A/77/238 the nomination of sites when indigenous peoples’ human rights are not respected, UNESCO stresses that the World Heritage Committee has the final say on whether to include a site in the List and is not obliged to follow these recommendations. 29 44. A number of gaps exist that prevent the meaningful participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes at the international and national levels. The Operational Guidelines do not require evidence of indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent to nominations affecting them, and nominations are not made publicly available before the nomination decision is made. The rules of procedure of the World Heritage Committee prevent indigenous peoples from participating effectively in the Committee’s decision-making on issues affecting them in line with article 41 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and no official mechanism exists through which indigenous peoples can participate. In practice, representatives of indigenous organizations cannot address the Committee until after it has already adopted decisions relating to sites. 30 45. Since 2020, the Special Rapporteur has raised concerns about alleged indige nous peoples’ rights violations at or in the vicinity of several sites that have been nominated for or included in the World Heritage List, including in Thailand, Kenya, Nepal, the United Republic of Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Denmark/Greenland and Swede n. 46. In Thailand, Karen indigenous peoples forcibly evicted from the Kaeng Krachen forest complex continued to face harassment by conservation authorities for asserting their land rights, and there are ongoing reports of harassment, criminalization and extrajudicial killings of Karen leaders and community members by national park officials with impunity. The Special Rapporteur urged the Government of Thailand and the World Heritage Committee to defer the inclusion of the park in the World Heritage List because of the failures to protect the rights of the Karen peoples, to consult and obtain their free, prior and informed consent for the nomination of sites to the List, to allow independent monitoring in situ and to prosecute violations by conservation authorities. 31 IUCN also recommended deferral pending the resolution of the human rights violations. Nevertheless, the Kaeng Krachan forest complex was included in the List in July 2021. 32 The Special Rapporteur, despite having formally requested to make a statement on the nomination of the site, was not given the opportunity to do so until after the Committee had adopted its decision. 33 UNESCO maintains that issues involving the rights of the Karen community will be closely monitored through the “reactive monitoring mechanism” under the Convention. 34 47. In Nepal, the Chitwan National Park was included in the World Heritage List in 1984 without the consent of the local indigenous peoples. In 2009, the then mandate holder raised concerns about the mistreatment, arbitrary detention and sexual abuse of indigenous peoples in the Park (A/HRC/12/34/Add.3 and A/HRC/9/9/Add.1, paras. 326–338). In 2020, the Special Rapporteur sent a communication regarding renewed allegations of forced eviction and torture and ill-treatment of Chepang __________________ 29 30 31 32 33 34 22-11289 Submission by UNESCO to the Special Rapporteur. Submission by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs to the Special Rapporteur. Communication AL OTH 209/2021 addressed to the World Heritage Committee, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26517 ; communication AL THA 4/2021 addressed to Thailand, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/ TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26518; www.ohchr.org/en/pressreleases/2021/07/thailand-un-experts-warn-against-heritage-status-kaeng-krachan-national-park; and A/71/229, para. 63. World Heritage Committee, decision 44 COM 8, adopted at the extended forty -fourth session of the Committee in July 2021; and submission by UNESCO to the Special Rapporteur. His statement is available at www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/SR%20statement% 20WHC%20on%20KKFC%2026%20July%202021.docx. Submission by UNESCO to the Special Rapporteur. 13/20