A/HRC/42/37 46. In Australia, the Special Rapporteur observed that while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent only around 3 per cent of the national population, nearly one third of the prison population is indigenous. More than 50 per cent of Australian children in detention, some as young as 10, are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and in certain detention centres where 90 per cent of the detainees are indigenous children, racist abuse and solitary confinement of children has been documented (see A/HRC/36/46/Add.2).29 47. Appropriate policing is a key issue. Proximity policing in indigenous communities, whether urban or remote, should be adapted. Policing strategies should be elaborated and implemented with the participation of the communities themselves. 48. Language barriers constitute or lead to further violations of rights of indigenous peoples in ordinary criminal justice systems. Indigenous persons who are arrested and prosecuted may face violations of their liberty, the right to a fair trial, or other rights if their lawyers, defenders or justice officials do not speak indigenous languages or know about indigenous cultures, and interpretation and translation services are not accessible or adequate.30 49. Access to an interpreter is one essential guarantee of a fair trial for any accused person who does not understand the language in which the proceedings will be conducted.31 The right to an interpreter is not, however, always fully implemented or respected in practice. In Mexico, the Special Rapporteur for instance observed a severe shortage of interpreters and an insufficient number of bilingual public defenders in courts, jeopardizing the right of indigenous defendants to a fair trial (A/HRC/39/17/Add.2, para. 65). In Guatemala, the Public Criminal Defence Institute lacks resources, especially in respect of its programme on setting up offices for the defence of indigenous rights (A/HRC/39/17/Add.3, para. 83). E. Indigenous justice systems Right to indigenous justice 50. As noted above, indigenous justice systems are integral to the internationally recognized rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination and to their own culture. The right of indigenous peoples to autonomous legal institutions and processes must be placed in a historical, territorial and cultural context, including the fact that indigenous peoples were present before colonialism and prior to the formation of States. 51. The ordinary justice system may be seen by indigenous communities as the continuation of illegitimately imposed alien institutions and laws, and demands to maintain and legitimize distinct indigenous legal institutions are part of the resistance by those communities to domination and assimilation.32 State recognition of indigenous legal systems 52. Recognition of the traditional justice systems and customary laws of indigenous peoples varies throughout the world, but remains generally limited (A/HRC/27/65, paras. 14–17). Numerous countries in Latin America have in recent decades embraced legal 29 30 31 32 10 See also communication AUS 6/2016 and Final Report of the Royal Commission and Board of Enquiry into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory. See, for example, A/HRC/39/17/Add.2, para. 65; A/HRC/39/17/Add.3, para. 103; CERD/C/COL/CO/14, para. 21; and CERD/MAR/CO/17-18, para. 19. See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 14 (3) (f); Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 31 (2005) on the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the criminal justice system, para. 30; Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (revised 2015), rule 55 (1) John L. Hammond, “Indigenous community justice in the Bolivian Constitution of 2009”, Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 33, No. 3 (2011); Brendan Tobin, Indigenous Peoples, Customary Law and Human Rights – Why Living Law Matters, ch. 1; and “Indigenous and other traditional or customary justice systems in the Asia-Pacific region”, pp. 6 and 19.