The Permanent Forum invites the European Commission, through its Directorate-General for International Partnerships and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations to follow and engage in the work of the Permanent Forum, including by the designation of focal points.
The Permanent Forum regrets the continuous killings, violence and harassment targeted at indigenous human rights defenders, including indigenous women, in the context of resisting mining and infrastructure projects and other such developments. The Permanent Forum therefore invites Member States to honour their human rights obligations. In this regard, the Permanent Forum welcomes General Assembly resolution 76/148 on the rights of indigenous peoples, in which States are urged to take necessary measures to ensure the rights, protection and safety of indigenous peoples, including indigenous leaders and indigenous human rights defenders, and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that access to justice and remedy is guaranteed.
The Permanent Forum is deeply concerned about the particular vulnerabilities
of indigenous children. In this regard, it notes the study of the Expert Mechanism on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the rights of the indigenous child under the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (A/HRC/48/74) and
the note by the Secretariat entitled “Update on the promotion and application of the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: violence against
children” (E/C.19/2022/4), prepared in collaboration with the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The Permanent Forum calls
upon Member States to prioritize the human rights of indigenous children and young
people, in cooperation with indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum further calls
upon those States that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
including its three Optional Protocols – on a communications procedure, on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography and on the involvement of
children in armed conflict, to do so as soon as possible.
The Permanent Forum regrets the continuous killings, violence and harassment targeted at indigenous human rights defenders, including indigenous women, in the context of resisting mining and infrastructure projects and other such developments. The Permanent Forum therefore invites Member States to honour their human rights obligations. In this regard, the Permanent Forum welcomes General Assembly resolution 76/148 on the rights of indigenous peoples, in which States are urged to take necessary measures to ensure the rights, protection and safety of indigenous peoples, including indigenous leaders and indigenous human rights defenders, and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that access to justice and remedy is guaranteed.
In September 2024, 10 years will have passed since the adoption by the General Assembly of the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, and of its annex, the Alta outcome document. The Permanent Forum calls upon the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly to hold a “World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Plus 10” in August 2024 to allow Member States, United Nations entities and indigenous peoples to report on implementation of the outcome document, with the full participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recalls that, to ensure effective implementation, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights must be aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), of ILO, the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Escazú Agreement, and the jurisprudence of the human rights treaty bodies. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum recognizes the work of the Human Rights Council to develop an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. In that respect, the Permanent Forum stresses the need to ensure that the new instrument affirms indigenous peoples’ rights, including with regard to free, prior and informed consent. The Permanent Forum recommends that this instrument explicitly define due diligence processes and their specific methods of implementation. Therefore, the Permanent Forum underlines the importance of full and effective participation by indigenous peoples throughout the development of the instrument.
The Permanent Forum continues to be concerned by the lack of participation of African indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum recommends that the General Assembly encourage relevant United Nations entities to make the necessary financial and administrative arrangements that allow for the participation of indigenous peoples at relevant United Nations meetings, including online.
The Permanent Forum remains concerned about continuing human rights violations, including arbitrary killings and extrajudicial executions, throughout northeastern India. It echoes the call of indigenous peoples (scheduled tribes) of the region and urges India to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, investigate alleged human rights abuses in the region and hold those responsible to account.
Indigenous peoples have been a distinct constituency at the United Nations since 1977 and, with the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007, their inherent rights were affirmed as the international minimum standard. The Permanent Forum reiterates the position of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, namely that it is unacceptable to undermine the status and standing of indigenous peoples by combining or equating them with non-indigenous entities such as minorities, vulnerable groups or local communities. Such attempts, whether by States or United Nations entities, are not acceptable and will be challenged by indigenous peoples and those mandated to defend their rights. The Permanent Forum urges all United Nations entities and States parties to treaties concerning the environment, biodiversity and the climate to eliminate the use of the term “local communities” in conjunction with indigenous peoples, so that the term “indigenous peoples and local communities” would be abolished.
Businesses, in their human rights due diligence processes, should meaningfully engage with indigenous peoples as rights holders in business decisions and outcomes affecting them. In that regard, free, prior and informed consent should be understood as their right to give or withhold consent.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the important work of the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean on its thirtieth anniversary. The Permanent Forum encourages Member States, United Nations entities and indigenous peoples to support strengthening the work of the Fund.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the first meeting of Escazú Agreement. The Escazú Agreement is the first instrument that includes provisions on the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters. The Permanent Forum urges States parties to ensure implementation of the Agreement and invites them to establish mechanisms for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in the work thereof. The Permanent Forum reiterates its invitation to countries that have not yet signed or ratified the Agreement to do so.