HRC 18: resolution "Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples"

The resolution "Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples " which was adopted on September 29, 2011 at the 18th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, is available here.

The HRC has notably requested the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner, the Office of Legal Affairs and other relevant parts of the Secretariat, to prepare a detailed document on ways and means of promoting participation at the United Nations of recognized indigenous peoples’ representatives on issues affecting them, as they are not always organized as non-governmental organizations, and on how such participation might be structured.

The HRC has also decided to hold on an annual basis, within existing resources, a half-day panel on the rights of indigenous peoples and, in this regard, to hold, at its twenty-first session, a half-day panel on access to justice by indigenous peoples.

The HRC has otherwise requested the Expert Mechanism to prepare a study on the role of languages and culture in the promotion and protection of the rights and identity of indigenous peoples, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-first session.