The three Expert Advisory Panel members are:
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Professor James Anaya, Dean of the University of Colorado Law School and former
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Jessica Evans, a human rights lawyer, Senior Business and Human Rights Researcher
at the non-government organization, Human Rights Watch 10
Professor Deanna Kemp, Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining,
part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland.
RESOLVE was responsible for the appointment of all members of the Panel. It was originally
intended that an expert from Suriname and/or a representative from the Pamaka would be
appointed to the Panel. While RESOLVE sought advice about additional members, a
candidate with the desired experience was not identified. This was a limitation of the
process.
The Panel was engaged to undertake two primary tasks. The first was to advise Newmont on
community engagement practices that support its operationalization of FPIC within a human
rights framework at the Merian mine. The Panel’s second task was to contribute to building
knowledge and understanding of relevant human rights standards in extractive industries by
documenting their observations and recommendations about the Merian case in a public
report, and engaging in a broader dialogue about lessons learned. This included
engagement with RESOLVE’s FPIC Solutions Dialogue, a multi-stakeholder initiative focused
on the practical application of FPIC in extractive industries.11
2.1
The Panel’s approach to FPIC within a human rights framework
The Panel understands the concept of FPIC as residing within a broader human rights
framework. Annex 1 provides an overview of the framework to which the Panel refers.
Without reference to internationally affirmed human rights, FPIC could be inaccurately seen
as equivalent to the general concept of “good engagement”. Indigenous and tribal peoples’
rights over lands and resources, which have widely been affirmed as human rights, are
necessary to their survival. The Panel considers FPIC to be a mechanism that safeguards the
individual and collective rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, including their land and
resource rights and their right to self-determination. This means that neither consultation
nor consent can be viewed as outcomes in and of themselves, nor can consultation and
consent be seen as stand-alone rights. While negotiation of FPIC provides a means for
indigenous and tribal peoples to exercise their human rights, it does not represent the full
scope of those rights.
10
Jessica Evans undertook this work in a voluntary capacity and neither she nor Human Rights Watch
received any money from Newmont or RESOLVE.
11
See: http://solutions-network.org/site-fpic/other-initiatives/
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