Deiniion of Terms INTRODUCTION
RIGHTS AIPP
AIPP Regional Capacity Building Program - Training Manual on the UNDRIP
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c. The duration of the above; d. The locality of areas that will be affected;
e. A preliminary assessment of the likely economic, social, cultural and environmental im- pact, including potential risks and fair and equitable benefit sharing in a context that re-
spects the precautionary principle;
f. Personnel likely to be involved in the execution of the proposed project including indig- enous peoples, private sector staff, research institutions, government employees and oth-
ers
g. Procedures that the project may entail. At the same time, the International Indian Treaty Council 2008: 5-6 put forward the fol-
lowing definitions of the elements of FPIC:
1 Free
is defined as the absence of coercion and outside pressure, including monetary in-
ducements unless they are mutually agreed on as part of a settlement process, and “di-
vide and conquer” tactics. It must also include the absence of any threats of retaliation if it
results in the decision to say “no”.
2 Prior
is defined as a process taking place with sufficient lead time to allow the information
gathering and sharing process to take place, in- cluding translations into traditional languages
and verbal dissemination as needed, according to the decision-making processes decided by the
Indigenous Peoples in question. It must also take place without time pressure or time constraints.
A plan or project must not begin before this process is fully completed and an agreement is
reached.
3 Informed
is defined as having all relevant in- formation reflecting all views and positions. This
includes the input of traditional elders, spiritual leaders, traditional subsistence practitioners and
traditional knowledge holders, with adequate time and resources to find and consider information that
is impartial and balanced as to potential risks and benefits, based on the “precautionary principle” re-
garding potential threats to health, environment or traditional means of subsistence.
Module-2
RIGHTS AIPP
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43 4 Consent can be defined as the demonstra-
tion of clear and compelling agreement, us- ing a mechanism to reach agreement which
is in itself agreed to under the principle of FPIC, in keeping with the decision-making
structures and criteria of the Indigenous Peoples in question, including traditional
consensus procedures. Agreements must be reached with the full and effective partici-
pation of the authorized leaders, represen- tatives or decision-making institutions as decided by the Indigenous Peoples themselves.
The elements prior and informed are critical to determining whether a community’s consent to an activity, project or program, action or policy will indeed be given or withheld freely. In
many cases, one of which will be discussed below, the solicitation of consent after commence- ment of project has made affected communities feel resigned to the continued implementation of
the project or even helpless before the power of its implementors, such that they believe they can no longer do anything about it. Thus, in effect, they are coerced or intimidated into giving their
belated consent. In even more cases, communities have said yes to projects on the basis of false or incomplete information. In effect, they were manipulated into giving their consent.
It must be stressed that, especially for indigenous peoples, consent is a matter of consensus – i.e., of collective decision-making, not of individual will. In many cases, the proponents of proj-
ects affecting indigenous peoples have maneuvered around FPIC requirements by misrepresent- ing the consent of individuals as community consent.
Colchester and MacKay 2004 have referred to the manipulation and maneuvering of FPIC processes as engineered consent. They note that much of this engineering has taken place in the
Philippines, in relation to projects in mining and dam construction.