A/HRC/54/52 28. Similar issues have been reported in the conservation sector in Africa, as evidenced by the ongoing investigation initiated by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) into allegations that guards at Salonga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were involved in rape, torture, arbitrary arrests and killings.50 Civil society organizations and Indigenous Peoples have communicated to WWF that similar practices are common in other countries – including in Cameroon, in Chitwan National Park and Bardiya National Park in Nepal, and in India. 51 29. In the United Republic of Tanzania, it has been reported that paramilitary groups committed intimidation, harassment, injury, rape, forced eviction, denial of medical care, destruction of property, disappearances and arbitrary arrests in the Lolilondo region, which is the ancestral land of the Maasai pastoralists and has been turned into the Pololeti Game Reserve.52 30. In some regions, Indigenous Peoples have been associated with insurgent groups or terrorists, and suppression of opposition to development projects through force and intimidation has been conducted.53 Where a counter-terrorism law is overly broad such that it encompasses social protest, it may contravene the principle of legality. 54 In Chile, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has noted the disproportionate application of counter-terrorism legislation to Mapuche individuals.55 31. In Crimea, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the self-governing body of the Indigenous People of Crimea – the Crimean Tatars, continues to be declared an extremist organization and the ban on its activities has still not been repealed. In addition, the persecution of the leaders of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People continues, which includes arbitrary detentions. 56 In Bangladesh, Jumma homes are reportedly raided frequently “in the name of flushing out so-called ‘terrorists’”.57 In West Papua, Indonesia, arbitrary detentions, tortures and extrajudicial killings have been reported.58 It has also been alleged that the land of the Pamiri people residing in the Pamir mountains of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast in Tajikistan is under high surveillance and is heavily militarized, with alleged cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture of detainees.59 32. The Russian Federation notes that its legislation allow Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples to engage in “alternative civilian service as an alternative to military service”.60 A similar approach was applicable during the partial mobilization in 2022 in the context of the conflict in Ukraine: members of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples, involved in traditional occupations such as hunting, fishing and reindeer herding, in the Nenets Autonomous Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Murmansk Region, were exempted from military service. At the same time, those living in 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 8 See https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?357073%2FWWF-statement-on-SalongaNational-Park-in-the-DRC. Division for Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch of the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: Rights to Lands, Territories and Resources, vol. 5 (2021). Submissions from the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, the Elizka Relief Foundation and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. See A/HRC/24/41/Add.3. See A/HRC/25/59/Add.2. See CERD/C/CHL/CO/22-23. General Assembly resolution 77/229, in which the Assembly recalled its resolution 68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Submission from Minority Rights Group International; see also the submission from Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti. Submission from Franciscans International. Minority Rights Group International, “Military crackdown in Tajikistan: another step backwards for Pamiri minority rights and towards potential conflict”, statement, 20 May 2022. See also the submission from the Pamiri Indigenous Peoples Association. Submission from the Russian Federation. GE.23-14759