A/HRC/15/37/Add.5 With regard to indigenous peoples in particular, article 69 provides that “[t]he Russian Federation shall guarantee the rights of the indigenous small peoples according to the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation”. 17. With respect to international law generally, article 15 (4) of the Constitution states: “The universally-recognized norms of international law and international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation shall be a component part of its legal system. If an international treaty or agreement of the Russian Federation fixes other rules than those envisaged by law, the rules of the international agreement shall be applied.” 18. The Russian Federation voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and has ratified most of the core United Nations human rights treaties. Russia has not ratified International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989), and abstained from voting for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“Declaration”), although Government officials have stated that the Russian Federation accepts most of the provisions of the Declaration. 19. The federal legal framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples consists of three framework laws specifically addressing indigenous peoples: “On Guarantees of the Rights of Numerically-small Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation” (“On Guarantees”), passed in 1999; “On Territories of Traditional Nature Use of the Numerically-small Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation” (“On Territories”), adopted in 2001; and “On General Principles of Organization of Obshchina [clan or clan-type community] of Numericallysmall Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation” (“On Obshchina”), adopted in 2000. 20. The guarantees set out in the federal legislation include both group and individual rights of indigenous peoples to free-of-charge use of land and renewable natural resources in the territories which they have traditionally occupied and where they engage in traditional economic activities; the rights to establish self-government bodies in places of compact settlement and to form communities and other organizations; the right to reform their educational institutions according to their traditional way of life; the right to receive compensation for damage to their traditional environment due to industrial activities; the right to have courts consider customary law in as far as it does not contradict federal or regional legislation; and other entitlements. However, while the guarantees set out in these federal laws are substantial, there has been widespread criticism of the lack of their effective implementation. 21. The federal Government had provided a series of three consecutive funding initiatives targeting indigenous communities, starting in 1991. Nevertheless, these programmes were also criticized as being grossly insufficient and subject to inappropriate or corrupt use. 22. Perhaps in part motivated by these criticisms, in February 2009 the federal Government adopted a Concept Paper on the Sustainable Development of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation (“Concept Paper”), thereby defining the federal policy from 2009 to 2025 for improving the socio-economic conditions, and for protecting the traditional environments, way of life and cultural values, of indigenous peoples; and specifying time frames and benchmarks for implementation. The policy identifies the following seven objectives: protecting the natural environment and traditional use of land and natural resources; developing and modernizing traditional commercial activities; increasing the standard of living; improving the demographic situation to bring it into line with the national average; improving access to educational GE.10-14779 7