Human Rights Mechanisms

Suzanne Benally is a leader in Indigenous Rights advocacy, and serves as the Executive Director of Cultural Survival. She shares her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing Native American communities and Indigenous Peoples in general in the context of the Trump administration. Interview by Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan), Indigenous Rights Radio producer based in South Africa.

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Vicky Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot Kankanaey, Philippines), a long-time activist and UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, shares her experience with successes of small, local groups reaching out to the international community to collaborate in better defending their rights. She explains how her experience as a nurse led to community engagement, which quickly turned into a passion for advocating for the needs of community members as an activist.

Producer: Avexnim Cojti

This program is dedicated to Joan Carling, an activist from the Kankanaey people of the Philippines. She has served as an Expert Member on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues during 2014 and 2016, and as the Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Pact. In this interview, she explains the benefits of the participation of Indigenous Peoples in local and global decision-making, which would bring a diversity of perspective and solutions to pressing issues.

Producer: Avexnim Cojti

Avexnim Cotji brings us interviews from a preparatory meeting in Guatemala in April of 2016 for members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. At the meeting, they discussed local media as a crucial element of cultural preservation and the protection of Indigenous community rights.

Producer: Avexnim Cojti

This spot talks about the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ or EMRIP. This is a body made up of five experts on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights who study and report on important themes to Indigenous People worldwide.

This spot outlines the visits the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can make to specific Indigenous communities to investigate their situation and what happens afterwards. The Special Rapporteur will write a report on the situation that will be published and call on governments to improve the situation.

This spot talks about the visits the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can make to specific Indigenous communities to investigate their situation on the ground. On these trips she also meets with government officials and NGOs to investigate more deeply and examine alleged violations.

This spot outlines the ways in which Indigenous Peoples can use the three main UN mechanisms that are dedicated to Indigenous Peoples rights, the Special Rapporteur, the Expert Mechanism of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, to help their causes locally. Indigenous Peoples can use official recommendations and reports from these mechanisms for support at meetings with governments officials and also to spread the word about what is happening through the media.

This spot talks about the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or EMRIP, which is a UN body dedicated to studying and reporting on issues affecting Indigenous Peoples around the world. The studies that the EMRIP produces go in depth on issues affecting Indigenous Peoples across the world, such as a recent study it carried out on access to justice.

This spot talks about Victoria Tauli Corpuz, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous whose role is to investigate the situation of Indigenous Peoples around the world and promote their rights. It highlights the importance of Indigenous People getting in touch with her to bring specific issues to her awareness.