E/CN.4/2004/80 page 14 affected by socio-economic factors. Incarceration often occurs in the context of intolerably high levels of family violence, overpolicing for selected offences, ill-health, joblessness and deprivation. Studies on indigenous women in prison reveal life experiences fraught with danger from violence. 43. Discrimination against indigenous peoples in the justice system (as well as against other minorities of all kinds) is a widespread occurrence.22 While it is often related to the personal prejudice and subjective attitudes of judges, magistrates, attorneys, prosecutors and government officials, it is more importantly related to systemic rejection of indigenous cultures and identities. The justice system does no more than express the dominant values of a society, and when these are biased against indigenous peoples (as is so often the case), the courts tend to reflect them. Only in recent years, and to a great extent as a result of developments in the international arena, has the atmosphere begun to change. The Special Rapporteur calls upon all members of the judiciary and related institutions to take due account of the cultures and values of indigenous peoples and communities in providing and ensuring justice in the widest and most generous sense of this concept, whenever indigenous peoples and communities are involved. C. The criminalization of indigenous protest activities 44. One of the more serious human rights protection deficiencies in recent years is the trend towards the use of laws and the justice system to penalize and criminalize social protest activities and legitimate demands made by indigenous organizations and movements in defence of their rights. Reports indicate that these tendencies appear in two guises: the application of emergency legislation such as anti-terrorist laws, and accusing social protestors of common misdemeanours (such as trespassing) to punish social protests. Examples from various parts of the world have come to the attention of the Special Rapporteur. 45. In India, the adoption of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, has lead to the detention of many Adivasis from Jharkhand, including indigenous activists, children and elderly. Until March 2003, when the Madras High Court upheld the supremacy of the Juvenile Justice Act over anti-terrorism laws, several indigenous children had been arrested as terrorists.23 46. In Guatemala, for example, the criminal justice system overpenalizes certain kinds of crimes by weighting the system towards offences that have less social relevance or that could be addressed differently. Such is the case of felonies concerning property that could be dealt with by way of reparations. Yet the Penal Code forbids exchanging a prison sentence for monetary compensation in the case of theft or robbery, whereas it allows it in the case of homicide. Crimes against property are the most common felonies to reach the courts and the culprits fill the prisons. In the context of deep social problems, the penal response to social conflicts still tends towards the criminalization of the social demand for rights. An example of this tendency is the use of the accusation of trespassing (implying three, and up to six years of imprisonment) against individuals who may be peacefully occupying a piece of uncultivated land as part of a social conflict over traditional land rights.24 47. A similar situation occurs in Chile where Mapuche community leaders have recently received heavy prison sentences for alleged “terrorist” acts committed in the framework of social conflict over land rights, giving rise to serious concern about due process of law in that country (see E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3).