A/62/286 independence, as shown by the recent or ongoing conflicts in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, north-eastern India, Indonesia and the Philippines. In some cases, indigenous communities have reacted to the denial of their rights by resorting to violence and joining the ranks of various insurgent movements. This has fuelled the generation of a vicious circle in which indigenous and tribal populations have been victimized by both insurgent violence and State repression, with widespread human rights abuses. 53. The Special Rapporteur has received many reports documenting the rights violations suffered by indigenous leaders and communities caught in the middle of these conflicts, including massacres, extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture. Similar acts have been perpetrated in other countries in the name of the war on terror or drug trafficking, and have given rise to states of emergency involving looser enforcement of individual guarantees and the implementation of special legislation that has opened the door to abuse and impunity. This is the case, for example, of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which has been in force for decades in several states of north-eastern India and has been denounced by a number of international human rights organizations. Similarly, since the January 2007 declaration of a state of emergency in Bangladesh, numerous reports have been received of police and judicial persecution of prominent indigenous leaders in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other parts of the country. 54. In the Philippines, political assassinations, including the killings of dozens of indigenous leaders and activists, have captured the attention of international human rights mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur denounced this situation at the time of his first visit to the Philippines, in 2002. In January 2007 he visited the country again and found that the number of killings had increased by more than 80, but the State had not yet taken effective measures to address the situation or provide reparation to the victims. In many of the cases documented, the violence is said to be linked to the defence of indigenous people’s land and natural resource rights. 55. In Viet Nam and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Degar (Montagnard) and Hmong peoples continue to suffer repression as a consequence of their involvement in cold-war conflicts more than three decades ago, and serious violations of their rights have been documented. While many communities try to survive by seeking refuge in the forest, others have been able to escape into neighbouring countries such as Cambodia or Thailand, where they are sometimes detained under harsh conditions or returned to their countries of origin. 56. Several countries have promoted constructive arrangements for ending the conflicts that have broken out in Asia since the States of the region became independent and for recognizing and accommodating ethnic diversity within their own societies. Some of these arrangements lay the foundation for indigenous peoples’ self-government with respect to decisions on issues that affect them directly, and open up opportunities for the effective promotion of their rights. Experience suggests, however, that these constructive arrangements have not been fully implemented in many cases and that they sometimes serve to mask continued acts of conflict and repression. 57. Peace agreements between various insurgent groups and the Governments of Bangladesh (in the case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts), India (in the case of Nagaland) and Indonesia (in the case of West Papua and, more recently, Aceh) are examples of such constructive arrangements that are intended to put an end to decades of conflict through the recognition of an autonomous status that sometimes 07-48664 13