Executive Director, Robert T. Coulter, addressed the 30th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva during today’s interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Center, in a joint statement with Americans for Indian Opportunity, the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, National Congress of American Indians, and the Native American Rights Fund, recommended the swift establishment of an implementing and monitoring body for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The statement makes a number of concrete recommendations about this body, including specific proposals regarding its mandate, structure, and composition. The General Assembly, in its 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Outcome Document, has called on the Council to review its existing mechanisms with a view to modifying and improving the Expert Mechanism to more effectively promote and monitor implementation of the UN Declaration.
The statement also calls for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples' representatives in development of the implementing body, and for special consideration of the rights of indigenous women and girls in the body’s mandate. During the session, the Special Rapporteur and Expert Mechanism presented their annual reports with important recommendations for future work by the Human Rights Council on the issue of violence against indigenous women and girls. The Expert Mechanism's report proposes convening a panel discussion on the issue at the Human Rights Council session in September 2016 and the Special Rapporteur's report includes a thematic analysis of violations against indigenous women and girls. These reports are available on the Human Rights Council's website for its 30th session: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session30/Pages/30RegularSession.aspx .
Download HRC 30 Oral Statement SRRIP and EMRIP Final.pdf (1.92 MB)