The 16th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

In the second week of July, the 16th Session the Expert Mechanism met in Geneva, Switzerland. the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) was established by the Human Rights Council, the UN's main human rights body in 2007. The Expert Mechanism provides the Human Rights Council with expertise and advice on the rights of Indigenous Peoples as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and assists Member States, upon request, in achieving the ends of the Declaration through the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

On July 17th, the 16th Session held the Study on the Impact of Militarization on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Militarization is understood as any type of military strategy or activity that impacts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples – as articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This refers, for instance, 'to any strategy or activity of a military nature, including supply facilities, infrastructure, bases or any other actions necessary for the development of military strategies or activities with an aim to maintain control over Indigenous land and territories for national security reasons, for insurgency and counter-insurgency operations, for border control, for accessing natural resources, for conservation purposes, for development projects or for the protection of the interests of transnational corporations. This list is not intended to be exhaustive.'

Indigenous people gathered from around the world, Peru, Russia, Mexico, Mauritius, Guatemala, Brazil, Australia, Nepal, Honduras... nearly every country was represented by Indigenous peoples. The militarization of Indigenous Peoples' territories, lands and resources has been one of the major challenges to the realization of their rights. Each representative was given two minutes during this session to highlight the historical militarization of Indigenous territories and its linkages with colonization, and the long history of Indigenous struggles for demilitarization and decolonization.

Harm associated with historical injustices continues today, and many of the contemporary challenges faced by Indigenous Peoples are rooted in this history. Its impact on Indigenous Peoples' rights has been frequently discussed.

Indigenous Peoples around the world have frequently identified a link between development projects and militarization. Violations related to militarization that are associated with foreign business have long been highlighted. In some regions, Indigenous Peoples are confronted with the increasing presence of paramilitaries and private security companies, which often have close relationships with formal State militaries. For example, there are allegations of how, in 2017, at Standing Rock in the United States of America, the TigerSwan private security company worked in close conjunction with paramilitary forces, military forces and the local police, against the Indigenous individuals who protested the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Guatemala reports more than 250,000 private security staff hired by landowners, mining companies, private conservation park owners, plantations, and industrial companies. United Nations human rights experts have shown their concern about the increasing use of the military for the construction of large civilian public works in Indigenous territories, such as the Mayan Train and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Railroad in Mexico, which implies risks of militarization of Indigenous territories and violations of their human rights.

These rights may be directly threatened owing to militarization, conflict, and criminalization of human rights defenders. Intimidation and fear of reprisal prevents Indigenous Peoples from taking legal action against the military for ongoing and historical abuses. Killings of Indigenous activists and human rights defenders continue in many places. In some jurisdictions, Indigenous Peoples regard the military as violently suppressing their movements for self-determination and autonomy.

United Nations experts have expressed concern over a reported pattern of extrajudicial killings of Indigenous Peoples by the military that is occurring with impunity in coal-mining areas of India, namely Nagaland. There are reports that massacres have been used as a form of collective punishment in Manipur for alleged attacks by insurgents.

In Myanmar, counter-insurgency operations have allegedly resulted in the military burning Indigenous Peoples' villages and fields, destroying places of worship, mass displacements, the use of Indigenous Peoples as human shields, violence, including sexual violence, and extrajudicial killings.

Similarly, there have been reports of threats and intimidation by the Nepalese police against Indigenous Peoples opposing the Government's construction of transmission lines and other infrastructure projects.

In the Philippines, there are allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture, abduction and enforced disappearances of known Indigenous activists and human rights defenders, and of illegal surveillance, searches, arrests, and detentions of activists being carried out by the military forces.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, there are allegations of arbitrary arrests by the military, raids, torture, and harassment at checkpoints.

In the Mayangna Sauni territory of Nicaragua, there are reports of killings and acts of torture against Indigenous Peoples committed by non-regular armed groups such as settlers or paramilitaries, with the acquiescence of military and police forces.

In Colombia, there is an increase of violence against Indigenous Peoples due to the expansion of different non-State armed groups and criminal organizations.

In the United Republic of Tanzania, it has been reported that paramilitary groups committed intimidation, harassment, injury, rape, forced eviction, denial of medical care, destruction of property, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests in the Lolilondo region, which is the ancestral land of the Maasai pastoralists and has been turned into the Pololeti Game Reserve.

The Rights of Indigenous women as understood in the Declaration reminds States of their obligation to take measures to ensure Indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination, at both the individual level and the collective level. The collective dimension to the violence that Indigenous women and girls face is often overlooked and forms an important part of their experience of violence.

During armed conflict, sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and forced pregnancy, is used as a weapon to weaken the resolve of Indigenous Peoples in militarized disputes over land and resources In Bangladesh, there are reported cases of women and girls being subjected to sexual violence in front of family and community members, often aimed at creating a psychosocial impact on the community. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples has received allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by military personnel against women and girls peacefully demonstrating. The Rapporteur has issued many press releases to address discrimination, violence and attacks against, and killings of, Indigenous women and girls, including in 117 in Guatemala,118 in Honduras, 119 in Colombia, 120 in Brazil and the Philippines.