The United Nations Declaration on the
Chapter 4: The content of the Declaration: Lands, territories and resources; development with identity; and redress and compensation
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- 1. Challenges faced by indigenous peoples in relation to lands and natural resources
- 2. The rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, resources and territories
Chapter 4:
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Key questions What are the lands, resources and territories of indigenous peoples? How do indigenous peoples relate to their lands, resources and territories? What protections exist in relation to the lands, resources and territories of indigenous peoples? What avenues of redress do indigenous peoples have in relation to their rights to lands, territories and resources? What is development with culture and identity? |
1. Challenges faced by indigenous peoples in relation to lands and natural resources
From time immemorial, indigenous peoples have maintained a special relationship with the land, their source of livelihood and sustenance and the basis of their very existence as communities. The issues of land, territory and access to natural resources remain central to observing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples.
The nature and importance of those relationships is fundamental for both the material subsistence and the cultural integrity of many indigenous peoples.136 The Permanent Forum has commented on the significance of the relationship between indigenous peoples and their lands:
Land is the foundation of the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples all over the world. This is why the protection of their right to lands, territories and natural resources is a key demand of the international indigenous peoples’ movement and of indigenous peoples and organizations everywhere. It is also clear that most local and national indigenous peoples’ movements have emerged from struggles against policies and actions that have undermined and discriminated against their customary land tenure and resource management systems, expropriated their lands, extracted their resources without their consent and led to their displacement and dispossession from their territories. Without access to and respect for their rights over their lands, territories and natural resources, the survival of indigenous peoples’ particular distinct cultures is threatened.
Land rights, access to land and control over it and its resources are central to indigenous peoples throughout the world, and they depend on such rights and access for their material and cultural survival. In order to survive as distinct peoples, indigenous peoples and their communities need to be able to own, conserve and manage their territories, lands and resources.137
Indigenous peoples, if deprived of the natural resources pertaining to their lands and territories, may be deprived of meaningful economic and political self-determination and self-development. In many situations, indigenous peoples may also be effectively deprived of their cultures and the enjoyment of other human rights by reason of extreme poverty and lack of access to their means of subsistence.138
Two of the primary constraints on the full and free enjoyment of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources relate to either the failure of States to recognize the existence of indigenous use, occupancy and ownership or the failure of States to accord appropriate legal status, juridical capacity and other legal rights in connection with indigenous peoples’ ownership of land.139
Other indigenous groups face challenges relating to the abrogation of treaty rights and the failure to demarcate lands.
Issues of land tenure and indigenous peoples can generate a great deal of complexity and conflict where domestic law has developed without appropriation, recognition or protection for indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and natural resources. Many indigenous peoples experience the loss of lands due to expropriation for national interests and the associated removals and relocations have had many negative impacts on the well-being of indigenous communities and their enjoyment of their rights.140
The social, environmental and cultural impacts of large-scale development projects and extractive industries are also an increasing concern for many indigenous peoples. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has identified extractive industries as a subject of special concern during his mandate.141
2. The rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, resources and territories
What constitutes the lands, resources or territory of a particular indigenous people will depend on the specific circumstances of the community in question. The Declaration recognizes indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, territories and resources, including rights to those lands, territories and resources traditionally held by indigenous peoples but now controlled by others as a matter of fact and also law.
The Declaration provides broad recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples to land, territories and natural resources, including:
The right to strengthen their distinctive spiritual relations with lands and resources (article 25)
The right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that indigenous peoples possess by reason of traditional ownership (article 26)
The right to redress, by means that can include restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent (article 28)
The right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources (article 29)
The right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources (article 32)
The Declaration requires States to take measures to uphold and promote the rights of indigenous peoples relating to lands, territories and resources, such as imposing restrictions on the storage or disposal of hazardous materials in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples (article 29) and placing restrictions on the use of lands and territories of indigenous peoples for military activities (article 30).
The Inter-American human rights system has a highly developed body of jurisprudence regarding indigenous peoples’ rights to lands and resources. It has decided on indigenous land possession in a number of cases. For instance, the Court pointed out that possession of the land should suffice for indigenous communities lacking real title to property of the land to obtain official recognition of that property, and for consequent registration.142
The African Commission on Peoples’ and Human Rights has confirmed that indigenous peoples hold property rights to the lands and natural resources they traditionally used. In the view of the African Commission in the Endorois case, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) Traditional possession of land by indigenous people has the equivalent effect as that of a state-granted full property title;
(2) Traditional possession entitles indigenous people to demand official recognition and registration of property title;
(3) The members of indigenous peoples who have unwillingly left their traditional lands, or lost possession thereof, maintain property rights thereto, even though they lack legal title, unless the lands have been lawfully transferred to third parties in good faith; and
(4) The members of indigenous peoples who have unwillingly lost possession of their lands, when those lands have been lawfully transferred to innocent third parties, are entitled to restitution thereof or to obtain other lands of equal extension and quality. Consequently, possession is not a requisite condition for the existence of indigenous land restitution rights.143
In the Endorois case, the African Commission held the view that, in the pursuit of creating a game reserve, the State unlawfully evicted the Endorois from their ancestral land and destroyed their possessions. It also held that that the upheaval and displacement of the Endorois and the denial of their property rights over their ancestral land was disproportionate to any public need served by the game reserve.
The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has actively promoted the resource and land rights of indigenous peoples through thematic and country visit reports.144 Indigenous rights relating to the protection of lands, territories and resources have implications that extend beyond the protection of the lands themselves. The associated concerns have been examined by several special procedure mandate holders.
The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, has recommended that actions be taken to protect indigenous lands as part of the protection of the right to an adequate standard of living. The Special Rapporteur has also noted that “measures aiming at realization of indigenous peoples’ right to adequate housing should include respect for their traditional lands and elaboration of culturally sensitive land and housing policies”.145
The Special Rapporteur on the right to food has on numerous occasions recommended to States that they take action to ensure the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands in order to ensure their enjoyment of the right to food.146
Indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights derive from their rights to cultural integrity, non-discrimination, self-determination and property, including the right to collective ownership or use. Consultation and the right to consent are also critical elements of indigenous peoples’ right to lands and natural resources. The interpretation of these rights by regional and international human rights bodies, as well at its application in relation to indigenous peoples’ rights to lands and natural resources, are examined in Chapters 2 and 3 of this Manual.
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