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