1 ISBN 978-0-692-88605-2 Confict, peace and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz 1 It is a pleasure for me to be present here today and speak on this important topic. Through many decades of my life as an indigenous activist and an indigenous rights advocate and in my two years as the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, I regrettably have born witness to the tragic consequences armed confict has on indigenous peoples across the world. As part of my mandate as Special Rapporteur, I monitor and report publicly on the situation of indigenous peoples through country visits and by sending communications to Governments on specifc cases of alleged violations. Through this work, my predecessors and I have engaged numerous situations of armed confict where we have called for a halt to violations and the adoption of protection measures, argued for the need to hold perpetrators accountable and to ensure that victims are provided with reparations. The specifc triggers and context of each armed confict are diferent; however the grave consequences share common characteristics of serious violations such as forced displacement, extrajudicial executions, sexual violence and forced recruitment of children. The violations against indigenous peoples in the context of armed confict cause trauma and irreparable harm, destroy their culture and rip apart the social fabric of the afected indigenous communities. Confict generally afects indigenous peoples who are already marginalised and entrenches them in poverty, perpetuating high illiteracy rates and poor health indicators. Conficts afecting indigenous peoples can often be traced back to long-standing historical injustices and discrimination originating in the context of colonization and dispossession of indigenous peoples’ lands, territories and resources. Many indigenous peoples reside in ancestral territories that are rich in natural resources. Land disputes are 1. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; she addressed the International Expert Seminar on “Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Unreported Struggles: Conflict and Peace” at Columbia University on 14 May 2016.