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African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights
Human Rights our
Collective Responsibility
Commission has no reason to reject the characterization of the alleged victims as
"peoples" within the context of Article 20(1) of the African Charter.
181. With regard to whether the affected peoples of the Lower Omo are "indigenous"
peoples, the Commission has noted in its Report of the Working Group of Experts
on Indigenous Populations/Communities and subsequent jurisprudence the
difficulty associated with defining the concept of "indigenous" peoples under the
African Charter.v However, the term is often used in recognition of certain
marginalized and vulnerable groups in a given society who suffer from particular
problems. Such groups have not often been accommodated by dominating
paradigms of development in their own country and, in many cases, they are
being victimized by mainstream policies and thinking and their human and
collective rights violated.F
182. The Commission notes that the term "indigenous" is not intended to create a
special class of citizens, but rather to address historical and present-day injustices
and inequalities." Due to past and ongoing processes in their countries,
indigenous peoples or ethnic minorities need recognition and protection of their
basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.
183. As the Commission has noted in its Report of the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations not only is it a fact that Africa is characterized by multiculturalism,
but also that almost all African states host a rich variety of different ethnic groups,
some of which are dominant and some of which are in subordinate positions. All
of these groups are indigenous to Africa. However, the Commission recognizes
that some are in a structurally subordinate position to the dominating groups and
the State, leading to marginalisation and discrimination. It is this condition that
the notion of indigenous peoples seeks to address. The concept is directed at the
root causes of the subordination and other problems that such peoples face and
emphasizes the human rights dimension for addressing them.v
184. The Commission recognizes that, in post-colonial African countries, certain
groups who live on the fringes of modern-day society such as hunter-gatherers,
pastoralists and some small-scale farmers, fall in this category.v Hence, the
of
the
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Indigenous
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