A/HRC/45/34/Add.3 I. Introduction 1. With the aim of engaging with indigenous peoples in the region, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, conducted a regional consultation jointly with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bangkok and with support of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact and the Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education. The consultation was held in Bangkok from 13 to 15 November 2019 and attended by more than 100 representatives of indigenous peoples’ organizations from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand and Viet Nam, as well as Taiwan Province of China. Academics, lawyers and representatives of civil society organizations, independent national human rights institutions, the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also participated. 2. The consultation focused on self-determination, indigenous governance and justice systems; lands, territories and resources; conservation; climate change; business and human rights; human rights defenders; and the Sustainable Development Goals. The impact of climate change on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights was emphasized, as was the critical role played by indigenous peoples in protecting the environment, including through traditional knowledge. The consultation aimed, among other things, to exchange experiences and discuss the current challenges faced by indigenous peoples in Asia. 3. In parallel, the Special Rapporteur issued a public call for contributions to a report on the situation of the human rights of indigenous peoples in Asia, in follow up to the regional reports prepared by her predecessors in 2007 and 2013.1 In the present report, the Special Rapporteur provides an overview of the main issues raised during the consultation, by thematic area, and of the information received in submissions, communications and open sources. In preparing the report, the Special Rapporteur adopted a participatory approach and methodology to gathering information about the situation of indigenous peoples in Asia with a view to analysing thematic issues and formulating pertinent recommendations. Emblematic cases that were discussed during the consultation and information communicated by the Special Rapporteur are highlighted. 4. Asia is the continent with most of the world’s indigenous peoples. More than two thirds of the world’s indigenous peoples live in the region.2 While estimates vary – among other reasons, due to the inconsistent national terminology used to describe indigenous peoples and the challenges indigenous peoples face in terms of self-identification – approximately 400 million indigenous peoples live in Asia. 3 Indigenous peoples in Asia include those referred to in national legislation and policies as tribal peoples, hill tribes, ethnic minorities, natives, customary communities, scheduled tribes and Adivasis. All Asian States voted in favour of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly in 2007, with the exception of Bangladesh, which abstained. II. Overview of human rights issues facing indigenous peoples in Asia A. Self-determination, indigenous governance and justice systems 5. The exercise of the right to self-determination can be realized through autonomy or self-government 4 and is indispensable for indigenous peoples to pursue their economic, social and cultural development and enjoy all the collective and individual human rights pertaining to them. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets 1 2 3 4 A/HRC/6/15/Add.3 (2007) and A/HRC/24/41/Add.3 (2013). Stefania Errico, The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Human Rights-Based Overview of National Legal and Policy Frameworks against the Backdrop of Country Strategies for Development and Poverty Reduction (International Labour Office, Geneva, 2017), p. 1. See, e.g., Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Status of Indigenous Peoples’ Lands, Territories and Resources in Asia (2019), p. 6. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, arts. 3 and 4. 3