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Rights of indigenous peoples on the impact of international investment and free trade on the human rights of indigenous peoples 2015, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- As discussed above, indigenous peoples are not included in the negotiations and drafting of free trade agreements. However, the provisions of those agreements bind their self-governance arrangements and the use of their lands, territories and resources. For example, the United States model bilateral investment treaty is strictly binding on all levels of government, including political subdivisions and other entities that exercise regulatory, administrative or other governmental authority delegated by the national Government. Not having the ability to contribute to the drafting of powerful legal agreements that affect them is a violation of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, as provided for in article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the right to development. Article 32, paragraph 1, of the Declaration says that "indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories".
- 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
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples, including their economic, social and cultural rights in the post-2015 development framework 2014, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- When looking at available socioeconomic data disaggregated by ethnicity and gender, there is no doubt that indigenous women experience particular and interrelated forms of discrimination because of their indigenous identity and their gender. Gender-based discrimination is a sad reality in most countries, and it is also found within some indigenous societies where, for example, women may not traditionally have participated in governance institutions or where girls are not encouraged to study. In short, many indigenous women still face additional gender-based discrimination, which leads to disadvantages, marginalization and, in extreme cases, to violence, physical mutilation, trafficking, prostitution and restricted access to justice. On the other hand, there is ample documentation of the strong and crucial roles played by indigenous women in many areas of life, including food production, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, transmission of languages, culture and knowledge, conflict resolution and peacekeeping.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extractive industries and indigenous peoples 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur observes that in a number of cases States have asserted the power to expropriate indigenous property interests in land or surface resources in order to have or permit access to the subsurface resources to which the State claims ownership. Such an expropriation being a limitation of indigenous property rights, even if just compensation is provided, a threshold question in such cases is whether the limitation is pursuant to a valid public purpose. The Special Rapporteur cautions that such a valid public purpose is not found in mere commercial interests or revenue-raising objectives, and certainly not when benefits from the extractive activities are primarily for private gain. It should be recalled that under various sources of international law, indigenous peoples have property, cultural and other rights in relation to their traditional territories, even if those rights are not held under a title deed or other form of official recognition. Limitations of all those rights of indigenous peoples must, at a minimum, be backed by a valid public purpose within a human rights framework, just as with limitations on rights formally recognized by the State.
- 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
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of indigenous peoples to development with culture and identity, the right of indigenous peoples to participation and the obligation of States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- A first aspect of the external dimension has to do with the participation of indigenous peoples in the broader public life of the State, as promoted by article 5 of the Declaration, and is related to the right of all citizens to political participation. This aspect of participation in decision-making within spheres extending beyond indigenous communities is mostly, though not entirely, a matter of the rights of indigenous individuals. As affirmed in particular by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Yatama v. Nicaragua, the right of indigenous peoples to participate in the broader public life of the State also includes a collective element, which requires States to enact special measures to ensure the effective participation of indigenous peoples within State political structures and institutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of indigenous peoples to development with culture and identity, the right of indigenous peoples to participation and the obligation of States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2010, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- A starting point for the effective implementation of the Declaration is a firm commitment by States and the United Nations system to its rights and principles that is free from vague assertions that the Declaration is not obligatory. On too many occasions State and other actors attempt to diminish the normative weight of the Declaration by describing it as an instrument that is not "legally binding". As a resolution of the General Assembly, the Declaration by its nature is not, in and of itself, a legally binding instrument, given the authority of the General Assembly under the Charter of the United Nations only to make "recommendations", except in regard to membership, budgetary and administrative matters. But understanding the normative significance and legal obligations related to the Declaration does not end there.
