The Permanent Forum recommends that the Organization of American States establish a consultation mechanism, composed of experts from indigenous peoples, as part of the effort to ensure national implementation of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169).
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.
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 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 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 non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples’ organizations and academics undertake independent studies and investigations into the violations of indigenous peoples’ land rights through illegal land expropriation and exploitation and into the issue of land, forestry, tourism and mining concessions, including:(a)Recommendations on how the rights of indigenous peoples can be legally protected;(b)The degree to which Governments ensure free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in the approval of land concessions and mining exploration licences over their traditional lands and forests;(c)The role of other States in the promotion of agri-business and extractive industries without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples;(d)The role of multinational agri-business and extractive industries; specifically, whether corporate social responsibilities have been fulfilled and social and environmental impact assessments have been undertaken prior to the commencement of development projects.
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 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 recommends that all States install gender-sensitive action plans and independent self-reporting mechanisms that give particular attention to indigenous peoples, with the aim of protecting victims, prosecuting perpetrators and preventing human trafficking and related serious exploitation in all its forms, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, both supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Permanent Forum thanks the Government of Colombia for its support during the Forum mission to Colombia and requests that the Government, the United Nations country team and the United Nations agencies involved in the mission implement the recommendations contained in the mission report (E/C.19/2011/3) through consultation and full collaboration with the indigenous peoples concerned. The Permanent Forum intends to assess the implementation of the recommendations at its eleventh session.
The Forum urges the meeting of chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies and the meeting of the special rapporteurs and other mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights organized by the Office of the High Commissioner to place indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, on their agenda and invite the Forum to participate.
The Permanent Forum urges all States to commit to a process, with the participation of indigenous peoples, responding to the country reports of all United Nations special rapporteurs, including:
(a) Providing a written response to the rapporteur’s report, submitted to the Human Rights Council, within six months of the report’s issuance. The response should outline the State process for implementing the recommendations of the report;
(b) Developing and publicly promoting a strategy to implement the recommendations of the report within 12 months of its issuance;
(c) Providing annual updates of the rapporteur’s report detailing the implementation of the strategy until such time as the rapporteur conducts a new visit to the State in question, or until that State undergoes a universal periodic review.