UN PFII- Statement UN Peacekeeping and Indigenous Women

5th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
United Nations Headquarters, New York
May 15-26 2006

Agenda Item : 4c
Statement on Indigenous Women

Presented by Mililani Trask
On behalf of Na Koa Ikaikai Kalahui Hawaii, Jumma Peoples Network International, Action pour la Promotion des Droits des Minorities Autochtones en Afrique Centrale, Buffalo River Dene Nation, Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, International Indian Treaty Nations Council, Land is Life, Sami Council, Jumma Peoples’ Network-Japan, Vanishing Rites, Shimin Gaikou Centre, Aliansi Marfarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), Grand Council of Crees, Peace Campaign Group, Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’, American Indian Law Alliance, Ka Lahui Hawaii, Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Indigenous Information Network, African Indigenous Women’s Organisation, IWGIA, South Asia Indigenous Women’s Forum, Indigenous Women’s Peace Network Nepal, Chin Human Rights Organisation, Elmolo Eco-Tourism Rights and Development, Maa Civil Society Forum, Aseto, Native Women’s Association of Canada, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Taungya

Indigenous communities were very actively participating last year and unfortunately must take the floor again this year, as there has been an intensification and continuation of conflict on our lands.

Rape and sexual violence targeting indigenous women and girls has long been employed by military in Bangladesh, Burma, India and Nepal. These are not sexual crimes, but a systematic and brutal policy that targets indigenous women as a weapon of war, torture and subjugation against the whole community. It is both extremely worrying and ironic that Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal, with histories of violating the rights of indigenous people, and gender based violence are among the top five contributors to UN Peacekeeping missions. These four countries made up over 44% of all UN Peacekeeping personnel for April 2006. The lucrative foreign revenue this brings in helps to support and perpetuate the militarization on indigenous lands in Asia.

UN Peacekeepers are an important component in restoring normality after the turmoil and horrors of war. There are currently 17 UN peacekeeping missions worldwide, including recently deployed Sudan.

The allegations of sexual abuse of women and children by UN Peacekeepers have reached alarming levels in the Congo. These have led to the resignation of William Lacy Swing, head of the UN Mission to the Congo, and an independent investigation into the allegations at Bunia by the Office of Internal Oversights Services (OIOS). However, what has not been investigated is the rapes of indigenous women from the DRC Pygmy population. These are not ‘dollar a day’ women to be found hanging around the UN camps, as referred to by the international press.

The UN General Assembly approved a Code of Conduct in operation for all UN peacekeeping missions. Rule four states that they should ‘not indulge in immoral acts of sexual, physical or psychological abuse or exploitation of the local population or United Nations staff, especially women and children.’

I would like to make the following recommendations to improve both the accountability of military personnel and of UN Peacekeepers, as we see this as two sides of the same ugly coin:
• We reiterate the recommendation of the 4th session of the PFII that the DPKO develop a policy on indigenous peoples with the active participation and in consultation with indigenous peoples.
On a practical level we would like to recommend the following:
Prior to deployment on UN Peacekeeping missions:
• The DPKO should screen and monitor the human rights records of contingents (only certain categories are currently screened) to ensure military and civilian personnel in countries with a history of human rights abuse are not deployed on peacekeeping missions
• The database of human rights abusers or ‘blacklist’ being developed by DPKO should be open to contributions from indigenous peoples and human rights groups with experience and evidence of human rights abuses
o Under the current system it is virtually impossible to track abusers thus conveying complete impunity
• DPKO should monitor and ensure contributing states carry out appropriate pre-deployment gender training, this should be carefully scrutinised for countries, such as Bangladesh, India and Nepal where there is already evidence of human rights abuses
• Preparatory visits by DPKO to contributing countries to check kit and equipment should also be used to check the suitability of potential peacekeepers and the gender training they have (or have not) received
o Meetings with human rights organisations, indigenous peoples organizations, indigenous peoples groups and women’s rights groups can also be organised during the DPKO preparatory visit to corroborate or confirm human rights abuses by specific military or civilian personnel
• Improve gender and indigenous training materials of peacekeepers prior to and during peacekeeping missions
o This should involve the development of appropriate materials tailored to the educational and cultural needs of the contributing troops
• To urge member states to prosecute their nationals accused of human rights violations while serving as UN peacekeepers
• The UN should lift diplomatic immunity for its own staff accused of criminal acts in the Congo and elsewhere, opening the way for prosecution
• The UN Security Council should exclude countries whose peacekeepers have a history of human rights violations from future operations. The UN should publicly name and shame those countries whose peacekeepers have carried out abuses in the Congo and elsewhere
• Encourage the recruitment and deployment of women and indigenous people (as both military and civilian) personnel on peacekeeping missions
• Finally, we urge the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to carry out a study on the issue of violence against women perpetrated by peacekeepers with the participation of indigenous women and communities