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- At the global level, protected-areas policy is shaped by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A membership organization, as at April 2016, IUCN had 1,351 members, including 89 States, 128 government agencies, 48 affiliates, 112 international NGOs, and 974 national NGOs. The latter two categories include 12 indigenous peoples' organizations. Every four years, IUCN members meet at the World Conservation Congress, where resolutions are adopted on conservation policies, and every ten years a World Parks Congress is held to deliberate on global commitments related to protected areas. World Parks Congresses constitute the most important global forums for setting international standards and guidelines for protected areas. At the Congress held in Durban in 2003, the world's leading conservationists announced a "new paradigm" for protected areas which would respect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. This important shift in the approach to conservation was adopted in response to growing public opinion that conventional protected area models wrongly excluded or marginalized indigenous peoples and local communities from their governance and management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples, including their economic, social and cultural rights in the post-2015 development framework 2014, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- One such example is the undervaluing of the traditional livelihoods and occupations of indigenous peoples, such as traditional fishing practices, hunting and gathering, pastoralism and shifting cultivation. In all parts of the world, indigenous peoples who are engaged in such sustainable but non-sedentary subsistence activities face overwhelming threats to their collective rights to lands, territories and resources, which form the basis of their livelihoods as well as their culture and identity. As observed by the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issue "...national development policies often consider traditional livelihood activities as no longer relevant and sometimes seek to discourage them, even in the absence of viable alternatives". The Special Rapporteur observes that this situation persists despite the fact that the dominant development strategies have led to immense challenges related to the adverse effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation, financial instability, increasing inequalities and unemployment and social crises in many countries.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The need to harmonize activities affecting indigenous peoples within the United Nations system 2012, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Provisions of the Nagoya Protocol regarding genetic resources have been slightly more problematic in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples. In particular, the Protocol states that parties shall take measures, again with the qualifier "as appropriate", to ensure that benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources held by indigenous and local communities, in accordance with domestic legislation on the rights of these communities, are equitably shared (article 5.2). As regards the sharing of benefits in relation to the use of genetic resources, the Protocol similarly requires that the parties take measures to ensure that the prior and informed consent, or approval and involvement of indigenous and local communities be obtained, but adds "where they have the established right to grant access to such resources" (article 6.2). Concern has been expressed that the reference to established rights in accordance with domestic legislation in these articles could be interpreted to suggest that the rights of indigenous peoples to genetic resources can only be established by domestic law, not international law.
- 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of indigenous peoples to development with culture and identity, the right of indigenous peoples to participation and the obligation of States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- While strengthening of support for the Declaration is to be celebrated, it is all too apparent that a great deal remains to be done to see the objectives of the Declaration become a reality in the everyday lives of the indigenous peoples of the world. Today, the Declaration serves more as a reminder of how far there is to go in bringing justice and dignity to the lives of indigenous peoples than a reflection of what has actually been achieved on the ground. Indeed, historical patterns of oppression continue to manifest themselves in ongoing barriers to the full enjoyment of human rights by indigenous peoples. It is feared that the wide gap between the Declaration and its effective implementation will persist, leading to a certain complacency and acceptance of that condition by dominant actors and within the United Nations system. This cannot be allowed to happen.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of indigenous peoples to development with culture and identity, the right of indigenous peoples to participation and the obligation of States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Regarding the third aspect of external participation, participation at the international level, the Special Rapporteur notes that there is strong participation of indigenous peoples at the sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, over the past two years the Special Rapporteur has observed increased interaction by indigenous peoples with his mandate and notes a heightened engagement by indigenous groups with all the relevant international mechanisms. The formation of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues is an example of an initiative for strengthening cooperation among United Nations agencies and mainstreaming indigenous issues within the United Nations system, which could also provide an important forum for indigenous peoples' participation at the international level.
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of indigenous peoples to development with culture and identity, the right of indigenous peoples to participation and the obligation of States to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Further, it is apparent from experiences worldwide that the capacity of indigenous peoples to successfully pursue their own development priorities requires the strengthening of their own institutions and self-government structures. This will empower them to take control of their own affairs in all aspects of their lives and to ensure that development processes are aligned with their own cultural patterns, values, customs and world views. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur echoes the statements of indigenous leaders around the world about the need for indigenous peoples themselves to continue to strengthen their own organizational and local governance capacities, in order to meet the challenges faced by their communities with respect to development, including complex decisions regarding natural resource extraction and other major development projects on their lands.
