José Francisco Calí Tzay (born 27 September 1961) is a
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
n attorney and diplomat, and the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples since 2020.
Career
Francisco Cali was elected for four consecutive four-year terms to serve on the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations convention. A third-generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discri ...
Treaty body
In international law, a treaty body (or treaty-based body) is an International organization, internationally established body of independent experts that monitor how States party to a particular treaty, international legal instrument are implementi ...
, from 2004 to 2020. He was elected President of the Committee, and served a two year term in that capacity from 2014 to 2016. He was the first indigenous person elected to serve on a UN treaty body.
In the government of Guatemala, Francisco Cali served in a number of positions including, starting in 2016, Ambassador to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(also accredited to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
) and, from 2008 to 2013, Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He is a member of the faculty of the University of Arizona School of Law.
Work as special rapporteur
Francisco Cali assumed the post of UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2020, after the tenure of his predecessor,
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is a Filipino development consultant and an international indigenous activist of Kankana-ey Igorot ethnicity.https://www.indigenousvoice.com/en/hrc-appoints-jose-francisco-cali-tzai-a-new-special-rapporteur-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html HRC appoints Jose Francisco Cali Tzai a new Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples As UN special rapporteur, he is tasked to investigate alleged violations of indigenous peoples rights and promote the implementation of international standards concerning the rights of indigenous peoples.
In this capacity, he and David R. Boyd urged Sweden in early 2022 not to award a license to British company Beowulf Mining for the iron-ore Kallak mine in the Gallok region, home of the indigenous
Sámi people
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are the traditionally Sámi languages, Sámi-speaking indigenous people inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula ...
, saying the open-pit mine would endanger the protected ecosystem and reindeer migration.
The CHR stated that the alleged
pickup truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...
trailing
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
Barangay
The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
Mabaca and
Tabuk
Tabuk may refer to:
*Tabuk, Kalinga, the capital city of Kalinga province of the Philippines
*Tabuk Province, a province of Saudi Arabia
**Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, capital city of the province
** Tabuk Regional Airport
*Expedition of Tabuk, a military ...