One Valley, Three Hands: The Bilateral Negotiations of the Deatnu Agreement and Its Impact on Sami People's Rights

• Author: Áike Niillas Peder Selfors
• Pages: 52-73

One Valley, Three Hands: The Bilateral

Negotiations of the Deatnu Agreement

and Its Impact on Sami People’s Rights

A

´ike Niillas Peder Selfors*,

Student of Philosophy in Masters of Indigenous Studies, Center for Sami Studies

(SESAM), UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

Abstract

The salmon stocks of the Deatnu River, in the core area of Sa´pmi, the traditional lands of the Sami

people, have been designated as critically endangered. In November 2011, Norway and Finland

agreed to renegotiate the agreement that regulates salmon fishing in the Deatnu River. This article

explores the safeguards under international human rights law that are available to the Sami people

in the Deatnu Valley in connection with this renegotiation process. Since the Sami people are

recognized as an indigenous people in both countries, the negotiations touch upon several core issues

of indigenous peoples’ rights, amongst these: the principle of self-determination, the principle of non-

discrimination, and indigenous issues related to international border regulations. The article shows

that the ongoing negotiations’ structure and preparations, to all appearances, have violated the rights

of the Sami people. Consequently, risking a dissemination of further violations of Sami people’s

rights*both, in regards to the negotiation process, and in what may be the new Deatnu Agreement.

Keywords: Deatnu;Finland;indigenous peoples;international border areas;inter na-

tional human rights;international negotiations;Norway;Sami;salmon

Received: September 2014; Accepted: December 2014; Published: March 2015

1. Introduction

1

1.1. Background, goals, and structure of paper

In November 2011, Norway and Finland agreed to renegotiate the Deatnu

Agreement

2

on salmon fishing in the Deatnu River, one of the world’s most

important rivers for Atlantic salmon. The Deatnu River is 360 km long, marks the

international border between Norway and Finland, and runs through the core area of

Sa´pmi, the traditional lands of the Sami people.

3

The aim of the negotiations is to

renew and update the regulations pertaining to salmon fishing.

4

The average total

annual haul in the Deatnu River is a massive 160 tons, but like many other rivers,

catches can vary significantly from season to season.

5

This makes assessing the Deatnu

*Correspondence to: A

´ike Niillas Peder Selfors, Student of Philosophy in Masters of

Indigenous Studies, Center for Sami Studies (SESAM), UiT TheArcticUniversityof

Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway. Email: ase008@post.uit.no

Arctic Review on Law and Politics

Vol. 6, No. 1, 2015, pp. 5273

#2015 A

´. N. Peder Selfors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and

redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transfor m, and build upon the material for any purpose,

even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

Citation: A

´. N. Peder Selfors. ‘‘One Valley, Three Hands: The Bilateral Negotiations of the Deatnu Agreement

and Its Impact on Sami People’s Rights.’’ Arctic Review on Law and Politics, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2015, pp. 5273.

http://dx.doi.org/10.17585/arctic.v6.59 52

salmon stocks challenging. Nonetheless, an effort between fisheries experts and local

fisheries expert premised on an amalgam of scientific methods and traditional Sami

knowledge has led to a designation of the stocks as critically endangered.

6

As a result,

government officials and politicians have sought a renewal of the regulations in order

to save the Deatnu salmon stocks. The negotiations have been ongoing since June

2012, but the parties have not been able to reach agreement within the original time

frame, a situation which has met with criticism.

7

In November 2014, the negotiating

parties announced that their conclusions can be expected before the end of 2016.

8

The Sami society in the Deatnu Valley is highly engaged in the regulations that

impact salmon fishing in the Deatnu River, and the renegotiation of the Deatnu

Agreement is no exception.

9

This involvement has not only shown the Sami people’s

special relationship with and common interest in salmon fishing, but has also

revealed conflicts between different sectors of society and areas of the river.

The international border between Norway and Finland lies in the middle of the

Sami community in the Deatnu Valley. Since the Sami are an indigenous people,

12

the

negotiations on salmon fishing in the Deatnu River touch upon several core issues

of indigenous peoples’ rights. Firstly, a study of these negotiations may reveal how

international indigenous peoples’ rights can be implemented on a national level, and

thus shed light not only on best practices, but also on possible implementation gaps

regarding indigenous peoples’ rights in other countr ies.

Secondly, the negotiations may, in many ways, work as a litmus test for indigenous

rights in international negotiations. The negotiations are between two countries

where one, Norway, has ratified the International Labour Convention number 169 on

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples

13

(ILO 169), and the other, Finland, although expected

to, has yet to ratify it. A study of international negotiations between two such states

may also reveal the interplay between international law and domestic law, as well as

how indigenous peoples’ customary laws impact such negotiations.

Thirdly, it is also interesting to see how Sami communities and their representative

institutions have been able to influence negotiations between the two nation states.

Considering the role of the Sami people in the bilateral negotiations is equally as

important as considering the impact of the nation states on the Sami people.

These issues touch upon three main variables in socio-legal research: indigenous

peoples’ customs (i.e. the Sami), inter national indigenous peoples’ rights, and

negotiations between states on issues concerning indigenous peoples’ living in these

states.

14

In this article, the goal is to explore if and how safeguards under international law

protect the interests of the Sami population and its culture in the Deatnu Valley in

connection with the renegotiation of the Deatnu Agreement.

The article begins with a brief overview of how international human rights relate to

indigenous peoples. The next section provides a general overview of the historical

context and current situation in the Deatnu Valley.

10

The article also includes a

summary of the provisions of international law that protect the Sami population in

the Deatnu Valley, and how they work.

11

In regards to the negotiation process, the

issue of self-determination is particularly relevant. Therefore, the article examines

One Valley, Three Hands

53