A/HRC/39/37
Peoples. OHCHR provided expert guidance to key stakeholders on the practical application
of indigenous peoples’ requirement for free, prior and informed consent in order to enable
meaningful participation by indigenous peoples in the context of large-scale projects and
economic interests over indigenous lands, territories and natural resources.
7.
For example, the OHCHR Regional Office for Central America has played an
important role in the establishment of the national mechanism for consultation with
indigenous peoples in Costa Rica via a presidential decree issued in March 2018. OHCHR
provided technical advice to the Government and the eight indigenous peoples of Costa
Rica, in order to ensure compliance with the international standards on human rights and in
particular with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the
recommendations issued by international human rights mechanisms.
8.
During the process that led to the establishment of the national mechanism, the
Regional Office, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supported the various phases of the process by
organizing workshops in the 24 territories of the country, helped generate broad
participation in all the indigenous territories, including by older people, women and young
people, and contributed to facilitating the dialogue between the Government and indigenous
peoples. The Regional Office also facilitated the organization of two national meetings that
were attended by more than 100 indigenous representatives, and contributed to the process
of drafting the decree to ensure that it complied with international human rights standards.
9.
The OHCHR office in Colombia supported the elaboration and implementation of
protocols for consultation and negotiation with third parties and the realization of processes
for free, prior and informed consent, including with the Arhuaco people of the Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta for the protection of their ecosystem; and with the Nasa people in
northern Cauca in relation to the La Salvajina hydroelectric dam as well as to the
demobilized members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People’s Army
(FARC-EP) in the ancestral territory of the Nasa people.
10.
The country office is also working on free, prior and informed consent processes
with the 15 indigenous peoples of the Putumayo region — 13 of whom have been
recognized by the Constitutional Court of Colombia as risking physical and cultural
extermination.
11.
The OHCHR office in Guatemala monitored the case of the El Escobal mining
project, owned by the Canadian company Tahoe Resources. In June 2017, an injunction
issued by the Supreme Court of Justice suspended the mine’s activities and ruled that the
State must “restore the violated constitutional rights of the indigenous Xinca community of
the departments of Santa Rosa and Jalapa”. The injunction also instructed the Ministry of
Energy and Mines to carry out a consultation process within 12 months. The decision was
appealed to the Constitutional Court. In this context, the OHCHR office documented cases
of human rights violations and provided technical assistance to the communities concerned.
12.
The country office expressed concern to the Government over a draft bill on
consultation, presented to Congress in April 2018, which focused only on the obligation to
comply with the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) without
referring to other relevant international standards. The bill was drafted without the
participation of indigenous peoples.
13.
The OHCHR office in Mexico worked on emblematic cases relating to free, prior
and informed consent, providing technical assistance to indigenous communities,
authorities, civil society and private companies to monitor ongoing processes. It carried out
several missions to follow up on consultation processes, including in the central valleys of
Oaxaca where 16 indigenous communities were affected by a presidential decree limiting
their access to water. The office is also following up on similar consultation processes in
the community of Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca, related to a wind park project; with Mayan
communities in the State of Campeche in relation to the planting of transgenic soy, in
collaboration with UNDP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO); and with other Mayan communities in the State of Yucatán for the construction of a
wind park and for a solar energy project. The office also participates as an observer in the
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