Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 1553 entities
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In her 2015 report to the General Assembly (A/70/301), the Special Rapporteur concluded that the protections that international investment agreements provide to foreign investors can have significant impacts on indigenous peoples' rights. In order to gain further insights into the issue she sent questionnaires to States Members of the United Nations, indigenous peoples and civil society organizations and, in cooperation with the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba), organized a series of regional and global consultations with indigenous peoples and experts in the area of international investment law and human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- This research indicates that there are significant impacts on indigenous peoples' rights as a result of the international investment regime, in addition to the impacts of the investments themselves. These impacts are manifested in the subordination of those rights to investor protections, generally as a result of a phenomenon referred to as regulatory chill and serious deficiencies in the dispute resolution process instituted by the investment regime.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The present report is the second of three that the Rapporteur dedicates to this issue. She has previously introduced the topic and touched on some of the impacts of international investment agreements on indigenous peoples' rights and the more systemic issues associated with the international investment law regime. In the present report, she seeks to further contextualize and examine those impacts by focusing on cases involving such agreements and rights. In her final report, she will reflect on the standards of protections that those agreements afford and contextualize them in the light of developments in international human rights law and the sustainable development agenda as they pertain to indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- In doing so, the Special Rapporteur seeks to promote coherence in international investment law and international human rights law and ensure that State fulfilment of duties pertaining to indigenous peoples' rights is not obstructed by protections afforded to investors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The international investment regime consists of 3,268 international investment agreements, comprising almost 3,000 bilateral investment treaties and more than 300 investment chapters of bilateral or regional free trade agreements. These agreements, between States, provide legal protections to investors of "home States" for their investments in "host States".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- International investment agreements tend to follow a standard format, with provisions on: prohibiting expropriation or "regulatory taking" without compensation; national treatment or non-discrimination, meaning that foreign investors are treated no less favourably than domestic investors; "most favoured nation treatment", requiring the same standard of treatment available to other foreign investors; "fair and equitable treatment", or "minimum international standards of treatment", which can be very broad in scope, generally including protection of investors' "legitimate expectations";and full protection and security for investments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- International investment agreements also typically provide investors with access to an investor-State dispute settlement process, whereby investors can bring arbitration cases against a host State for alleged failures to protect their investments in accordance with the provisions in the agreements. There is generally no obligation to exhaust domestic remedies or appeals system, and minimal transparency or opportunities for third-party intervention. Awards are enforceable through the acquisition of a State's overseas assets, are not subject to any financial limitations and can run into billions of dollars.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), cancellations or alleged violations of contracts and revocation or denial of licences are among the most commonly challenged State actions,with approximately 30 per cent of all settlements relating to the extractive and energy industries, which account for most new investments. The majority of such cases are taken against States with significant populations of indigenous peoples in whose territories the exploited mineral, energy or forest resources are located.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Recent years have seen a growing number of megaregional free trade agreements, with scopes that extend far beyond trade to include investment and regulatory dimensions, essentially forming global economic structural agreements. The most recent is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Its investment chapter, containing many of the standard provisions in the model bilateral investment treaty of the United States of America, is one of its most controversial features. It has been widely criticized, including by Special Rapporteurs, for limiting democratic space by effectively transferring public decision-making powers over economic, social and cultural governance to corporate actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Under international human rights law, indigenous peoples are recognized as peoples vested with the right to self-determination, as affirmed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, by virtue of which they are entitled to determine their own social, cultural and economic development. The rights affirmed under those treaties, which have been widely adopted, take on particular characteristics when interpreted in the light of indigenous peoples' distinct realities, needs, world views and historical contexts and the jus cogens prohibition of racial discrimination. