ACHPR 87: Oral Statement on Human Rights in Africa
Item 3: Human Rights Situation in Africa
87th Ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
11-20th May 2026, Banjul, Gambia
Honourable Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Members of the African Commission,
All protocols observed.
Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) welcomes the opportunity to engage with the Commission during its 87th Ordinary Session. We would like to draw the urgent attention of this Commission to a deeply alarming pattern of violations against Indigenous Peoples across the African continent. The issues we raise today are not isolated incidents. They reflect a systemic crisis: one defined by land dispossession, threats and killings of Indigenous defenders, criminalization of legitimate advocacy, and reprisals against those who stand up for their ancestral lands, livelihoods, and dignity.
In Turkana, Kenya, we have documented the ongoing compulsory acquisition of titled Indigenous community land under Gazette Notice No. 14647 of 2025 for the expansion of oil exploitation by Tullow Oil, without genuine Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. Oil extraction has led to toxic contamination of water sources, destruction of pastoralist livelihoods, and misappropriation of compensation funds paid to the County Government. Defenders seeking accountability face threats and intimidation. In June 2025, the Turkana Indigenous People Action for Development filed a case against the County Government, Tullow Oil, and the National Land Commission — an act of courage we commend. This situation has attracted the attention of UN Special Procedures mandate holders, who have addressed communications to both the Government of Kenya and to Tullow Oil expressing concern about the absence of FPIC, environmental harm, and threats against defenders.
The Ogiek of Kenya’s Mau Forest continue to face landlessness despite landmark African Court judgments in 2017 and 2022 ordering land titling, reparations, and formal recognition. Over 700 Ogiek were forcibly evicted in November 2023, their homes burned and livestock confiscated. These judgments must be implemented without further delay.
In Tanzania, The Maasai of Ngorongoro and Loliondo face systematic displacement linked to safari tourism, trophy hunting, and extractive industries, in defiance of the East African Court of Justice’s 2018 orders to cease all evictions[1]. Maasai leaders and defenders have been arrested and prosecuted under fabricated charges for peacefully defending their lands. CERD has issued an urgent action communication calling on Tanzania to immediately halt all planned relocations[2]. We also note with concern the expansion of graphite and transition mineral mining on Indigenous lands without FPIC, contributing to pollution, land grabbing, and barriers to remedy.
We remain deeply concerned by the situation in Cameroon, where an Indigenous rights defender was targeted, seriously injured, his home destroyed, and his wife sexually violated in retaliation for defending his community’s land. Baka and Bagyeli communities face dispossession through protected areas declared without their consultation, with traditional livelihoods criminalized and defenders facing prosecution and violence. Impunity for perpetrators remains the norm.
For the case in Democratic Republic of Congo, we call the Commission’s attention to the lack of full implementation of the 19 recommendations in its landmark 2022 ruling[3], which found that the forced eviction of the Batwa from Kahuzi-Biega National Park violated their rights under the African Charter. Beyond Kahuzi-Biega, thousands of Indigenous Peoples across North Kivu and Ituri have been killed and displaced by armed groups, including M23, exploiting natural resources on Indigenous lands as a method of conquest. We are deeply concerned by escalating sexual and gender-based violence against Indigenous women and girls in conflict-affected areas.
We urge the Commission to:
- Call on Kenya to halt compulsory acquisition of Turkana lands without FPIC and implement the African Court’s judgments in the Ogiek case without further delay;
- Call on Tanzania to comply with EACJ orders, implement CERD’s recommendations, drop all charges against Maasai defenders, and ensure no mining proceeds on Indigenous lands without genuine FPIC;
- Call on Cameroon to investigate attacks on Indigenous defenders, ensure accountability, and recognise Baka and Bagyeli rights to their ancestral territories;
- Press the DRC to implement the Batwa ruling, protect Indigenous communities in conflict-affected areas including Indigenous women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, and ensure all extractive activities on Indigenous lands require genuine FPIC.
We commend the Commission for advancing the Draft African Declaration on the Promotion of the Role of Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders and call for its swift adoption with explicit provisions covering Indigenous land and human rights defenders. We also congratulate the Commission for conducting the February 2026 Validation Workshop for the Draft Study on Indigenous Populations and Communities in Africa and urge its early adoption.
Thank you.
[1] East African Court of Justice, Ololosokwan Village Council & 3 Others v. Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania, Reference No. 10 of 2017. Interim Order, 25 September 2018; Appellate Division Judgment, 29 November 2023. Available at: https://www.eacj.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Reference-No.-10-of-2017.pdf
[2] UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Early Warning and Urgent Action Communication to the United Republic of Tanzania, Reference: CERD/EWUAP/109th Session/2023/MJ/CS/ks, 28 April 2023. Available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/DownloadDraft.aspx?key=0Sr9Rak1RRe59eyC/Xf2J2n4vJ81zsLohGZkp7mDWGhPyU7aZFDkiylwcph1N4Sy
[3] African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Minority Rights Group International and Environnement Ressources Naturelles et Développement (on behalf of the Batwa of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, DRC) v. Democratic Republic of Congo, Communication No. 588/15, Decision adopted 2022, published June 2024. Available at: https://achpr.au.int/index.php/en/decisions-communications/58815-minority-rights-group-v-v-democratic-republic-congo-drc
