26 November 2014, Banjul, The Gambia – The Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, wishes to inform the general public that the public hearing of Application 006/12 – African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights V. Kenya, on Preliminary Objections/Admissibility/Merits before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) will take place from 27 to 28 November 2014, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Application emanates from Communication 381/09 – Centre for Minority Rights Development – Kenya and Minority Rights Group International (on behalf of the Ogiek Community of the Mau Forest) V. Kenya, which was before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), and later referred to the Court on 12 July 2012, in accordance with Articles 45(2) and 58 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter), Articles 2, 3 and 5 (1)(a) of the Protocol establishing the Court, Rule 29(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court 2010 and Rules 84 (2), 118(2) & (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission 2010, on account of serious or massive violations of human rights and non-compliance with Provisional Measures issued by the Commission to the Respondent State.
The Commission filed the Application on behalf of the Ogiek of the Mau Forest, an indigenous community in the Republic of Kenya. The Ogiek allege that they have lived since time immemorial in the Mau Forest in Kenya’s Rift Valley, relying on it for food, shelter and identity, and therefore that their very survival depends on it. They also allege that they have been routinely subjected to arbitrary forced evictions from their ancestral land in the Mau Forest without consultation or compensation, and that this has had a detrimental impact on the Ogiek’s pursuit of their traditional lifestyle, religious and cultural life, access to natural resources on their land and, more generally, access to education, health services and justice; all of which are safeguarded under the African Charter.
The Commission wishes to underscore the novelty of this Application, in that, it demonstrates the practical implementation of the complementary protective mandates of the Commission and the Court, under the Protocol establishing the Court. It is also the first case of peoples’ rights under the African Charter which the Court will adjudicate upon, as well as the first case involving indigenous peoples in Africa.
The Public Hearing of the Application can be followed on live stream on the website of the Court on the indicated hearing dates.
For further information, please contact:
Attention: Abiola Idowu-Ojo / Marie-Saine Firdaus
Secretariat, African Commission
31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District
Western Region
PO Box 673
Banjul, The Gambia
Tel: 220 4410505/6
Fax: 220 4410504
E-mail: au-banjul@africa-union.org; africancommission@yahoo.com
