births, dealing with family conflicts, remedying drought, sterility or illness, and promoting good luck in hunting. They indicate that because of this exclusion from the Kahuzi-Biega forest, the Batwa have lost their cultural identity. 87. Regarding the second aspect of this violation, the Complainants allege that the Batwa have a symbiotic relationship with the forest and that this relationship gives them special knowledge about the forest that they pass on from generation to generation. The Complainants reiterate that, as a result, 'the Batwa's relationship with their traditional lands and resources is essential to their way of life and ultimately to their preservation and survival as a distinct people'. 88. The Complainants allege that the DRC's interference with the Batwa's right to culture is neither justified nor proportionate. Alleged violation of Article 21 89. Complainants allege a violation of Article 21, which guarantees the right of peoples to freely dispose of wealth and natural resources, in three respects: through their eviction, the Batwa have been denied access to their natural resources, the DRC has benefited from and/or allowed others to exploit them without consulting and compensating them; and finally, the DRC has failed to prevent environmental degradation of the natural resources of the forest that were beneficial to the Batwa. 90. With regard to the first aspect, the Complainants allege that since their eviction, the Batwa have no longer had access to the natural resources of the forest and that whenever they have tried to enter the forest to collect these resources, they have been fined, imprisoned and even subjected to excessive violence by State agents. 91. With regard to the second aspect, the Complainants allege that the forest has significant economic activity, including various forms of agricultural exploitation. They claim that by undertaking to dispossess the Batwa of their ancestral lands, the DRC has not prevented other groups from illegally extracting and exploiting the same resources through these various agricultural activities. According to the Complainants, by exploiting and profiting from the natural resources of the Kahuzi-Biega forest, or allowing others to do the same without consulting or compensating the Batwa, the DRC has violated Article 21 . 92. On the third aspect, the Complainants argue that the exploitation of the KahuziBiega forest by the DRC and other non-Batwa groups has led to SCV `€°1E!IP " 17 of .