In accordance with article 16 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous peoples have the right to full freedom of expression, including the right to establish their own media in their own languages. The Permanent Forum is concerned that indigenous peoples of Latin America have been criminalized for the establishment of community radio stations and urges Member States to protect the rights of indigenous communicators
The Permanent Forum remains concerned about continuing human rights violations, including arbitrary killings and extrajudicial executions, throughout northeastern India. It echoes the call of indigenous peoples (scheduled tribes) of the region and urges India to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, investigate alleged human rights abuses in the region and hold those responsible to account.
The Permanent Forum calls on United Nations entities to elevate the discussion on indigenous peoples to the highest possible governance level of their entities in order to ensure system-wide ownership and support for indigenous peoples’ rights. It encourages the focal points of United Nations entities to facilitate the commencement of dialogues between the Permanent Forum and the heads of the entities. The objective of such dialogues could include reviews of the entities’ internal policies and safeguards guaranteeing the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples, respect for their free, prior and informed consent and due diligence in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant international standards by the end of 2022