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OHCHR/Special Procedures - Press conference: UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity - 24 June 2025
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Press Conferences | OHCHR
OHCHR/Special Procedures - Press conference: UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity - 24 June 2025
Call for Solidarity and Peace: Addressing the Normalization of Violence and Arctic Militarization Risks through Indigenous Peoples’ Examples, Including Insights from the Independent Expert’s Visit to Denmark and Greenland
Speaker:
- Cecilia Bailliet, UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity.
Teleprompter
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for this press conference.
Our speaker today is Miss Cecilia Balliet, the Independent expert on the international solidarity.
She will brief you today on her latest report to the Human Rights Council.
We will begin with opening remarks from the independent expert before moving to questions.
Miss Balliet, you have the floor.
[Other language spoken]
It's an honour to be here today.
I am so pleased to have report reported that I've presented my report on international solidarity in relation to Indigenous peoples.
And this issue is very timely because we see a militarization of many territories where indigenous people live.
This includes the Arctic, but also down to the Amazon.
We're seeking recognition of the right of participation of indigenous people in processes that would seek to preserve peaceful dispute resolution to counter the threat of use of force within their territories, of use of violence and destruction of the environment.
Indigenous peoples have solidarity perspectives on the relation of their peoples to the environment, but also to other vulnerable groups such as minorities and refugees and migrants.
The report highlights how Indigenous people seek to protect people who are seeking asylum, as well as_the role of Indigenous women in showing solidarity leadership.
We are calling for an international solidarity Global system in which Indigenous people from the North and the South and the East and the West will be given opportunities to exchange their knowledge and promote world view in accordance with protection of the environment.
We also seek support for Indigenous education, so we welcome law schools around the world to open courses on Indigenous law and for the UN to discuss the possibility of creating an Indigenous university where different Indigenous communities could come and share their knowledge for dissemination.
I thank you for the opportunity to present this report.
[Other language spoken]
The independent experts will now take questions online.
Please raise your hand and state your name and organisation before asking a question.
We have a question from FA.
Yes, May, thank you very much.
We were promised that you would speak to about your trip to Denmark and Greenland.
And now that the Greenland is in, it's been in the in the news in the last months because of the US threats of annexation.
So I wonder if you have any comments to do about about Greenland.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I thank you for the question.
I am happy to report that Greenland express its appreciation for the EU for its expression of support through the participation of the visit by France to Greenland in which they recognise the right of Greenlandic people to have support for their self determination.
Self determination is a key principle of international law and the idea of international solidarity is that these principles will be protected.
When I went to Greenland, I had many conversations with civil society groups that were very insistent on the importance of consultation of the Inuit people on any matters having to do with the use of their territory, and that includes for the presence of military actors.
The prior independent expert who had been there had given recommendations to the to the state that there should be a cleanup of military waste that is in Greenland.
And so therefore we're hoping that the authorities will follow up the prior mandate holder's recommendation on that clean up and that we ensure that the voices of Indigenous people in preserving the self determination of Greenland is respected.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Is there there's another question?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
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The fact that a lot of the.
[Other language spoken]
Me a lot of the discussion around.
Greenland seems.
To be.
Over the heads of Indigenous.
[Other language spoken]
So without their involvement.
[Other language spoken]
I I don't quite understand how you say it's over their heads.
I think that indigenous peoples are very aware of the role of military actors, be it the Danish authorities that that are charged with protection of of the area, but also the presence of the American military base.
They are very aware of the presence of these actors and they're also aware of the impact of having the military within these areas given the vulnerability of the environment.
So they themselves have been reporting their concerns and I and I, I'm hoping that the government will pay heed to them.
Any follow up questions?
If there are no further questions, we will now close this press conference.
Thank you all for joining us today.
[Other language spoken]