Consistent with the commitments in the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (General Assembly resolution 69/2) and the standards for indigenous peoples’ survival, dignity and well-being contained in the United Nations Declaration, the Permanent Forum recommends that States fully engage indigenous peoples in good-faith negotiations of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements on the basis of the unequivocal recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources and to fully reject the extinguishment of indigenous rights in form or result. Furthermore, the Forum recommends that States address the call for full and effective redress for the loss of lands, territories and resources and State breaches of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements. The Forum reiterates the urgent need for States to institute, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, high-level oversight bodies to guide and oversee the conduct of negotiations and implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements in the light of ongoing negotiation and implementation issues. Building on the recommendations advanced at the eleventh session of the Forum, States are encouraged to support the resolution of disputes between indigenous peoples by providing financial and other methods of support to achieve peaceful resolution.
Many indigenous peoples described situations where their human rights were being impacted by large-scale infrastructure projects, natural resource extraction and industrial agriculture activities in their territories without their free, prior and informed consent. The Permanent Forum received information to that effect from the Shuar, Sapara, Maasai and Ogaden peoples, among others. The Forum is concerned, in particular, by cases where it appears that the interests of investors are better protected than the rights of indigenous peoples. It reiterates that States and the private sector must respect the human rights of indigenous peoples by ensuring the effective implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
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.
Taking into account the challenges faced by States in the implementation of their international obligation to consult with and obtain the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, the Permanent Forum commits itself to developing an international guide to facilitate the implementation of these principles in accordance with the standards established in the United Nations Declaration. The Forum invites the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples to collaborate on this initiative.
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 urges the funds, programmes and specialized agencies to have a special focus on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the system-wide action plan in a few designated countries in 2017 and 2018 and led by the United Nations resident coordinators. In selecting those countries for joint action, special attention should be given to countries that already are under focus, such as those that are carrying out voluntary national reviews for the high-level political forum on sustainable development, those that are under review by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, those that are in the preparatory phases for a new United Nations Development Assistance Framework, or those in which a dialogue process between the State and the indigenous peoples is taking place.
Building upon the study prepared by members of the Permanent Forum on the situation of indigenous persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on challenges faced with respect to the full enjoyment of human rights and inclusion in development (see E/C.19/2013/6), and in the light of the call in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to “leave no one behind”, the Forum is concerned that the experiences and rights of indigenous persons with disabilities require further study and examination. In that regard, the Forum calls upon the secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as the focal point within the United Nations system on matters relating to disability, to conduct a qualitative study with regard to indigenous persons with disabilities, in all seven regions of the world.
Consistent with articles 7 and 30 of the United Nations Declaration, States should take measures for settlement, protection and security in the post-conflict period, and for the construction of durable and lasting peace, promoting the full and effective inclusion of indigenous peoples, including indigenous women, in any initiative for peace and reconciliation.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the initiation of a national dialogue to discuss and achieve key constitutional reforms in the field of justice in Guatemala, and encourages the recognition of indigenous justice systems. The Forum urges Guatemala and the private sector, in addition to the World Bank and other international economic institutions, to acknowledge that serious efforts require structural economic and social reforms rather than rapid growth of gross domestic product in order to reverse widespread and growing poverty among the indigenous peoples of Guatemala. Such crucial reforms must ensure more equitable distribution and access to traditional lands for the indigenous peoples of Guatemala, consistent with the rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration, and on the basis of respect for and legal recognition of their collective rights, including their self-determined development. Furthermore, the Forum calls upon Guatemala to reinforce the effective and full implementation of the Peace Accords.
States should take effective measures to eliminate violence against indigenous peoples by studying the root causes of conflict and human rights abuses, developing indicators and methodologies for risk assessment and early warning mechanisms and improving national legislation for the administration of justice with regard to the perpetrators of war crimes.
Recalling the study on decolonization of the Pacific region (see E/C.19/2013/12), the Permanent Forum invites the relevant States to provide information on the status of the situation of the indigenous peoples concerned to the Permanent Forum at its sixteenth session.
Recalling the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur appointed to undertake a study on the status of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997 (E/C.19/2011/6, sect. VIII), and given that the situation of the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts remains a matter of concern, the Forum encourages the Government of Bangladesh to allocate sufficient human and financial resources and set a time frame for the full implementation of the Accord.