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples offers the clearest articulation and interpretation of those rights as they pertain to indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- This is reflected in the jurisprudence of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, which instruct States to use the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when implementing their treaty obligations. The treaties have also been interpreted by national and regional courts and commissions in Latin America and Africa in the light of the provisions of the Declaration and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), indicating the universal applicability of those instruments and signalling the emergence of customary international law in the area of indigenous peoples' rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The concept of "indigenous peoples" is not defined under international law. However, its generally accepted characteristics include: self-identification as an indigenous people; the existence of and desire to maintain a special relationship with ancestral territories; distinct social, economic or political systems from mainstream society, which may be reflected in language, culture, beliefs and customary law; and a historically non-dominant position within society. This applies irrespective of State nomenclature.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous peoples' territorial and property rights are sui generis in nature, encompassing the territories and resources that they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired, including the right to own, use, develop and control resources. Those collective rights exist irrespective of State titles and are premised on: their status as self-determining peoples entitled to the lands and resources necessary for their physical and cultural survival; their customary land tenure regimes; and long-term possession of ancestral territories.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Consequently, States are obliged to establish culturally appropriate mechanisms to enable the effective participation of indigenous peoples in all decision-making processes that directly affect their rights. To ensure this, international human rights law standards require good-faith consultations to obtain their free, prior and informed consent.This requirement applies prior to the enactment of legislative or administrative measures, the development of investment plans or the issuance of concessions, licences or permits for projects in or near their territories.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Human rights bodies have consequently clarified that economic growth or national development cannot be used as a basis for non-consensual infringements on the territorial and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. This is reinforced by the erga omnes nature of the right of all peoples to self-determination, the prohibition of racial discrimination and the fact that their protection is a matter of public interest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Indigenous peoples are among the most marginalized and discriminated against groups in the world. The international framework protecting their rights emerged largely in response to that reality. Significant advances have been made in some jurisdictions in relation to the recognition of their rights, in particular in Latin America, and varying degrees of recognition are afforded in the domestic regulatory frameworks of other countries. However, throughout much of Asia and Africa, the rights recognized as pertaining to groups that meet the characteristics of indigenous peoples under international law tend to fall short of those recognized under international human rights law standards and, in many cases, the international law category "indigenous peoples" is not officially recognized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Even in countries where international human rights law standards have been incorporated into domestic law, further steps are necessary to adjust the law to fully meet these international standards and ensure their enforcement. The associated "implementation gap" between law and practice is often symptomatic of power imbalances between vulnerable indigenous peoples and powerful political elites who seek to benefit from exploitation of resources found in their territories.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- This power imbalance is generally mirrored in the relationship between institutions established to protect indigenous peoples' rights and those responsible for promoting and facilitating natural resource exploitation. Therefore, even in jurisdictions with advanced legal frameworks, deep-rooted structural discrimination and vested interests can render ineffective the legal protections afforded to indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights affirm the independent corporate responsibility to respect indigenous peoples' rights as recognized in international human rights law. This responsibility is bolstered by the incorporation of the Principles into standards, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines on Multinational Corporations. A growing body of standards exists in relation to investment that affects indigenous peoples' lands, including performance standards of most international financial institutions, such as the International Finance Corporation, and apply to private banks that adhere to the Equator Principles, which require clients to respect indigenous peoples' rights, including free, prior and informed consent. The World Bank has included the requirement for such consent in its draft revised policy. However, other banks, such as the African Development Bank and the Brazilian Development Bank, have yet to develop safeguard policies for indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The standards of a growing number of multi-stakeholder initiatives include respect for indigenous peoples' rights, as affirmed under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and consequently require free, prior and informed consent prior to approving or undertaking an investment. Some extractive industry bodies and companies sourcing palm oil, sugar, soy and other resources have also made policy progress towards the recognition of rights recognized in the Declaration, including the requirement for such consent, as has the United Nations Global Compact. Those developments reflect the general acknowledgement by transnational corporations of their responsibility to respect indigenous peoples' rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- However, implementation of those commitments remains poor, and issues remain surrounding the interpretation of