A/HRC/21/47 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 6 July 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-first session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya Summary The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples pursuant to his mandate under Council resolution 15/14. In the report, the Special Rapporteur provides a summary of his activities since his previous report to the Council (A/HRC/18/35), including his examination of the thematic issue of violence against indigenous women. He then reports on progress in his continuing study of issues relating to extractive industries operating on or near indigenous territories. The Special Rapporteur addresses some issues that have arisen during his consultations over the past year with indigenous peoples, business enterprises, States and non-governmental organizations. In particular, he notes that a focus on the rights implicated in the context of a specific extractive or development project is an indispensable starting point for discussions involving extractive industries operating in or near indigenous lands. In this connection, consultation and free, prior and informed consent standards are best conceptualized as safeguards against measures that may affect indigenous peoples’ rights. The Special Rapporteur also suggests that the “protect, respect and remedy” framework, which is incorporated into the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, should apply to advance the specific rights of indigenous peoples in the same way as it applies to advance human rights more generally. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur notes that there is a fundamental problem with the current model of natural resource extraction in which the plans are developed with little or no involvement of the affected indigenous community or peoples concerned, and in which the corporation is both in control and the primary beneficiary of the extractive operation. He suggests that a new model more conducive to indigenous peoples’ self-determination is needed, which he will examine in more detail in a future report. GE.12-15056

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