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples 2017, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The mass media also plays a role, which it should be aware of and accountable for, in terms of perpetuating racist assumptions about indigenous peoples. Positive promotion of a better understanding of indigenous rights in mainstream media is important.
- 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
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Public policies should address the underlying causes of poverty and marginalization that indigenous peoples suffer as a result of the denial of their rights. They should also be considered as elements of the coordinated and systematic action States should develop to ensure that indigenous peoples enjoy their collective and individual human rights, and not as marginal, stand-alone initiatives dependent on available funding. The mandate holder has observed positive examples of public policies to implement indigenous rights on different sectoral issues, such as for example the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 which affirms that it adopts a human rights-based approach informed by the Declaration. Other examples include the Whanau Ora policy in New Zealand; the bilingual intercultural education programme in Panama and the policies for the protection of indigenous peoples in isolation and recent contact in Bolivia and Ecuador. In El Salvador the recently adopted national policy on indigenous peoples considers the Declaration as its framework. Canada is undertaking a review of its policies to ensure coherence with the Declaration, and dialogue processes with indigenous peoples on public policies are ongoing in Costa Rica or Paraguay.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples 2017, para. 23
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- It must be mentioned that the implementation of the Declaration in Asia and Africa, and the work of the mandate holder to promote it, face particular obstacles due to denial by some States of the existence of indigenous peoples within their borders, on the grounds for example that all the population is indigenous to the country. The mandate holder has repeatedly referred to this issue stating that, despite the different terminology employed in many areas, the situation and human rights issues of certain peoples in those regions is a matter of concern for the mandate holder and the provisions of the Declaration apply to them. These populations are distinct peoples, with specific cultures and relation to certain lands and territories, and have been subject to marginalization. The problems they suffer, related to their group identity, are similar to those of peoples all over the world that identify as indigenous, and are the types of problems that the Declaration seeks to resolve as a remedial instrument. The work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, particularly its Working Group on indigenous populations/communities, has been instrumental in advancing a positive dialogue on the recognition of indigenous peoples in the African region.
- 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
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- In Thailand, the Government requested the listing of the Kaeng Krachen National Park in 2013 as a World Heritage park in 2013 without consulting the local indigenous Karen peoples. The Karen have experienced forced evictions, destruction of housing and crops, arrests and enforced disappearances. On 17 April 2014, a Karen human rights defender disappeared after attending a meeting on a lawsuit against park officials for destruction of Karen housing in 2010/2011. Park officials acknowledged having detained him earlier that day for illegal possession of wild honey, but claimed to have released him subsequently. His whereabouts have been unknown since. The Karen have expressed concerns over the potential listing of the park as a World Heritage site, fearing that it would result in further evictions, prohibitions on the gathering of wild honey and herbs and an increase of tourism, which would affect the environment negatively, creating problems, notably with waste management. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has advised the World Heritage Committee to ensure that comprehensive consultations are held by the Thai Government with Karen communities, to ensure respect for their rights, to refrain from evictions and to ensure that the communities can participate in the management of the park if it is designated a World Heritage park.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Among the key challenges reported by conservation organizations in advancing in implementation at the national level are non-conducive political and legal settings in which indigenous peoples are not recognized. However, given the powerful position of conservation organizations vis-à-vis authorities in developing countries with weak rule of law, they should use their leverage better and more affirmatively in order to influence national authorities and advocate for legislative reform, the application of free, prior and informed consent and the restitution of ancestral lands of indigenous peoples. As indigenous rights to customary lands, territories and natural resources have yet to be effectively recognized in numerous countries, conservation organizations can play a key role in supporting indigenous peoples in such endeavours and encourage dialogue with authorities to this end. It is thus a positive development that several conservation organizations indicate that they are undertaking such efforts in numerous countries. The Special Rapporteur, however, urges that such engagement be significantly expanded to support legal and policy shifts in countries which still fail to recognize indigenous peoples' rights.