The Permanent Forum recommends that the United States of America grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, who has been imprisoned since 1977 and is now an elderly person.
The Permanent Forum calls on the chairs of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals to address inequalities through the sustainable development goals, with a special focus on indigenous peoples, in order to uphold human rights for all, eliminate discrimination, reduce inequalities and ensure that no one is left behind.
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 urges States to include indigenous peoples in decision-making processes in all areas of water management, including commercial use, irrigation and environmental management, and to ensure that such decision-making processes are consistent with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular its article 32, under which the free and informed consent of indigenous peoples is required prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States that have not already done so to engage in constructive partnerships with indigenous peoples to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to adopt specific action plans, strategies or other measures that will deliver required financial and technical assistance to indigenous peoples in order for them to achieve and exercise self-determination.
The Permanent Forum encourages the Government of Paraguay to continue to accept assistance from United Nations agencies and programmes and national cooperation agencies in order to develop policies aimed at the elimination of forced labour and other forms of servitude, especially in matters relating to the most urgent challenges: food, health, housing and education.
The Permanent Forum requests that Member States and other potential donors increase their contributions to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, the United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership and the Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues in order to guarantee the exercise of the right of indigenous peoples to participate in United Nations meetings of specific concern to them.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States establish, where it does not already exist, a national dialogue with indigenous peoples on human rights, based on the Declaration.
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 special rapporteurs, as well as other mechanisms relevant to the Commission on Human Rights, are encouraged to study the effects of armed conflict on the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples, especially on women and children.
The Forum recommends that, under the aegis of the Forum, effective cooperation should be established and further developed between the Forum, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the special rapporteurs who address issues relating to indigenous peoples, with a view towards evaluating their activities, ensuring complementary efforts and avoiding duplication, in the light of resolution 2003/55 of the Commission on Human Rights.