Yes, it has been adopted, after 20 years of debate. The United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights was voted during the current UN General Assembly, just two weeks ago. I guess that now I have all the reasons to change the banner at the bottom of my home page. No more petition !

Here is the full text of the Declaration :
http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.SUB.2.RES.1994.45.En

Now, the question is : what will it change for the Taiwan aboriginal people ?

Some aboriginal activists have already said to the government here that Taiwan will only be able to apply fully for a UN seat when its authority is fully respecting the rights of local indigenous minorities.

The minister for Aboriginal Affairs had some comments yesterday on this subject. He is calling for a faster vote of the Aboriginal Basic Law at the legislative yuan, so that the aboriginal people in Taiwan can be garanteed roughly the same rights as the UN declaration garantee to the world indigenous people.

Here is the link to an article detailing the minister thoughts :
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/09/29/2003380898