A/HRC/39/37
consultation process for the construction of a solar park in the indigenous community of
San José Tipceh.
14.
The country office was also involved in several other processes during which
consultations were proving insufficient, for example in connection with the Otomí
community of Xochicuautla being affected by the construction of a highway in their sacred
forest. The office played an important role in the suspension of all construction operations
and in the establishment of a round table that resulted in agreements being reached between
the parties in May 2018.
15.
The country office organized several capacity-building activities related to the
principle of free, prior and informed consent. For example, in June 2017 it trained
representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, the National
Hydrocarbons Commission and the National Commission for the Development of
Indigenous Peoples, among others.
16.
As a result of a communication and a press statement issued in July 2017 by the
Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, on the ongoing negotiations
between oil companies and the Government in Peru, the Government began a dialogue with
the indigenous authorities prior to considering new licences for oil exploitation. A 30-year
contract for future extraction rights in the Amazon rainforest, in the country’s Loreto region,
was under negotiation.
17.
In July 2017, the Special Rapporteur sent a communication to the Government of
Nepal regarding an ongoing Kathmandu Valley road improvement project, referring to
allegations of forced evictions and the destruction of cultural property, and to the lack of
consultation with and of free, prior and informed consent from the Newar indigenous
peoples affected. The Government halted the road project pending the decision of the
Supreme Court on the matter.
18.
In April 2017, the Special Rapporteur was invited to undertake a working visit to
Honduras to provide advice on draft legislation regarding the obligation to consult with
indigenous peoples. Subsequent written commentaries on the draft law, made public by the
Special Rapporteur in June 2017, helped to make all actors aware of the international
human rights standards related to consultation and consent, while also encouraging the
inclusion of all actors in the discussion.
19.
The Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and
other business enterprises engaged with representatives of indigenous peoples during its
official country visits to Canada (May 2017), Peru (July 2017) and Thailand (March–April
2018), addressing specific human rights concerns related to indigenous peoples’ rights with
reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the
requirement of free, prior and informed consent. 1
20.
The Working Group addressed specific challenges faced by indigenous peoples in its
2017 report to the General Assembly, 2 and has also sent letters to States and private
companies, under the communications procedure, regarding the situation of indigenous
peoples affected by business activities.
21.
Over the course of the reporting period, human rights treaty bodies consistently
raised issues related to the rights of indigenous peoples to consultation and to the principle
of free, prior and informed consent. 3 They recommended that States apply existing
protocols in consultation with indigenous peoples before creating new ones and stressed
that new protocols should be developed in accordance with the relevant international
human rights standards.
1
2
3
4
Reports to be presented to the Human Rights Council for its thirty-eighth session.
A/72/162.
In connection with Australia, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,
Finland, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay and the
Russian Federation.
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