E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.3 page 8 note issues arising with respect to individual participation in political processes, they emphasize their aspiration to retain or reclaim their decision-making capacity over certain intrinsic matters, including social and political organization, lands and resources, wider way of life, and their relationships as specific collectives with the Crown and the wider multi cultural polity. B. Land rights, claims and settlements 22. One of the more pressing current human rights concerns for Maori relates to land issues. In 2005, approximately 6 per cent of land remained in Maori ownership and 94 per cent of Maori ancestral land base has been appropriated by a variety of historical processes, including voluntary sale, fraudulent purchase, confiscation or alienations of land under the various Native Land Acts, and the individualization and fragmentation of title resulting from the Native Land Court. The Maori Land Act 1993, recognizes that Maori land is a taonga (treasure) of special significance to Maori people. It is intended to promote the retention of land in the hands of Maori owners and to provide them with more management, use and development options, for which purpose it establishes the Maori Land Court, which deals with the contemporary consequences of the fragmentation of land ownership. 23. In the 1860s, the Government confiscated, by illegitimate military action, around 2 million acres of land belonging to the people of Taranaki, and persecuted those who resisted. The land was then sold or leased by the Government to non-Maori individual owners until well into the twentieth century. Taranaki was left with around 3 per cent of its original lands, many of the people becoming destitute and living in poverty. 24. In 1996 the Waitangi Tribunal published a report on the claims relating to these land confiscations, which found that eight Taranaki iwi were dispossessed of their land, leadership, means of livelihood, personal freedom, social structure and values. The result was the loss of both social and economic development opportunities. The Crown has reached settlements with four of the eight iwi, whereas one of the iwis was still working out a settlement in 2004. The people of Parihaka in Taranaki, who have been struggling for a just settlement of their losses and damages provided the Special Rapporteur with their story and complaints during a hui arranged for that purpose. The Special Rapporteur saw that some of them live in poverty and have lost hope. Others are still engaged in a struggle for redress and compensation from the Government for past injustices and are hopeful that they will finally be heard. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that it has held pre-negotiation discussions with one of the remaining Taranaki iwi. 25. The Waitangi Tribunal has registered 1,236 claims in 30 years, of which 49 have been settled by the Government, and another 35 partially settled. They include historical claims that cover half the land area of the country. The Government notes that 18 historical settlements have been reached, that another 25 groups are in negotiations with the Crown, and that at the present rate of progress it is possible to settle all historical claims by 2020. The Tribunal has reported so far on 428 claims, and has issued 90 reports. 26. Recommendations made by the Waitangi Tribunal are not generally binding on the Crown. The process is not therefore adjudicative, in the judicial sense, and whether it results in any redress at all depends on both the Government’s and the claimants’ willingness to reach an agreement. In relation to some Government-held forest land and State-owned enterprises, the Tribunal has binding “adjudicative” powers. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, such redress