Articles
Status of Indigenous and Minority Groups' Rights in South Asia: A Need for a Regional Mechanism to Protect the Most Vulnerable
Anuj Chand
Published 2021-03-30
Keywords
- Indigenous people, minority groups, discrimination, TWAIL, regional complaint mechanism, UNDRIP, South Asia
How to Cite
Chand, A. . (2021). Status of Indigenous and Minority Groups’ Rights in South Asia: A Need for a Regional Mechanism to Protect the Most Vulnerable. Kathmandu School of Law Review, 9(1), 42–52. Retrieved from https://kslreview.org/index.php/kslr/article/view/2205
Abstract
The establishment of a regional legal mechanism for the protection of the rights of indigenous people and minority groups is a legal issue pertinent in South Asia today, especially in the context of the Rohingya persecution in the neighboring Myanmar, and the rise of the extreme right-wing regime in the largest democracy, India. Although the countries in the region have made various national level efforts to ensure the protection of the rights of these groups, the reality is that they still suffer de facto (and sometimes, de jure) discrimination. Measures, therefore, must be adopted to counter the existing discrimination. Since collective regional efforts are viewed as being ‘better suited’ for the protection of minority rights, this ‘regional’ issue can be addressed by formulation of a ‘regional’ human rights document from which a ‘regional’ complaint mechanism can emanate. For the formation of a regional human rights complaint mechanism, three key issues must be addressed. Firstly, realistic bases for the establishment of a regional mechanism must be identified. Secondly, a model for a new South Asian complaint mechanism must take into account and possibly incorporate the ‘Third World Approach to International Law (TWAIL)’. Thirdly, it is imperative to ascertain the kind of approach that will be taken with regard to the rights in question.
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References
1 Countries in South Asia which include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka established the SAARC following the singing of the SAARC Charter on 8 December 1985. Later, in 2007, Afghanistan joined as the eighth member.
2 The South Asian Collective, South Asia State of Minorities Report 2016: Mapping the Terrain, Books for Change, New Delhi, 2016, p.12.
3 SAARC Social Charter, arts. II(2)(xii), VI(5).
4 SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment, art. III(1)(d).
5 SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.
6 SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.
7 The Constitutions of the SAARC countries (with year in the parenthesis): Afghanistan (2004); Bangladesh (1972); Bhutan (2008); India (1950); Maldives (2008); Nepal (2015); Pakistan (1973); Sri Lanka (1978).
8 Albert H. Y. Chen, ‘The Achievement of Constitutionalism in Asia: Moving Beyond ‘Constitutions without Constitutionalism’’, in Albert H. Y. Chen (ed), Constitutionalism in Asia in the Early Twenty-First Century, CUP, Cambridge, 2014, p.14.
9 Rahul Mukherji, ‘India and Economic Globalization’, in Bhumitra Chakma (ed), South Asia in Transition: Democracy, Political Economy and Security, Palgrave Macmillan, Chennai, 2014, p. 91.
10 John Clammer, Cultural Rights and Justice: Sustainable Development, the Arts and the Body, Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2019, p. 19.
11 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 4.
12 Stefanio Errico, The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Human Rights-based Overview of National Legal and Policy Frameworks Against the Backdrop of Country Strategies for Development and Poverty Reduction, International Labour Organization, 2017, p. 1.
13 Alexandra Xanthaki, Indigenous Rights and United Nations Standards: Self-Determination, Culture and Land, CUP, Cambridge, 2007, p. 1.
14 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, C169, adopted on 27 June 1989.
15 Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, C107, adopted on 26 July 1957.
16 S. James Anaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Law, OUP, New York, 1996, p. 47.
17 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 18 December 1992, UNGA A/Res/47/135.
18 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 13 September 2007, UNDRIP A/RES/61/295.
19 Shaheen Sardar Ali & Javaid Rehman, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives, Curzon Press, Surrey, 2001, p. 7.
20 S. James Anaya, International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples, Wolters Kluwer, New York, 2009, p. 28.
21 ‘Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion
and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations
their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems. Jose Martinez Cobo, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations, 1986, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7, Add. 4, para. 379.
22 C169 (n 14), art. 1(b).
23 ‘A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members – being nationals of the state - possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, maintain a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language’. Francesco Capotorti, Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, United Nations, New York, 1991, p. 98.
24 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 999 UNTS 171, adopted on 16 December 1966.
25 Borhan Uddin Khan & Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman, Protection of Minorities: A South Asian Discourse, EURASIA-Net, Dhaka, 2009, pp. 3-7.
26 Errico (n 12), p. 2.
27 C169 (n 14), art. 1(b).
28 The South Asian Collective, South Asia State of Minorities Report 2018: Exploring the Roots, Books for Change, New Delhi, 2018, p. vii.
29 Diane Church, Key Issues for Religious Minorities Rights in Asia, Minority Rights Group International, p. 2.
30 Ahmad Saeed Khan et al., Update of Material for Specialized Media, EURASIA-Net, Dhaka, 2009, p. 5.
31 Minority Rights Group International, Peoples Under Threat 2018, 2018, pp. 10-15.
32 Minority Rights Group International, Peoples Under Threat 2017, 2017, pp. 11-12.
33 The South Asian Collective (n 2), pp. 6-7.
34 Grant Farr, ‘The Hazara of Central Afghanistan’, in Barbara Brower & Barbara Rose Johnston, Disappearing Peoples? Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia, Left Coast Press, California, 2007, p. 153.
35 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Afghanistan, 6 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/3, para. 39.
36 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation
on Afghanistan, 15 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/2, para. 27.
37 Human Rights Council, Summary prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21 Bhutan, 7 February 2014, A/HRC/WG.6/19/BTN/3, para. 21.
38 Human Rights Council, Compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21 Compilation Bhutan, 24 February 2014, A/HRC/WG.6/19/BTN/2, para. 46.
39 Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, National Seminar on Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh: Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals, Dhaka, 2015, p. 4.
40 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Bangladesh, 19 March 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/2, paras. 62-65.
41 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Bangladesh, 13 March 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/3, para 67.
42 Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1972, art. 65 (3).
43 Cultural Survival, Observation on the State of Indigenous Human Rights in India, Prepared for The United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review 2016 27th Session Third Cycle, pp. 3-4.
44 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on India, 27 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/3, para. 81.
45 Virginius Xaxa, ‘Identity, Power, and Development: The Khonds in Orissa, India’, in Suzana Sawyer & Edmund Terence Gomez (eds), The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations, and the State, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, p. 180.
46 Human Rights Council (n 44), para. 82.
47 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on India, 22 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/2, para. 67.
48 Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) et al, Alternative Report of the Indigenous Peoples of Nepal to the State Report Submitted by the Government of Nepal to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Kathmandu, 2018, p. 5.
49 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Maldives, 2 March 2015, A/HRC/WG.6/22/MDV/2, para. 43.
50 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Sri Lanka, 28 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/LKA/2, para. 72.
51 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Sri Lanka, 8 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/LKA/3, paras. 81-85.
52 The State of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Sri Lanka: A Joint Civil Society Shadow Report to the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, 2017, p. 7.
53 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation
on Pakistan, 4 September 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/2, para. 94.
54 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Pakistan, 23 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/3, paras. 100-103.
55 IFAD, Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues: Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 2012, p.11.
56 Cultural Survival, Observations on the State of Indigenous Human Rights in Pakistan Prepared for The 28th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, Cambridge, 2017, pp. 5-7.
57 Constitution of Nepal, 2015, Preamble.
58 Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Promoting Inclusion through Social Protection, United Nations, New York, 2018, p. 100.
59 Human Rights Council, National Report of Nepal, 6 August 2015, A/HRC/WG.6/23/NPL/1, para. 39.
60 Contribution Based Social Security Act, Nepal, 2017, (Yogdan ma aadhaarit Samajik Surakshya Ain 2074).
61 Amrita Mukharjee, ‘Customary Law and Land Rights: The Cautionary Tale of India, Jharkhand, and the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act’, in Jennifer Hendry et al. (eds), Indigenous Justice: New Tools, Approaches, and Spaces, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018, p. 97.
