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Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention 2009, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The Committee, through its extensive review of State party reports, notes that indigenous children are among those children who require positive measures in order to eliminate conditions that cause discrimination and to ensure their enjoyment of the rights of the Convention on equal level with other children. In particular, States parties are urged to consider the application of special measures in order to ensure that indigenous children have access to culturally appropriate services in the areas of health, nutrition, education, recreation and sports, social services, housing, sanitation and juvenile justice.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Given that tenure can take a variety of forms and that States must ensure security of tenure to all, irrespective of tenure type, what are States' obligations with respect to ensuring that all forms of tenure that are legitimate under international human rights law are protected equally? Guidance is incomplete in this regard. United Nations and regional human rights bodies have focused only on a limited range of forms of tenure-mostly private property, indigenous communal ownership or use, women's access to land, property or inheritance, informal tenure (mostly in cases involving Roma), and occupancy tenancy rights (in countries that were previously part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Claims have recently been brought against the Dominican Republic and Panama, for example, on the basis that government decisions to cancel planned luxury developments in order to protect indigenous territories or environmental resources violated investors' rights under bilateral investment treaties. The Government of Mauritius is currently being taken to arbitration by a group of property development companies from the United Kingdom that invested in luxury real estate developments in Mauritius and are now seeking damages for a decision on the part of the Government to change its planning policy to restrict such developments.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The housing sector in the global South has not been subject to extensive financing of homeownership. Only about 17 per cent of the population in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and Zambia, for example, would be eligible for mortgage finance based on existing criteria. Low-income, informal and indigenous communities have nevertheless experienced, first-hand, the power of financial corporations to appropriate land and real estate and to generate vast disparities in wealth by treating housing and land as commodities. The displacement of Garifuna communities by model cities containing luxury developments for tourists and wealthy residents in Honduras is an example of the kinds of displacements of communities and forced evictions that are occurring in many countries (see A/HRC/33/42/Add.2, para. 56). Many local and national governments looking for capital investment have opted to sell land to major developers at the expense of indigenous and impoverished communities and those living in precarious housing.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Reports also indicate that most individuals and groups facing threats are those who oppose land grabbing, extractive industries, the industrial timber trade and large-scale development projects. Indigenous communities and ethnic and racial minorities are particularly vulnerable (see A/HRC/24/41 and A/71/291). They are the most affected because the resources exploited are usually located in their lands; they lack legal protection while exerting strong and vocal opposition; many indigenous communities do not hold formal title over the land they inhabit; and their access to justice is limited.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- With ever increasing frequency, as discussed at the expert meeting in Sitges, corporate activities in indigenous territories are causing serious social conflicts, which spark circles of violence and, in turn, new human rights violations. In such situations, as the Special Rapporteur has already demonstrated, indigenous peoples are not the only victims: social conflicts relating to corporate activities in indigenous territories have a negative impact on the economic interests and the image of the corporations themselves, and on the interests of the Governments concerned.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Given that customary land tenure is one of the specific features characterizing the large majority of indigenous peoples worldwide, and a basic factor in the international recognition of their rights, the mere existence of such groups in the areas where companies plan to carry out their activities must be considered by those companies as a strong indication that those groups have some sort of rights over the land and resources that they occupy or otherwise use. Furthermore, companies cannot, in the exercise of due diligence, assume that the absence of official recognition of indigenous communal ownership rights implies that such rights do not exist.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- While there is at present no clear international legal framework concerning corporate responsibility with respect to human rights, the international community as a whole has at least reached a certain normative consensus with regard to the existence of some type of responsibility. This consensus is reflected in the many regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks governing corporate responsibility that have appeared in recent decades, at both the international and domestic level, as well as the standard-setting debate currently under way.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2010
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Above and beyond their legal status, the various existing instruments and mechanisms clearly reflect the existence of social expectations with regard to corporate responsibility and the need to exercise it in relation to human rights. Current international debate on the subject tends to emphasize that corporate responsibility with respect to human rights is related to but fundamentally distinct from States' responsibilities. Indeed, the conceptual framework drawn up by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General distinguishes between three types of duties: the State duty to protect, the corporate responsibility to respect and the shared responsibility to remedy.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Aside from their entitlement to compensation for damages, indigenous peoples have the right to share in the benefits arising from activities taking place on their traditional territories, especially in relation to natural resource exploitation. The duty to establish benefit sharing mechanisms for peoples affected by such activities is set out explicitly in article 15.2 of ILO Convention No. 169 and has been reiterated by, inter alia, the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Corporate responsibility with respect to indigenous rights 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- As a result, the international community now holds the expectation, increasingly shared by all the stakeholders directly involved, including business itself, that companies bear certain responsibilities with respect to indigenous rights. Within the conceptual framework drawn up by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises - protect, respect and remedy - companies have, at the very least, the duty to comply with international standards relating to the human rights of indigenous peoples.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2010
Paragraph
