With reference to article 42 of the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum invites African States, in particular Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and Rwanda, to present, at its sixteenth session, information on the situation of indigenous peoples affected by conflict in those countries.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council authorize at least one more session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations so that it can review and, as needed, complete its important work.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly ensure the meaningful participation of indigenous peoples and the Forum at the meetings of the 2019 high-level political forum on sustainable development, to be convened under the auspices of the Council and the Assembly in July and September 2019, respectively. The Forum stresses that the contributions of indigenous peoples to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda should be adequately reflected in the outcome document of the high-level political forums convened under the auspices of the Council and of the Assembly.
On the basis of information received at its second session, the Forum expresses its deep concern about the reported atrocities committed against the Pygmy people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Kuna people of Panama, and atrocities committed against indigenous peoples in other regions of the world. It urges the entire United Nations system as well as the appropriate bodies to take appropriate action.
The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Kenya to implement the recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the rights of Endorois to the ownership of their ancestral lands, to the restitution thereof and to compensation in that connection.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all States apply the principles of general comment No. 11 (2009) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, entitled “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Plurinational State of Bolivia should speed up implementation of the constitutional provisions regarding the freeing of individuals, families and communities in the light of the fact that forced labour and servitude are serious human rights violations that must be addressed with great urgency.
The Permanent Forum encourages CAPI and other indigenous peoples’ organizations to continue to defend the principle of indigenous peoples’ self-determination that they have followed in asserting their own identity, and thus to continue their efforts to reach agreement with the Government on reforms consistent with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.