United Nations • New York, 2012
Economic and Social Council
Official Records, 2012
Supplement No. 23
Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues
Report on the eleventh session (7-18 May 2012)
Chapter I
Matters calling for action by the Economic and Social
Council or brought to its attention
A. Draft
decisions recommended by the Permanent Forum for adoption by the Council
1. The
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommends to the Economic and Social
Council the adoption of the following draft decisions:
Draft decision I
International expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous
youth: identity, challenges and hope: articles 14, 17, 21 and 25 of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”
The Economic and Social Council decides to authorize a
three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous youth:
identity, challenges and hope: articles 14, 17, 21 and 25 of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.
Draft decision II
Venue and dates of the twelfth session of the Permanent
Forum
The Economic and Social Council decides that the twelfth
session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues shall be held at United
Nations Headquarters in New York, from 20 to 31 May 2013.
Draft decision III
Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its
eleventh session and provisional agenda for its twelfth session
The Economic and Social Council,
(a) Takes
note of the report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its eleventh
session;
(b) Approves
the provisional agenda for the twelfth session of the Permanent Forum as set
out below:
1. Election
of Officers.
2. Adoption
of the agenda and organization of work.
3. Follow-up
on the recommendations of the Permanent Forum:
(a) Health;
(b) Education;
(c) Culture.
4. Half-day
discussion on the African region.
5. Comprehensive
dialogue with United Nations agencies and funds.
6. Discussion
on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
7. Human
rights:
(a) Implementation
of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
(b) Dialogue
with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Chair
of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
8. Future
work of the Permanent Forum, including issues of the Economic and Social
Council and emerging issues.
9. Draft
agenda for the thirteenth session of the Permanent Forum.
10. Adoption
of the report of the Permanent Forum on its twelfth session.
B. Matters
brought to the attention of the Council
2. The
Permanent Forum has identified the proposals, objectives, recommendations and
areas of possible future action set out below and, through the Council,
recommends that States, entities of the United Nations system,
intergovernmental organizations, indigenous peoples, the private sector and
non-governmental organizations assist in their realization.
3. It
is the understanding of the Secretariat that the proposals, objectives,
recommendations and areas of possible future action to be carried out by the
United Nations, as set out below, will be implemented to the extent that
resources from the regular budget and extrabudgetary resources are available.
Recommendations of
the Permanent Forum
Special theme: “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring
impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests
(articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples)”
4. The
Permanent Forum recalls the fourth preambular paragraph of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which affirms that all
doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples
or individuals on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or
cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally
condemnable and socially unjust. Legal and political justification for the
dispossession of indigenous peoples from their lands, their disenfranchisement
and the abrogation of their rights such as the doctrine of discovery, the
doctrine of domination, “conquest”, “discovery”, terra nullius or the Regalian
doctrine were adopted by colonizers throughout the world. While these nefarious
doctrines were promoted as the authority for the acquisition of the lands and
territories of indigenous peoples, there were broader assumptions implicit in
the doctrines, which became the basis for the assertion of authority and
control over the lives of indigenous peoples and their lands, territories and
resources. Indigenous peoples were constructed as “savages”, “barbarians”,
“backward” and “inferior and uncivilized” by the colonizers who used such
constructs to subjugate, dominate and exploit indigenous peoples and their lands,
territories and resources. The Permanent Forum calls upon States to repudiate
such doctrines as the basis for denying indigenous peoples’ human rights.
5. The
ongoing manifestations of such doctrines are evident in indigenous communities,
including in the areas of: health; psychological and social well-being; denial
of rights and titles to land, resources and medicines; conceptual and
behavioural forms of violence against indigenous women; youth suicide; and the
hopelessness that many indigenous peoples experience, in particular indigenous
youth.
6. Another
ongoing manifestation of dispossession doctrines is the concept of
extinguishment, found in the regulations, policies and court decisions in which
States have purportedly “extinguished” the rights of indigenous peoples to
their lands, territories and resources, their right to self-determination,
their languages, religions and even their identities and existence through the
notion of “recognition”, that is by recognizing some and not recognizing others
as indigenous. “Extinguishment”, in the context of indigenous peoples’ rights
to lands, territories and resources is inconsistent with the contemporary
understanding in international law, specifically the peremptory norm of the
absolute prohibition against racial discrimination. No other peoples in the
world are pressured to have their rights “extinguished”.
7. Article
26 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
treaty body jurisprudence and case law from all major international human
rights institutions confirm that indigenous peoples hold collective rights to
the lands, territories and resources that they have traditionally owned,
occupied or otherwise used, and that respect for their customs, traditions and
land tenure systems is owed to them. Such rights have the same legal status as
all other property rights to lands, territories and resources. States are no
longer allowed to deploy positivist legal interpretations of laws adopted
during an era when doctrines such as terra nullius were the norm. International
human rights law, including norms on equality and non-discrimination such as
those affirmed in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, demand that States rectify past wrongs caused by such
doctrines, including the violation of the land rights of indigenous peoples,
through law and policy reform, restitution and other forms of redress for the
violation of their land rights, including those referred to in articles 27 and
28 of the United Nations Declaration.
8. During
its tenth session, the Permanent Forum emphasized that redefining the
relationship between indigenous peoples and the State as an important way to
understand the doctrine of discovery and a way to develop a vision of the
future for reconciliation, peace and justice. To that end, the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a strong human rights
framework and standards for the redress of such false doctrines, notably in
articles 3, 28 and 37. The Permanent Forum encourages the conduct of the
processes of reconciliation “in accordance with the principles of justice,
democracy, and respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good
governance and good faith”.
9. The
Permanent Forum recommends that States include in all education curricula, in
particular the school system, a discussion of the doctrine of
discovery/dispossession and its contemporary manifestations, including land
laws and policies of removal.
10. The
Permanent Forum welcomes the recommendation to establish a voluntary
international mechanism to receive and consider communications from indigenous peoples
specifically concerning their claims to, or violations of, their rights to the
lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied
or otherwise used or acquired. This recommendation deserves further elaboration
by indigenous peoples and others concerned. The Forum takes note of the mandate
of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in this regard.
11. The
Permanent Forum recommends that States and the United Nations system, with
particular attention to the activities of the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), introduce indigenous youth
perspectives into existing youth policies and plans, including the five-year
action agenda of the Secretary-General to address health issues. In addition,
there should be a distinct focus on indigenous youth by improving participation
in decision- making and by introducing and including mental health services for
young people, with particular efforts to address suicide among indigenous youth.