The centuries of struggle by Indigenous Peoples around the world against colonization, forced assimilation and systemic discrimination have resulted in the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) by the UN General Assembly in September 2007. The UNDRIP sets the minimum international standards for the respect, recognition, and protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples (art. 43). The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly reaffirmed UNDRIP, most recently explaining that it “addresses the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and has positively influenced the drafting of several constitutions and statutes at the national and local levels and contributed to the progressive development of international and national legal frameworks and policies.”[1]
Despite this milestone achievement by Indigenous Peoples, their rights continue to be violated in law and practice in many parts of the world. However, legislation and jurisprudence increasingly affirm the rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially to their lands, territories, and resources, to self-determination and to their cultural heritage, are being issued by different authoritative bodies in line with the UNDRIP and with universal and regional human rights treaties.
IPRI is therefore issuing this Digest as a compilation of legislation and jurisprudence in relation to Indigenous Peoples’ rights at the international level (UN system and perhaps others), at the regional level (regional human rights bodies), and at the national level (national courts). We will also include legislation and jurisprudence adopted by Indigenous jurisdictions. Among other things, the cases in the Digest illustrate EMRIP’s conclusion that “major international human rights instruments already guarantee many of the rights contained in the Declaration and have been given significant normative strength, including through the work of the treaty bodies, regional and national courts.”[2] EMRIP, thus, confirms that UNDRIP is “a contextualized elaboration of general human rights principles” and the minimum standards affirmed therein “connect to existing State obligations under international human rights law….”[3]
Cover photo by: The Goldman Environmental Prize
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[1] A/RES/77/203 (15 December 2022).
[2] A/HRC/36/56, para. 10.
[3] A/HRC/EMRIP/2023/3, para. 8.
