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Addressee: UNESCO; Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
Paragraph Number: 92
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum calls upon UNESCO, including its Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, to step up its policies, safeguards and actions on the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ tangible and intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO safeguards that reflect robust free, prior and informed consent protocols, as prescribed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, could contribute to the prevention of the destruction and desecration of Indigenous Peoples’ lands and sites by public and private enterprises. Examples include mining activities of the company Rio Tinto on the ancient Aboriginal site Juukan Gorge in Western Australia and the sacred Oak Flat of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, United States of America.
Area of Work: Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), Culture
Addressee: UN entities
Paragraph Number: 89
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum welcomes the fact that United Nations entities and bodies, including mandate holders and, notably, OHCHR and the United Nations Environment Programme, take their share of the responsibility to ensure a safe space for Indigenous Peoples participating in United Nations meetings. The Permanent Forum requests that United Nations bodies and entities create an urgent response mechanism to acts of intimidation and reprisals against Indigenous human rights defenders cooperating with the United Nations, in line with existing United Nations guidance on protection and promotion of civic space and the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. The Permanent Forum will consider how to strengthen its own response mechanisms and its cooperation with the Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Human Rights, in line with General Assembly resolution 77/203, on this pressing matter, including through the appointment of focal points.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: Nepal
Paragraph Number: 86
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Constitution of Nepal has provisions for special, protected and autonomous regions for Indigenous Peoples. The Permanent Forum welcomes further progress towards realizing the provisions of the Constitution, including by considering the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to Nepal in 2018 on respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their traditional lands and resources and to self-determination.
Area of Work: Indigenous Women and Girls, Human rights
Addressee: Bangladesh
Paragraph Number: 85
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum welcomes information from the Government of Bangladesh on progress towards the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. It calls upon Bangladesh to make further efforts towards full implementation of the Accord through constructive dialogue and cooperation with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council, the three Hill District Councils and the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission.
Area of Work: Human rights, Conflict Prevention and Peace
Addressee: Member States
Paragraph Number: 84
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum urges that discussions at the forthcoming summit to renew the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, scheduled to be held in Brazil in August 2023, fully involve Indigenous Peoples from the Amazon region in determining a road map that addresses their situation, including cross-border illegal activities and organized crime.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: Member States
Paragraph Number: 82
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum welcomes the report on the study on implementing free, prior and informed consent in the context of Indigenous Peoples (E/C.19/2023/6), presented at its twenty-second session by a former member of the Permanent Forum, Alexey Tsykarev. The Permanent Forum agrees with the recommendation in the study that Member States and businesses treat Indigenous Peoples as rights holders and work collaboratively with Indigenous Peoples to design effective models for ensuring that free, prior and informed consent is honoured. It urges States, with the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, to develop national standards to ensure free, prior and informed consent for all development activities by private and public companies.
Area of Work: Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
Addressee: Canada; United States of America
Paragraph Number: 65
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum calls upon Canada to re-examine its support for the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline, which jeopardizes the Great Lakes in the United States. The pipeline presents a real and credible threat to the treaty-protected fishing rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Canada. The Permanent Forum recommends that Canada and the United States decommission Line 5.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: UN Secretary-General
Paragraph Number: 64
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum reminds the Secretary-General, through the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, on the continuing relevance of monitoring and reporting on trends related to intimidation and reprisals against Indigenous Peoples who seek to engage with the United Nations. Indigenous Peoples’ representatives have a right to be protected from reprisals for their participation in meetings at the United Nations, including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: National Human Rights Institutions
Paragraph Number: 63
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum encourages national human rights institutions to promote the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the national and international levels, in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: Australia
Paragraph Number: 62
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum was presented with horrific testimonies of Indigenous children incarcerated in prisons and other holding facilities. The Permanent Forum reminds Member States to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child. No child should be in prison. In that regard, the Permanent Forum notes the finding in 2022 of the Supreme Court of Western Australia that the extensive solitary confinement and significant reduction in liberty of children, primarily Aboriginal children, was unlawful. The Permanent Forum calls upon Australia to respect the Court decision and remove its reservation to article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States review and reform their child protection policies and systems to prevent undue removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities.
Area of Work: Indigenous Children and Youth, Human rights
Addressee: United States of America
Paragraph Number: 61
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
The Permanent Forum reiterates the regrets that it expressed at its twenty-first session regarding the very high and inhumane incarceration rates of Indigenous Peoples globally, which contribute to poor health, poverty and early and preventable deaths. The Permanent Forum repeats its previous recommendation to the Unit ed States of America on the grating of clemency to Leonard Peltier. Owing to his age and poor health, his release is a humanitarian imperative.
Area of Work: Human rights
Addressee: Member States
Paragraph Number: 58
Session: 22 (2023)
Full Text:
Transnational and national extractive industries, at best, consistently disregard their responsibility to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and to engage in free, prior and informed consent processes. At worst, their practices and behaviours contribute to serious human rights abuses. The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States, as duty bearers, ensure that private sector entities respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights through safeguard and due diligence policies. It further recommends that Member States ensure the application of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework and the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Permanent Forum welcomes the ongoing international efforts to develop legally binding instruments that ensure accountability and due diligence by transnational companies. The reflection of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in such instruments is essential.
Area of Work: Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
