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African Commission, o~
Human and Peoples RIghts
Human Rights our
Collective Responsibility
234. The Commission finds that the Respondent State, having failed to prevent the
violations from happening and, where they occurred, having failed to adequately
address them or accord remedies to the victims, violated the provisions of Articles
2 and 18(3) of the African Charter.
Alleged violation of Articles 19, 20, 21 (1)(2) and 23 of the African Charter
235. The Complainants submitted that the Respondent State's assault on members
of the Nuba ethnic group violates their collective rights as a "people" under the
African Charter. This includes alleged violations of the Nuba people's right to
equality in Article 19, their right to existence and self-determination in Article 20;
their right to freely dispose their wealth and natural resources in Article 21(1) and
(2);and their right to peace in Article 23 (1) of the African Charter.
In the light of the foregoing submission, the first issue for consideration is the
application of peoples' rights of the African Charter to the Nuba. It is now
generally accepted in scholarly works and in the jurisprudence of the Commission
that peoples' rights of the African Charter apply to specific category of people.
While the term peoples' as used in the Charter is amendable to different
interpretation how it is used in particular context and provision of the Charter, one
important meaning of the term is a reference to sub-national groups having distinct
identity on account of possession of specific identity markers and statusf" Viewed
from this conceptual perspective, 'the subjects of peoples' rights,' as one analysis
of the jurisprudence of the Commission pointed out, 'are the different ethnic
groups or inhabitants of a particular territory within the state, who on account of
historical, cultural and/ or existing patterns of discrimination have come to form a
sense of separate identity. This finds textual support in the African Charter,
particularly in article 19: 'All peoples shall be equal; they shall enjoy the same
respect and shall have the same rights. Nothing shall justify the domination of a
people by another.'86 The African Commission in its jurisprudence in Katangese
People's Congress v Zaire and SERA C and other v. Nigeria in affirming and
recognizing the applicability of peoples' rights of the Charter to 'the people of
Katanga' and to 'the Ogoni people', the term 'peoples' may mean a section of the
236.
See RN Kiwanuka 'The meaning of "people" in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights'
(1988) 82 American [ournal of International Law 97 & Solomon A. Dersso, The jurisprudence of the African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights with respect to peoples' rights of the African Charter,
(2006) 6 African Human Rights Law Journal (2006) 358.
86 Solomon A. Dersso, 'The jurisprudence
of the African Commission on Human and Peoples~ghts
with respect to peoples' rights of the African Charter,' (2006) 6 African Human R' ~ haw. JoJl1Jlal
(2006) p 362.
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