The Permanent Forum continues to hear numerous accounts from indigenous peoples who are threatened by alien commercial ventures, militarization and administrative decisions that interfere with their governance over their lands, territories and resources and ultimately inhibit their capacity for sustainable development and well-being for future generations. The Forum strongly recommends that such disputes be considered in accordance with article 27 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and paragraph 21 of the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, ensuring that a mechanism exists that provides for fair, independent, impartial, open and transparent adjudication. Any mechanism established for adjudication of disputes over indigenous peoples’ lands, territories and resources should be agreed upon between States and indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the continuing negotiations between the Nordic States and the Sami peoples towards the adoption of a Nordic Sami convention. The Forum recommends that the minimum international human rights standards contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples be the framework for all negotiations concerning the convention and the harmonizing of Sami rights within Nordic countries. It urges Nordic States to recognize and respect the Sami peoples’ right to self-determination, to determine their own identity or membership of their institutions in accordance with their customs and their right not to be subjected to forced assimilation, consistent with articles 8 and 33 of the Declaration, the conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (see CERD/C/FIN/CO/19, para. 13).
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiatives of national human rights institutions, such as those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and encourages other human rights institutions to conduct national inquiries on the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources.
In anticipation of the first session of the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Forum recommends that indigenous issues be a standing item in the agenda of the Human Rights Council and that due attention be paid to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. The role of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people should be maintained and further strengthened within the Human Rights Council.
Post-pandemic recovery efforts have exacerbated human rights violations against indigenous peoples across Asia. Governments have used economic recovery plans as a justification to seize indigenous lands for the purposes of resource extraction, and indigenous environmental defenders are often threatened and arrested. The Permanent Forum calls on Member States to guarantee the principles of free, prior and informed consent throughout its post-pandemic recovery efforts to ensure that the socioeconomic development of indigenous territories is implemented in full cooperation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR produce a periodic electronic bulletin on relevant activities regarding the rights of indigenous peoples, including decisions and observations by United Nations human rights mechanisms regarding States under review, and its activities at the regional or local levels and other events.
The Permanent Forum recommends to the Human Rights Council that, in the course of a universal periodic review, the situation of indigenous peoples of a country under consideration also be examined.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to recognize the collective rights of indigenous peoples, and calls on ASEAN to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are integrated into the development process of the ASEAN charter.
During its tenth session, the Permanent Forum emphasized that redefining the relationship between indigenous peoples and the State as an important way to understand the doctrine of discovery and a way to develop a vision of the future for reconciliation, peace and justice. To that end, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a strong human rights framework and standards for the redress of such false doctrines, notably in articles 3, 28 and 37. The Permanent Forum encourages the conduct of the processes of reconciliation “in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, and respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith”.
The Permanent Forum reiterates that indigenous peoples should report to the Forum on how they are implementing the Declaration in their own communities, thereby contributing to the growing evidence of how the principles enshrined in the Declaration are being practised.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the recent entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Forum encourages Member States to accede to the Optional Protocol and requests the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to consider the preparation of a general comment on the economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the fact that the principles and rules contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have been integrated into the new constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, which was ratified in a referendum held on 25 January 2009.