The Permanent Forum has received information that indigenous peoples who have established community means of communication, such as film-makers and radio hosts, are criminalized and prosecuted for such activities, especially in Latin America. In this regard, the Forum requests parliamentarians to establish legal frameworks that respect the rights enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to end such practices.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Saramaka People vs. Suriname (28 November 2007), which aptly applies the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Permanent Forum urges the Working Group of the Organization of American States, which is elaborating the draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, to consider the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the minimum standard.
Recalling articles 3–4, 8, 18, 25–26 and 32 of the Declaration, the Permanent Forum urges African States to promote, recognize and protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources through the development of mechanisms to ensure the legal recognition of land and resource rights, the resolution of land disputes, fair and equitable redress, and the creation of permanent dialogue frameworks to facilitate political participation and representation of indigenous peoples in decision-making.
Following the results of the discussion under the special theme "Indigenous children and youth" and in the light of article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Forum recommends that the Committee on the Rights of the Child request States parties to the Convention to include in their reports information pertaining to the situation of indigenous children under all relevant provisions of the Convention.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that, in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Member States are not complying with the Declaration. In one case, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that Norway temporarily suspend the ongoing construction of the Fosen Vind onshore wind power project, which negatively affects the reindeer herding of the South Sami people. The Government of Norway, having concluded that its administrative and legal processes were sufficient, did not implement the interim measures. The Forum urges Member States to respect and comply with decisions made by the United Nations treaty bodies.
The Permanent Forum calls on States to consult with indigenous peoples in a manner that fully respects their obligations under the Declaration and fully responds to the goals, needs and rights of indigenous peoples in the development and design of relevant legislation.
The Forum recommends that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Secretariat establish a policy on indigenous peoples, in consultation with indigenous peoples
The Permanent Forum urges States, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, to develop and implement specific laws and mechanisms to protect indigenous human rights defenders, to ensure that attacks against them are investigated and that those persons responsible are held accountable.
The Permanent Forum urges States that have been recommended by the universal periodic review to ratify the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), to do so
The Permanent Forum urges other States to provide similar support and urges regional commissions to strengthen their focus on urban indigenous peoples and issues, in particular regarding the implementation of the recommendations contained in the 2006 publication.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Executive Office of the Secretary-General urgently set up a meeting between the Permanent Forum and the High-level Panel on United Nations System-wide Coherence in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Environment to secure the integration of indigenous peoples’ perspectives into the ongoing process of furthering system-wide coherence.
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).