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Land Grabbing, Investments & Indigenous Peoples' Rights LAND GRABBING, INVESTMENTS & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES Jérémie Gilbert LAND GRABBING, INVESTMENTS & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES: CASE STUDIES AND LEGAL ANALYSIS Jérémie Gilbert IWGIA – 2017 LAND GRABBING, INVESTMENTS & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES: CASE STUDIES AND LEGAL ANALYSIS Copyright: IWGIA Author: Jérémie Gilbert Editor: Marianne Wiben Jensen & Genevieve Rose Proofreading: Elaine Bolton Cover design and layout: Jorge Monrás Cover photo: Nelly Tokmagasheva Hurridocs Cip data Title: LAND GRABBING, INVESTMENTS & INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES: CASE STUDIES AND LEGAL ANALYSIS Edited by: IWGIA Number of pages: 70 ISBN: 978-87-92786-80-7 Language: English Index: 1. Indigenous peoples – 2. Human rights – 3. Land grabbing Geographical area: Africa, Asia, Latin America, Russia Date of publication: September 2017 The reproduction and distribution of information contained in this report is welcome for non-commercial purposes and as long as the source is cited. The translation of the report or the reproduction of the whole report is, however, not allowed without the consent of IWGIA. INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Classensgade 11 E, DK 2100 – Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: (45) 35 27 05 00 – E-mail: [email protected] – Web: www.iwgia.org This report has been published with the financial support by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark CONTENTS Synopsis .................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Section 1: What is ‘Land Grabbing’? ..........................................................................................................11 1.1. Definition, Specific Features and Scale .........................................................................................................11 1.2. Investors and Industries Leading the ‘Land Grab’ ......................................................................................... 12 1.3. Indigenous Peoples and Land Grabbing: Main Issues .................................................................................. 14 Section 2: Country Overview ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.1. Land Grabbing and Indigenous Peoples in Africa ......................................................................................... 15 Tanzania .................................................................................................................................................. 15 Kenya ....................................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2. The ‘Great Asian Land Grab’ and Indigenous Peoples ................................................................................. 22 India ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 Myanmar .................................................................................................................................................. 26 2.3. Latin America, Land Grabbing and Indigenous Peoples ............................................................................... 28 Colombia .................................................................................................................................................. 28 Chile ......................................................................................................................................................... 31 2.4. Land Grabbing in the Arctic and Siberia ....................................................................................................... 34 Russia ...................................................................................................................................................... 34 Section 3: International & Regional Legal Framework(s) .................................................................. 37 3.1. International Human Rights Law ................................................................................................................... 37 General Human Rights Law .......................................................................................................................... 37 The Right to Food .................................................................................................................................... 37 The Right to Water ................................................................................................................................... 38 The Right to Adequate Housing ............................................................................................................... 39 Protection from Forced Eviction ............................................................................................................... 39 Indigenous Peoples’ Specific Rights ............................................................................................................. 40 Land Rights .............................................................................................................................................. 40 The Right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent ....................................................................................... 41 3.2 Business, Investments, and Human Rights .................................................................................................. 41 Business and Human Rights .................................................................................................................... 41 Business and Financial Initiatives ............................................................................................................ 42 International Investment Law ................................................................................................................... 43 6 3.3 International Environmental Law ................................................................................................................... 44 3.4. Guidance on Land Rights.............................................................................................................................. 44 Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests .............................................................................................................................. 44 Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment that Respects Rights, Livelihoods and Resources ...................................................................................................................... 45 EU Land Policy Guidelines ...................................................................................................................... 45 African Union Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (2009) .............................................. 45 Conclusions & Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 46 List of Literature Consulted ........................................................................................................................... 49 About the Author ................................................................................................................................................ 52 7 SYNOPSIS t the international level, indigenous peoples’ rights National Parks, conservation areas or game reserves, A to land and natural resources have been articulated agro-investment projects, biofuel production, logging or under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of extractive activities. Climate change mitigation and ad- Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and International Labour aptation as well as green growth plans can also badly Organization (ILO) Convention 169. Indigenous peoples’ impact on indigenous peoples’ rights to land and natural rights to land are also protected by other international resources. human rights instruments such as the International Cov- The Land Matrix Initiative (LMI), which is a global enant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Interna- partnership aimed at improving transparency around tional Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights large-scale land acquisitions by making these deals (ICESCR), the International Convention on the Elimina- public, indicates that such acquisitions continue to be an tion of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and important issue across the globe.1 Over the past decade, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). At the re- almost 50 million hectares of land have been leased or gional level, the African Human Rights System and the bought from individuals, communities and governments Inter-American Human Rights System have also played for the large-scale production of biofuels, food, forest a key role in the promotion and protection of indigenous resources, industrial goods, infrastructure, tourism and peoples’ rights to lands and natural resources. The Awas livestock. The available data shows that, while the phe- Tingni case in Nicaragua (Inter-American
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