Thank you for your time Madame Chair

UN PFII statement- Asian Indigenous Peoples- Women

5th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
United Nations Headquarters, New York
May 15-26 2006

Agenda Item : 4c

Statement by Ina Hume
On behalf of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Caucus
On Indigenous Women and Children

The situation faced by many indigenous women and children remains critical in several of the Asian countries represented here at the Permanent Forum. This is due to ongoing conflict, militarization and exploitation of natural resources on their ancestral lands. We support the recommendations of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Caucus on Human Rights and the Indigenous Women’s Caucus on Women on indigenous children, youth and women.

The issue of lack of relevant and specific qualitative and quantitative data relating to their needs and aspirations still needs to be addressed if meaningful progress is to be made towards their participation in achieving the MDGs for their communities. They remain the most disenfranchised of their communities facing double discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and gender, with their voices unheard by the development sector. However, indigenous women are not a uniform homogenous group with the same needs, opportunities or aspirations, but encompass a wide variety of experiences.

The lands of indigenous people in Asia are resource rich and often strategically important. This has led to the militarization of indigenous lands. This militarization has led to an alarming increase in gender based violence in these regions. I would like to highlight, that rape when perpetrated or condoned by an agent of the State constitutes Torture, and is therefore prohibited by provisions on torture and a host of human rights and humanitarian law protections.

Rape and sexual violence targeting indigenous women and girls has long been employed by military in Bangladesh, Burma, India and Nepal. These are not sexual crimes, but a systematic and brutal policy that targets indigenous women as a weapon of war, torture and subjugation against the whole community. It is both extremely worrying and ironic that Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal, with histories of violating the rights of indigenous people, and gender based violence are among the top five contributors to UN Peacekeeping missions. These four countries made up over 44% of all UN Peacekeeping personnel for April 2006. The lucrative foreign revenue this brings in helps to support and perpetuate the militarization on indigenous lands in Asia. I have a number of detailed practical recommendations for the PFII to raise with Peacekeeping which I will submit in my written report.

Rather than make new recommendations we ask for the following regarding their implementation of the previous recommendations to this forum:

• The Permanent Forum should develop mechanisms to review and monitor the implementation of the recommendations contained in the reports of the 2nd and 3rd sessions of the PFII on indigenous women, children and youth. In order to achieve this, agencies need to ensure the active participation of women and children in these review and monitoring mechanisms. Innovative methods to disaggregate the situation of these groups from within their own communities is also essential as their visions may also be different from that of their male counterparts. This is essential of the rights and issues of indigenous women and children are to be mainstreamed into UN agencies and member states.

• PFII shall facilitate the monitoring of implementation of projects and policies on indigenous peoples and request UN agencies, governments and indigenous peoples to submit progress reports on the implementation of recommendations contained in the reports of the 2nd and 3rd sessions of the PFII. Funding and resources need to be made available directly to community groups in order to submit such progress reports. This can be channeled through the Regional Indigenous Peoples Programme (RIPP).

• We call upon the Committee of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to implement the recommendations made by the Permanent Forum at its 3rd session to organize a meeting, in collaboration with indigenous women, UNIFEM, UNESCO and UNDP, with the objective of beginning a process to develop and adopt a general recommendation on indigenous women.

