The Sámi Parliamentary Council (SPC) asks Prime Minister Marin to promote the realisation of the rights of the Sámi to self-determination and understanding of indigenous rights together with the state leadership of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The petition was presented to Marin on Thursday morning in Brussels as she was visiting the Summit of Barents Euro-Arctic Indigenous Sámi People. The SPC also urges state leadership to remember the Sámi people in Russia as the war continues.
The SPC highlights recent examples of challenges related to the right of the Sámi to self-determination in various countries, including the reformation of the Sámi Parliament Act in Finland. The SPC asks states to ensure that indigenous rights to self-determination are understood on all levels of decision-making: locally, nationally and at the level of the European Union. Furthermore, the SPC expresses concerns over the difficult situation faced by the Sámi people in Russia as Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine continues, and asks for their plight not to be forgotten.
The petition has been signed by Presidents of the Nordic Sámi Parliaments, Tuomas Aslak Juuso, Silje Karine Muotka and Håkan Jonsson, who also acts as the President of the SPC. Presidents Jonsson and Muotka handed the petition to Prime Minister Marin together with Anni Koivisto, First Vice Chair of the Sámi Parliament of Finland.
The petition of the Sámi Parliamentary Council is available here.
Further information:
Tuomas Aslak Juuso
President
+358 40 687 3394
tuomas.juuso(at)samediggi.fi
Inka Saara Arttijeff
Secretary for International Affairs
+358 50 574 7629
inka-saara.arttijeff(at)samediggi.fi
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/MG_5377.jpg16672500Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2023-03-23 15:00:132023-03-28 14:26:06The Sámi Parliamentary Council appeals to Prime Minister Marin to ensure the right of the Sámi to self-determination
Young Sámi people have protested against wind farms at Fosen at the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy of Norway in Oslo. The protest started on Thursday 23 February, 500 days after the Supreme Court of Norway stated in its judgment that the wind farms at Fosen had been built without a valid operating licence, violating the rights of the Sámi to enjoy their own culture. The protesters demanded the enforcement of the judgment of the Supreme Court and the demolition of 150 illegal wind power plants in their area. Juuso concurs with the demands of the Sámi in Norway on the enforcement of the judgment.
President Tuomas Aslak Juuso. Image: Sámi Parliament / Johanna Labba.
President of the Sámi Parliament Tuomas Aslak Juuso understands the frustration of the Sámi in the wind farm issue well. “I support the Sámi in Norway with their demands. The rights of the Sámi as an indigenous people must be respected and implemented in reality. In the Fosen case, the Government of Norway must enforce the decision of the Supreme Court without delay,” says Juuso.
The protest started when 500 days had passed from the judgment with no measures whatsoever having been taken. In fact, President Juuso wonders why the State of Norway has not implemented the decisions of its own judicial system. “I find it inconceivable, and it does not show that the State of Norway would respect the rights of indigenous people,” Juuso says.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court of Norway found that the State of Norway violated Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of the UN that protects the culture of indigenous people. ICCPR is also legally valid in Finland.
Further information:
Tuomas Aslak Juuso President 040 687 3394 tuomas.juuso(at)samediggi.fi
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/DSC_4110-scaled.jpg14082048Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2023-03-02 13:04:152023-03-02 18:01:32President Juuso: “The State of Norway must respect the rights of indigenous people”
The Constitutional Law Committee of the Parliament of Finland has stopped handling of the Sámi Parliament Act, which is unlikely to proceed to a vote in a plenary session of Parliament. The intention of the legislative reform was to promote the realisation of the right of self-determination of the Sámi people and to also reform outdated voting practices, for instance.
President Tuomas Aslak Juuso. Photo: Johanna Alatorvinen / The Sámi Parliament.
The Sámi Parliament is disappointed with the decision, although this could be expected as handling was prolonged to the final moments of the electoral period. President Tuomas Aslak Juuso is especially surprised at the Constitutional Law Committee, which the Sámi Parliament hoped would be a non-political body. It should issue statements on bills to be considered in relation to how they adapt to the Constitution of Finland and to international conventions on human rights.
