Part I Defining the issues to be monitored CASE STUDY: NATIONAL INQUIRY ON LAND RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN MALAYSIA Between 2010 and 2012, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) conducted a national inquiry into the land rights of indigenous peoples in Malaysia, in response to the persistently high number of complaints it received on the issue. SUHAKAM noted that abuses of indigenous peoples’ land rights often occur in the pursuit of development and accompanying economic activities. These can include encroachments on land; evictions or transfers to less suitable areas; and the overall disruption of a community’s traditional way of life. The inquiry revealed a lack of communication between authorities and indigenous communities in relation to the issue of development. A human rights-based approach to development was a strong theme in the inquiry’s recommendations. For example, borrowing language from international human rights frameworks pertaining to development, SUHAKAM emphasized the importance of addressing land rights abuses against indigenous persons. Recommendation 10.36 states: “In line with international standards, the State and Federal Governments must adopt such a human rights-based approach to development and adopt a [Free, Prior and Informed Consent] law outlining consent-making processes that ensure effective participation of affected indigenous communities”. 1.7. IN PRACTICE: GETTING STARTED ON A MONITORING ACTIVITY The first step when starting a monitoring activity is to identify the issue or issues that will be the focus of your work. In many cases, NHRIs will identify priority issues in their strategic planning process. Another reason to initiate a monitoring activity might be that complaints statistics show a worsening trend in a particular pattern of rights violations. In other cases, issues might arise unexpectedly or the NHRI might need to respond to a request from the Government or from civil society groups to inquire into a particular issue. An initial challenge when starting a monitoring activity that seeks to tackle poverty-related deprivations using a human rights-based approach is how to define the focus of the study. Because of the interconnected nature of these deprivations, it can sometimes be hard to know where to start. For this reason, the first step in any monitoring activity is to define what the focus will be. Often, it will make sense to focus on one priority right and several other related rights. For example, take the issue of forced eviction. As well as being a violation of the right to housing, forced eviction may involve acts of violence or arbitrary arrests. It might also result in the loss of schooling or livelihoods. A related consideration is who to focus on; are there individuals or groups who are particularly vulnerable to deprivations of the right or rights that your study will examine? Even if women are not the focus of your study, a gender perspective is always important and revealing. This means scrutinizing differences in the frequency or severity of a rights violation between women and men, or the different ways a policy or action may play out in the lives of women and girls, men and boys. Chapter 1: Poverty, development and human rights: Making the connections | 13