Overview of the activities carried during the first three-year term of the mandate 2011, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- Aside from being entitled to compensation for damages or mitigation measures for negative impacts, indigenous peoples have the right to share in the benefits arising from activities taking place on their traditional territories, especially in relation to natural resource development. Companies are bound by their duty to respect indigenous rights to establish mechanisms that ensure that indigenous peoples share in the benefits generated by the activities in question. Benefit-sharing should be regarded as a means of complying with a right, not as a charitable award or favour granted by the company in order to secure social support for the project or minimize potential conflicts. Consideration should be given to the development of benefit-sharing mechanisms that genuinely strengthen the capacity of indigenous peoples to establish and pursue their own development priorities and that help indigenous peoples to make their own decision-making mechanisms and institutions more effective.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Overview of the activities carried during the first three-year term of the mandate 2011, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- We affirm that there are different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions which is our overarching goal. In this regard, we consider green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication as one of the important tools available for achieving sustainable development and that it could provide options for policymaking but should not be a rigid set of rules. We emphasize that it should contribute to eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth's ecosystems.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Overview of the activities carried during the first three-year term of the mandate 2011, para. 269
- Paragraph text
- We emphasize the importance of technology transfer to developing countries, and recall the provisions on technology transfer, finance, access to information and intellectual property rights as agreed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, in particular its call to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, access to and the development, transfer and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how, in particular to developing countries, on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed. We also take note of the further evolution of discussions and agreements on these issues since the adoption of the Plan of Implementation.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft 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
- 2011
Paragraph
Extractive industries operating within or near indigenous territories 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Corporate responses point out three particular areas in which a clear regulatory framework is often lacking: the content and scope of indigenous peoples' rights over their lands, territories and natural resources, particularly in those instances in which traditional land tenure has not been officially recognized through titling or otherwise; consultation procedures with indigenous peoples; and benefit-sharing schemes. With regard to these issues, the examples of best practices shared by companies related more to their voluntary practices and initiatives than to the meeting of the legal requirements of the countries in which they operate.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Extractive industries operating within or near indigenous territories 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The current global discussion about the impact of business activities on human rights has reaffirmed that the State has the ultimate international legal responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. As much is made clear in the "Protect, Respect and Remedy" framework proposed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, which was adopted by the Human Rights Council as the basic normative structure for advancing in the protection of human rights in the context of business activities (see paragraph 25 above).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2011
Paragraph
Extractive industries operating within or near indigenous territories 2011, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- As noted above, several responses, particularly those received from business actors, pointed out that Governments tend to detach from the implementation of consultation procedures and other procedural safeguards for indigenous peoples rights in the context of extractive operations and act as mere regulators. The delegation of the State's protective role to business enterprises was repeatedly pointed out as a matter of concern, particularly with when there are insufficient or non-existent State regulatory frameworks regarding indigenous rights, including in relation to the protection of lands and resources, consultation and benefit-sharing schemes. The lack of clarity or consensus about the role of the State in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples in this context compounds the uncertainties arising from the differing views about the scope and content of those rights.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has observed that in many instances corporations approach and seek to negotiate directly with indigenous peoples about proposed extractive activities that may affect them. Such initiatives in principle are not incompatible with international human rights standards, and indigenous peoples are free, by virtue of their right to self-determination, to enter into negotiations directly with companies if they so wish. Direct negotiations between companies and indigenous peoples may be the most efficient and desirable way of arriving at agreed-upon arrangements for the extraction of natural resources within or near indigenous territories that are fully respectful of indigenous peoples' rights, and they may provide indigenous peoples with opportunities to pursue their own development priorities.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft 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
- 2012
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- It bears reiterating here that the State's protective role in the context of extractive industries entails ensuring a regulatory framework that fully recognizes indigenous peoples' rights over lands and natural resources and other rights that may be affected by extractive operations; that mandates respect for those rights both in all relevant State administrative decision-making and in corporate behaviour; and that provides effective sanctions and remedies when those rights are infringed either by Governments or corporate actors. Such a regulatory framework requires legislation or regulations that incorporate international standards of indigenous rights and that make them operational through the various components of State administration that govern land tenure, mining, oil, gas and other natural resource extraction or development.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft 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
- 2012
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur regrets that he has found, across the globe, deficient regulatory frameworks such that in many respects indigenous peoples' rights remain inadequately protected, and in all too many cases entirely unprotected, in the face of extractive industries. Major legislative and administrative reforms are needed in virtually all countries in which indigenous peoples live to adequately define and protect their rights over lands and resources and other rights that may be affected by extractive industries. Yet at the same time and in the same countries in which this need persists, extractive industries are permitted to encroach upon indigenous habitats, a situation that the Special Rapporteur finds alarming and in need of urgent attention.