A/HRC/51/50 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 33/25, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples decided, at its fourteenth session in July 2021, to prepare a study on how treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements, as referred to in article 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration), as well as in peace accords and reconciliation initiatives and in constitutional recognition, are being recognized, observed, enforced, honoured and respected. For that purpose, the Expert Mechanism held a virtual seminar on 29 November and 1 and 2 December 2021. The present study has benefited from the presentations made at the seminar and from the submissions of States, indigenous peoples, national human rights institutions, academics and others.1 The Expert Mechanism regrets that it received only two contributions from Member States to its 2021 call for input, a response that is clearly insufficient to reflect the diversity of views and experiences of States. 2. The subject of the present study has been discussed at the international level since the early 1970s and was addressed in the final report of the Special Rapporteur, Miguel Alfonso Martínez, on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations,2 as well as at three United Nations Expert seminars held in 2003, 2006 and 2012,3 as recommended in the report of the Special Rapporteur. The present study seeks to contribute to the further understanding of the rights affirmed in article 37 of the Declaration and the corresponding obligations of States. The study attempts to identify the principles and conditions, including broader gaps and challenges, in the realization and exercise of the right of indigenous peoples to conclude treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements with States and to have them respected and enforced. 3. The present study in no way attempts to either repeat the work of the Special Rapporteur or to diminish the important work accomplished in his final report and at the three subsequent United Nations seminars. The study will focus on examples of more current agreements, some of which are not be classified as treaties of an international character. Some of the critical words of the Special Rapporteur are still relevant today, especially following the adoption of the Declaration, and parts of his report have been particularly useful in the writing of the study, 4. The Special Rapporteur concluded more than two decades ago that there is an almost unanimous opinion among indigenous peoples that existing State mechanisms, either administrative or judicial, are unable to satisfy their aspirations and hopes for redress, a still prevailing opinion, as evidenced by the information provided to the Expert Mechanism. 4 It should also be noted that many of his recommendations have yet to be implemented. II. Legal framework 5. Establishing improved relationships between indigenous peoples and States, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith,5 was a main goal behind the adoption of the Declaration. The objective of a renewed relationship is reflected, specifically, in article 37 of the Declaration and in its fifteenth, eighteenth and twenty-fourth preambular paragraphs. In adopting the Declaration, the General Assembly solemnly proclaimed it as a standard of achievement to be pursued in a 1 2 3 4 5 2 The presentations and the submissions are available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hrcsubsidiaries/expert-mechanism-on-indigenous-peoples/treaties-agreements-and-other-constructivearrangements-between-indigenous-peoples-and-states. See E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/20. See the compilation of conclusions and recommendations from the United Nations seminars on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements, available at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/EMRIP/Session7/A.HRC.EMRI P.2014.CRP.1.pdf. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/20, para. 261. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, eighteenth preambular para.