A/77/514 I. Introduction2 1. Indigenous peoples are diverse and complex, with 476 million living in 90 countries, speaking over 4,000 languages, and owning, occupying, or managing over one-quarter of the world's land.3 Consistent with their right to self-determination, indigenous peoples are free to define and determine their spiritual identity for themselves. Many conceptualize spirituality as a "way of life": shaping distinctive emotions, habits, practices, or virtues, fashioning distinct beliefs and ways of thinking, and a particular way of living together and communicating. Thus, spirituality concerns the transcendent and is intrinsic to indigenous peoples' daily experiences and practices. Albeit diverse, indigenous spirituality and culture are often grounded in community, identity, and relationships with traditional lands. 2. Contemporary crises in human rights for indigenous peoples frequently stem and are inseparable from unremedied past policies and practices. Beyond State restrictions on spiritual ceremonies, symbols, and leaders in the name of "assimilation," challenges for their right to freedom of religion or belief could encompass forced displacement, exploitation of indigenous territories without their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent ("FPIC”)4, environmental damage and destruction, as well as the impacts of climate change. 5 Severe, systematic, and systemic discrimination and marginalization affect their ability to survive, let alone thrive—by exercising their innermost religious or belief convictions. 3. Recalling the UN Secretary-General's position, ensuring "equal and meaningful participation, full inclusion and empowerment" towards realizing human rights and opportunities for all indigenous peoples is imperative.6 While Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR") safeguards followers of every faith or none, a frequently recurring question from rights-holders and key stakeholders is whether its application has been adequate or appropriate for indigenous peoples. Recognizing the mandate's relatively limited engagement with indigenous peoples to date,7 the Special Rapporteur aims to develop a framework for productive, sustained exchange with this report –– highlighting existing and emerging challenges to indigenous peoples' enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief. II. Activities of the Special Rapporteur 4. Throughout his mandate, the Special Rapporteur focused on furthering State implementation and engaging diverse stakeholders to advance the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief worldwide by (1) championing the revitalization or development of effective normative and institutional frameworks promoting the right; (2) engaging the broader UN system, and platforming voices that were previously neglected or marginalized from advocacy spaces; (3) encouraging stakeholders to develop tools for assessing implementation progress; and (4) highlighting key intersections between freedom of religion or belief and multifaceted issues, including freedom of expression, sustainable development, gender equality, countering violent extremism, and emerging technologies. 5. Since his last report to the Human Rights Council ("HRC"), the Special Rapporteur contributed to the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and Responsibility to Protect's ("UNOGP") review of the Fez Plan of Action in June 2022, emphasizing that a gendered approach is vital for future implementation. He further (1) called for comprehensive 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, is grateful for the excellent research undertaken for the report by Rose Richter, Jennifer Tridgell and Mathilde Renaud, and his Research Fellows, Brady Earley, Christopher Gray, Iqra Saleem Khan, Gihan Indraguptha, Jonas Skorzak and Sarthak Roy. He also thanks Erik Fattorelli/OHCHR for their contributions. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples. E/C.12/GC/21,(para.3); UNDRIP; https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/FreePriorandInformedConsent.p df. A/76/L.75. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1090112 A/HRC/31/18,(para.87); A/HRC/19/60/Add.1,(paras.45-53,64); A/71/269,(para.39). 3