– I wonder how the outcome can be like this. Even the main messages of experts on fundamental rights during hearings and in statements clearly supported the bill in terms of its factual content. Unfortunately it appears that in this matter, political games took control of the Constitutional Law Committee instead of principles that steer its activity. It is regrettable that some Members of Parliament resorted to objecting to the bill for ostensible reasons, President Juuso states.
The Constitutional Law Committee voted to stop handling the bill by referring to schedule-related reasons, which baffles President Juuso.
– In this case, the Constitutional Law Committee has acted in accordance with timetables it has set, and thus it has also failed when it ran out of time. Apparently the Committee has not progressed early enough from a general level to an internal discussion, President Juuso remarks.
President Juuso is grateful to Prime Minister Sanna Marin and to Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson for bringing the matter to this point. He pleads with them and the entire Government of Finland that if they still have an opportunity to bring the Act to a vote, they should seize on it.
– This bill is a strong compromise, prepared over several years that provides a fair response to Finnish obligations. The Executive Board of the Sámi Parliament tried to find solutions for promoting the bill up to the last minute. Still, it is evident that handling of the matter will not become any easier in the future if handling of this bill now ends here, President Juuso comments.
Efforts to reform the Sámi Parliament Act have continued for more than a decade
Sanna Marin’s Government is the third government in succession that has failed to reform the Sámi Parliament Act. A report by the Timonen committee, which prepared the legislative reform, was published in May 2021 but the Act did not proceed to consideration by committees in Parliament until the last possible moments in November 2022. Pressures for reforming the Sámi Parliament Act have also been increased by decisions made by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the UN Human Rights Committee, obligating the government of Finland to reform the Act so it would respect the right of self-determination of the Sámi people as an indigenous people.
The bill, which was founded on several years of work, was supported by the Plenum of the Sámi Parliament as well as by the Skolt Sámi siida council, the Sámi Parliamentary Council, and the Saami Council. It also had the support of numerous expert parties and human rights actors, and the petition organised in favour of the bill garnered 23,000 signatories.
– On behalf of the Sámi Parliament, I wish to extend a warm thank-you to all the Sámi and Finnish private persons who persistently did important work for the legislative reform, President Juuso notes.
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Saka_62022-2-14-scaled.jpg13662048Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2023-02-24 13:50:392023-02-27 15:45:30The Sámi Parliament is disappointed with the decision of the Constitutional Law Committee – the Constitutional Law Committee has stopped handling of the Sámi Parliament Act
Kairat Abdrakhmanov, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, visited Inari from 15 to 16 February 2023. During the visit, the High Commissioner met President of the Sámi Parliament Tuomas Aslak Juuso, as well as 2nd Vice President Leo Aikio. Out of the bodies of the Sámi Parliament, the Advisory Board on Inari Sámi Affairs as well as the Youth Council met the High Commissioner.
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov and President of the Sámi Parliament Tuomas Aslak Juuso. Image: Johanna Alatorvinen / Sámi Parliament.
“I wish to thank the High Commissioner on National Minorities for an important visit. We discussed matters topical to the Sámi, such as the overall situation caused by the reform of the Act on the Sámi Parliament and the resulting tensions. In addition, the High Commissioner was interested in issues such as the impact of climate change on the traditional livelihoods and Sámi culture as well as the opportunities of the Sámi Parliament to influence decision-making,” says Tuomas Aslak Juuso, the President of the Sámi Parliament.
During the visit to Inari, the High Commissioner also met representatives of the Sámi homeland municipalities, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Sámi organisations. The High Commissioner also heard about the current situation of the traditional livelihoods of the Sámi.
In addition to the meetings, the High Commissioner visited Yle Sápmi, the Sámi language department of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, and an Inari Sámi language nest. The High Commissioner also visited Vice President Leo Aikio and learned more about reindeer husbandry.
Vice President Leo Aikio tells the guests about reindeer husbandry. In the image from the left in addition to Aikio: High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov, as well as Zhazira Kul-Mukhammed, Mitra Jalali and Anton Thomsen from the Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities. Image: Johanna Alatorvinen / Sámi Parliament.
