A/64/338 concern and improving the human rights conditions of indigenous peoples. The reporting process typically involves a visit to the countries under review, including to the capital and selected places of concern within the country, during which the Special Rapporteur interacts with Government representatives, indigenous communities from different regions and a cross section of civil society actors working on issues relevant to indigenous peoples. In accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council (see HRC resolution 5/2), these visits can only take place with Government consent and cooperation. 30. Since beginning his mandate, the Special Rapporteur has visited Brazil,4 Nepal,5 Botswana,6 and Australia to report on those countries, and he has conducted follow-up visits to Chile7 and Colombia to evaluate their progress in implementing the recommendations in the reports of his predecessor. In addition, the Special Rapporteur will be visiting the Russian Federation in October 2009 and has received positive indications from the Republic of the Congo for a forthcoming visit. The Special Rapporteur has outstanding requests for visits to India and Indonesia, which he hopes will be considered favourably in the near future. D. Cases of alleged human rights violations 31. Finally, the fourth and perhaps principal area of the Special Rapporteur’s work involves responding, on an ongoing basis, to specific cases of alleged human rights violations.8 A fundamental aspect of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, as reaffirmed by the Human Rights Council, is “to gather, request, receive and exchange information and communications from all relevant sources, including Governments, indigenous people and their communities and organizations, on alleged violations of their human rights and fundamental freedoms” (resolution 6/12, para. 1 (b)). The Special Rapporteur has placed special emphasis on his mandate “to develop a regular cooperative dialogue with all relevant actors” (resolution 6/12, para. 1 (f)) by developing ongoing long-term strategies for all the work he undertakes to address alleged violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples. 32. The Special Rapporteur’s ability to address specific situations of alleged violations relies, to a large extent, on the information provided to him by indigenous peoples and their organizations, non-governmental organizations and other sources. Over the past year, the Special Rapporteur has received information about cases of alleged human rights violations in countries worldwide and, in response, has sent numerous communications to Governments about these situations. These cases involve, inter alia, infringements of the right to free, prior and informed consent, especially in relation to natural resource extraction and displacement or removal of __________________ 4 5 6 7 8 09-50281 A/HRC/12/34/Add.2. A/HRC/12/34/Add.3. A/HRC/12/34/Add.4. A/HRC/12/34/Add.6. A complete summary of communications sent, responses received from Governments and observations of the Special Rapporteur can be found in the reports presented to the Human Rights Council; see A/HRC/9/9/Add.1 and Corr.1 and A/HRC/12/34/Add.1. 11

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