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 Forum welcomes the nomination of the High Commissioner, Justice Louise Arbor, and recommends that she convene a meeting with the Forum members.
The Permanent Forum reaffirms that indigenous peoples’ participation is crucial for the work of the Forum, and it therefore urges States to facilitate this participation, especially those indigenous peoples funded by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the work of the Government of Bangladesh with United Nations country offices to support peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Permanent Forum further welcomes the ongoing study on the status of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 1997 and invites the Government of Bangladesh, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to report on the results of the study at the twenty-second session of the Permanent Forum, setting a timeframe for its full implementation. The Permanent Forum also calls upon the Government of Bangladesh to continue to address all forms of violence, including enforced disappearances, and sexual violence against women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts committed by law enforcement agencies.
Member States must urgently address violence against indigenous peoples, including State violence, gender-based violence, forced assimilation and forced child removals, discrimination in the justice system and other forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on gender, religion, disability, age and LGBTIQ identity. The Forum encourages the Expert Mechanism, at its earliest convenience, to engage with the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and with the participation of indigenous peoples, regarding the removal of indigenous children.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States recognize the right of indigenous peoples to own, control, use and have access to their forests, and calls on States to reform their laws and policies that deny indigenous peoples that right. The Forum is gravely concerned about the continuing eviction of indigenous peoples from their forests and calls on States and the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations to protect and respect the rights of forest-dwelling and forest-dependent indigenous peoples and to provide redress to those whose rights have been violated.
The Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR pursue its efforts to encourage increased use of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by national human rights institutions.
Mauna Kea, the sacred mountain for native Hawaiians, is currently targeted for the placement of an international observatory featuring a 30-metre telescope. Such an activity inhibits and is contrary to the rights articulated in articles 11 and 12 of the United Nations Declaration. In addition, the Permanent Forum strongly recommends that the free, prior and informed consent of native Hawaiians be recognized.
The Permanent Forum urges all Arctic States to endorse and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing of the Convention on Biological Diversity recognize the rights of indigenous peoples over the biological and genetic resources of their own territories.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States take measures to advance indigenous women’s right to intercultural health through its inclusion in legal frameworks and public policies, as well as programmes to guarantee culturally, geographically and financially appropriate health and social services.