Southern part being of the large Sawa cultural area, the northern part being part of the Grass fields’ cultural area. Since 1961, although some specificities had been preserved on more than one aspect, there had been remarkable rapprochement at the administrative and legal levels. The ‘separate and distinct people’ thesis is no longer valid today.” 169. The Commission shall clarify its understanding of “peoples’ rights” under the African Charter. The Commission is aware the controversial nature of the issue, due to the political connotation that it carries. That controversy is as old as the Charter. The drafters of the Charter refrained deliberately 18 from defining it. To date, the concept has not been defined under international law. However, there is recognition that certain objective features attributable to a collective of individuals, may warrant them to be considered as “people”. 170. A group of international law experts commissioned by UNESCO to reflect on the concept of “people” concluded that where a group of people manifest some of the following characteristics; a common historical tradition, a racial or ethnic identity, cultural homogeneity, linguistic unity, religious and ideological affinities, territorial connection, and a common economic life, it may be considered to be a “people”. Such a group may also identify itself as a people, by virtue of their consciousness that 19 they are a people. This characterisation does not bind the Commission but can only be used as a guide. 171. In the context of the African Charter, the notion of “people” is closely related to collective rights. Collective rights enumerated under Articles 19 to 24 of the Charter can be exercised by a people, bound together by their historical, traditional, racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, ideological, geographical, economic identities and affinities, or other bonds. 172. The drafters of the Charter provided for the protection of “peoples rights” under the Charter. In his book, entitled; The Law of the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Justice 20 Hassan B. Jallow, an eminent African Jurist, who participated in the drafting the African Charter, sheds light on this issue. He says that: “[t]he concept of peoples’ rights, to which a whole chapter had been devoted in the draft did not mean there was any grading of rights. There were economic, social and cultural rights which have particular importance to developing countries and which together with civil rights and political rights in one 21 complementary whole should henceforth be given an important place.” 173. Justice Jallow cites the late President Leopold Sedar Senghor, the first President of Senegal and an eminent African Statesman, who told the inaugural meeting of African Legal Experts to draft the Charter, the following: “People will perhaps expatiate for a long time upon the ‘People Rights’ we were very keen on referring [sic] to. We simply meant, by so doing, to show our attachment to economic, social, and cultural rights, to collective rights in general, rights which have a particular importance in our situation of a developing country. We are certainly not drawing lines of demarcation between the different categories of rights. We want to show essentially that beside civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights should henceforth be given the important place they deserve. We wanted to lay emphasis on the right to development and the other rights which need the solidarity of our States to be fully met; the right to peace and security, the right to a healthy environment, right to participate in the equitable share of the common heritage of mankind, the right to enjoy a fair international economic order and, finally the right 22 to natural wealth and resources.” 174. The African Commission has itself dealt with the issues of peoples’ rights without defining the term “people” or “peoples’ rights”. In its acclaimed Report of the Working Group of Experts on 23 Indigenous Populations/Communities, the African Commission described its dilemma of defining the concepts in the following terms: “[d]espite its mandate to interpret all provisions of the African Charter as per Article 45.3, the African Commission initially shied away from interpreting the concept of ‘peoples’. The African Charter itself does not define the concept. Initially the African Commission did not feel at ease in developing rights where there was little concrete international jurisprudence. The ICCPR and the ICESR do not define ‘peoples’. It is evident that the drafters of the African Charter intended to distinguish between the traditional individual rights where the sections preceding Article 17 make reference to “every