The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) recently issued a decision indicating that the displacement of the indigenous Batwa people from their ancestral lands within the Kahuzi-Biega National Park by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) constitutes a violation of their rights. The Commission has specifically requested that the Batwa be granted title to their confiscated lands.
The ACHPR found that the DRC breached 11 articles under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including Article 3, which ensures the right to be treated equally, and Article 14, which guarantees the right to property. The Commission critiqued conservation models that exclude human activity to meet biodiversity goals, known as ‘Fortress conservation,’ emphasizing these approaches can no longer be justified when they involve displacing indigenous populations without consent.
Among the ACHPR recommendations are the reintegration of the Batwa to their lands, the formation of an expert independent committee to assess compensation, and an official apology. These recommendations are designed to address the long-standing grievances of the Batwa and other indigenous groups in the Congo Basin who have faced displacement due to conservation efforts. Additional context is provided in the full decision document released by the ACHPR.
The ruling followed a complaint filed in 2015 after years of unsuccessful attempts to seek redress through the DRC’s domestic courts. Despite the ruling being adopted in mid-2022, the DRC government has neither participated in the proceedings nor taken steps to comply with the decision. More details are available in the original news coverage.
Jean-Marie Bantu Baluge, spokesperson for the claimants group Environnement, Ressources Naturelles et Développement, highlighted the importance of the decision, stating, “Reclaiming the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and resources is paramount to their survival and in protecting biodiversity. The Commission’s Decision offers a lifeline to the Batwa people and other indigenous communities in the Congo Basin who have been battered for over half a century in the name of conservation.”