Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Protection in Jus Post Bellum

Abstract

This chapter examines the protection of the environment of territories that indigenous peoples inhabit, occupy, or otherwise use in the aftermath of armed conflict. It focuses on how rights of indigenous peoples apply and how they sit in the larger framework of jus post bellum. It traces international obligations to respect indigenous peoples’ rights to protect the environment of their territories in human rights law and in international environmental law. It discusses the ICL Draft Principles on the Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts which contain a clause on indigenous peoples. The author suggests that peacebuilding activities can be reconciled with states’ international obligations towards indigenous peoples.