The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities strives to prevent and mitigate tensions pertaining to national minorities within the OSCE territory. The work emphasises quiet diplomacy and supporting cooperation between various parties.
Inka-Saara Arttijeff Secretary for International Affairs +358 10 839 3198 / +358 50 574 7629 inka-saara.arttijeff@samediggi.fi
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GD7A1244-scaled.jpg13662048Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2023-02-20 12:10:422023-03-10 14:57:15The Sámi Parliament met the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in Inari
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov visits Inari on 15–16 February 2023. Over the course of the visit, the High Commissioner will meet representatives of the Sámi Parliament, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Skolt Sámi Siida Council, Sámi organisations and Sámi homeland municipalities.
The president of Sámi Parliament Tuomas Aslak Juuso. Image: Johanna Alatorvinen / The Sámi Parliament.
– It is great to see the OSCE show interest towards Sámi matters, in particular because the object of the visit is to discuss the Act on the Sámi Parliament and the general situation caused by it. The OSCE plays an important role in securing the rights of national minorities, says Tuomas Aslak Juuso, President of the Sámi Parliament.
During the visit, the High Commissioner for National Minorities will also examine economic matters and visit the Yle Sápmi editorial office and an Inari Sámi language nest.
The OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities strives to prevent and mitigate tensions pertaining to national minorities within the OSCE territory. The work emphasises quiet diplomacy and supporting cooperation between various parties.
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Saka_62022-2-14-scaled.jpg13662048Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2023-02-14 13:39:532023-03-07 12:47:48OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to visit Inari
The Sámi Parliamentary Council (SPC) is deeply concerned that the Finnish government has not yet submitted the act to the Parliament of Finland. The council demands the end of the current human rights treaty violations in Finland and necessary actions to secure the Sámi Peoples’ right to self-determination through the Sámi Parliament in Finland as a representative body.
The Sámi Parliamentary Council, the co-operational body for the Sámi parliaments in Finland, Norway, and Sweden, has referred to the process of a new Sámi Parliament Act in Finland. The statement was signed by the President of the Sámi Parliamentary Council and the Sámi Parliament in Sweden Håkan Jonsson, the Vice President of the Sámi Parliamentary Council and the President of Sámi Parliament in Norway Silje Karine Muotka and the Vice President of the Sámi Parliamentary Council and the President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland Tuomas Aslak Juuso.
The Sámi Parliamentary Council recalls that, under article 33 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions, and the right to determine the structures and to select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.
The Council corrects misinformation concerning the election criteria
The Sámi Parliamentary Council has also noticed misinformation in Finland about the electoral role, falsely claiming that the amended criteria in the new act would make the criteria much stricter on the Finnish side than the Swedish and Norwegian sides.
– The fact is that the amended criteria would be similar to the criteria on the Norwegian side and in full compliance with the criteria in the Nordic Sami Convention, in which, at this point, all the parties (Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the three Sámi Parliaments) have agreed on, the Council notes.
More information on the Sámi Parliamentary Council
The Sámi Parliamentary Council (SPC) is the co-operational body for the Sámi parliaments in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Sámi parliaments in Norway, Sweden and Finland each lead the council for a period of 16 months. The secretariat is the Sámi Parliament which is in charge of the council at that time. Sámi Parliament’s Plenum chooses the representatives for the electoral period.
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/WP_20160819_10_25_30_Pro-e1618908324606.jpg30721728Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2022-11-16 12:22:082022-11-16 12:27:45The Sámi Parliamentary Council deeply concerned about the lack of progression with the Act on the Sámi Parliament
Do you know the customs and must-nots of Sámi culture like the back of your hand? Test your knowledge with the new Sámi tourism quiz and watch the animation on holistic sustainability. Sámi Parliament in Finland has published Responsible Sámi Tourism Visitor Guidance with its accompanying materials at www.samediggi.fi/saamelaismatkailu/en/.
Illustration: Sunna Kitti
The visitor guidance is primarily aimed at national and international visitors, non-local travel industry entrepreneurs and employees arriving in Sámi Homeland. Tourism study teachers and students may also utilise the materials if interested in Sámi tourism. At the moment, the site is available in Finnish and English.