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Protected areas are among the cross-cutting issues addressed under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In 2004, the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention adopted a programme of work on protected areas. It states that the establishment, management and monitoring of protected areas should take place with the full and effective participation of, and full respect for the rights of, indigenous peoples consistent with national law and applicable international obligations. In the programme of work, parties are requested to ensure that any resettlement of indigenous communities as a consequence of the establishment or management of protected areas will only take place with their prior informed consent that may be given according to national legislation and applicable international obligations. In 2014, the Conference of the Parties adopted a decision which highlighted the requirement that protected areas and management regimes must be consensual and participatory if indigenous peoples' rights are to be respected. It also recognized the contribution of indigenous peoples' own conservation initiatives within their territories to the effective conservation of important biodiversity sites.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Conservation measures and their impact on indigenous peoples’ rights 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The expanse of protected areas nearly doubled over a period two decades, from 8.7 million square kilometres in 1980 to 16.1 million square kilometres in 2000. There is significant spatial overlap between the traditional lands of indigenous peoples and areas which retain the highest levels of high-biodiversity. Traditional indigenous territories encompass around 22 per cent of the world's land surface and they coincide with areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet's biodiversity. It has been estimated that 50 per cent of protected areas worldwide has been established on lands traditionally occupied and used by indigenous peoples and that this proportion is highest in the Americas, where it may exceed 90 per cent in Central America. Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Colombia, as well as Canada and the United States of America, all have a high percentage of protected areas on indigenous traditional territory. Overlap is also significant in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the protected areas in India, Nepal and the Philippines include the territories of indigenous peoples. Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania are among the African countries in which large parts of the protected areas are located on indigenous peoples' ancestral domains.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 72b
- Paragraph text
- [Despite the significant constraints facing them, there are many instances where indigenous women having successfully mobilized to fight for their rights. Those successes have led to the development of promising practices in relation to the respect and protection of indigenous women. The following examples of good practice are illustrative and not exhaustive:] Numerous tribes, such as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, maintain the practice of banishing perpetrators of violence against women from their tribal jurisdictional boundaries. That has proven to be an effective sanction which prevents women and their children from being forced to flee their home due to violence. Banishment is a serious community sanction that cuts off perpetrators and sends a strong message about the protection of women and children in the community. Several Kankanaey Igorot communities in the Cordillera region of the Philippines have customary laws that banish members who have committed rape. Thus, in those communities, incidences of rape are very low compared to urban areas and other provinces. The women of some Kalinga Igorot villages in the same region have succeeded in convincing their traditional leaders to abolish the discriminatory practices of bride price, dowry and arranged marriages;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- External threats to indigenous land rights are not the only cause of abuses of women's rights in relation to land. The roles that women hold within indigenous communities and the way that some indigenous property frameworks reflect patriarchal power structures. Indigenous women commonly experience significant barriers to holding and inheriting land. especially when they are widowed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Such multiple victimization and the denial of the agency of indigenous women has had a pronounced impact on the prevalence of violence and abuses through the entrenchment of power structures that create and perpetuate systematic vulnerability. The further loss of women's agency caused by those violations then negatively impacts collective efforts to fight group rights, thereby contributing to negative cyclical patterns.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- A cornerstone of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, self-determination is defined as both a choice to determine political status, as well as the right to have autonomy over economic, social and cultural development. Self-determination is a right in itself and has been conceptualized as a precondition for the fulfilment of other rights.
