The Permanent Forum appoints Mr. Michael Dodson, a member of the Forum, as a special rapporteur to prepare a draft guide, based on the relevant principles contained in the Declaration on the Rights of INdigenous Peoples, taking into account the provisions of ILO Convention 169 that relate to indigenous land tenure and management arrangements, to assist indigenous peoples, States and United Nations agencies in negotiating indigenous land tenure and management arrangements.
The Permanent Forum recommends that all States apply the principles of general comment No. 11 (2009) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, entitled “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”.
The Permanent Forum highlights that unprincipled positions and actions of States undermine indigenous peoples’ human rights and the United Nations Declaration and that such conduct prejudices indigenous peoples globally and serves to weaken the international human rights system. States must therefore take steps, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that their commitments and obligations are not violated in other international forums, especially following the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. In accordance with both the outcome document of the World Conference and the United Nations Declaration, States, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, should develop legislation and mechanisms at the national level to ensure that laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration
The Permanent Forum calls upon United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, other multilateral financial institutions and bilateral donors to establish clear policy commitments to protect the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum appoints Edward John and Dalee Sambo Dorough to conduct a study on how States exploit weak procedural rules in international organizations to devalue the United Nations Declaration and other international human rights law.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States, in consultation with the indigenous peoples concerned, provide financial and technical assistance for indigenous peoples to map the boundaries of their communal lands, finalize legal and policy frameworks for the registration of collective titles, as a matter of urgency, and support indigenous peoples in preparing their claims for collective title.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States take effective measures to halt land alienation in indigenous territories, for example, through a moratorium on the sale and registration of land, including the granting of land and other concessions in areas occupied by indigenous peoples, and also to assist indigenous communities, where appropriate, to register as legal entities.
The Permanent Forum urges UNDP to further strengthen the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples by choosing indigenous peoples’ organizations as their implementing partners and responsible parties in their projects involving indigenous peoples, especially those with established track records in project implementation. As a corollary to the foregoing, government agencies created to promote and protect the rights and interests of indigenous peoples should be preferred as implementing partners in UNDP programming on indigenous peoples’ issues so that they can effectively perform their mandate
The Permanent Forum encourages indigenous parliamentarians to organize a global satellite conference of indigenous representatives with the objective of analyzing as a whole the level of progress in the promotion, protection and exercise of the rights of indigenous peoples around the world within the framework of the seventh session of the Permanent Forum.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the effort of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to establish a regional human rights mechanism and offers its expertise and cooperation in this matter. The Forum recommends that the mechanism be called the “ASEAN Human Rights Commission” and that the commission explicitly recognize indigenous peoples in its terms of reference. We look forward to a strong commission with full investigatory and implementation powers, which uses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as its framework in dealing with indigenous peoples’ issues. The Forum also recommends that the commission establish a committee on indigenous peoples in addition to its proposed committees on migrant workers and women and children.
The Permanent Forum recommends that in the case of projects affecting indigenous peoples, States ensure that transnational corporations and other business enterprises comply with specific standards contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council consider the development of a framework for the implementation of article 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the Human Rights Council, to assess implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples in all regions of the world.