The Permanent Forum welcomes the recommendation to establish a voluntary international mechanism to receive and consider communications from indigenous peoples specifically concerning their claims to, or violations of, their rights to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. This recommendation deserves further elaboration by indigenous peoples and others concerned. The Forum takes note of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in this regard.
The Forum invites the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an evaluation of the implementation of the Durban Plan of Action at the sixth session of the Forum (2007) pertaining to indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women
The Permanent Forum has learned from indigenous peoples’ communications, which have been corroborated by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, that in the Chaco region there are Guaraní communities in a practical state of slavery. According to the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, as well as the articles 17, 26 and 28 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Forum strongly supports the efforts of the current Government of Bolivia and the commitment of the incoming Government of Paraguay to discontinue this enslaving practice and return indigenous lands to their lawful owners, the Guaraní themselves.
Request the Commission on Human Rights to support the request that the Special Rapporteur on violence against women conduct a workshop/study on violence against indigenous women in coordination with the Permanent Forum and to report on progress at the sixth session of the Permanent Forum
The Permanent Forum calls the attention of States to the need to create or strengthen national bodies with a mandate for the protection of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples in line with the Declaration. The Forum notes the efforts of certain States to create institutions for the rights and interests of indigenous peoples as Government bodies, including ombudsmen who deal with issues and situations regarding the protection of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples. It recommends that other States draw upon such experiences which highlight the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum has received information that indigenous peoples who have established community means of communication, such as film-makers and radio hosts, are criminalized and prosecuted for such activities, especially in Latin America. In this regard, the Forum requests parliamentarians to establish legal frameworks that respect the rights enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to end such practices.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States and all other relevant actors at all levels, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, to issue their action plans by the end of 2022, and that they subsequently monitor their implementation and update them with specific measurement indicators every three years during the International Decade
The Permanent Forum requests all States to include developments relating to the rights of indigenous peoples in their regular reports to the Human Rights Council under the universal periodic review mechanism.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that, in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Member States are not complying with the Declaration. In one case, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that Norway temporarily suspend the ongoing construction of the Fosen Vind onshore wind power project, which negatively affects the reindeer herding of the South Sami people. The Government of Norway, having concluded that its administrative and legal processes were sufficient, did not implement the interim measures. The Forum urges Member States to respect and comply with decisions made by the United Nations treaty bodies.
The Permanent Forum urges the member organizations of the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights to commission independent evaluations of the impact of their organizations’ work on indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States support, financially and in every other way, Indigenous Peoples’ development of their own strategies in revitalizing, strengthening and developing their languages parallel to other efforts under the Global Action Plan.
The active participation of indigenous peoples and indigenous organizations should be ensured when matters affecting their rights are discussed by the Human Rights Council and any subsidiary bodies or processes that it decides to establish.