Reparations and Indigenous Peoples

For Indigenous peoples, reparations represent an indispensable means not only for curing the effects of the wrongs suffered by the community and/or its members, but also for re-establishing the order of life and the harmony of the universe in which the peoples concerned spend their existence from one generation to another. The UNDRIP and the ADRIP proclaim the right to reparation regarding numerous prerogatives of the life, cultural identity, and speci city of Indigenous peoples, including for destruction of Indigenous peoples’ culture; for violations of their land rights; for loss of cultural, intellectual, religious, and spiritual property; as well as for the deprivation of Indigenous peoples’ means of subsistence and development. Furthermore, the fact that Indigenous peoples have a right to reparation for the wrongs suffered is re ected in international human rights law by means of the evolutionary interpretation of several provisions included in relevant treaties. This has led to the development and consolidation of a rule of customary international law recognizing the right of Indigenous peoples to reparation, a result not only of a positive legal evolution but also of the af rmation of the values of equity, justice, and intergenerational fairness.