• We urge member states to take special measures for promoting gender equality and empowerment of indigenous women. Special quotas or reservations should be made for indigenous women in education, government job, non-agricultural sector, civil services etc. Member states should report back to next years Forum as to the representation of indigenous women within various sectors. This should also include the reservation of special seats for indigenous women representatives, at local and national government levels. There is a real lack of participation of women in decision making over issues affecting their lives and livelihoods, and this imbalance needs to be redressed.

• As a first step a lead UN agency should be assigned to take on this role. Resources should be committed by the UN agencies, multinational financial institutions and member states.

• In the case of Asia, such a mechanism exists, with the recent establishment of a UNDP Regional Indigenous People Programme, with a lead coordinator who is an indigenous woman. The RIPP should also be established in other regions and appropriate resources allocated to facilitate indigenous peoples policies for development into UN agencies and ensure equity among the regions.

I would like to make the following recommendations to improve both the accountability of military personnel and of UN Peacekeepers, as we see this as two sides of the same ugly coin:
• We reiterate the recommendation of the 4th session of the PFII that the DPKO develop a policy on indigenous peoples with the active participation and in consultation with indigenous peoples.
On a practical level we would like to recommend the following:
Prior to deployment on UN Peacekeeping missions:
• The DPKO should screen and monitor the human rights records of contingents (only certain categories are currently screened) to ensure military and civilian personnel in countries with a history of human rights abuse are not deployed on peacekeeping missions
• The database of human rights abusers or ‘blacklist’ being developed by DPKO should be open to contributions from indigenous peoples and human rights groups with experience and evidence of human rights abuses
• Finally, we urge the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to carry out a study on the issue of violence against women perpetrated by peacekeepers with the participation of indigenous women and communities

Thank you Madame Chair

UN PFII statements- Bangladesh Human Rights

5th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
United Nations Headquarters, New York
May 15-26 2006

Agenda Item: 4

Collective Statement by Ina Hume
On behalf of the Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Organisations
Jumma Peoples Network International, Taungya, Tribal Welfare Association, Bangladesh Jatio, Adivasi Parishad, Vanishing Rites
On Human Rights in Bangladesh


Thank you Madame Chair for allowing me this opportunity to speak. I would like to start by bringing to your attention the situation faced by indigenous delegates from Bangladesh, following statements they made at the 4th Permanent Forum last year. A Parliamentary Standing Committee called for us to be summoned to answer our alleged anti-state statements, with the threat of legal repercussions if we were found guilty. It was only after significant international pressure that the summons was dropped, for which we are grateful. I would like to thank all those who did write to the Government of Bangladesh on our behalf, asking them to respect our freedom of speech and civil and political rights as enshrined both in Bangladesh Constitution and International Law.

This type of harassment and intolerance is an indication of prevailing situation in Bangladesh for indigenous peoples and minorities in general. The institutional racism that exists in Bangladesh at various levels of civil service and the military continues to subjugate and persecute indigenous peoples and deny them basic human rights.

I urge the PFII to do all it can to ensure this type of harassment and intimidation by member states does not set a precedent for other countries.

May I also take this opportunity to congratulate Bangladesh on their election to the Human Rights Council, and hope this will mark a new phase in Bangladesh’s understanding of human rights and its obligations to all its people, no matter what their ethnicity, gender, religion or political affiliations.

There are various other instances of serious offences committed against indigenous peoples by military, paramilitary and police personnel. Most of these go unreported particularly when it concerns sexual harassment. Where indigenous peoples attempt to report cases to the police or other authorities i.e. the Home Ministry they are denied access to justice under various pretexts. The police and Home Ministry refuse to take on any cases against the military in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which remains under quasi-martial law and under the rule of the military.

