Geneva (10 October 2024) - Finland violated the rights of Sámi Indigenous people to culture and land, by granting mineral exploration permits on their territory without an impact assessment or an adequate participation process, two UN Committees have found. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) today published their decisions after reviewing three complaints filed by different members of the Kova-Labba Siida Sámi semi-nomadic herding community -including three children- dealing with mining projects granted on their traditional territory. Two of the cases are related to the granting of a mineral exploration permit on the complainants’ traditional territory, and a third one concerned the granting of a reservation area on their lands, all of which happened without an impact assessment or a process of effective participation in the decision making. The victims brought their cases to the committees in 2021 and 2022 seeking to establish the responsibility of the State party to fulfil its commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found that the State party’s failure to give legal recognition to the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lands, which are also the base for their livelihood and income, had the effect of nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by Indigenous Peoples, on an equal footing, of their rights to their traditional territories and natural resources. “Finland needs to initiate the process of legal recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional lands, including through collective ownership, which can ensure the realisation of their right to self-determination,” said the CESCR. The three children in the case brought to Committee on the Rights of the Child are sisters aged 13, 15 and 16, and members of a multigenerational Sámi reindeer herding family. They alleged that the mineral exploration works would cause unpredictable adverse consequences for the continuity of their culture, limiting their ability to benefit from the transmission of Sámi culture and livelihood. The Committee on the Rights of the Child recalled that Indigenous children in particular, must be at the heart of such process, from their consideration in impact assessments to their effective participation in processes of free, prior and informed consent. The Committee found that the approval of the exploration permits without such process violated the children’s rights to enjoy their own culture and amounted to intersectional discrimination against the authors as Indigenous children. “The preservation of the cultural identity of Indigenous children is crucial, as they represent the continuity of their distinct people. States must promote Indigenous children’s consultation on all matters affecting them, including issues concerning their traditional territories and environment,” said the CRC. The Committees asked Finland to provide the complainants with effective reparation for the violations suffered, including through an effective review of the decisions concerning the mineral exploration project, based on an adequate process of free, prior and informed consent, accompanied by an independent assessment of the impact on the rights of the Sámi people. The CRC decision can be found here The CESCR decision can be found here For more information and media requests in Geneva, please contact: Vivian Kwok at Vivian.kwok@un.org or Safa Msehli at safa.msehli@un.org or UN Human Rights Office Media Section at ohchr-media@un.org Background: The Committee on the Rights of the Child monitors States parties" adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on involvement of children in armed conflict, and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Convention to date has 196 States parties. The Committee is made up of 18 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (OPIC-CRC) allows the Committee to receive and examine complaints by individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of the rights of the child by States that have ratified the Optional Protocol. To date, 52 States have ratified or acceded to the OPIC-CRC. The Committee’s views and decisions on individual communications are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the Convention and its two substantive optional protocols. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights monitors States parties’ adherence to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to education, fair and just conditions of work, adequate standard of living, highest attainable standard of health, and social security. To date, 172 States parties have ratified the Covenant. The Committee, according to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR), is also mandated to receive and examine complaints by individuals or groups of individuals who claim their rights under the Covenant have been violated. To date, 29 States parties have ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol. The Committee is made up of 18 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. Learn more with our videos on the Treaty Body system Follow the UN Treaty Bodies on social media! We are on Twitter @UNTreatyBodies