1. The Workshop on the Status of the Implementation of the Endorois Decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights was organized by the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities (the Working Group) in collaboration with the Endorois Welfare Council, in Nairobi, Kenya, on 23rd September 2013.
2. The Workshop was attended by Prof. James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, Commissioner Pacifique Manirakiza, member of the Working Group and Commissioner Rapporteur for Kenya, representatives from the Commission on Administration of Justice, the defunct Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and the Gender and Equality Commission of Kenya. The Workshop was also attended by members of the Working Group, representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, civil society organizations in Kenya, and the Endorois community.
3. A total of forty-five (45) delegates attended the Workshop representing one (1) UN Special Mechanism Procedure, one (1) UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, four (4) the Working Group, one (1) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, nineteen (19) national stakeholders, and nineteen (19) Endorois community.
4. The main objective of the Workshop was to forge dialogue and strategize with the Government and civil society on the status of implementation of the Endorois decision and ways forward, and to come up with a joint road map of implementation outlining concrete steps to be taken with timelines. In view of this objective, various issues pertinent to the topic were discussed including:
- Report on status of implementation by EWC and Kenya Commission on Human Rights;
- Role of other national stakeholders such as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, the Gender and Equality Commission in the implementation of the decision;
- Experience of the Inter-American human rights system with regards to the implementation of decisions relating to indigenous peoples’; and
- Ways forward towards implementation;
5. Having in mind that the Government was not represented, and after a rich and engaging dialogue among the various stakeholders, it was observed that out of the seven recommendations of the Commission only one has been implemented, which is the registration of the Endorois Welfare Council. It was further observed that the absence of Government officials from such deliberations was a serious cause of concern for the Endorois community and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
6. Accordingly, with a view to ensure that all the recommendations of the African Commission are fully implemented participants:
i. Identified national, regional and international actors that can play a role in the implementation of the decision;
ii. Urged the African Commission to call on the government to provide a roadmap for implementation within ninety days as agreed at the 53rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission;
iii. Stressed on the need to gather data about the population and territories belonging to the Endorois, and submit a proposal to the Government outlining what recognition and restitution mean for the Endorois community;
iv. Proposed to put safeguard measures in the interim to ensure that no alterations to land/resources are made;
v. Called upon the Endorois Compensation Committee:
a. to look at modalities of reparations/compensations from international and regional human rights bodies particularly the Inter-American System; and
b. to develop an interim agreement for the sharing of benefits from existing tourism and mining activities.
Done in Nairobi, Kenya, on 23 September 2013
