India – IPRI

India

Indigenous Rights Advocacy Centre

irac.in

For rights and dignity

Closing the gap between law and practice on Indigenous Peoples’ rights in India

The Indigenous Rights Advocacy Centre (IRAC) is a not-for-profit organization that advocates for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in India. IRAC seeks to combine practice, research, advocacy and collaboration as an effective method to promote and protect the individual and collective rights of Indigenous People.

IRAC collaborates and works together with like minded organisations working for indigenous peoples rights in the region and globally; and for the protection, promotion and defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms across the world. We provide legal support to community actions on rights violations.

Main areas of work

Research: We carry out research on current and ongoing challenges pertaining to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and well-being. IRAC seeks to collaborate with relevant international organizations, academic institutions and indigenous and other civil society organizations to encourage interdisciplinary approaches to current issues faced by indigenous peoples in India.
Advocacy: IRAC engages in coordinated and strategic advocacy actions to promote meaningful reforms by state and non-state actors to improve protections for indigenous people’s rights. It supports indigenous peoples rights in India and in the South Asian region by strengthening local indigenous rights movements to bring awareness and international pressure to their struggles while enhancing Indigenous communities’ capacity to demand and assert their rights outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and under the domestic legal and Constitutional frameworks.
Interventions: We make timely and effective interventions on rights violations of the indigenous peoples in India. The interventions are both at the legal, quasi legal and policy level.

Capacity Building: We impart and facilitate training and capacity building programs for students, youths, individuals and organisations within the indigenous communities in India to build skills and tools to protect against rights violations. The objectives of these programs are to improve the situation of indigenous peoples in the country through capacity building and awareness raising on indigenous peoples’ rights and issues.
Legal Support: We provide free legal support and representation to victims of rights violations. We run a free legal helpline manned by volunteers and paralegals with access to legal aid and advice from an experienced legal Team.
Collaboration and Solidarity: IRAC believes in collaborative alliances and actions in particular those working with and supporting human rights defenders, especially indigenous land and forest defenders and local communities.

Strengthening Indigenous advocacy

Achievements and Milestones

Documentation of cases under investigation by authorities, informing National Human Rights Institutions.

Campaign for India’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, leading to recognition by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs

Organization of meetings on land grab by a renewable company, prompting an investigation by the concerned State Human Rights Commission.

In 2022, submission of a total of 95 fresh complaints of human rights violations before the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and follow up of 41 previous cases. Follow up of the cases filed before the NHRIs and submission of comments

Successfully combated impunity by public servants through its interventions with the National Human Rights Commission (23 cases filed with summon notices issued to 34 top officials during 2022)

Among other worklines, IRAC has produced several reports:

Annual Report on the Situation of Indigenous Peoples in India-2023 (see more)
Briefing Paper: The case for implementation of FRA in Northeast India (see more)
Briefing Paper: Criminalization and prosecution of tribals in false cases in India (see more)
IRAC Briefing Paper # 3: Impacts of tiger reserves on indigenous peoples (see more)

Links of interest: