A/HRC/32/26
I. Introduction
1.
The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was established in 2007
by Human Rights Council resolution 6/36, as a subsidiary body of the Council, to provide
thematic expertise on the rights of indigenous peoples in the manner and form requested by
the Council. The thematic expertise focuses mainly on studies and research-based advice
and the Expert Mechanism may submit proposals to the Council for its consideration and
approval.
2.
In the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly
known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, the Assembly invited the Human
Rights Council, taking into account the views of indigenous peoples, to review the
mandates of its existing mechanisms, in particular the Expert Mechanism, with a view to
modifying and improving the Expert Mechanism so that it could more effectively promote
respect for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including
by better assisting Member States to monitor, evaluate and improve the achievement of the
ends of the Declaration (see Assembly resolution 69/2, para. 28).
3.
In September 2015, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 30/11, in which it
requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) to convene a two-day expert workshop open to the participation of States,
indigenous peoples and other stakeholders, including by inviting the submission of written
contributions, to review the mandate of the Expert Mechanism (para. 1). OHCHR
accordingly invited States, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders to submit written
contributions on the review of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism and to propose
recommendations on how it could more effectively promote respect for the Declaration,
including by better assisting Member States to monitor, evaluate and improve the
achievement of the ends of the Declaration, in line with paragraph 28 of General Assembly
resolution 69/2. The Council also requested OHCHR to prepare a report on the workshop,
including the recommendations made, to be submitted to the Council at its thirty-second
session. The present report was prepared in response to that request (annex I contains a
non-exhaustive list of proposals put forward at the workshop).
4.
The expert workshop was held in Geneva on 4 and 5 April 2016 and brought
together approximately 100 participants, including States, indigenous peoples and other
stakeholders (see annex II). The following 10 experts on indigenous peoples’ rights were
invited to make presentations during the workshop: Alexey Tsykarev, Chair of the Expert
Mechanism; Tracey Whare, Trustee of the Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust, New
Zealand; Alexandra Xanthaki, Reader in Law and Director of Research, Brunel University
London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz,
Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; Megan Davis, Chair of the
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Patrick Thornberry, Professor of International Law
at Keele University, United Kingdom, and former member of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination; Mattias Ahren, Professor at the Faculty of Law,
Arctic University of Norway; Otilia Lux de Coti, Director of the International Indigenous
Women’s Forum and former member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Albert
Barume, member of the Expert Mechanism; and Chief Wilton Littlechild, former Chair and
current member of the Expert Mechanism.
5.
The workshop was moderated by James Anaya, Professor of Human Rights Law and
Policy at the University of Arizona, United States of America. The programme of the
workshop consisted of four sessions focusing on the following themes: strengths and
limitations of the current mandate; strengthening interaction with other indigenous-specific
mandates and the United Nations human rights system in general; exploring new areas of
2
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents