Joint statement on indigenous peoples’ access to justice in Nepal (HRC 27th, 2014)

Oral Statement: 27^th session of the Human Rights Council

Items 3 & 5: Clustered ID with SR on indigenous peoples & Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)

17 September 2014

Thank you Mr. President,

 

This is a joint statement by IMADR and National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination (NCARD) in Nepal.[i] We highly commend the works of the Special Rapporteur and the Expert Mechanism towards strengthening indigenous peoples’ access to justice over the years. In particular, we would like to recall and endorse the recommendations made in Special Rapporteur’s 2004 report on indigenous peoples and administration of justice and the Expert Mechanisms’ advice in its 2013 study on access to justice.

 

In Nepal, indigenous peoples continue to be overrepresented in incarceration in criminal justice systems. A report by a local NGO indicated that out of more than 3,500 detainees they visited during 2013, the largest number – a quarter of the detainees – was from indigenous groups.[ii] A 2012 report from the same NGO showed that indigenous detainees were disproportionately subjected to torture in detention than those from dominant groups.[iii]

Joint oral statement on the rights of indigenous peoples in disaster risk reduction initiatives in Nepal

Oral Statement: 27^th session of the Human Rights Council

Half-day discussion on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

17 September 2014

Thank you Mr. President,

This is a joint statement by IMADR and National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination (NCARD) in Nepal.[1] Firstly, we would like to endorse the Expert Mechanism Advice No. 7 (2014) on disaster risk reduction initiatives.[2]

Floods and landslides have killed 260 people in the last three months across Nepal.[3] It is safe to assume that indigenous peoples, along with Dalits, have been most impacted in those disasters though official data does not exist.[4] Nepal has been in a long process of formulating necessary legislation to minimize the impacts of natural disasters. Indigenous peoples are one of the most vulnerable groups to those disasters due to their poverty, place of residence (remote rural and mountainous areas) and social background (historical exclusion from State power). However, they have been greatly ignored in this process, which is clearly evident when one reads through National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management, 2009.[5] Although the Strategy does not even include a specific reference to indigenous peoples, it takes into account indigenous skills and technologies.

Comparison matrix of changes in successive drafts of Outcome Document of World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP)

Attached herewith is a chart highlighting the changes made in the successive drafts of the Outcome Document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) from Zero draft to the Rev.3 released on September 5, 2014. The chart was elaborated based on the earlier chart prepared by Docip.

Comparat_diffversions_draft _equivalences_v2.1_PS

For more information on the WCIP, visit Indigenous Peoples’ Global Coordinating Group’s website on the World Conference here or UN’s website on the Conference here