62 Constitution of India, 1950, sch. 5, 6.
63 Human Rights Council, National Report of India, 23 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/1, para. 146.
64 Ibid, para. 147.
65 Human Rights Council, National Report of Pakistan, 4 September 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/1, para. 75.
66 Ibid, para. 27.
67 Ibid, para. 75.
68 Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh no. 42, art. 2A.
69 Human Rights Council, National Report of Bangladesh, 26 February 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/1, para. 123.
70 Directorate of Primary Education Ministry of Primary & Mass Education Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Indigenous Peoples Framework: Primary Education Sector Development Program, Dhaka, 2010, p. 6.
71 Constitution of Afghanistan, 2004, art. 2.
72 Human Rights Council, National Report of Afghanistan, 13 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/1, para. 50.
73 ‘Chart of the Status of National Institutions’, Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions available at https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/NHRI/Chart_Status_NIs.pdf, accessed on 6 April 2019.
74 ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, United Nations – Indigenous Peoples Department
of Economic and Social Affairs available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/
declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html, accessed on 6 April 2019.
75 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 8.
76 David Keane, ‘Draft South Asian Regional Charter on Minority and Group Rights: A Comparative Regional
Analysis’, vol 8, European Yearbook of Minority Issues, 2011, p. 269.
77 ‘A seminar involving the NHRIs of South Asia has emphasized that human rights violations increasingly affect the lives of people across borders’, 3 August 2015, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions available at https://www.asiapacificforum.net/news/south-asian-nhris-discuss-regional-human-rights-protection-system/, accessed on 6 April 2019.
78 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 9.
79 Maja Janmyr, ‘Indigeneity vs Development: Nubian rights mobilization in Egypt’, in Giselle Corradi et al (eds), Critical Indigenous Rights Studies, Routledge, New York, 2019, p. 28.
80 United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986, UNGA Res 41/128, preamble.
81 Salvador Herencia Carrasco, ‘The rights of indigenous peoples in the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: a ‘Third World Approaches to International Law’ assessment to advance their protection in the Inter-American Human Rights System’, in Giselle Corradi et al (eds), Critical Indigenous Rights Studies, Routledge, New York, 2019, p. 161.
82 Mukharjee (n 61), p. 104.
83 Ibid, p. 99.
84 Ramesh Thakur & Oddny Wiggen, ‘Introduction: South Asia’s manifold challenge to the international community’, in Ramesh Thakur & Oddny Wiggen (eds), South Asia in the World: Problem Solving Perspectives in Security, Sustainable Development, and Good Governance, United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 2004, p. 9.
85 Carrasco (n 81), p. 161.
86 Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, 3rd edition, Cornell University Press, London, 2013, p. 31.
2 The South Asian Collective, South Asia State of Minorities Report 2016: Mapping the Terrain, Books for Change, New Delhi, 2016, p.12.
3 SAARC Social Charter, arts. II(2)(xii), VI(5).
4 SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment, art. III(1)(d).
5 SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.
6 SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.
7 The Constitutions of the SAARC countries (with year in the parenthesis): Afghanistan (2004); Bangladesh (1972); Bhutan (2008); India (1950); Maldives (2008); Nepal (2015); Pakistan (1973); Sri Lanka (1978).
8 Albert H. Y. Chen, ‘The Achievement of Constitutionalism in Asia: Moving Beyond ‘Constitutions without Constitutionalism’’, in Albert H. Y. Chen (ed), Constitutionalism in Asia in the Early Twenty-First Century, CUP, Cambridge, 2014, p.14.
9 Rahul Mukherji, ‘India and Economic Globalization’, in Bhumitra Chakma (ed), South Asia in Transition: Democracy, Political Economy and Security, Palgrave Macmillan, Chennai, 2014, p. 91.
10 John Clammer, Cultural Rights and Justice: Sustainable Development, the Arts and the Body, Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore, 2019, p. 19.