– General knowledge regarding Sámi people, their history and modern Sámi society is still superficial, and often coloured by preconceptions and misrepresentations. Hence, increasing and distributing truthful information and knowledge about the Sámi also through tourism is crucial, says Tuomas Aslak Juuso, the President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland.
– I hope the visitor guidance for Sámi tourism will be widely used and it benefits as many stakeholders as possible. We want to encourage tourists to make responsible and ethically sustainable choices while visiting Sámi Homeland in Finland, continues Leo Aikio, the II Vice President of Sámi Parliament in Finland.
Visitor guidance for Sámi tourism and tourism in Sámi Homeland introduces the visitors to special characteristics of the region and Sámi culture. This digital material package is designed to meet the current challenges in tourism and to guide visitors on how to respect and take into consideration Sámi communities and their culture. In addition to the actual visitor guidance, the new site includes animation on holistic sustainability, vision of optional futures, large vocabulary on Sámi tourism and Sámi Homeland, as well as quiz to test one’s newly acquired knowledge.
– In addition to the vocabulary, the whole site still needs small adjustments. However, that is the benefit of digital material package. As it is updatable, it is easy to react to new touristic trends and challenges depending on how they affect daily lives and festivities of local communities, says Kirsi Suomi, the co-ordinator of the project.
Responsible Tourist Is Aware of Being a Guest at Local People’s Home
Sámiland has been home to Sámi people since time immemorial. When visiting Sámiland, a tourist is a guest in a special and precious cultural landscape that has been formed and sustained by everyday life and festivities of the Sámi, the only indigenous people within the area of the European Union. This living cultural landscape still enables the vitality and wellbeing of Sámi culture and transmission of it all to future generations.
In all the places, where our deeds and footprints reach and affect, we all share responsibility of our future together. Together we can make today more responsible and ethically sustainable. Tomorrow’s generations also need all this beauty and richness to live and experience.
This responsible visitors’ guidance website is based on the ethical guidelines for Sámi tourism adopted by the Sámi Parliament in Finland in 2018. Sunna Kitti’s illustrations clarify and exemplify ethical guidelines’ message of how to behave and act in order to secure more responsible and ethically sustainable future in Sámi Homeland and support the continuation of Sámi culture.
Sámi Parliament’s Responsible Sámi Tourism Visitor Guidance with its accompanying materials has been financed by Ministry of Education and Culture.
More information:
Tuomas Aslak Juuso President of Sámi Parliament in Finland +358 40 687 3394 tuomas.juuso@samediggi.fi
Leo Aikio II Vice President of Sámi Parliament in Finland +358 40 621 6505 leo.aikio@samediggi.fi
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Kuva-tietovisa.jpg607861Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2022-05-16 07:58:262022-05-16 08:02:00Discover Responsible Visitor’s Guidance to Sámi Culture and Sámi Homeland in Finland
The 6th conference of Sámi Parliamentarians is held in Inari on the 19th of May 2022. The conference was originally meant to take place in 2020, but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference takes place over one day. The conference will have participants from the Sámi Parliaments in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. There will also be participants from a Russian Sámi organisation, who will take part as observers.
– It is great that the Sámi Parliamentarians can get together in Inari and discuss matters that affect us all, such as the challenges with climate change, traditional knowledge, and the latest developments of Sámi rights, says Tuomas Aslak Juuso, the President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland.
The themes of this year’s conference are, among other things, climate change, traditional knowledge, and the latest developments of Sámi rights. The conference will have lectures from experts in these fields, who share the latest knowledge to the Parliamentarians.
The conference of Sámi Parliamentarians is held every three years. The Sámi Parliamentary Council is responsible of organising the conference, and this year the responsibility is on the Sámi Parliament in Finland.
More information:
Tuomas Aslak Juuso President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland 040 687 3394 tuomas.juuso@samediggi.fi
https://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/MG_6185.jpg8771500Sámediggihttps://www.samediggi.fi/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SD_logo_web.pngSámediggi2022-05-10 15:42:202022-05-10 15:42:21The conference of Sámi Parliamentarians will be held in Inari in May
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