relationship exceeds international
borders, having to encompass effective measures facilitating their political,
economic, cultural and environmental activities at international level.
Article 36: States have the duty to take measures at
all educational levels and in all sectors of the media in order to eliminate
any discrimination or prejudice that might exist with respect to Buddhist Peoples
and Spiritual Communities, even having to ensure that cultural and didactic teaching
materials nationwide provide an equitable, accurate and informative description
of the ancient history of the spiritual commune, duly reflecting their stories,
aspirations, cultural traditions and dignity, so that understanding and
tolerance in society prevail.
Article 37: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to establish their own information media and also to access all
other public and private media without discrimination. To this end, States have
a duty to ensure that public information media correctly reflect the cultural
diversity of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, taking into account
their special vulnerability due that they are ethnic minorities.
Article 38: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to choose, promote and develop their own cultural identity or
sense of belonging to their spiritual tradition as well as the right to choose
the composition of their social and institutional structures in accordance with
their own juridical procedures, Spirituality, traditional practices and ethical
customs, in conformity with international human rights standards and without
undermining the right of members to enjoy the citizenship or nationality of the
States in which they live.
Article 39: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to determine the responsibilities of individuals and groups
toward their communes.
Article 40: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right not to be submitted to forced cultural assimilation or the
destruction of their transmission systems of knowledge, receiving respect and
non-discrimination for their cultural values and ethnic identity.
Article 41: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to enjoy and belong to the traditions and customs of their
spiritual tribal nation without receiving discrimination of any kind.
Article 42: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural movement, by
maintaining, protecting and developing the manifestations of past, present and
future, which include the right to manage its archaeological and historical
sites as well as its objects, ceremonies, visual arts and literature. States
have the duty to provide effective mechanisms for redress and restitution of
cultural, intellectual and spiritual heritage of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual
Communities when they had been deprived of them without informed, prior and
free consent and or when they have violated their laws, traditions and customs.
Article 43: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their ethical
traditions, cultural practices and spiritual ceremonies, using and protecting
their places of worship. States have the duty to seek the repatriation of
objects and places of worship of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities.
Article 44: States have the duty to protect the right
of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities to revitalize and transmit to
future generations their histories, languages, traditions, philosophies,
literatures and languages, including ensuring the right to give name to their
own people, places and communities.
Article 45: States have the duty to adopt administrative
and legislative measures that are respectful of legal systems and spiritual
traditions of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, in order to apprise
them their constitutional rights and duties, especially their tribal collective
rights as regards to political autonomy, economic possibilities, cultural
issues of education and justice, and rights to peace and a healthy environment.
Part IV: Environment
Article 46: States have the duty to respect the
special importance and spiritual relationship that nature and Mother Earth have
in cultures and values of Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities, having to
protect the territories and habitats inhabited by its members.
Article 47: States have the duty to recognize to the
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities the right of collective possession
and ownership of the territories that have traditionally been cared, occupied,
possessed or used by their members both in the present and in the past. In
addition, in appropriate cases, steps must be taken to safeguard the right of
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities to possess cultural heritage and of
subsistence they currently are not occupying, such as territories of
agriculture, temples, monuments and natural resources, which have been expropriated;
having to recuperate their right to use, management, conservation and
development of said cultural and environmental resources.
Article 48: States have the duty to fully repair,
restore or indemnify the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities for damage
or past expropriation of its institutions and collective territories, while it
must be ensured the prohibition of any future loss of land and monasteries
currently occupied. In consensual settlement with Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities, such compensations must consist of monetary reparations,
territories and resources on equal quality, extension and legal condition.
Article 49: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right not to be forcibly displaced from their territories and
environment, with which they maintain a relationship of cultural and spiritual
symbiosis, so that any transfer must have the informed, prior and free consent
in order to receive compensations for such actions.
Article 50: States have the duty to respect the
modalities of transmission of the inherent rights collectively owned by
Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities through juridical protection and
recognition of their territories, preventing that individuals who are foreign
or alien to such tribal commune take illegitimate possession of those lands.
Any unauthorized intrusion in territories and monuments are offenses that must
be adequately prevented and sanctioned by States, duly respecting the
traditional customs of the Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities.
Article 51: States must to assign the benefit from
allocation of additional lands to Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
when those lands they own are not sufficient to ensure the elements of a
healthy life such as clean water, clean air and fertile soil.
Article 52: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to maintain healthy and adequate natural resources to be able to
compose their traditional medicines and health practices, including the
protection of their medicinal plants, animals and vital minerals. This benefit
must not undermine the non-discriminatory access to social and health services
of the State.
Article 53: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to protection and development of the environment, so that States
have the duty to establish and implement programs of social assistance to
ensure the ecological conservation of their territories and natural resources
without any discrimination, such as prohibitions for water pollution, storage
of hazardous substances, mining, deforestation and hunting, having to take
steps to mitigate the harmful consequences of political, economic, cultural,
environmental and spiritual order.
Article 54: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to determine the development of priorities and strategies to use
their territories and their sustainable development.
Article 55: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to demand the international community the fulfillment of their
environmental rights and the care for nature, demanding the implementation of
effective measures to combat global warming and other planetary disorders.
Article 56: Buddhist Peoples and Spiritual Communities
have the right to maintain and strengthen their own spiritual relationship with
nature, playing the international role of representative of future generations
and the Mother Earth, without impairing or suppressing individual and
collective rights that may be additionally acquired in the future.
Article 57: The rights to peace and healthy
environment recognized in this Universal Declaration constitute the minimum
laws for survival, dignity, welfare and liberty of Buddhist Peoples and
Spiritual Communities around the world.
By
H.E. Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha
President of the World
Association of Buddhism, the Maitreya
Buddhist University and the Buddhist
Tribunal on Human Rights
