A/HRC/45/22 Eletronorte company. Authorities were urged to carry out immediately an independent and impartial investigation into the killings.15 55. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights highlighted cases of the criminalization of the work of indigenous rights defenders (CERD/C/COL/CO/17-19, para. 15 (b); CERD/C/GTM/CO/1617, paras. 27 and 28 (a)–(c); and CERD/C/MEX/CO/18-21, paras. 30 and 31 (a)), attacks and assassinations of indigenous leaders and indigenous human rights defenders (CERD/C/KHM/CO/14-17, para. 28 (d); CERD/C/COL/CO/17-19, para. 29 (a), (b) and (d); CERD/C/GTM/CO/16-17, paras. 27 and 28 (a)–(c); and CERD/C/MEX/CO/18-21, paras 30 and 31 (a)) and sexual and gender-based violence (CERD/C/KHM/CO/14-17, paras. 29–30; CERD/C/COL/CO/17-19, para. 25 (b) and (c); CERD/C/SLV/CO/18-19, paras. 26 and 27 (d); and CERD/C/GTM/CO/16-17, paras. 33 and 34 (d)), including cases of forced sterilization (CERD/C/MEX/CO/18-21, paras. 24 and 25 (b) and (c)). 56. The Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about the lack of access to justice for indigenous peoples, underlining cases of impunity in relation to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture. The Committee also expressed its concern about the criminalization of the work of indigenous human rights defenders opposing development projects, including arbitrary arrest and detention (CCPR/C/ERI/CO/1, paras. 17–18; and CCPR/C/PRY/CO/4, paras. 22–23). 57. The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights addressed cultural rights defenders as a subcategory of human rights defenders, noting that cultural rights were essential in the struggles for self-determination of indigenous peoples, including for their right to land (see A/HRC/43/50). 58. OHCHR recorded several cases of harassment and reprisals against indigenous representatives participating at sessions of United Nations mechanisms, during the reporting period. Those representatives had all received a participation grant from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples. Five cases of harassment and reprisals were recorded in relation to the eighteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held in New York in April 2019, and 10 during or after the twelfth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, held in July 2019 in Geneva. E. Early warning mechanisms and the monitoring of human rights violations 59. From 31 May to 4 June 2019, the OHCHR office in Mexico visited the State of Chiapas to document cases of the forced internal displacement of indigenous peoples. It met with relevant authorities and supported the signing of ceasefire agreements between municipal authorities. 60. The OHCHR office in Colombia played an active role in supporting the work of the commission for ethnic peace and defence of territorial rights. The commission workplan for the period 2018–2019 addresses the vulnerable human rights situation of ethnic minority groups and indigenous peoples, highlighting challenges to the effective implementation of the peace agreement and the risks faced by leaders of indigenous communities. 61. The country office noticed a lack of prompt and efficient responses by the early warning system for possible imminent attacks against defenders, coordinated jointly by the Ministry of the Interior and the national office of the ombudsman. The country office supported the development of warning signals to help indigenous peoples living in high-risk areas, in particular in the department of La Guajira. 62. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons highlighted the role of national human rights institutions in the prevention of arbitrary displacement caused by development projects, business activities or forced evictions that 15 10 See https://acnudh.org/escritorio-regional-e-cidh-condenam-assassinatos-de-liderancas-indigenas-nobrasil/ (in Spanish).