Human rights defenders are increasingly targeted as terrorists for promoting and protecting decades-old guaranteed rights. This alarming trend is seen in every region. Even the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz; former expert member of the Permanent Forum Joan Carling; and former member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples José Molintas, have been declared terrorists in a petition by the Government of the Philippines. The Forum rejects this dangerous precedent and calls on the Government of the Philippines to remove their names, and the names of other indigenous leaders, from the petition and to ensure their safety as they continue promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. Further, the Forum urges the Government of the Philippines to repeal the Human Security Act, comply with its international human rights obligations and pursue its commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
The Permanent Forum calls upon all States to work with indigenous peoples to develop and implement right-to-health indicators, to utilize the findings in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to health and to set benchmarks and timelines to ensure that indigenous peoples’ right to health is progressively realized, as required by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in the Millennium Development Goals.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the report (E/C.19/2014/8) and recommendations of the expert group meeting, and reiterates and supports the recommendations contained in paragraphs 62, 63, 64, 70 and 72 of the report, as set out below, which are specifically addressed to entities of the United Nations system and States Members of the United Nations.