CCPR/C/137/D/3585/2019 The Optional Protocol entered into force for Australia on 25 December 1991. The author is represented by counsel. 1.2 On 9 April 2019, pursuant to rule 92 of its rules of procedure, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteurs on new communications and interim measures, registered the communication but decided not to issue a request for interim measures under rule 94 of its rules of procedure.2 1.3 On 10 June 2020, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteurs on new communications and interim measures, denied a request for third party intervention submitted by Minority Rights Group International. Factual background3 2.1 The Wunna Nyiyaparli Indigenous People are a local landholding group of the larger Nyiyaparli Indigenous People, who belong to the Western Desert Aboriginal People. Prior to European contact and the assertion of sovereignty by the Crown on 11 June 1829, the ancestors of the Wunna Nyiyaparli occupied their traditional territory according to rights derived from filiation to a parent having held those rights or by way of incorporation. Traditional laws and customs, specifics relating to traditional territory and the governance of rights in relation to lands, the use and exploitation of resources and the protection of sites of significance continue to be actively acknowledged and observed by the Wunna Nyiyaparli. 2.2 The Wunna Nyiyaparli traditional territory, situated in the Pilbara Region, is known as the Roy Hill Pastoral Lease.4 The Wunna Nyiyaparli hold the rights, under Western Desert traditional laws and customs, to “speak for” this specific territory, which holds the sacred burial sites of their ancestors and other sacred sites registered with the Government (such as the Fortescue river marshes). This territory is key to the Wunna Nyiyaparli language, culture and religion. Their ability to live, hunt and fish on it, according to traditional practices transmitted from generation to generation, and their ability to control access to and care for their lands, are essential for the preservation of their Indigenous People group as such. 2.3 Wunna Nyiyaparli traditional territory is rich in minerals, such as iron ore. Several iron ore mines5 have already been developed on it without any information being shared with the Wunna Nyiyaparli. As a consequence of the mining, access to many parts of the lands is now restricted; the Wunna Nyiyaparli are no longer able to freely travel throughout them. Moreover, the Wunna Nyiyaparli learned, through public information, as they were never consulted, about the expansion of the Christmas Creek Iron Ore Mine and a licence awaiting approval for the construction of a road, a power line and a pipeline. According to the author, should any of the mines expand, or should further mineral concessions be granted, further damage would be caused, posing a danger to Wunna Nyiyaparli culture, which is intimately and inextricably linked to the territory. 2 3 4 5 2 The author claimed that the Wunna Nyiyaparli would be subjected to irreparable harm if the State party allowed further expansion of mining explorations on their traditional lands. These facts have been reconstructed on the basis of the individual communication, the annexes thereto and the information subsequently provided by the parties. According to the information in the communication, the boundaries of the traditional territory are described as “all those lands and waters commencing at the northernmost corner of the western severance of pastoral lease PL 1957440 (Roy Hill) and extending generally easterly along boundaries of that severance to a western boundary of reserve 18938; then, easterly to the northernmost northwestern corner of the northeastern severance of pastoral lease PL 1957440 (Roy Hill); then generally easterly and southerly along boundaries of that severance to a northern boundary of reserve 15159; then southerly to the northernmost northwestern corner of the southeastern severance of pastoral lease PL 1957440 (Roy Hill); then southerly and generally westerly along boundaries of that severance to an eastern boundary of reserve 9700; then westerly to the easternmost southeastern corner of the western severance of pastoral lease PL 1957440 (Roy Hill); then westerly, generally southerly, generally northwesterly and generally northerly along boundaries of that severance back to the commencement point”. Including the Roy Hill Iron Ore Mine, the Christmas Creek Iron Ore Mine and the Cloudbreak Iron Ore Mine. GE.23-13390