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Violence against indigenous women and girls; rights of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- As stated in paragraphs 47 to 53, principles of consultation and consent function to safeguard indigenous peoples' rights when natural resource extraction may affect those rights, along with other safeguard mechanisms, including impact assessments, mitigation measures and compensation or benefit-sharing. The consultation and consent safeguard, just as the other safeguards, is part of the State duty to protect indigenous peoples' rights in the context of extractive industries, which finds expression in article 32 (2) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the following terms: States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Extractive industries and indigenous peoples 2013, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has observed that in many cases in which extractive companies have been identified as responsible for, or at least associated with, violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, those violations occur in countries with weak regulatory regimes, and the responsible companies are domiciled in other, typically much more developed, countries. Even if States are not obligated under international law to regulate the extraterritorial activities of companies domiciled in their territory in order to compel or promote conformity with human rights standards, strong policy reasons exist for them to do so, as affirmed by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These reasons include, in addition to preserving the States' own reputation, the simple morality of exercising the State regulatory power to advance human rights and reduce human turmoil whenever possible.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2013
Paragraph
Extractive industries and indigenous peoples 2013, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Whether or not indigenous consent is a strict requirement in particular cases, States should ensure good faith consultations with indigenous peoples on extractive activities that would affect them and engage in efforts to reach agreement or consent. In any event, the State remains bound to respect and protect the rights of indigenous peoples and must ensure that other applicable safeguards are implemented as well, in particular steps to minimize or offset any limitation on the rights through impact assessments, measures of mitigation, compensation and benefit sharing.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft 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
- 2013
Paragraph
Extractive industries and indigenous peoples 2013, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has called for models of resource extraction on indigenous territories that are different from the classical one in which indigenous peoples have little control over and benefit minimally from the extractive projects. One such alternative model, discussed in chapter II above and identified as a preferred model, is the one in which indigenous peoples themselves initiate and engage in resource extraction. For extractive projects promoted by outside companies or States, other models that are preferable to the classical one are those based on agreements in which indigenous peoples' rights are fully protected and indigenous peoples are genuine partners in the projects, both participating in project decision-making and benefiting as such.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Extractive industries and indigenous peoples 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- In affirming the general rule of consent for extractive activities within indigenous territories, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples emphasizes that, in order to obtain consent, "States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representatives" (art. 32, para. 2). The Declaration thus emphasizes that good faith consultations and cooperation are a precondition for agreements with indigenous peoples concerning extractive activities. As stated above (para. 25), indigenous peoples may decline to enter consultations about extractive industries, just as they may choose to withhold consent to them. But if consent or agreement on extractive activities is to happen, it must be on the basis of adequate, good faith consultations or negotiations.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft 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
- 2013
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples, including their economic, social and cultural rights in the post-2015 development framework 2014, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur draws attention to the precarious situation of the numerous indigenous women, particularly from Latin America and Asia, who serve as domestic workers, either in their home countries or as migrant workers. According to ILO estimates, there are a minimum of 53 million adult domestic workers in the world; 83 per cent of whom are women. It is unknown what percentage indigenous women constitute, but the sparse data available indicates that in some countries and regions they may actually constitute the majority. These women often face deplorable working conditions, labour exploitation and human rights abuses, frequently without legal recourse to remedy. In this context, the Special Rapporteur notes that the Domestic Workers Convention (ILO Convention No. 189) entered into force in September 2013. The Convention aims at extending basic labour rights to domestic workers around the globe and can be a potentially important instrument for indigenous women.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- First of all, it is necessary to understand the linkages between indigenous peoples' current disadvantaged situations and their history of being denied self-determination land and resource rights, and related rights essential to their economic and social development. In fact, development around the world has historically taken place and still takes place today at the expense of indigenous peoples; it has often been the case that indigenous peoples' lands and resources have been taken, to their detriment and to the benefit of the development of others. Responses aimed at bettering the social and economic situation of indigenous peoples must take that history into account and attempt to restore to indigenous peoples what has been lost, including sufficient land to ensure a basis for economic development, and the means to exercise their self-determination over their development. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that increasing indigenous peoples' control over their internal decision-making results in better economic growth outcomes.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples on the impact of international investment and free trade on the human rights of indigenous peoples 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The "chilling effect" could be exacerbated by the practical impact of the loss of public funds during investor-State dispute settlement hearings and the costs of Governments defending themselves within tribunals. As described above, some tribunal awards can be valued at billions of dollars, and there are inevitable legal costs associated with fighting investor-State dispute settlement claims. Awards are binding and ultimately have to be paid with funds from taxpayers. The loss of public funds to private actors on a large scale diminishes the amount of public funding available to broadly promote the public good, and human and indigenous rights more specifically.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples on the impact of international investment and free trade on the human rights of indigenous peoples 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Questions have also been raised about whether international power structures have influenced the outcome of investor-State dispute settlement tribunals given that developed countries seem to be better able to insulate themselves from their negative impacts. For example, the United States has never lost an investor-State dispute settlement case. It is unclear if that is because developed countries are more able to access resources to defend themselves against cases or if there is a systemic bias favouring the most economically and geopolitically powerful countries.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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
- 2015
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.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- 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