Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of indigenous people

Follow-up

In all his thematic and country visit reports, the Special Rapporteur includes recommendations that he considers important for the advancement of the promotion and protection of indigenous people’s rights. Although mainly addressed to Governments, some are also addressed to United Nations agencies and programmes, indigenous peoples’ organizations and civil society and academic institutions. Experience has shown, however, that the level of implementation of these recommendations is far from being satisfactory.

Studies

On view of the importance of the subject, the Commission on Human Rights, in resolution 2005/51, requested the Special Rapporteur to prepare a comprehensive study on best practices regarding the implementation of his recommendations. In 2006, the Special Rapporteur presented to the Human Rights Council a progress report, providing an overview of the main recommendations, as well as information on activities carried out for the preparation of the final study (E.CN.4/2006/78/Add.4).

In 2007, the Special Rapporteur presented to the Human Rights Council his final “Study regarding best practices carried out to implement the recommendations included in his annual reports” (A/HRC/4/32/Add.4). The basic conclusion of the study is that, implementation needs to be pushed forward in close cooperation with the Government and other stakeholders, including indigenous peoples themselves. In countries where follow-up mechanisms exist, institutional efforts for implementation have been more sustained, leading to concrete changes in law and practice.

Special Rapporteur’s activities

As part of the efforts to monitor the implementation of the recommendations included in his country reports, the Special Rapporteur has undertaken unofficial visits to countries he has visited in the past. These unofficial visits have normally taken the form of expert seminars or of open fora, in which the Special Rapporteur takes the opportunity to gather information from civil society and indigenous organizations, as well as from Government authorities and other relevant actors, concerning the advances and challenges in the implementation of the recommendations.

The follow-up of the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations regarding Guatemala and Mexico is supported by the OHCHR Project Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Latin America, with special focus on Guatemala and Mexico. The follow-up of the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations regarding Ecuador is supported by the OHCHR Andean Project , aiming at the mainstreaming the rights of indigenous peoples and afrodescendents in the work of UN Country Teams in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, and to support civil society organizations in those countries.

In other countries, the Special Rapporteur’s follow-up activities have been supported by Governments, civil society and indigenous organizations.