A/HRC/37/63 judgments and advisory opinions. Furthermore, calls for a yet-to-be-established world parliamentary assembly or a United Nations parliamentary assembly seek to address international democratic deficits and give expression to global public opinion by including all citizens in global decision-making through the designation of representatives specifically elected for this purpose. 40. Finally, a high level of institutional inertia cripples action to overcome the aforementioned obstacles. Even within the United Nations, which is a human institution, there are various degrees of commitment to human rights, and because of the inefficiency of some of its organs and the lack of enforcement of its resolutions, it has lost much credibility with civil society in many countries. The Independent Expert lends his encouragement to future mandates holders as they push forward the cause of sanity and human dignity for all. IV. Recommendations from some of the previous reports of the Independent Expert A. Reform of the Organization and its agencies 41. In his 2013 report to the General Assembly, the Independent Expert recommended expanding the membership of the Security Council, limiting the veto power by requiring at least two permanent members of the Security Council to vote against a given resolution and obliging those States to report to the General Assembly on the reasons for the veto. The veto should be allowed only to promote peace and pursue the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The use of the veto power to shield States from criticism or sanctions is illegitimate. This may require an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice or an amendment of Article 27 of the Charter. As mentioned above, the International Court of Justice should be empowered to issue advisory opinions separate from those requested by the Security Council and the General Assembly. Moreover, it should be equipped with a mechanism to enforce its judgments and advisory opinions. 42. The Independent Expert proposes the abolition of wasteful and arbitrary international penal tribunals, because they are only used to prosecute the losers and institutionalize impunity of the powerful. The International Criminal Court has proven to be too expensive and arbitrary. The campaign against the “impunity” of criminals has legitimacy only when it is impartial and when it endeavours to indict all persons suspected of war crimes — and not only and overwhelmingly the vanquished, whereas many others, sometimes even worse war criminals, are not even accused. It is far more important to systematize and strengthen truth commissions and to create effective mechanisms to provide adequate reparation to victims. B. International order and indigenous peoples 43. In his 2013 report to the General Assembly, the Independent Expert recommended the reactivation of the Trusteeship Council so as to facilitate the exercise of selfdetermination by many indigenous and non-self-governing peoples. The United Nations should offer its advisory services and technical assistance so as to conduct United Nations organized and monitored self-determination referendums. In paragraph 69 (n) of his report, the Independent Expert recommended specifically that the General Assembly revisit the reality of self-determination in today’s world and refer to the Special Committee on Decolonization and/or other United Nations instances communications by indigenous and unrepresented peoples wherever they reside, with reference to chapter XI of the Charter. The General Assembly may also consider amending its rules and procedures to allow for the participation of indigenous and non-represented peoples. Meanwhile, the Assembly should urge States to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It should ensure that indigenous, non-represented peoples, marginalized and disempowered peoples, and peoples under occupation have a genuine opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. 13

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