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

Abstract

The salmon stocks of the Deatnu River, in the core area of Sápmi, 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
• international human rights
• international negotiations
• Norway
• Sami
• salmon