The Permanent Forum encourages the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Human Rights Council to continue the process of addressing rights related to treaties and agreements between indigenous peoples and the United States and Canada, including through the consideration and implementation of the recommendations resulting from the first two United Nations treaty seminars, held in 2003 and 2006, and by taking steps to hold a third seminar, as mandated by the Economic and Social Council, and urges the Expert Mechanism to advance the work on treaties.
The Permanent Forum recommends that any future agreements with the Plurinational State of Bolivia should provide, in particular, for means of protecting the territory of the Ayoreo people living in voluntary isolation
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Government of Paraguay should make resolute progress towards the development of a land registry that will facilitate land titling, and thus the recovery of land by indigenous communities and the territorial reconstitution of their respective peoples.
The Permanent Forum urges OHCHR in the Plurinational State of Bolivia to continue and strengthen its monitoring of the human rights of the Guaraní people to address as a matter of urgency the situation of the families and communities that are subjected to forced labour and other forms of servitude and to report regularly and publicly on developments in that situation. In the area of technical assistance, the Permanent Forum urges OHCHR in the Plurinational State of Bolivia to strengthen the human rights capacities of the Guaraní authorities in Alto Parapetí and other districts where there are serious human rights violations.
The Permanent Forum encourages APG to continue to give priority to its endeavours to eliminate the servitude and contemporary forms of slavery to which families and communities in Santa Cruz, especially in Alto Parapetí, and in Chuquisaca, are subjected. The Permanent Forum encourages APG, as the organization that represents the Guaraní people in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, to continue to give priority to combating these extremely serious human rights violations as part of its broader programme of reconstitution of the Guaraní people.
The Permanent Forum calls on the Office of the Attorney General and the district prosecutors’ offices in the Departments of Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz and Tarija to conduct criminal investigations into the events described by the Plurinational State of Bolivia in its report to this session of the Forum and in the subsequent report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Plurinational State of Bolivia should consider implementing the resolutions of the National Agrarian Reform Institute regarding the revocation of land titles on grounds of servitude in all matters affecting not only the freedom of individuals, but also the recovery of land for communities, thereby preventing legal proceedings from stalling a reform process that defends, promotes and protects human rights.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the right to education and the Expert Mechanism’s Advice No. 1. The Permanent Forum encourages States, indigenous peoples and others to disseminate these texts and incorporate them in national policies and practices.
The Permanent Forum urges the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to require States parties to take into account, in their reports to each body, the first article of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which must be understood pursuant to article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets out the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination
The Permanent Forum supports the initiative of OHCHR to develop guidelines for the protection of peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Amazon Region and the Gran Chaco, which are currently under consultation with indigenous organizations and the States concerned. The Permanent Forum recommends that, in developing the guidelines, attention be directed to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly in terms of the right to self-determination. The organizations in closest contact with those indigenous peoples that remain in voluntary isolation or initial contact should be involved in the elaboration of these guidelines.
The Permanent Forum suggests that the Human Rights Committee also interpret the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights taking into account the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular, the Committee should review its General Comment No. 12 (1984) on the right to self-determination (article 1 of the Covenant) and No. 23 (1994) on the rights of persons belonging to minorities (article 27 of the Covenant) taking into account article 3 and other relevant provisions of the Declaration. In addition, in accordance with the terms of General Comment No. 12, the Committee should request State parties to the Covenant to report on their compliance with their obligations regarding the right of all peoples, including indigenous peoples, to self-determination and related rights. The Committee should request that State parties prepare the relevant sections of their reports on the implementation of the Covenant in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that UNDP, OHCHR and ILO facilitate dialogue and provide support to indigenous peoples in the areas of crisis prevention and democratic governance as they relate to extractive industries operating in indigenous territories in order to achieve more effective implementation and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights.