The Permanent Forum recommends that the Plurinational State of Bolivia should speed up implementation of the constitutional provisions regarding the freeing of individuals, families and communities in the light of the fact that forced labour and servitude are serious human rights violations that must be addressed with great urgency.
With reference to article 42 of the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum invites African States, in particular Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and Rwanda, to present, at its sixteenth session, information on the situation of indigenous peoples affected by conflict in those countries.
The Permanent Forum has learned from indigenous peoples’ communications, which have been corroborated by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, that in the Chaco region there are Guaraní communities in a practical state of slavery. According to the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, as well as the articles 17, 26 and 28 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Forum strongly supports the efforts of the current Government of Bolivia and the commitment of the incoming Government of Paraguay to discontinue this enslaving practice and return indigenous lands to their lawful owners, the Guaraní themselves.
The Permanent Forum is concerned about legislative and regulatory processes that criminalize the establishment and management of community radio stations. The Forum encourages States to expressly recognize community media in their domestic law and to adopt effective actions to enforce the right of indigenous peoples and communities to have their own media.
The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Kenya to implement the recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the rights of Endorois to the ownership of their ancestral lands, to the restitution thereof and to compensation in that connection.
The Permanent Forum urges States to review their policies on biofuel industries, which, in the name of remedying the impacts of climate change, are resulting in the deforestation of large forest areas and the displacement of indigenous peoples. That increases the vulnerability of indigenous communities and in particular of those living in voluntary isolation.