The Permanent Forum was presented with horrific testimonies of Indigenous children incarcerated in prisons and other holding facilities. The Permanent Forum reminds Member States to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child. No child should be in prison. In that regard, the Permanent Forum notes the finding in 2022 of the Supreme Court of Western Australia that the extensive solitary confinement and significant reduction in liberty of children, primarily Aboriginal children, was unlawful. The Permanent Forum calls upon Australia to respect the Court decision and remove its reservation to article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States review and reform their child protection policies and systems to prevent undue removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the Community Land Act of Kenya, which represents a critical step towards securing the land rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum reiterates its recommendation that the Government of Kenya implement a sustainable system of equitable land tenure to prevent further evictions of the Ogiek community in the Mau forest, and calls upon the Government to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the sustainable management of forests and to comply with the decision of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the existence of gender-diverse Indigenous Peoples, including two-spirit peoples, worldwide, and calls upon the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples to ensure that two -spirit Indigenous Peoples are not prevented from participating in United Nations processes.