The Government of Finland misjudged its position on Sámi issues when it became a member of the new UN Human Rights Council last spring.

On May 9, 2006, Finland was elected to the Council based on its freely given commitment to propose to its parliament, during 2006, legislation to remove all obstacles to Finland’s ratification of the ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, dealing with the unresolved rights of the Sámi over land, resources and livelihood. So far, Finland has not fulfilled its commitment to the UN, and, thus, is treading on Sámi human rights.  A proposal of legislation, prepared by ministries in June 2006, has not been acted upon. In September, this year, the member of the Finnish Government has publicly announced that the government is not going to submit the Draft Government Bill to the Parliament. The Sámi are the only indigenous people in the EU. Their rights as an indigenous people are recognized in Finland’s constitution, but their rights to land, resources and livelihood have not been realized, because the relevant legislation is lacking. Foreign Minister of Finland has publicly stated that the unresolved issue of rights to land and livelihood in Sápmi is Finland’s most difficult human rights problem. In Finland, over more than fifty years, there have been six (6) proposals for legislation to resolve the question of Sámi rights to land and livelihood. However, nothing has happened, because Finnish governments never passed any of those proposals to the parliament for action. By today, Sámi rights have not yet been realized, and the Sámi’s position on so-called state lands continues to be hampered at all times by pressure from other economic endeavours.  In Sápmi, the constitutional Sámi home region, 90 % of the area is so-called state lands and the remainder is in private ownership. According to international experts, the situation of the reindeer herding Sámi in Finland fulfills three of the criteria for cultural genocide spelled out in the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples presented to the UN General Assembly. Nevertheless, the State’s ownership rights are not clear; in 2004, the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee viewed the State’s ownership right to those lands previously under Sámi ownership as "questionable". Sámiráđđi/ Saamelaisneuvosto/ Saami Council Suoma sámiid guovddášsearvi ry. /SSG / Finland’s Sámi Central Organization       Contacts: Maria Sofia Aikio, SSG +358-400-282202 Pauliina Feodoroff, Sámi Council +358-40-7364475