11 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 4.
12 Stefanio Errico, The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Asia: Human Rights-based Overview of National Legal and Policy Frameworks Against the Backdrop of Country Strategies for Development and Poverty Reduction, International Labour Organization, 2017, p. 1.
13 Alexandra Xanthaki, Indigenous Rights and United Nations Standards: Self-Determination, Culture and Land, CUP, Cambridge, 2007, p. 1.
14 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, C169, adopted on 27 June 1989.
15 Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, C107, adopted on 26 July 1957.
16 S. James Anaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Law, OUP, New York, 1996, p. 47.
17 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 18 December 1992, UNGA A/Res/47/135.
18 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 13 September 2007, UNDRIP A/RES/61/295.
19 Shaheen Sardar Ali & Javaid Rehman, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives, Curzon Press, Surrey, 2001, p. 7.
20 S. James Anaya, International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples, Wolters Kluwer, New York, 2009, p. 28.
21 ‘Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion
and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations
their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems. Jose Martinez Cobo, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations, 1986, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1986/7, Add. 4, para. 379.
22 C169 (n 14), art. 1(b).
23 ‘A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members – being nationals of the state - possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, maintain a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language’. Francesco Capotorti, Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, United Nations, New York, 1991, p. 98.
24 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 999 UNTS 171, adopted on 16 December 1966.
25 Borhan Uddin Khan & Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman, Protection of Minorities: A South Asian Discourse, EURASIA-Net, Dhaka, 2009, pp. 3-7.
26 Errico (n 12), p. 2.
27 C169 (n 14), art. 1(b).
28 The South Asian Collective, South Asia State of Minorities Report 2018: Exploring the Roots, Books for Change, New Delhi, 2018, p. vii.
29 Diane Church, Key Issues for Religious Minorities Rights in Asia, Minority Rights Group International, p. 2.
30 Ahmad Saeed Khan et al., Update of Material for Specialized Media, EURASIA-Net, Dhaka, 2009, p. 5.
31 Minority Rights Group International, Peoples Under Threat 2018, 2018, pp. 10-15.
32 Minority Rights Group International, Peoples Under Threat 2017, 2017, pp. 11-12.
33 The South Asian Collective (n 2), pp. 6-7.
34 Grant Farr, ‘The Hazara of Central Afghanistan’, in Barbara Brower & Barbara Rose Johnston, Disappearing Peoples? Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia, Left Coast Press, California, 2007, p. 153.
35 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Afghanistan, 6 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/3, para. 39.
36 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation
on Afghanistan, 15 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/2, para. 27.
37 Human Rights Council, Summary prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21 Bhutan, 7 February 2014, A/HRC/WG.6/19/BTN/3, para. 21.
38 Human Rights Council, Compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21 Compilation Bhutan, 24 February 2014, A/HRC/WG.6/19/BTN/2, para. 46.
39 Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, National Seminar on Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh: Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals, Dhaka, 2015, p. 4.
40 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Bangladesh, 19 March 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/2, paras. 62-65.
41 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Bangladesh, 13 March 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/3, para 67.
42 Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1972, art. 65 (3).
43 Cultural Survival, Observation on the State of Indigenous Human Rights in India, Prepared for The United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review 2016 27th Session Third Cycle, pp. 3-4.
44 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on India, 27 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/3, para. 81.
45 Virginius Xaxa, ‘Identity, Power, and Development: The Khonds in Orissa, India’, in Suzana Sawyer & Edmund Terence Gomez (eds), The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations, and the State, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, p. 180.
46 Human Rights Council (n 44), para. 82.
47 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on India, 22 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/2, para. 67.
48 Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) et al, Alternative Report of the Indigenous Peoples of Nepal to the State Report Submitted by the Government of Nepal to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Kathmandu, 2018, p. 5.
49 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Maldives, 2 March 2015, A/HRC/WG.6/22/MDV/2, para. 43.
50 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation on Sri Lanka, 28 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/LKA/2, para. 72.
