rf"f ACHPR
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} African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights
Human Rights our
Collective Respons1bd1ty
requirement for fair and adequate compensation for the violation of the rights
recognised in the Declaration. Article 3 of the instrument establishes that indigenous
peoples have the right to self-determination.
129. The complainants cite several provisions of international human rights
instruments, such as the articles of the ICCPR: Article 2 (1), which stresses that each
State Party to the Covenant must respect the rights of all individuals on its territory,
without distinction of any kind; Article 14 ( 1), which states that everyone has the right
to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal
established by law; Article 27, which states that ethnic minorities shall not be denied
the right to enjoy their own culture.
130. They allege that agents of the Respondent State dug a trench around the disputed
lands to prevent entry and exit from them; and that the ditch dug, because it was
extremely dangerous, caused the death of schoolchildren who crossed it to go to
school.
Alleged violation of the right to self-determination
131 . The Complainants allege that self-determination refers to the fact that human
beings, individually and collectively, should have the right to control their own destiny
and choose their own system of government. It is further described as a precept of
human right that states that all people have the same right to control their own
destinies."23 Irene Daes attributes its effectiveness to "sustainable selfdetermination", the important ability of indigenous peoples to pass on their traditions
and culture to future generations. 24 Ideally, self-determination should protect these
five principles: "non-discrimination; cultural integrity; control of land and resources;
welfare and social development; and self-government."
132. The Complainants maintain that the fundamental right to self-determination is
guaranteed in Article 1( 1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR), ratified by the Respondent State on 1 May 1972, and in Article 1(1) of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the
Respondent State on 1 March 1972. Under these instruments, the State must respect
23 S... UNF.SCO PxpertS on self-deiermiNtion summary repon p 10. Justice Michael Kirby. identifies• people as: a group of individual human beings who rnjoy
50meor all of the following mmmon features: (a)• common hhtoric•I tradition; (b) rilClal or ethnic identity; (c) cultural homogeneity (d) linguistic unity; (e) religious
Ideological amnlty; (f) territori,1I connection; (g) common economk life.
24 See Erica-Irene A. Daes, Some Considerations on the Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determin.,lion, 3T,.,nsnar I L & Contem
See Robert A. Williams, Jr., Columbus' s Legacy: Law as an Instrum~nl ol Racial Disnimin.,tion Against
Indigenous Peoples' Rights option, 8 Ariz. J. Int' L& Comp. L 51 (1991).
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