Annex 1
The international human rights framework
Natural resource development and extraction can affect a vast array of indigenous and tribal
peoples’ human rights. The substantive rights that are most often implicated when mining
and extractive industries operate within or near indigenous or tribal territories include their
land and resource rights, rights to culture, and rights to health.55
State duties
The above-listed rights are grounded in binding international and regional human rights
treaties, and explicitly articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. While these rights are enunciated in the Declaration, they stem from
existing international law. Indigenous land and resource rights are rooted in the right to
property, which is affirmed in the American Convention on Human Rights, to which
Suriname is a party. Additionally, they are integral elements of the right to culture, the right
to self-determination and the right to an adequate standard of living, protected by the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, treaties that also have been ratified by Suriname. Also
relevant in affirming the now global standard of indigenous land and resource rights is
International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. 56
The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that they have the rights to
“own, use, develop, and control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by
reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use,” and to determine
their own development priorities and strategies.57 In order to realize indigenous land and
55
UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, “Compilation of the
conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples,
James Anaya, on extractive industries affecting indigenous peoples and other issues related to
business and human rights,” A/HRC/FBHR/2012/CRP.1, 29 November 2012.
56
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted December 16, 1966, G.A.
Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3,
entered into force January 3, 1976, arts 1, 11, and 15. See also CESCR General Comment 21;
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted Dec. 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21.
U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force
March 23, 1976, arts. 1(1), 27; UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 23: Article 27
(The rights of minorities), April 8, 1992, para. 7; UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, General Recommendation XXIII (Indigenous Peoples), August 18, 1997; International
Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.
57
UNDRIP, art. 26, 32(1).