A/HRC/54/52 of militarization of Indigenous territories and violations of their human rights. 28 The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples has recommended that major development projects should never be handled primarily as a problem of national security or law and order, as that often leads to military or police action that may violate the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.29 21. Related to the use of military force for development and for private enterprises, international investment agreements applying to Indigenous territories are often accompanied by the deployment of military and private security services in violation of article 30 of the Declaration which prohibits activities not justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed to or requested by the Indigenous Peoples concerned. Such security presences are effectively mandated under certain existing interpretations of the provisions of such agreements on full protection and security, leading to a direct conflict between international investment law and international human rights law.30 22. The Expert Mechanism has received information on the significant rise in militarized approaches to conservation31 with the expansion of protected areas32 and the increased focus on biodiversity conservation 33 and addressing climate change. Indigenous territories may become increasingly militarized in response to the 30 by 30 target, under the Convention on Biological Diversity, to protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030. Protected areas often feature heavy policing, with national wildlife services and local government rangers patrolling the protected areas, including those in Indigenous territories.34 The militarization of conservation has been documented in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, India and South Africa. Park guards and rangers receive a military-type training and funding has increased for arming guards.35 For example, protected areas in the 10 countries in Central Africa have doubled in the past 20 years to more than 200 protected areas, covering a total of 800,000 km², or twice the size of Cameroon. 36 IV. The impact of militarization on the rights of Indigenous Peoples A. Rights to life, integrity, liberty and security 23. Article 7 of the Declaration refers to Indigenous individuals’ rights to life, integrity, liberty and security of person. Articles 6 and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognize the rights to life and to physical integrity, respectively. The militarization of Indigenous territories often places members of Indigenous Peoples at a grave 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 6 See communication MEX 11/2020. All communications mentioned in the present report are available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments/. E/CN.4/2003/90 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2006/2. A/HRC/33/42, para. 37; see also the submission from the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Francisco Calí Tzay. Submission from Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee. Nigel Dudley, ed., Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories Including IUCN WCPA Best Practice Guidance on Recognising Protected Areas and Assigning Management Categories and Governance Types, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series, No. 21 (Gland, Switzerland, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2013). See, for example, the discussion on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework at https://www.iucn.org/sites/default/files/2022-11/iucn-issues-brief_post2020_final.pdf. Minority Rights Group International, “UN plan to protect 30 per cent of the planet by 2030 could displace hundreds of millions, NGOs and experts warn”, 2 September 2020. Vicky Tauli-Corpuz and others, “Cornered by PAs: adopting rights-based approaches to enable costeffective conservation and climate action”, World Development, vol. 130 (June 2020). French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, “Protected areas in Central Africa: a new report proposes avenues to improve their effectiveness”, 29 June 2021. GE.23-14759