A/HRC/39/17 measures for indigenous peoples and the need to consider prevention aspects and to address root causes of violence (see A/HRC/39/17/Add.2, para. 68).32 82. The Special Rapporteur encourages States where protection programmes exist to strengthen them and other States to adopt national policies and legislation in favour of human rights defenders and establish protection programmes. The actual protection measures need to be culturally appropriate, consider gender aspects and be developed jointly with the communities concerned. An example of a measure adapted to the requests of an indigenous community is the designation of local “indigenous guards” in Colombia, with financial support from the national protection programme, which replaces police protection for the beneficiary (see A/HRC/37/3/Add.3, para. 21). The distribution of solarpowered telecommunications in remote areas to enhance protection is another measure useful for indigenous communities. 83. Indigenous communities have developed their own protection strategies and lessons should be drawn from such measures. In some countries, indigenous defenders have created local and regional support networks which allow for reflection, information exchange, legal advice, situation analysis and strategic planning on how to improve protection in their communities.33 Certain indigenous peoples have established their own monitoring systems in their territories to prevent violent attacks and access by unauthorized third parties. Other indigenous communities have successfully claimed customary land rights and, through demarcation processes, have managed to halt forced evictions and reduce threats against their communities. Still others have managed to halt permits for large-scale projects by means of injunctions where courts decided in their favour on the grounds of the failure to consult them and obtain their free, prior and informed consent. Overall, in order for indigenous-led protection systems to be more effective there is a need to strengthen their own governance systems. 84. At the regional level, the importance of the precautionary and provisional measures requested by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are of significant importance as they underline the State’s responsibility to ensure the protection and safety of indigenous communities and individuals in imminent danger. The Special Rapporteur deeply regrets that, despite these measures at the regional level, national protection measures are often inadequate, as sadly illustrated by the murder of several indigenous leaders and by the ongoing attacks and threats, for example against the Choréachi and Yaqui communities in Mexico, all of whom had been granted such measures. 85. The landmark judgment by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued in May 2017 in favour of the Ogiek peoples in Kenya affirms the Ogieks’ collective rights to the Mau Forest and sends a strong signal in the region that indigenous land rights are to be protected and forced evictions halted.34 86. On 3 July 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on violation of the rights of indigenous peoples in the world, in which it denounced the continuing criminalization of those who defend the rights of indigenous peoples and the right to land throughout the world. In the resolution the European Parliament emphasized that the European Union and its member States must raise the question of the human rights of indigenous peoples and indigenous human rights defenders in bilateral and multilateral negotiations and diplomatic communications and push for the release of imprisoned human rights defenders, and called for the European Union and its member States to work to 32 33 34 See also Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Towards a Comprehensive Policy to Protect Human Rights Defenders (2017) (in Spanish; English version forthcoming); and Protection International and Center for Justice and International Law, The Time is Now for Effective Public Policies to Protect the Right to Defend Human Rights (Brussels/San José, 2017), pp. 106−111. Peace Brigades International, I Think, Therefore I Resist: Grassroots Experiences of Alternative Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Context of Large-Scale Economic Investments (London, 2016). African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v. Republic of Kenya (application 006/2012), judgment of 26 May 2017. 17