A/HRC/15/37/Add.5 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 23 June 2010 Original: English Human Rights Council Fifteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, James Anaya Addendum Situation of indigenous peoples in the Russian Federation* Summary This report follows a visit to the Russian Federation by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, and examines the situation of indigenous people in the Russian Federation in light of relevant international human rights standards. The report is focused on those groups whose members number less than 50,000 and are recognized by the Russian Federation as “smallnumbered indigenous peoples” entitled to special protections, although the report notes that other groups with similar, historically-rooted characteristics of economic and social disadvantage, and whose cultures and ways of life are also threatened, are likewise in need of attention in accordance with international standards. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Government of the Russian Federation has manifested a commitment to improving the living conditions of indigenous peoples and to advancing their cultures and participation in decision-making, in accordance with constitutional and other legal protections for them, having developed a comprehensive policy addressing indigenous peoples with a number of programme initiatives, as set forth in its widely circulated “Concept Paper” of 2009. Further, some regional governments demonstrate a remarkable level of consideration of indigenous issues in their legislative and development initiatives. Nonetheless, the Special Rapporteur observes that indigenous * The summary is being circulated in all official languages. The report itself, contained in the annex to the summary, is being circulated in the language of submission and in Russian only. GE.10-14779 (E) 090810