Editors --- "Sub-Commission on prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities - Resolutions and Decisions - Digest" [1997] AUIndigLawRpr 20; (1997) 2(1) Australian Indigenous Law Reporter 179

• Resolution 1996/36: Religious Freedom of Indigenous Peoples
• Resolution 1996/38: Study on Indigenous Land Rights

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Sub-Commission on prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
Resolutions and Decisions

The forty-eighth session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities was held in Geneva, 5-30 August 1996. In relation to indigenous peoples, the Sub-Commission adopted the following resolutions and decisions:

Resolutions

• 1996/31 Discrimination against Indigenous peoples
• 1996/32 United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples and Voluntary Fund for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous people
• 1996/34 International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples
• 1996/35 Permanent forum in the United Nations for indigenous people
• 1996/36 Religious freedoms for Indigenous people
• 1996/37 Protection of the heritage of indigenous people
• 1996/38 Study on indigenous land rights

Decisions

• 1996/118 Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations.

Resolutions 1996/36 and 38 are reproduced below.

Resolution 1996/36: Religious Freedom of Indigenous Peoples

The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,

Recalling the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981,

Mindful of the "Draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples", especially article 13,

Mindful also of the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the expert seminar on practical experiences regarding indigenous land rights and claims (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1996/6) and of paragraphs 1 and 12 of the principles and guidelines annexed to the final report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Erica-Irene A. Daes, on the protection of the heritage of indigenous people (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/26),

Emphasizing the spiritual connection that indigenous peoples have with the land, and the relationship of traditional lands with the practice of indigenous religion,

Strongly emphasizing the concern manifested by representatives of indigenous peoples during the fourteenth session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations at the violation of their sacred sites and religious ceremonies,

Mindful of the role the United Nations could play in facilitating the resolution of situations involving indigenous peoples and their right to practise their religious beliefs,

1. Affirms that religion or belief, for anyone who professes either, is one of the fundamental elements in his or her conception of life and that freedom of religion or belief should be fully respected and guaranteed;

2. Reiterates article 1 of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, which states that everyone should have the right to freedom of religion and that this right includes freedom, either individually or in community with others, to manifest one's religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching;

3. Expresses its deep conviction that human rights and fundamental freedoms must be respected by institutions of local, internal or autonomous self-government, no less than by States;

4. Invites the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on religious intolerance to take into account, in preparing his reports and organising his field missions, the specific problems faced by indigenous people relating to the destruction and violation of their sacred sites and religious ceremonies;

5. Also invites the Special Rapporteur to take into account the spiritual relationship these indigenous communities have with the land and the significance of traditional lands for the practice of their religion, and to examine the history of events which are responsible for the violation of these communities right to freedom of religion and religious practice;

6. Recommends that the Special Rapporteur explore in depth the impact that outside influences have on these communities' ability to practise their religion.

Resolution 1996/38: Study on Indigenous Land Rights

The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Acknowledging that indigenous people in certain countries have been deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedoms and that many of the human rights problems faced by indigenous people are linked to the historical and continuing deprivation of ancestral rights over lands and resources,

Recognising the profound spiritual, cultural, social and economic relationship that indigenous people have to their total environment and the urgent need to respect and recognize the rights of indigenous people to their lands and resources,

Acknowledging that lack of secure land rights, in addition to continued instability of State land tenure systems and impediments to development initiatives and efforts for the promotion and protection of indigenous communities and the environment, are imperilling the survival of indigenous people,

Recognizing that United Nations organs and Member States have increasingly acknowledged that lands and natural resources are essential to the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people, and that some States have enacted legal measures that uphold indigenous land rights or have established procedures for arriving at legally binding agreements on indigenous land-related issues,

Mindful of the development of relevant international standards and programmes which promote and affirm the rights of indigenous people to their land and resources, in particular the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization, Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, World Bank Operational Directive 4.20, the draft of the Inter-American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples developed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, and the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people,

Recognizing that despite these international and national advances, problems continue to abound which impede the effective enjoyment of indigenous land rights,

Recalling that many States in which indigenous people live have yet to enact laws or policies regarding indigenous land claims or in other instances have not provided adequate implementing mechanism concerning indigenous land rights that are mutually acceptable to the parties concerned,

Recalling also the activity of the United Nations which lays the groundwork for a thorough inquiry into the subject of indigenous land rights, in particular the Sub-Commission's study of the problem of discrimination in particular, the Sub-Commission's study of the problems of discrimination against indigenous populations (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7 and Add. 1-4)

Recalling further the report and recommendations of the expert seminar on practical experiences regarding indigenous land rights and claims, held in Whitehorse, Canada, in March 1996 (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1996/6),

Recognizing the urgent need for a systematic inquiry and analysis concerning land rights that would be highly useful to indigenous people and states alike in their efforts to overcome continuing land rights problems and to establish peaceful relations based on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,

1. Recommends that the Commission on Human Rights authorize the Sub-Commission to appoint Mrs. Erica-Irene A. Daes as Special Rapporteur to conduct a comprehensive study on the problem of recognition of and respect for indigenous land rights, which would, inter alia, provide:

(a) a detailed and updated account of the status of efforts to secure indigenous land rights and of the problems that continue to exist in this regard; and

(b) a catalogue of existing national laws, policies and procedures concerning indigenous land rights. In preparing her study the Special Rapporteur should draw upon indigenous people's experiences in order to make the relevant assessment and constructive, action-oriented recommendations, as well as to propose solutions to problems faced by indigenous people and States in securing the effective enjoyment of indigenous land rights.