CERD/C/102/D/54/2013 indigenous peoples when they are deprived of reindeer pasture land which is indispensable to the community’s reindeer herding and which forms the very basis of their cultural identity and traditional livelihood. State party’s additional submissions 4.1 In a submission dated 1 February 2019, the State party reiterates its allegations according to which the petitioners’ description of their right as a property right is misleading. It insists on the fact that it is not a right of ownership of land but a usufructuary right, and that they do not hold a formal title to ownership of the land in question. 4.2 The State party also reiterates that the Vapsten Sami village has been consulted throughout the domestic proceedings to the full extent required under international law in matters regarding mining concessions, and that the authorities have made every effort to build consensus with all concerned. 4.3 The State party clarifies that the weighing up of the different interests involved is based on a public approach, i.e. only public interests are considered and no consideration is given to any private interests linked to the land. Areas that are of importance for reindeer husbandry under the Swedish Environmental Code represent a public interest, whereas the specific reindeer husbandry right of the petitioners represents a private interest, as the use of real property is a civil right. 4.4 Moreover, the State party explains that, from an international geological perspective, Sweden’s bedrock has unique geological potential for mineral extraction and that extraction of minerals has been a key feature of Swedish history. The location of deposits in the bedrock is the result of geological processes, and mineral deposits, in contrast to the sites of other industrial activities, cannot, therefore, be relocated. According to the State party, supplying society with the metals and minerals it needs requires legislation enabling a party to apply for a permit to extract metals and minerals, regardless of who owns the land. Indeed, when a prospector has discovered a potentially profitable deposit, the first step towards starting mining operations is to apply for an exploitation concession; a concession decision determines who has the right to extract the metals or minerals and this right also applies visà-vis the property owner and without their consent, which is the main purpose of the concession system. Petitioners’ additional submissions 5.1 In a submission dated 31 October 2019, the petitioners observe that they are unsure whether the State party still questions the assertion that their right to property, pursuant to article 5 (d) (v) of the Convention, is protected under the Convention. 5.2 The petitioners also note that the State party admits that the decisions to grant mining concessions for a mining system consisting of three open pit mines and associated infrastructure within the Vapsten community’s traditional lands did not involve consideration of their land property right; rather, the examinations only included the weighing-up of two public interests (mining and reindeer herding) against one another. The petitioners claim that the State party fails both tests under the Convention for assessing whether encroachments on indigenous lands are lawful – that the encroachment should simultaneously not inflict damage on the indigenous people beyond the threshold that the right allows (the right’s material requirement) and have been duly consulted with the community (the right’s procedural requirement). 5.3 The petitioners also reiterate that the Land and Environment Court has no mandate to disallow the project on the grounds that it will have an excessive negative impact on reindeer herding, as it can only establish the conditions for the mining; a different court determines the monetary compensation. The calculation might be lawful with regard to the Swedish property right holders but it is not with regard to an indigenous Sami reindeer herding community, for which damage to land is damage to its culture, society, way of life and identity. 5.4 Thus, the legislation amounts to structural discrimination against Sami reindeer herding communities. The petitioners refer to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 9