The disregard of legal process was demonstrated recently, on 5th March 2006, when military officers went to the magistrate’s courts in Khagrachari, in broad daylight and put arms in the hands of innocent Jummas and took photographs, in full view of the magistrate. In spite of protests by local lawyers and journalists, nothing was done in spite of complaints by Khagrachari Bar Association. These are some of the methods employed by corrupt military officials to justify the arrest and detention of innocent Jummas, and perhaps their ongoing presence in the region.

There has also been another serious incident of communal violence in Maischari on 3rd April 2006, where a number of Jumma villages were attacked and two Jumma women were gang raped and a Buddhist monk attacked by Bengali settlers. When the women were taken to be examined by doctors to confirm their injuries, doctors either refused to do so, or were pressured to report the women had not been raped. It should be noted that in order for evidence of rape to be submitted under Bangladeshi Law, a woman must be examined by a Government doctor, who are not impartial and have to think of their careers.

There is however no justification for the army to continue to function as an army of occupation, as it continues to do, even since signing of the peace accord in 1997- which calls for the dismantling of all non permanent military camps. In fact in a joint security assessment of the CHT conducted by the Government of Bangladesh and UNDP, it was found that most parts of the CHT had even less security problems than other parts of the country, which has experienced a rise in Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. It was therefore clear that law and order and security related issues of CHT could be dealt with by a local multi-ethnic police force as provided by the Peace Accord.

I support the recommendations made by the Asian Indigenous Peoples Caucus on Human Rights and Women and Children. With particular regard to the recommendation to the UN DPKO. Bangladesh remains the largest contributor to UN Peacekeeping missions, with approximately one tenth of its military serving on mission at any one time, making up nearly 15% of personnel on all UN Peacekeeping missions (as of April 2006). Bangladesh receives lucrative foreign currency from the services it. For UN DPKO to continue to recruit and source peacekeepers from countries such as Bangladesh with such poor human rights records with few checks and balances in place, is an abdication of their duties. Bangladesh continues to top the list of most corrupt countries and most dangerous place for journalists in Transparency International reports. The UN DPKO needs to respond immediately, in a robust manner to these concerns, or it will reap the whirlwind for their inactivity in the future, which could have far more serious repercussions for the entire UN system, than the current diplomacy issues it faces in tackling this matter now.

I would also like to draw your attention to the social afforestation programmes of the Bangladesh Government funded by the Asian Development Bank. These programmes on indigenous lands in North Bengal, Greater Mymensingh and Chittagong Hill Tracts has led to the displacement of indigenous people and relocation of mainstream population on these lands.

Recommendations:
We the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh would like to recommend the following to the PFII to resolve the ongoing human rights violations faced in the country:
• Bringing forth an international mechanism to monitor treaties and agreements between indigenous peoples and states;
• Investigate third party mediation between the Government of Bangladesh and the PCJSS to ensure the full and effective implementation of the stalled CHT Peace Accord

• Encourage all governments, including the Government of Bangladesh, to withdraw their various restrictions in such human rights treaties as the Human Rights Covenants, and CEDAW, and to ratify the treaty on International Criminal Court.

• To strictly monitor and screen the human rights records of national armies, such as that of the Bangladesh Army, before allowing them to participate in UN Peacekeeping duties, and to develop a policy on indigenous peoples with the full participation of indigenous peoples, who have unenviable yet valuable experience of personnel unsuitable for peacekeeping duties. I will submit further detailed practical recommendations in my written statement, which are too lengthy to present in so little time.

• We also urge member states and donors who continue to provide Bangladesh with billions of dollars of development aid to ensure this money is not used to fund the continuing illegal transmigration policy of Bengali settlers to the region, or the ongoing food rations received by said settlers

• We urge member states, UN agencies to ensure development programmes tackle the institutional racism that pervades the civil service and military institutions

• For UN agencies, financial institutions and member states to ensure their programmes are sensitive to indigenous peoples rights and involve free, prior and informed consent

Until and unless there is real improvement in the human rights record of Bangladesh, the international community needs to remain alert to the plight of the indigenous peoples, as their suffering is intolerable in a country with so much international support, and yet so little international scrutiny.


Thank you for your time Madame Chair.