Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

376 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
services to them and public law interest groups are very few.
As many of them are in dire poverty situations, they cannot
pay private lawyers to take up their cases. In addition, bribery
and corruption is commonly observed in the judiciary in
many countries.
33. There is an increasing number of indigenous peoples’ organizations
filing complaints, making submissions and shadow
reports and using early warning/urgent procedures on issues
related to mining and oil extraction before Treaty Bodies
like the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD). These efforts are being done jointly
with support NGOs. The General Comments of the Treaty
Bodies are useful for indigenous peoples to pursue their cases
further at the national level. Since the Treaty Bodies ask the
relevant States to respond to their comments and recommendations
the issue becomes more visible and there are better
chances to develop dialogues between States and indigenous
peoples.
D. The Role of States
34. States are responsible for ensuring that the UN Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other International
Human Rights Instruments and Multilateral Environmental
Agreements are effectively complied with, and for promoting
and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples with regard
to extractive industry corporations. States also have the responsibility
to increase their regulatory powers to ensure that
extractive industries corporations become more socially and
environmentally accountable and responsible.
35. States must ensure that, in accordance with the provisions
of the UNDRIP, extractive industries do not operate on indigenous
lands or territories without obtaining the free, prior
and informed consent (FPIC) of the relevant communities
and Indigenous Peoples. This includes the right to say no to
extraction or exploration. FPIC is a right and not an obligation
and it is therefore for Indigenous Peoples to determine
whether they will engage in discussions or not. FPIC is not a
single decision but rather a process that occurs in stages and