How can indigenous peoples survive the dismantling of public policies and rights acquired by decades of work in Brazil? This process, resulting from setbacks to democracy, as described by the authors, shows that this is an emergency situation. There is a need to seek alternatives and for pressure from indigenous and civic organizations to help indigenous peoples exercise their rights. This report ...

This synthesis report of marginalized and vulnerable indigenous peoples in Thailand represents the cases of ten indigenous groups who are targets of the Community Knowledge-Based Database System (CKBDS) project for empowering the most marginalized and vulnerable indigenous groups in Thailand, namely Mlabri, Kow (Umpi), Bisu, Chong, Yakoor, Saek, Moken, Moklen, Urak-Lawoy and Mani. These groups are...

In the global quest for land and natural resources, indigenous peoples are particularly negatively impacted. While most local communities, peasants, farmers and other local land users are affected by this global land rush, embedded discrimination, a lack of recognition of land tenure and vulnerability mean that this recent land rush is affecting indigenous peoples particularly badly. The following...

This report looks at the situation of the Tshwa San living in western Zimbabwe. Information on this small indigenous minority group has so far been limited. Due to unique social and cultural barriers, the Tshwa face a number of constraints and challenges that need to be dealt with. Based on an extensive survey, the objective of this report has been to provide data and recommendations for interven...

The report explores the evictions of pastoralists and other conflicts over pastoralists’ land in Tanzania, with focus on the past decade. Although most of these evictions and land based conflicts have been documented, the associated human and legal rights violations have increasingly lead to concern amongst civil society. A study was therefore commissioned to collate the available information a...

The fact that energy projects are green does not necessarily mean they accept and protect internationally-recognised human rights norms. This report documents the adverse impact of Kenya’s goal to develop its renewable energy sector on indigenous peoples. It looks particularly at the geothermal and wind energy sectors in Kenya and describes the human rights impacts of a number of green energy p...

This report examines the human rights situation of the 41 indigenous peoples living in the Northern and Asian territories of the Russian Federation. While their historical homelands account for two-thirds of the territory of contemporary Russia, these people number a little over 250,000 individuals in total. This is the equivalent of a medium-sized city stretched out over the better part of the wo...

In June 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). These principles form the first globally-agreed framework for preventing and addressing adverse human rights impacts linked to business activities. While the UNGP do not introduce new human rights obligations, they do specify how human rights standards and state obligations...

The present report aims to follow up the report titled "Militarization in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: The Slow Demise of the Region’s Indigenous Peoples" (2012, IWGIA, Organising Committee CHT Campaign and Shimin Gaikou Centre). The 2012 report considered the reasons for continuing violence and human rights violations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) after signing of the CHT Accor...

The purpose of this Report, which has as background the recent events concerning the acts of police violence and criminalization of the territorial claims of the Rapa Nui peoples which occurred in the years 2010 and 2011, is to assess the human rights situation of the Rapa Nui people. This document corresponds to the Report prepared by a group of observers from different latitudes and disciplines,...

IWGIA rapport 13: Droits et moyens de subsistance des peubles autchtones dans le Sud-Est du Cameroun Les peuples autochtones de chasseurs-cueilleurs des forêts tropicales humides d’Afrique Centrale possèdent un patrimoine coutumier solide et précieux, développé au fil des millénaires dans des cultures qui sont particulièrement adaptées à vivre en forêt et à l’exploiter de façon har...

The indigenous hunter/gatherer peoples of the Central African rainforests have a strong and valuable customary heritage, developed over millennia in cultures that are uniquely adjusted to living in and utilizing the forest in a harmonious and sustainable way. Today, the cultures and very survival of the indigenous peoples of Central Africa are under severe threat, as a result of being pushed off t...

The military has played a decisive role in Bangladesh. Its influence over political, economic and social affairs is particularly pronounced in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a region of natural abundance and home to 11 indigenous groups numbering approximately 700,000 people; this is a region, however, which has experienced decades of relentless human rights violations. Despite occupying only ...

Les Peuls sont principalement des pasteurs nomades et semi-nomades fermement attachés à leur système de valeurs traditionnel et qui migrent à travers l’Afrique de l’ouest avec leurs troupeaux depuis plus de 6,000 ans. Au Niger, ils sont victimes de plusieurs préjugés et stéréotypes négatifs. Ils sont souvent associés au banditisme et leur mode de vie traditionnel est perçu comme arc...

En la Amazonía brasilera se encuentran la mayor cantidad de pueblos en situación de aislamiento y un número importante de comunidades de contacto reciente o esporádico con la sociedad nacional. Este documento actualiza la información disponible sobre estos pueblos y propone una serie de medidas urgentes para su protección. A lo largo del texto se presentan las metodologías de trabajo, los ...

This IWGIA Report documents the injustices experienced by the indigenous Ayoreo people in Paraguay, who have lost much of their ancestral lands to ranching, illegal sale of land and extractive industries - a development that threatens the physical and cultural survival of the groups of Ayoreos still living in voluntary isolation. This publication is aimed at demarcating the territory of the Ayoreo...

This report argues and demonstrates that the Peruvian government acted in bad faith by modifying the original proposal to create the Ichigkat Muja National Park agreed upon with the Awajún and Wampís indigenous communities of the District of El Cenepa, Department of Amazonas, Peru. The proposal to create a protected natural area in the Cordillera del Cóndor, the traditional land of these people...

Este informe, que denominei de “Os direitos do povos indígenas em Mato do Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Confinamento e tutela no século XXI”, trata das observações de minha visita, bem como da pesquisa e análise realizada posteriormente a partir da perspectiva dos direitos humanos. Nele aborda-se o tratamento que o Estado brasileiro tem outorgado aos povos indígenas, analisando especialmente o ...

The violations of the fundamental rights of the black, indigenous and peasant farmer population of the Colombian Pacific, regarded by all the armed forces, both regular and irregular, as the “collateral damage” of any armed conflict, may have objectives of their own, independent of the Colombian internal armed conflict. The territorial uprooting of these peoples may be an objective in itself, ...