- 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
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Closely related to the development agenda are the global and regional multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral investment and trade treaties and agreements entered into by States in which indigenous peoples are found. Many of those treaties and agreements have direct implications for how lands, territories, resources and traditional knowledge systems of indigenous peoples are regarded and used. In the past, some indigenous peoples have engaged in the negotiations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organization because of the implications for their rights to their traditional knowledge, such as their knowledge and use of medicinal plants. Some agreements which allow for the liberalization and deregulation of existing laws and policies, and have the effect of undermining existing human rights, social and environmental standards, can have detrimental effects on indigenous peoples. Much more needs to be done to understand fully how such treaties and agreements can undermine or reinforce indigenous peoples' rights and how they shape the trajectories of national economic development plans.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Perhaps the clearest manifestation that redress is still needed for indigenous peoples around the world is their continued lack of access to and security over their traditional lands. In that regard, in article 28 of the Declaration, it is stated that "indigenous peoples have the right to redress, by means that can include restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent" and that this compensation "shall take the form of lands, territories and resources equal in quality, size and legal status or of monetary compensation or other appropriate redress". While advances have without a doubt been made over the past several decades in returning lands to indigenous peoples and protecting their existing land bases, more remains to be done nearly everywhere. There are, of course, a number of ways in which land restitution can and has taken place, including through executive decrees, judicial decisions or negotiated arrangements, although complications can arise, especially when competing private third party interests are involved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Also essential to reconciliation are affirmative steps of redress to remedy the ongoing manifestations of harm. Throughout the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples there are calls for "effective mechanisms" for redress in connection with a range of rights. Indeed, as noted by the previous Special Rapporteur in his first report to the Human Rights Council, the Declaration in its entirety can be understood as fundamentally a "remedial" instrument that "aims at repairing the ongoing consequences of the historical denial of the right to self-determination and other basic human rights affirmed in international instruments of general applicability" (A/HRC/9/9, para. 36). Specifically, redress is required for any action aimed at depriving indigenous peoples of their integrity as distinct peoples (art 8, para. 2 (a)); any action with the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources (art. 8, para. 2 (b)); any form of forced assimilation or integration (art. 8, para. 2 (d)); for the taking of their cultural, intellectual, religious or spiritual property (art 11); depriving them of their means of subsistence (art. 20, para. 2); as well as for the development, utilization or exploitation of their mineral, water or other resources (art. 32, para. 2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- There is no one path or fast track towards reconciliation, and the history and context in each country will necessarily make responses different. However, the process generally includes a first step of acknowledging a history of wrongdoing. In some countries, reconciliation efforts have included a formal apology to indigenous peoples for past wrongdoing or particularly egregious human rights violations. For example, in 2008 the Government of Australia issued a formal apology to aboriginal peoples, "for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss" and in particular for "the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country". Similarly, in 2008 in Canada, the Government apologized to aboriginal peoples for its role in the Indian Residential Schools system, recognizing that "the absence of an apology has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation". Other States that have issued formal apologies are the United States with regard to historical suffering inflicted upon Native Americans; Norway and Sweden, with respect to past treatment of the Sami peoples; and New Zealand, where formal apologies often form part of negotiated settlement agreements under the Treaty of Waitangi.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 16
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- There is therefore a need to implement a flexible approach that takes into account the core attributes that distinguish indigenous peoples from minority groups or other local communities. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur welcomes and adopts the approach of the previous Special Rapporteur, which focuses on the rights at stake and asks whether the international framework with respect to the rights of indigenous peoples proves useful in addressing the issues and concerns faced by the group in question. In particular, the previous Special Rapporteur stated that the mandate is relevant to those groups "who are indigenous to the countries in which they live and have distinct identities and ways of life, and who face very particularized human rights issues related to histories of various forms of oppression, such as dispossession of their lands and natural resources and denial of cultural expression" (A/HRC/15/37/Add.1, para. 213). In any case, in line with the practice of other international human rights mechanisms and the previous Special Rapporteur, the Special Rapporteur will not necessarily accept prima facie a State's determination of a group's indigenous status, without looking at other factors when examining the specific human rights situation of a group within a particular country.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ongoing obstacles to the full realization of indigenous peoples’ rights; vision for the mandate 2014, para. 13
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- In that regard, the Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that this is not a problem resulting from, or which can be resolved by, attempting to arrive at an international definition of "indigenous peoples". As is often repeated in the literature on the subject, no such definition exists. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not attempt to provide one, although it does affirm that indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions (art. 33). For its part, International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 (1989) concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries refers to self-identification "as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply" (art. 1, para. 2) and notes that the Convention will apply to those peoples "whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions", as well as those descended from pre-colonial populations and who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions (art. 1, para. 1).
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous peoples, including their economic, social and cultural rights in the post-2015 development framework 2014, para. 46
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- The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda are inclusive and reflective of indigenous peoples' development aspirations, bringing together economic, social, cultural, environmental and climatic concerns, to be addressed in an integrated manner.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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