A/HRC/51/50 peace agreement, is contributing to the strengthening of indigenous peoples’ institutions and the generation of conditions for living in freedom, peace and security. 46 IV. Establishment of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements 26. The effective exercise of indigenous peoples’ right to establish consensual agreements and to have them enforced relies on several enabling conditions, including respect for human rights and non-discrimination, good faith and the principle of free, prior and informed consent. A. Recognition of indigenous peoples 27. The Declaration has several provisions, including articles 3, 5, 7, 9 and 33, relating to the recognition of indigenous peoples and to the recognition of the individual and collective rights that are integral to their existence as distinct peoples. 47 28. The recognition by States of indigenous peoples as peoples with their own specific identity, institutions, culture and tradition and the right to self-determination is an enabling condition for meaningful engagement. It is also key for the exercise and implementation of the rights affirmed in the Declaration48 and for the establishment of agreements that regulate the relationship between indigenous peoples and States,49 although lack of recognition should not impede access to legal protection of those rights. Indigenous peoples have often pursued constitutional recognition because it is considered that, as the highest level of the domestic judicial hierarchy, it ensures more comprehensive protection. Several States have integrated the recognition of indigenous peoples and, to some degree, their rights as set out in the Declaration into their constitutions. 29. A number of States in the Americas, such as Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua, have included similar clauses in their constitutions. In some cases, however, notably in the constitutions of Guatemala and Nicaragua, although recognition of the existence, special protections and certain grounds of autonomy of indigenous peoples are affirmed, there is no mention of their right to selfdetermination. In other cases, specific spheres of power and jurisdiction are established, such as the indigenous territorial entities in Colombia (arts. 329–330) or the indigenous territorial constituencies in Ecuador (arts. 60, 242, 257).50 30. In some constitutions, indigenous peoples are referred to as a group, population or community, for example in the Constitution of the Philippines and in those of several African countries, including Gabon, Kenya and South Africa, in line with an approach that identifies indigenous peoples rather than defining them. 51 In others, only specific groups are recognized, as in the case of the scheduled tribes in India, excluding other groups, such as the Adivasi migrants in the State of Assam.52 31. In Africa, indigenous peoples face a major barrier owing to a prevailing belief that all Africans are indigenous peoples and that their recognition as separate or distinct may trigger conflict between ethnic groups or jeopardize the integrity of States. 53 The Democratic 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Presentation of Belkis Izquierdo Torres at the Expert Mechanism seminar. A/HRC/EMRIP/2019/3/Rev.1, para. 9. Ibid., para. 17. Ibid., para. 38. A/HRC/48/75, para. 44. ILO and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Overview Report of the Research Project by ILO and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Constitutional and Legislative Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Geneva, ILO, 2009; Banjul, the Gambia, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 2009), see https://www.achpr.org/presspublic/publication?id=50. See submission of Bipasha Rosy Lakra. Presentation of Chidiebere C. Ogbonna at the Expert Mechanism seminar. 7