The Permanent Forum decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteurs on indigenous peoples and corporations, Carlos Mamani Condori, Elisa Canqui Mollo and Pavel Sulyandziga, for one year, and requests them to submit a written report to the Forum at its ninth session, in 2010.
The Permanent Forum urges that discussions at the forthcoming summit to renew the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, scheduled to be held in Brazil in August 2023, fully involve Indigenous Peoples from the Amazon region in determining a road map that addresses their situation, including cross-border illegal activities and organized crime.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, the African Union and the European Union establish special mechanisms for the protection of indigenous peoples in areas of conflict and high insecurity in the countries of the Sahel and Sahara region, in particular Tuaregs in Mali and Libya.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in cooperation with the Permanent Forum develop a coherent and strategic plan of action in Africa in cooperation with indigenous peoples and their representative organizations, and that the implementation of the programme of the Office of the High Commissioner to strengthen capacity to protect and advocate for the human rights of indigenous peoples be linked to other United Nations bodies, notably the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UNESCO and others.
The religious, spiritual and cultural sites of indigenous peoples, including the Ktunaxa Nation in Canada, the Aboriginal people of Australia, the Maya of Guatemala and the Amazigh peoples, continue to face destruction. This has profoundly negative impacts on indigenous peoples, including affecting their sacred practices. Consistent with articles 11, 12, 13, 19, 25, 31 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration and paragraphs 20 and 27 of the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, the Permanent Forum recommends that, in their national action plans, strategies and other measures, States:
(a) Take effective measures to ensure that indigenous peoples’ spiritual and cultural sites are protected;
(b) Ensure that, consistent with article 32 of the United Nations Declaration, indigenous peoples are not forced to defend these rights against proposed development projects or through litigation in courts;
(c) Actively resolve disputes directly with indigenous peoples, consistent with article 19 of the United Nations Declaration, given that these rights constitute critical elements of the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Pacific States endorse and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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 urges OHCHR in the Plurinational State of Bolivia to continue and strengthen its monitoring of the human rights of the Guaraní people to address as a matter of urgency the situation of the families and communities that are subjected to forced labour and other forms of servitude and to report regularly and publicly on developments in that situation. In the area of technical assistance, the Permanent Forum urges OHCHR in the Plurinational State of Bolivia to strengthen the human rights capacities of the Guaraní authorities in Alto Parapetí and other districts where there are serious human rights violations.
The Permanent Forum recommends that a task force be created within the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues to specifically address migration issues of indigenous peoples, as suggested in the 2006 Geneva workshop on this matter (E/C.19/2007/CRP.5).
Climate change and environmental issues are a major threat to indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to use, maintain and control their lands, territories and resources, and develop mechanisms for their inclusion in relevant decision-making processes. The Forum calls upon States to cooperate with indigenous peoples and consider their traditional knowledge in environmental impact assessment procedures and in local, regional and national development plans. The Forum also recommends that States implement inclusive environmental and land management policies, in line with the Declaration.
Consistent with the commitments in the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (General Assembly resolution 69/2) and the standards for indigenous peoples’ survival, dignity and well-being contained in the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum recommends that States fully engage indigenous peoples in good-faith negotiations of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements on the basis of the unequivocal recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources and to fully reject the extinguishment of indigenous rights in form or result. Furthermore, the Forum recommends that States address the call for full and effective redress for the loss of lands, territories and resources and State breaches of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. The Forum reiterates the urgent need for States to institute, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, high-level oversight bodies to guide and oversee the conduct of negotiations and implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements in the light of ongoing negotiation and implementation issues. Building on the recommendations advanced at the eleventh session of the Forum, States are encouraged to support the resolution of disputes between indigenous peoples by providing financial and other methods of support to achieve peaceful resolution.
The Permanent Forum takes note of the study by Elisa Canqui on forced labour and indigenous peoples (E/C.19/2011/CRP.4) and urges Member States, in collaboration with United Nations agencies and regional intergovernmental organizations, to increase their efforts to combat forced labour and human trafficking and to put in place adequate instruments to protect victims, paying particular attention to indigenous peoples and the restoration of victims’ rights.