CERD/C/106/D/61/2017 States shall recognize, respect and protect the various indigenous forms of family “as well as their forms of matrimonial union” (art. XVII (1)). 4.6 The Committee is of the view that the aforementioned norms relating to the recognition of self-determination, autonomy, indigenous jurisdiction and self-government through traditional indigenous authorities who apply customary law reflect legal pluralism. In this connection, the Committee notes the recognition of Ecuador, in article 1 of the Constitution, as an intercultural and plurinational State. This implies the understanding that different systems of government and social regulation, based on cultural, political or historical aspects, coexist through various authorities, such as the ordinary jurisdiction and the indigenous jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Committee is of the view that the main purpose of self-determination for indigenous peoples is to recognize the cultural diversity within a country’s territory and to ensure that this diversity is protected and preserved. In addition to being a form of intangible heritage, self-determination is linked to the effective realization of the rights of indigenous peoples, specifically their right to maintain and develop their own political, judicial, cultural, social and economic institutions. Obligations under the Convention in light of indigenous customary law 4.7 The Committee recalls that the prohibition of racial discrimination set out in the Convention requires that States parties guarantee to everyone under their jurisdiction the enjoyment of equal rights de jure and de facto. According to article 2 (1) (c), all States parties must take effective measures to review governmental, national and local policies and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists. Thus, the Committee has already established that States must take positive measures to enable the realization of human rights for indigenous peoples, either by removing remaining obstacles or by adopting specific legislative and administrative measures to fulfil their obligations under the Convention. 11 It has stated, for example, that recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights over their traditional territories, based on immemorial usage and indigenous customary law, entails the obligation to respect and protect these rights in practice, including through the adoption of special measures.12 That is because, as the Committee has stated previously, to ignore the inherent right of indigenous peoples to their traditional territories – which is grounded in indigenous customary law – constitutes a form of discrimination as it results in nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by indigenous peoples, on an equal footing, of the property rights tied to their identity.13 Non-discrimination in the enjoyment of marriage rights 4.8 In the present case, the Committee notes that the entry in the ancestral marriage register of the Escaleras ancestral community states that: Before the indigenous authority of this community, stand freely, consciously and voluntarily brother Carlos Pérez Guartambel and sister Manuela Lavinas Picq, accompanied by witnesses Mirian Chuchuca Pugo and Ruth Noemi Pugo Pérez, to enter in the family certificates register of this community the following certificate of ancestral marriage: Identity of the groom: Carlos Pérez Guartambel (identification card No. 0102475449). Place and date of birth: Kachipucara/Escaleras, Tarqki parish, 26 February 1969. Civil status: widower, his wife María Verónica Cevallos Uguña, with whom he had two descendants ..., having departed for a higher dimension of life on 16 October 2012. Identity of the bride: ... . Residence of the bride and groom: ... . 11 12 13 8 Lars-Anders Ågren et al. v. Sweden (CERD/C/102/D/54/2013), para. 6.13. Ibid., para. 6.15. See also jurisprudence from the Inter-American system, which, basing itself on the customary law of indigenous peoples, has reinterpreted the right to property in their favour. It has established, inter alia, that traditional ownership of land confers on indigenous peoples the right to obtain official recognition and registration of that ownership: Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua, judgment of 31 August 2001, Series C No. 79, para. 151; and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Rights over their Ancestral Lands and Natural Resources: Norms and Jurisprudence of the InterAmerican Human Rights System, (OEA/Ser.L/V/II) (2010), para. 68. Lars-Anders Ågren et al. v. Sweden, para. 6.7. GE.22-11683