The Permanent Forum is concerned by the killings, violence and harassment targeted at indigenous human rights defenders, which are also frequently committed with impunity. The Permanent Forum is concerned that, despite international condemnation, these criminal acts of violence persist, especially in a small number of countries in South and Central America, Africa and Asia.
The Forum recognizes and applauds other indigenous fellowship programmes, in particular the fellowship programme established and funded by the regular budget of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the newly established fellowship programme of the ILO. Furthermore, the Forum particularly recognizes the capacity-building efforts of the indigenous fellowship programme of the Office and requests that, in order to complement their Geneva based training, the indigenous fellows at the Office should participate, on an annual basis, in the sessions of the Forum. Further consideration should also be given to provide some time for training at the secretariat of the Forum, during non-sessional periods.
The Permanent Forum urges the international community to pay particular attention to the situation of the Batwa peoples, in particular Batwa women, and to support the inclusion of the San people and other indigenous groups in the national census. The Permanent Forum urges African States and their international development partners to review the poverty reduction strategy papers and other frameworks for integrating the specificities of such indigenous peoples as the Batwa, Pygmies, Touaregue, Amazigh, Khoisan and other hunter-gatherers or nomadic peoples in their countries, both in Central and in Southern Africa.
The Forum urges the meeting of chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies and the meeting of the special rapporteurs and other mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights organized by the Office of the High Commissioner to place indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, on their agenda and invite the Forum to participate.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States that have not already done so to engage in constructive partnerships with indigenous peoples to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to adopt specific action plans, strategies or other measures that will deliver required financial and technical assistance to indigenous peoples in order for them to achieve and exercise self-determination.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants pay special attention to the vulnerability of urban and migrant indigenous persons.
The Forum recommends that African States, United Nations agencies and academic institutions undertake studies on the impact of the doctrine of discovery on indigenous peoples of Africa, with a view to creating understanding and awareness.
The Permanent Forum recalls its previous recommendations on the progress of the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord and calls upon the Government of Bangladesh to take appropriate steps in this regard on an urgent basis. In particular, the Forum urges the Government to frame rules for the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Disputes Resolution Commission and to generate ethnically disaggregated data, including for the national census of 2021.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) conduct a study on violence against indigenous women and access to justice, especially in cross-border situations, in cooperation with indigenous women.
The Permanent Forum recommends that, in order to ensure access to effective remedies, States enforce corporate compliance with relevant laws and standards. Transnational corporations and other business enterprises should put into place operational-level grievance mechanisms to provide early warning and help resolve problems before they escalate. Significant barriers to accessing effective judicial and non-judicial remedies persist, and the Forum supports the work of the Special Representative in identifying and proposing ways of eliminating those barriers.
Owing to the particular vulnerability of indigenous peoples in conflict situations, the Permanent Forum recommends that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the Secretariat and regional peacekeeping forces factor the protection of indigenous peoples into analysis, planning and guidance on the protection of civilians.
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.