E/2012/43 E/C.19/2012/13 5. The ongoing manifestations of such doctrines are evident in indigenous communities, including in the areas of: health; psychological and social well-being; denial of rights and titles to land, resources and medicines; conceptual and behavioural forms of violence against indigenous women; youth suicide; and the hopelessness that many indigenous peoples experience, in particular indigenous youth. 6. Another ongoing manifestation of dispossession doctrines is the concept of extinguishment, found in the regulations, policies and court decisions in which States have purportedly “extinguished” the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources, their right to self-determination, their languages, religions and even their identities and existence through the notion of “recognition”, that is by recognizing some and not recognizing others as indigenous. “Extinguishment”, in the context of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources is inconsistent with the contemporary understanding in international law, specifically the peremptory norm of the absolute prohibition against racial discrimination. No other peoples in the world are pressured to have their rights “extinguished”. 7. Article 26 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, treaty body jurisprudence and case law from all major international human rights institutions confirm that indigenous peoples hold collective rights to the lands, territories and resources that they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used, and that respect for their customs, traditions and land tenure systems is owed to them. Such rights have the same legal status as all other property rights to lands, territories and resources. States are no longer allowed to deploy positivist legal interpretations of laws adopted during an era when doctrines such as terra nullius were the norm. International human rights law, including norms on equality and non-discrimination such as those affirmed in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, demand that States rectify past wrongs caused by such doctrines, including the violation of the land rights of indigenous peoples, through law and policy reform, restitution and other forms of redress for the violation of their land rights, including those referred to in articles 27 and 28 of the United Nations Declaration. 8. During its tenth session, the Permanent Forum emphasized that redefining the relationship between indigenous peoples and the State as an important way to understand the doctrine of discovery and a way to develop a vision of the future for reconciliation, peace and justice. To that end, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a strong human rights framework and standards for the redress of such false doctrines, notably in articles 3, 28 and 37. The Permanent Forum encourages the conduct of the processes of reconciliation “in accordance with the principles of justice, democracy, and respect for human rights, equality, non-discrimination, good governance and good faith”. 9. The Permanent Forum recommends that States include in all education curricula, in particular the school system, a discussion of the doctrine of discovery/dispossession and its contemporary manifestations, including land laws and policies of removal. 10. The Permanent Forum welcomes the recommendation to establish a voluntary international mechanism to receive and consider communications from indigenous 12-35917 3