51 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Sri Lanka, 8 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/LKA/3, paras. 81-85.
52 The State of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Sri Lanka: A Joint Civil Society Shadow Report to the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, 2017, p. 7.
53 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Compilation
on Pakistan, 4 September 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/2, para. 94.
54 Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Pakistan, 23 August 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/3, paras. 100-103.
55 IFAD, Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues: Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 2012, p.11.
56 Cultural Survival, Observations on the State of Indigenous Human Rights in Pakistan Prepared for The 28th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, Cambridge, 2017, pp. 5-7.
57 Constitution of Nepal, 2015, Preamble.
58 Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Promoting Inclusion through Social Protection, United Nations, New York, 2018, p. 100.
59 Human Rights Council, National Report of Nepal, 6 August 2015, A/HRC/WG.6/23/NPL/1, para. 39.
60 Contribution Based Social Security Act, Nepal, 2017, (Yogdan ma aadhaarit Samajik Surakshya Ain 2074).
61 Amrita Mukharjee, ‘Customary Law and Land Rights: The Cautionary Tale of India, Jharkhand, and the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act’, in Jennifer Hendry et al. (eds), Indigenous Justice: New Tools, Approaches, and Spaces, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018, p. 97.
62 Constitution of India, 1950, sch. 5, 6.
63 Human Rights Council, National Report of India, 23 February 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/1, para. 146.
64 Ibid, para. 147.
65 Human Rights Council, National Report of Pakistan, 4 September 2017, A/HRC/WG.6/28/PAK/1, para. 75.
66 Ibid, para. 27.
67 Ibid, para. 75.
68 Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh no. 42, art. 2A.
69 Human Rights Council, National Report of Bangladesh, 26 February 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/30/BGD/1, para. 123.
70 Directorate of Primary Education Ministry of Primary & Mass Education Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Indigenous Peoples Framework: Primary Education Sector Development Program, Dhaka, 2010, p. 6.
71 Constitution of Afghanistan, 2004, art. 2.
72 Human Rights Council, National Report of Afghanistan, 13 November 2018, A/HRC/WG.6/32/AFG/1, para. 50.
73 ‘Chart of the Status of National Institutions’, Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions available at https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/NHRI/Chart_Status_NIs.pdf, accessed on 6 April 2019.
74 ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, United Nations – Indigenous Peoples Department
of Economic and Social Affairs available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/
declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html, accessed on 6 April 2019.
75 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 8.
76 David Keane, ‘Draft South Asian Regional Charter on Minority and Group Rights: A Comparative Regional
Analysis’, vol 8, European Yearbook of Minority Issues, 2011, p. 269.
77 ‘A seminar involving the NHRIs of South Asia has emphasized that human rights violations increasingly affect the lives of people across borders’, 3 August 2015, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions available at https://www.asiapacificforum.net/news/south-asian-nhris-discuss-regional-human-rights-protection-system/, accessed on 6 April 2019.
78 The South Asian Collective (n 2), p. 9.
79 Maja Janmyr, ‘Indigeneity vs Development: Nubian rights mobilization in Egypt’, in Giselle Corradi et al (eds), Critical Indigenous Rights Studies, Routledge, New York, 2019, p. 28.
80 United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986, UNGA Res 41/128, preamble.
81 Salvador Herencia Carrasco, ‘The rights of indigenous peoples in the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: a ‘Third World Approaches to International Law’ assessment to advance their protection in the Inter-American Human Rights System’, in Giselle Corradi et al (eds), Critical Indigenous Rights Studies, Routledge, New York, 2019, p. 161.
82 Mukharjee (n 61), p. 104.
83 Ibid, p. 99.
84 Ramesh Thakur & Oddny Wiggen, ‘Introduction: South Asia’s manifold challenge to the international community’, in Ramesh Thakur & Oddny Wiggen (eds), South Asia in the World: Problem Solving Perspectives in Security, Sustainable Development, and Good Governance, United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 2004, p. 9.
85 Carrasco (n 81), p. 161.
86 Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, 3rd edition, Cornell University Press, London, 2013, p. 31.