A/HRC/39/62 issues at all levels with indigenous free and educated consent (see E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/20, para. 263). He also referred to a widespread desire of indigenous peoples to establish a solid, new and different kind of relationship — quite unlike the almost constantly adversarial, often acrimonious relationship they had always had — with the non-indigenous sector of society in countries where they coexisted (ibid., para. 262). In this context, the standards for free, prior and informed consent articulated in the Declaration are particularly important to indigenous peoples’ relationships with States today and going forward. A. Self-determination 6. The right to self-determination is the fundamental human right upon which free, prior and informed consent is grounded. It includes internal and external aspects. 4 Historically, the right to self-determination, which is rooted in the decolonization movement, was devised to ensure subjected nations and peoples could recover their autonomy, preside over their destinies, make decisions for themselves and control their resources.5 The right to self-determination was indeed construed as a pillar right, including other rights of peoples and nations to be free from coercion of any sort, to live in dignity and to enjoy all rights equally, including the right to be responsible for their futures, to be fully informed and to be in a position to freely refuse or accept offers, plans, projects, programmes and proposals that affected them or their resources. 7. The concepts of being free, being fully informed, having the right to say yes or no and having control over their own lands and resources as nations or peoples are not therefore new in international human rights law. 6 These concepts derive from the elements of the right to self-determination, on which the Declaration bases its provisions on free, prior and informed consent, as a way of operationalizing the right to self-determination, taking into account the particular historical, cultural and social situation of indigenous peoples. 8. The international legal framework that conceptualized the right to self-determination paid particular attention to peoples and nations recovering control over their lands and natural resources as an important constituent element of the right to self-determination.7 It is for this reason that free, prior and informed consent is of particular relevance to lands and resources. B. Non-discrimination 9. Free, prior and informed consent is also grounded in the human rights framework devised to dismantle the structural bases of racial discrimination against indigenous peoples. The Doctrine of Discovery, 8 along with other doctrines of conquest that justified the legal and policy framework for dispossessing indigenous peoples of their lands and annihilating their cultures, was based on racial theories and principles that considered indigenous peoples as inferior beings who could not possibly own lands and decide their own futures. The international indigenous rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s highlighted systemic racial discrimination and human rights violations faced by indigenous peoples, prompting a study on the issue by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of 4 5 6 7 8 See Antonio Cassese, Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisal (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995). See General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV). See General Assembly resolution 1803 (XVII); and Nicolaas Schrijver, “Self-determination of peoples and sovereignty over natural wealth and resources” in Realizing the Right to Development: Essays in Commemoration of 25 Years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.12.XIV.1). See Marion Mushkatt, “The process of decolonization: international legal aspects”, University of Baltimore Law Review, vol. 2, No. 1 (Winter 1972). See the recommendations of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues following its discussion on “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests” (see E/2012/43-E/C.19/2012/13). 3