indigenous peoples' rights, in particular the right to give or withhold free, prior and informed consent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Tackling the underlying issue of corporate participation in violations of indigenous peoples' rights would contribute significantly to addressing the current imbalance and incoherence in international law. Mechanisms have been proposed to address business and human rights, such as arbitration tribunals dedicated to providing a remedy for affected peoples and individuals. Discussions at the intergovernmental level on a treaty on business and human rights have also raised many of the issues witnessed in the context of promoting investor obligations under international investment agreements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur's research reveals an alarming number of cases in the mining, oil and gas, hydroelectric and agribusiness sectors whereby foreign investment projects have resulted in serious violations of indigenous peoples' land, self-governance and cultural rights. Those violations, which can extend to crimes against humanity, have been addressed extensively in the recommendations and jurisprudence of international and regional human rights bodies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Typically, the host States involved employ economic development policies aimed at the exploitation of energy, mineral, land or other resources that are predominantly located in the territories of indigenous peoples. The government agencies responsible for implementing those policies regard such lands and resources as available for unhindered exploitation and actively promote them as such abroad to generate capital inflows. Recognition of indigenous peoples' rights in the domestic legal framework is either non-existent, inadequate or not enforced. Where they exist, institutions mandated to uphold indigenous peoples' rights are politically weak, unaccountable or underfunded. Indigenous peoples lack access to remedies in home and host States and are forced to mobilize, leading to criminalization, violence and deaths. They experience profound human rights violations as a result of impacts on their lands, livelihoods, cultures, development options and governance structures, which, in some cases, threaten their very cultural and physical survival. Projects are stalled and there is a trend towards investor-State dispute settlements related to fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security and expropriation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Despite significant developments in the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and safeguards under international human rights law, investment in those sectors is generating "increasing and ever more widespread effects on indigenous peoples' lives" as the legal vacuum arising from the lack of recognition or enforcement of their land rights facilitates arbitrary land expropriation, enabling national and local officials to make those lands available for investment projects. At the same time, the vast majority of those lands are protected under international investment agreements, and related investor-State dispute settlement disputes in agribusiness and extractive sectors are expected in Africa and Asia, while in Latin America there is a growing number of claims concerning settlements in relation to such activities in or near indigenous territories.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Special Rapporteurs, United Nations treaty bodies and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have made numerous recommendations urging home States to adopt regulatory measures for companies domiciled in their jurisdictions aimed at preventing, sanctioning and remedying violations of indigenous peoples' rights abroad for which those companies are responsible or in which they are complicit.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has noted that addressing related jurisdictional issues may require negotiations between States during bilateral or other agreements and before foreign companies are accepted for business.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- International investment agreements can have serious impacts on indigenous peoples' rights as a result of three main interrelated issues: (a) the failure to adequately address human rights in the preambles and substantive provisions of such agreements; (b) the actual or perceived threat of enforcement of investor protections under investor-State dispute settlement arbitration, leading to regulatory chill; and (c) the exclusion of indigenous peoples from the drafting, negotiation and approval processes of agreements and from the settlement of disputes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- These potential impacts of international investment agreements must be considered in the light of the current inadequate recognition and lack of enforcement of indigenous peoples' rights in domestic legal frameworks. Such agreements, and investor-State dispute settlements, tend to block necessary advances and developments in domestic legal frameworks as they relate to investment activity. They limit the State's will and freedom to impose and enforce human rights obligations on transnational corporations and to progressively realize human rights. By entrenching investor protections, they also entrench rights-denying aspects of extant legislative frameworks and contribute to preventing the needed reform from a human rights perspective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Analysis of the impacts of international investment agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples 2016, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- International human rights law and international investment agreements play significant roles in governing the behaviour of host States in relation to resource extraction in or near indigenous peoples' territories. Agreements serve to protect and regulate property rights of investors related to the exploitation or use of land and resources. Those rights can come into direct conflict with the pre-existing - but not necessarily formally recognized and titled - inherent customary law and possession-based property rights of indigenous peoples protected under international human rights law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph