The Forum recommends that FAO and the Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development Initiative work further on the development of cultural indicators for identifying priorities and criteria and methodologies for the right to food and food security, with the participation of indigenous peoples, taking into account the protection and restoration of indigenous peoples' traditional food systems and their agrobiodiversity and associated traditional knowledge and livelihoods. The threats to sustaining such systems, such as monoculture cash crop production, mineral extraction, environmental contamination and genetically modified seeds and technology, should be addressed.
The Permanent Forum calls upon all States to work with indigenous peoples to develop and implement right-to-health indicators, to utilize the findings in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to health and to set benchmarks and timelines to ensure that indigenous peoples’ right to health is progressively realized, as required by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in the Millennium Development Goals.
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.
Mindful of the systemic discrimination and racism experienced by indigenous peoples in the law enforcement, judicial and correctional institutions of States across the globe, the Permanent Forum urges States that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination to comprehensively review the civil rights of indigenous peoples, in particular those of indigenous women and children who are victims of sexual violence, in order to ensure that they have fair, non-discriminatory access to justice.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations treaty bodies and mechanisms, as well as the universal periodic review process, scrutinize the reports and human rights records of States, so as to effectively address rights ritualism. This should include ensuring that States’ claims are systematically compared with the concerns raised by indigenous peoples and civil society.
The Permanent Forum urges the international community to support the peace process in Mali and establish an independent monitoring committee that, in accordance with articles 7 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration, would oversee the implementation of the peace agreement of 20 June 2015, with the effective and representative participation of the Tuareg peoples.
Acknowledging the normative work of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Permanent Forum recommends that Member States and WIPO ensure protection against the misappropriation of the intellectual property of indigenous peoples. Member States must also enact laws and adopt policies and mechanisms to protect indigenous peoples’ intellectual property from misappropriation, including the wrongful use of their cultural heritage and traditional knowledge (including traditional knowledge of nature) and traditional cultural expressions (such as oral traditions, rites, literatures, graphic designs, textile designs, traditional sports and games, and visual and performing arts) and the manifestation of indigenous science and technology (including human and genetic resources, seeds and medicines).
The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Issues to hold, on an exceptional basis, a meeting to consider appropriate ways of promoting, disseminating and implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, once it is adopted by the General Assembly.
The Permanent Forum requests that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders conduct a specific study on the situation of indigenous human rights defenders and submit a report to the Permanent Forum at its eighth session.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States to ensure that national policies regarding indigenous pastoralism and hunter-gatherers comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Human rights defenders are increasingly targeted as terrorists for promoting and protecting decades-old guaranteed rights. This alarming trend is seen in every region. Even the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz; former expert member of the Permanent Forum Joan Carling; and former member of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples José Molintas, have been declared terrorists in a petition by the Government of the Philippines. The Forum rejects this dangerous precedent and calls on the Government of the Philippines to remove their names, and the names of other indigenous leaders, from the petition and to ensure their safety as they continue promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. Further, the Forum urges the Government of the Philippines to repeal the Human Security Act, comply with its international human rights obligations and pursue its commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.