A/HRC/45/22 were not regulated or conducted according to national law and international standards, which often affected indigenous peoples (A/HRC/41/40, para. 41). F. Access to justice and legal protection of the rights of indigenous peoples 63. The OHCHR office in Colombia fostered the harmonization of the self-government systems of indigenous peoples, formal justice systems and related mechanisms created during the peace process. That joint effort was aimed at investigating and prosecuting attacks and killings of indigenous leaders that occurred between May 2019 and May 2020. It supported the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca in its interactions with local justice sector institutions in northern Cauca. In 2019, the country office also supported Wayúu women, the Office of the Attorney General and the national forensics institute in designing a protocol for the handling of cadavers during technical inspections, taking into account the traditions of the Wayúu people. 64. The country office in Guatemala observed the hearings, and provided technical assistance to judges, prosecutors and representatives of civil society organizations on international norms and standards, in the context of the trials against the perpetrators of sexual violence committed against Maya Achí women between 1981 and 1985. The office also assisted State institutions, including the Office of the Attorney General, in developing a master plan for the implementation of the sentence in the Sepur Zarco case rendered in 2018, a landmark judgment, in which, for the first time, a national court ruled on charges of sexual slavery during the internal armed conflict. 65. During its monitoring work, the Committee against Torture addressed the attacks on indigenous peoples and communities by security forces, police and non-State armed militia (CAT/C/COD/CO/2, para. 30; CAT/C/ARG/QPR/7, para. 28; CAT/C/BGD/CO/1, para. 23; CAT/C/PRY/QPR/8, para. 27 (b); and CAT/C/MLI/QPR/1, para. 29). The Committee requested States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to establish mechanisms and procedures to ensure coordination and cooperation between the indigenous and formal justice systems (CAT/C/ECU/QPR/8, para. 6; and CAT/C/PAN/QPR/5, para. 5) and to take appropriate measures to prevent intercommunity conflict and violence (CAT/C/MLI/QPR/1, para. 30). 66. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, during country reviews, called upon States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to prevent the criminalization of the activities of indigenous leaders and human rights defenders and to ensure their protection. It recommended that States parties ensure access to justice for victims, investigate cases, prosecute the perpetrators of and sanction such acts as involuntary sterilization and the recruitment of indigenous children by non-State armed groups (see CERD/C/KHM/CO/14-17, CERD/C/COL/CO/17-19 and CERD/C/SLV/CO/18-19). 67. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment paid particular attention to the analysis of the situation of indigenous peoples before prison visits to determine whether indigenous peoples in detention were victims of multiple forms of discrimination or ill-treatment, in order to address those concerns with specific recommendations in its confidential reports. 68. The Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted its general comment No. 24 (2019) on children’s rights in the child justice system, in September 2019, in which it addresses children coming into contact with justice systems parallel to or on the margins of the formal justice system, including customary, tribal, indigenous or other justice systems. 69. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples submitted a report on indigenous peoples and access to justice (A/HRC/42/37) in September 2019. 70. During the 2019 session of the Forum on Business and Human Rights, indigenous peoples’ representatives emphasized the importance of the third pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Guiding Principles contain three pillars: protect, respect and remedy. The representatives emphasized in particular issues related to 11

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