The Permanent Forum recognizes the history of the placement of Indigenous children in boarding and residential schools without free, prior and informed consent, where there have been dramatically grave negative impacts on the well-being and identity development of Indigenous students, on their families, and on the communities and cultures of Indigenous Peoples in all sociocultural regions. The Forum recommends that States find mechanisms to redress the harms caused by boarding and residential schools, and engage in effective reconciliation efforts. With respect to French Guiana specifically, the Forum calls upon the Government of France to establish a truth commission to investigate the conditions of boarding and residential schools in France and its overseas territories. The Government of France should adopt measures for healing, reparation and rehabilitation. The commission should guarantee gender equality in terms of inclusion and ensure the full participation of the Indigenous Peoples affected.
The Permanent Forum heard that industrial companies and authorities in the Russian Federation promoted certain “authorized bodies of Indigenous Peoples”, which in reality were run by State representatives claiming that only these organizations had the right to negotiate on behalf of Indigenous Peoples. In this regard, the Forum proposes that the Government of the Russian Federation revise the federal law on guarantees of the rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation.
The Permanent Forum reiterates that it has urged all United Nations entities and States parties to treaties concerning the environment, biodiversity and climate change to eliminate the use of the term “local communities” in conjunction with Indigenous Peoples, and to distinguish between the terms, in ongoing processes, policies and new international agreements at all levels.