E/2007/43
E/C.19/2007/12
arrangements pertaining to indigenous peoples when undertaking its universal
periodic review of States members.
92. The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council update and
complete the United Nations study on treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements between States and indigenous populations, 13 including the possible
appointment of a rapporteur to carry out this task and to provide regular reports to
the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Forum and other appropriate bodies.
93. The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council consider
the development of a framework for the implementation of article 37 of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the Human
Rights Council, to assess implementation of treaties, agreements and other
constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples in all regions of
the world.
94. The Permanent Forum notes the recommendation that the third seminar on
treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and
indigenous peoples, as called for by the Commission on Human Rights, will take
place in Waitangi, Aotearoa, New Zealand, in February 2008, and that OHCHR will
organize the seminar in cooperation with the indigenous host communities, States,
indigenous organizations and appropriate United Nations bodies.
95. The Permanent Forum recommends that relevant States with indigenous
peoples invite the Special Rapporteur on the situation of the human rights and
fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples to undertake country visits. The
Special Rapporteur should give priority to invitations from those countries where
indigenous peoples have expressed concerns about their capacity to fully enjoy and
freely exercise their human rights.
96. The Permanent Forum calls upon all States that have ratified the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to develop, at national level, in
partnership with indigenous peoples, benchmarks, timelines and indicators to
measure progressive realization of indigenous human rights. Furthermore, the
Permanent Forum supports the efforts to elaborate an optional protocol to allow for
the submission of complaints under the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights.
Half-day discussion on Asia
97. Asia is the most diverse continent in the world. Two thirds of the world’s
indigenous peoples live in Asia, which is home to more than 2,000 civilizations and
languages. Indigenous peoples in Asia are referred to as tribes, tribal peoples, hill
tribes, ethnic or national minorities. Irrespective of their legal status or the different
terminologies used for them, many indigenous peoples of Asia experience nonrecognition of their cultural identity, exclusion and marginalization, displacement
and relocation from their traditional territories, including protected areas, and
dispossession of their lands and resources by State policies and programmes and by
State and private corporations engaged in logging, large-scale plantations, mega
hydroelectric dams and extractive industries. The panellists for the half-day session
on Asia included the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and
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