The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples presented a draft study on “The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in сonflict and post-conflict situations”

At its 19th annual session (13–17 July 2026), the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) presented a draft study and advice concerning the rights of Indigenous Peoples in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Conceptualising conflict and post-conflict for the purposes of the study:

• Conflict encompassing armed and structural violence, including militarization, occupation, forced displacement, and systemic violence linked to colonization, resource extraction, or political repression, among others. This framing acknowledges that for many Indigenous Peoples, colonization and dispossession are ongoing forms of conflict, not discrete past events.
• Post-conflict understood as transitional periods following such violence, including rehabilitation and humanitarian responses, peace processes, transitional justice, and reconstruction phases where Indigenous rights remain at risk.

During the discussion of the draft study on the rights of Indigenous Peoples in conflict and post-conflict situations, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of Russia stated that war and political repression have a disproportionate impact on Indigenous Peoples and called on the UN to devote greater attention to these issues.

In the study, the Expert Mechanism examines the rights of Indigenous Peoples in conflict and post-conflict situations, identifying key conflict dynamics arising from historical injustices, dispossession of lands and resources, denial of self-determination and systemic inequalities. The study highlights the disproportionate impact of conflict on Indigenous Peoples, including violence, displacement, environmental degradation and the erosion of cultural and governance systems, as well as pressure linked to climate change and resource competition.

The study takes into account materials from the report “The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations: The Case of the Aggressive War of Russia against Ukraine”, prepared by the ADC Memorial, the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia (ICIPR), and the Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie (INFOE):

36. <…> In the context of the ongoing armed attack by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Federation have been disproportionately affected, including through military mobilization, often forced, posing a threat to their individual and collective human rights and, in some cases, their survival and continuity as distinct peoples.

58. Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately targeted through criminalization and repression, including the abuse of counter-terrorism and -extremism laws against human rights defenders. Several United Nations special rapporteurs have publicly condemned the targeting of Indigenous human rights defenders. According to them, on 7 June 2024, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation designated the non-existent “Anti-Russia Separatist Movement”, encompassing Indigenous and minority organizations, as “extremist”. On 22 November 2024, the “Post-Russia Free Nations Forum”, along with 172 alleged affiliates – including Indigenous organizations – were labelled “terrorist”. Among them was the Aborigen Forum, an informal network of Indigenous defenders from 14 regions across the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation. On 17 December 2025, Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt were arbitrarily detained and charged with participation in a “terrorist organization” for their involvement in the Aborigen Forum.

59. In this context, the General Assembly, in its resolution 79/159, condemned cases of threats, harassment, reprisals and murder of Indigenous Peoples, and the increase in cases of intimidation, harassment and reprisals against Indigenous human rights defenders and Indigenous leaders, including Indigenous women.

<…> States should implement effective protection measures for Indigenous environmental human rights defenders, including by ensuring access to remedies and dropping unfounded or politically motivated charges. (p.18 of the Expert Mechanism Advice No. 19 (2026))

The draft study will be finalized by the UN Expert Mechanism and presented at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in September 2026.