Why human rights matter - Rio Tinto

Why human
rights matter
How to guide
January 2013
‘Transparent’ means we proactively share information
with communities about how our decisions, activities
and impacts may affect them throughout a project
lifecycle. It also means making public in a general
sense, the nature of their concerns, complaints
and grievances.
‘Accessible’ means information must be easily
understood and readily available in formats,
languages and locations that are convenient and
non-threatening to diverse groups within each
community. In communities where literacy is low,
we may need to share information orally, rather
than through written material.
We may need to build the community’s capacity
to understand what it is being told and to express
informed views. This might require us to provide
access to unbiased expert advice or engage a
credible outside organisation to help the community
understand what is being proposed. We may also
need to build our own internal capacity to engage
on these issues (see section 2.3.4).
Right to self-determination
Securing broad-based community support before
the start of any project is important to honouring
the right to self-determination. The right to selfdetermination
allows all peoples to freely determine
their political status and to advance their social,
economic and cultural development within a
sovereign context. It includes the right to manage
their land’s wealth and natural resources without
prejudice (ICCPR, ICESCR Article 1). The right to
self-determination is considered a collective right
held by ‘peoples’ and is most relevant to us in
relation to Indigenous peoples (see Box 9).
Rights of Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are entitled as individuals
to all human rights enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. In addition,
international law recognises that they have
collective rights to their land and its resources,
including special and spiritual relationships,
that warrant particular attention and protection.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous peoples (UNDRIP), which we support,
recognises the right of Indigenous peoples to
‘maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual
relationship with their traditionally owned or
otherwise occupied and used lands, territories,
waters and coastal seas and other resources’
(Article 25).
Box 9: Individual and collective rights
When discussing human rights the question of
‘individual rights’ and ‘collective rights’ often arises.
The basic distinction is that collective rights protect
a group of people, while individual rights protect
the individual.
Individual rights are rights held by the individual
regardless of their membership or association to a
group. For example, right to security of person is an
individual right held by a person though shared in
common by all people.
Collective rights are rights held by individuals
by virtue of being part of a particular group.
The rights of Indigenous peoples are examples
of collective rights.
Though they are interlinked, collective rights and
individual rights may sometimes be at odds with
each other. Weighing the demands of the groups with
the demands of the individuals can be complex. For
example, some states uphold the rights of Indigenous
groups to engage in traditional subsistence fishing,
often allowing Indigenous groups to access a fishery
before allowing commercial harvest. Non-Indigenous
fishermen have argued that this ‘preferential’
treatment for Indigenous groups infringes on
individual livelihoods.
Box 10: International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Guidance on FPIC and Indigenous peoples
Projects are required to achieve Free, Prior and
Informed Consent (FPIC) with the affected
communities of Indigenous peoples with regard to
project design under the IFC’s Performance Standards
on Environmental and Social Responsibility.
These cover:
— impacts on lands and natural resources subject to
traditional ownership or under customary use;
— relocation of Indigenous peoples from lands and
natural resources they have traditionally owned
or used;
— significant impacts on critical cultural heritage
that is essential to the identity and/or cultural,
ceremonial, or spiritual aspects of Indigenous
peoples’ lives, eg sacred groves, sacred bodies
of water, sacred trees, and sacred rocks; and
— use of cultural heritage, including knowledge,
innovations or practices of Indigenous peoples
for commercial purposes.
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