A/HRC/36/22
22.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Peru require all
companies to undertake assessments, consultations and full public disclosure of the
environmental, health-related and human rights impacts of their business activities and their
plans to address such impacts, ensuring that all affected groups of indigenous peoples are
involved in relevant consultation processes and that their views, including the views of
indigenous children, are duly taken into account.
23.
On 1 May 2017, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued
an admissibility decision concerning a petition against Sweden submitted by the Head of
the Saami Council Human Rights Unit. The petitioners alleged that Sweden had breached
its obligation under the Convention when granting to a private mining company an
exploitation concession consisting of three open-pit mines in a region where pasture areas
of critical importance to reindeer herding cycle are located. The petition has been declared
admissible and the Committee will review its merits in an upcoming session.
B.
Human rights defenders
24.
During the period under review, the shrinking of democratic spaces and the
criminalization of protest activities continued to pose many challenges for human right
defenders working for the rights of indigenous peoples.
25.
At the high-level event to mark the tenth anniversary of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Assistant Secretary-General for
Human Rights recalled that, according to the non-governmental organization (NGO)
Frontline Defenders, out of 281 human rights defenders killed in 25 countries in 2016,
almost half had been defending their land, environment and indigenous rights, despite the
repeated calls for protection of indigenous human rights defenders by the Special
Rapporteur and others.
26.
The protection of those defending indigenous peoples’ rights was also raised by
various OHCHR field presences. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights in the Plurinational State of Bolivia issued a press release to urge the Public
Ministry to investigate the facts and identify those responsible for the threats and acts of
aggression against human rights defenders and their NGOs, who supported the process of
indigenous autonomy in Charagua Iyambae, by a group of local settlers who opposed the
indigenous autonomous process.
27.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in
Colombia prioritized the monitoring of situations of violence, insecurity and abuses
affecting indigenous peoples, including attacks against indigenous leaders. It also provided
training and technical assistance to 150 indigenous guards from the Nasa, Embera Chami
and Motilón Bari communities, enabling them to exercise their authority in cases of
breaches of their own laws and to coordinate with public security forces in cases that fall
under the ordinary jurisdiction of the competent prosecution office.
28.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in
Guatemala has registered and documented dozens of cases of threats and attacks against
indigenous human rights defenders, especially in the context of the defence of lands,
territories and natural resources, coordinating with relevant State authorities to provide and
follow up on protection measures for the victims, including with the Unit for the Analysis
of Attacks against Human Rights Defenders of the Ministry of the Interior. OHCHR is also
providing technical assistance to the Government in the development of a public policy on
the protection of human rights defenders.
29.
Together with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Office provided
technical assistance to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for developing a protocol
to monitor the situation of agricultural workers, the majority of whom are indigenous.
30.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in
Honduras monitored issues related to lack of land demarcation and alleged corruption on
the provision of titles over indigenous lands, territories and resources, observing an increase
5
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents