Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Retracing the Evolution of KPW



I remember the sweltering heat of Niamey the capital of Niger which played host to  the 33rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in May 2003 for at least two reasons. First, it is during this session that CEMIRIDE and Minority Rights Group International filed a Petition on behalf of the Endorois community over state annexation of Lake bogoria which 8 years later would yield a landmark decision that would energize the indigenous movement in Kenya and the continent. Second, and relevant to this article, is that I had the opportunity to  meet  Dr. Melakou Tegegne who was then working with Panos in Adis Abeba.In between escaping the unbearable temperatures in Niamey by partaking copious mugs of iced Karkade- the Sahelian beverage made out of hibiscus flowers- we conversed at length on models for advocacy of pastoralist rights.

Ethiopia, according to Melakou, had pioneered a very innovative concept of facilitating constructive dialogue between the state and pastoralists, namely the Ethiopian Pastoralist Day (EPD). An initial concept of the Pastoralist Forum of Ethiopia, EPD had grown into an annual event that was hosted under the auspices of the Ministry of Federal Affairs. It was unsurprising, given the stature of the event, for the chief executive of the country-the Prime Minister- to attend the events of the day. This discussion formed an important conceptual bedrock upon which the Kenya Pastoralists Week (KPW) was initiated.

In designing KPW, there was a clear appreciation that unlike in Ethiopia, in Kenya, state and media response towards pastoralism as a livelihood  was ambivalent at best and hostile at worst. Additionally, Kenya’s highly centralized state which concentrated all vital state functions in the capital, Nairobi, militated against the adoption of the Ethiopian model where the EPD, thanks to the federal character of the state, was hosted in various regions occupied by pastoralist groups on a rotational basis.  The dynamism of Kenya’s political milieu also meant that any advocacy process needed to puncture the popular imagination in ways quite different from the Ethiopian experience, where EPD had gradually become mainstreamed into formal state programming. The need to also ensure that KPW’s approach enabled the envoicing and ownership of pastoralist groups across the country weighed heavily on the program design.

Balancing the foregoing imperatives was a fairly unenviable task. In the end, the KPW was developed as a programme whose philosophy was to provide safe and creative national space for positive profiling of pastoralism. To deliver, KPW needed to grow out of community agency-through supporting the execution of ‘zonal events’- and engage the state at the national level through a week long program of activities.  Such effort aside from the demands of its scale and scope could only be carried forward through a multi-stakeholder approach.  It was conceived that CEMIRIDE would provide the technical and secretariat role but that the program structure would bring together a range of local and national advocacy and state institutions whose competencies would bear on successful implementation. Coordinating the local and national efforts and creating vertical and horizontal links for the panoply of actors with varied interests, messages, methodologies  and capacities was and remains a huge challenge. Yet, it is this cacophony, this untidy knot, that has continued to enrich the programme, sustaining it through the initial years when resource mobilization was a dreary affair to its current less volatile phase.
Through its ten year evolution, KPW has transformed into an important national platform for visible articulation of concerns of pastoralist groups but also an instigator of the elusive pan-pastoralists solidarity in the context of policy advocacy. The program has enabled communities dramatize their social economic predicaments as demonstrated for instance during the ‘great trek campaign’ in 2005 which raised national consciousness by way of an aggressive media campaign that captured the 1 month long trek of community groups tired of the state neglect of the Moyale-Isiolo road as a broad metaphor for the economic exclusion of Northern Kenya. Indeed, communities credit the KPW for the ongoing tarmacking of this important road that links Kenya and Ethiopia-with enormous economic potential. KPW has catalyzed the emergence of institutions, including the League of Pastoralist Women, which started as part of KPW’s attempt to increase pastoralist women voices in governance. In the ebbs and flows of Kenya’s search for a new constitution and its effective implementation, KPW has been a crucial site for enabling active engagement of community groups with such crucial national processes. KPW has not just been about intra-pastoralist conversation. Rather, it has also enabled policy makers and mainstream groups to engage with these communities not as noble savages of a bygone era, but as equal citizens of a diverse democracy. This legitimation for me was most apposite when in the 2006 KPW forum ,children from various primary schools in Nairobi held an art exhibition at KICC where they captured on canvass their innocent views of pastoralism. That this forum was graced by Njeeri Ngugi, the wife of Kenya’s celebrated literary giant, Ngugi wa Thingo, suggests the potential inherent in KPW as a space for a more rigorous cross-cultural conversation on the Kenya we should crave for. The pastoral parades that increased Nairobi’s traffic snarl ups and the penultimate gala night in which pastoral cuisine and couture abound evince an impulse to engage the  ‘other’ without trepidation.

It would be remiss if I were to suggest that KPW has evolved without the sweat and blood of many leaders. In its annals stand tall, men such as the late Eddy Ekuam who was the constant master of ceremonies at gala events;  the late Guracha Konchora, whose pen gave forth the first edition of the Pastoralist Post. Women such as Alyce Kureiya and Josephine Nashipae, too who have borne the pain and joy of carrying forward KPW’s visionand must be saluted. My worthy successor at CEMIRIDE, Yobo Rutin, who is now leading the charge in taking KPW to the Counties, cannot go unmentioned.

Perhaps then, the story of KPW is the story of relationships build, experiences shared and of struggles waged. Its nascent success presents important lessons, not just on policy advocacy but on the need to finally address the challenge of inclusion and belonging in the country. None of us should feel strangers in this commonwealth. Much remains to be done given the perfidious state’s paternalism of pastoralists as needing command and control type of governance in order to bring them peace, health, happiness, and other benefits of civilization . . . But, undoubtedly-and this must change- the extension of government control is directly related to protecting the economic interests of the Nairobi government-which often has little to do with the guys on the margins of our collective geographical space..
Long live KPW!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Sovereignty Argument in the Biometric Voter Equipment Debate is Unrealistic



Korir Sing’Oei, is an international human rights attorney and Litigation Director, Katiba Institute
This article offers an opposite view to that advanced in Jaindi Kisero’s article in the Daily Nation of Wednesday, August 8th. Kisero avers that major sovereignty and national security issues are implicated by the decision to allow a foreign firm identified on government-government contracting to provide biometric kits to facilitate fair elections merely because such a firm will have biometric data of over 18 million Kenyan citizens. I hold divergent views to Kisero based on several grounds.
First, from the experience of 2007-8 elections, violence in Kenya has troubling trans-national implications. Therefore, given the deep economic and social ties that inform our current interactions, credible and peaceful elections in Kenya are not only a legitimate expectation of Kenyans but of the entire region.  Electronic voter registration and votes tabulation has been advanced as one means for minimizing the manipulability of electoral outcomes. Tested in some constituencies in the context of the referendum in 2010, automation of voter registration and tabulation expedited the entire voting and tabulation process contributing to the minimization of disputes arising from perceived malfeasance of electoral officials. The offer by the international community to support the acquisition of a tool for a more efficient and credible election-albeit outside Kenya’s procurement regime- cannot be viewed as threatening national security or sovereignty more than a botched election would do.
Second, the author fails to appreciate that the Westphalian model of state sovereignty has dramatically changed. Whereas this model made states the central interlocutor between global governance institutions and citizens, the entry of powerful non-state actors in contesting for this space has reduced state hegemony. Unsurprisingly, Kisero’s views resonate with proponents of ‘thick sovereignty’ who strenuously argued against the involvement of external mediators to quell the violence in 2007-8 on national sovereignty grounds. To this coterie of conservatives, Kenya would rather have been allowed to burn in a cauldron of self annihilation, if only to ingratiate its deep seated feelings of independence. In contrast, sovereignty within current global politics recognizes that the state is becoming embedded in a broader and deepening transnational arena concerned with the production of public goods. According to John Ruggie, a Harvard professor of international relations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Business, this shared sovereignty represents the new realism where sovereignty inheres not just in states but in people, namely citizens of these states. Appreciating this reality, our new constitution articulates peoples’ sovereignty in fairly unambiguous terms in article 1, thus “All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya.”
Third, international and regional regulation of electoral and democratic processes caution against looking at elections from an insular perspective. The AU, itself a less than liberal institution, taking a fairly pragmatic approach has legislated on the issue of elections through the adoption of the AU Charter on Democracy Elections and Good Governance. This treaty, which Kenya has signed, commits states parties to promote the “utilisation of information and communication technologies” in securing credible election outcomes. The import of ratifying such a treaty is to make Kenya amenable to regional and international supervision in relation to the conduct of its affairs relative to elections, thereby technically constraining the notion of sovereignty.
It therefore follows that credible and peaceful elections in Kenya are no longer an independent but an interdependent choice where the ‘public’ to be engaged is not merely the Kenyan public, even if Kenyan citizenry are implicitly the primary actor in this drama. To be apprehensive about this ‘external public’ is to shirk our responsibility to embrace a broader notion of peoples’ sovereignty.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Indigenous World, 2012: Kenya


http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/0573_THE_INDIGENOUS_ORLD-2012_eb.pdf

Review of Inter American System's Jurisprudence on Indigenous Peoples Rights


A SCHEMATIC APPRAISAL OF JURISPRUDENCE OF INTER AMERICAN COURT ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’  RIGHTS
CASE
FACTS
JUDGEMENT
ANALYSIS OF DECISION
COMPARATIVE JURISPRUDENCE & INTL INSTR. CITED
Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua
(Judgment of 31.8. 2001)
Awas Tingni is indigenous to Nicaragua’s Atlantic coastal region. The community held its ancestral territory for hundreds of years as collectivity. In 1995 the Awas Tingni learned of the Nicaragua government’s plan to grant a logging license to Korean lumber company SOLCARSA on more than 62,000 hectares of the community’s homeland. Although the Nicaragua Constitution concedes “equal protection” under law for indigenous communities, the government claimed that the Awas Tingni had neither legal title nor ancestral right to the land in question.
Right to judicial protection (art. 25 read together with art. 1(1) and 2); right to property (art.21) violated. IACtHR refused to find violation of right to life (4), privacy (11), conscience and religion (12), association (16), family (17), movement and residency (22) and right to participate in govt. (23). IACtHR ordered for delimitation demarcation and titling of Awas Tingni territory, legal reform, reparation (US$ 50,000), Costs (US$ 30,000)
-IACtHR uses “an evolutionary interpretation of international instruments for the protection of human rights, and takes into account norms of interpretation including article 29(b) of the Convention -which precludes a restrictive interpretation of rights to find that article 21 of the Convention protects the right to property “in a sense which includes, among others, the rights of members of the indigenous communities within the framework of communal property” (¶ 148).

-Court defines property as “those material things which can be possessed, as well as any right which may be part of a person’s patrimony; that concept includes all movables and immovable, corporeal and incorporeal elements and any other intangible object capable of having value” (¶ 144).

-Court recognizes that property notions founded on individual ownership must be adjusted to accommodate the unique property forms espoused by indigenous people, which includes collective ownership, right to freely live in their territory-these being justified because the “ close ties of indigenous people with the land [being] the fundamental basis of their cultures, their spiritual life, their integrity” ( ¶ 149).

- Court considers customary law of the community and proposes that “possession of the land should suffice for indigenous communities lacking real title to property of the land to obtain official recognition of that property and for consequent registration”. (¶ 151).

-Court also looks at trevaux preperetoires of the American Convention on Human Rights to determine the meaning of property in article 21. See concurring judgement of Sergio Garcia Ramirez J: “The language in which this right (property) is framed was meant to accommodate all subjects protected by the Convention. Obviously, there is no single model for the use and enjoyment of property”. (¶ 11).

-Court proposes that terms used in international human rights standards have autonomous meaning beyond those ascribed to them by national legislation. It looks at ILO Convention 169
ICJ/PCIJ
1. Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations (1949)
2. Factory at Chorzow (1928) [both for the proposition that obligation to provide adequate reparation for violations is a principle of international law.]

European CtHR

Kenmache v France (Jd of November 2,1993)

International Instruments and standards
ILO Convention 169 art. 14(1)
UN Draft Declaration on Indigenous Peoples (then)
Geneva Convention on Law of Treaties (art 31(1))
Moiwana v Suriname ( Judgement of June 15, 2005)
On November 29, 1986, Suriname army attacked the N’djuka Maroon village of Moiwana and massacred over 40 men, women and children, and razed the village to the ground. Those who escaped the attack fled into the surrounding forest, and then into exile or internal displacement. On November 12, 1987, almost a year later Suriname simultaneously ratified the American Convention on Human Rights and recognized the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Almost ten years later, on June 27, 1997, a petition was filed with the IACmHR and later on lodged with the IACtHR.
Court found violation of right to judicial protection in article 25, right to property in article 21, freedom of movement in article 22, right to fair trial in article 8 -all read within the penumbra of obligations set out in articles 1(1) and 2 of the Convention. IACtHR ordered for adoption of legislation to give effect to Moiwana property rights; establishment of community development fund for US$ 1,200,000 being compensation; awarded US$ 45,000 as costs
-The Court asserted jurisdiction by holding that Suriname’s failure “to investigate . . . starting from the date when Suriname recognized the Tribunal’s competence”  formed the basis for the Court’s jurisdiction
-Failure to investigate and punish massacre against an indigenous/tribal group will constitute a “continuing violation” for the purposes of determining the culpability of a state, even if the act complained against took place before the state had ratified a given treaty.

-Court infers that if a tribal or indigenous/tribal community cannot access its ancestral land by virtue of failure on part of state to visit just deserts upon perpetrators of a massacre, right to property of such community will have been violated. This is notwithstanding the fact that such a community may not have legally recognised title to the land and their claim is only anchored upon possession and historical occupation. (¶ 131).

-Ct found that an indigenous community’s claim to ancestral land was not defeated merely by the fact that they were no longer in possession, if it can be shown that they lost possession and continue so to do, through the instrumentality of state violence (¶ 134).

-Court declined to find that right to life in article 4 had been breached since the specific events, as opposed to their effects, which gave rise to lose of life, took place before the ratification of the Convention by Suriname, and its interrogation of these events fell outside the Court’s competence. (¶ 92).
Human Rights Committee
Communication 859/1999
Yakye Axa v. Paraguay (Judgement of June 17,2005)
The Yakye Axa community consists of indigenous people that historically engaged in hunting and gathering. Their ancestral land had been sold to foreign investors at the London stock exchange in the early 1900s and members of the community became labourers in the subsequent ranches and farms established. The community sought to return to their ancestral land in 1993 but were denied entry. In defiance of authority, they then set up a settlement by the roadside. Their state of destitution also created an environment of nutritional, medical, and sanitary vulnerability. While Paraguayan constitution and law recognizes indigenous rights, it was incapable of securing the rights sought by the Yakye Axa peoples.

Paraguay was held to have breached Articles 4 (Right to Life), 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), 21 (Right to Property), and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection). Ct. ordered for restitution of land, and demarcation, titling and transfer thereof in favour of Yakye Axa; Legal and administrative changes to secure property rights of community; establishment of community fund of US$ 950,000; Costs of US$ 15,000.
-IACtHR found that the right to judicial protection in articles 8 and 25 in combination with state obligation in articles 1(1) and 2 require that for a judicial recourse availed to claimants to be effective, formal recognition in the constitution or statute was not sufficient. Effectiveness of recourse will be a function of the appropriateness and capability of an established mechanism to secure remedy for a violation. (¶ 61). For indigenous people, Ct. established the need for legal protection that accords with the specificities of the economic, social and cultural context as well as their vulnerability and customary norms (¶ 63).

-In determining the existence of an effective procedure for indigenous land claim court will: i. examine formal existence of recourse mechanisms; ii. Examine the effectiveness of these mechanisms, which involves examining a. weighing the time taken to respond to the issue against the complexity thereof, b. procedural requirements to be met by the Claimant, and c. conduct of judicial authorities. (¶ 65). The net effect of this examination is to establish the existence of procedures that can provide real opportunity for the resolution of an indigenous peoples land claim (¶ 102).

-Legal recognition of the political leadership of an indigenous group for purposes of acquiring property or other rights is a mere formality the non procurement of which does not defeat their inherent claim. (¶¶ 82-84).

-The principle of rational use of property by third party cannot be used to trump an indigenous community’s historical claim, unless it can be shown that the state has done all within its facility to secure the interests of the indigenous vulnerable group. (¶ 97).

-Ct. took as its starting point its decision in Awas Tingni v Nicaragua to interpret article 21 as encompassing collective ancestral land rights of indigenous communities ¶ 124) on the basis of cultural and spiritual connectedness of indigenous people with their ancestral territory. It assessed the scope of property rights by looking at the Convention as a live instrument the interpretation of which must take into account the changing contexts (¶ 125). It also interpreted the Convention on basis of article 31 of Vienna Law of Treaties and Article 29 (b) of the Convention itself (¶¶ 126 & 129).

-The limitation of property rights in article 21(1) is permissible on the grounds of proportionality, namely, if the restriction is closely adjusted to the attainment of legitimate objective, interfering as little as possible with the exercise of the restricted right (¶ 145). The restriction must also not defeat the collective aspirations of the Convention (¶ 145).

- To comply with the article 21(1), State must show that it has assessed clash between ancestral property rights and private property rights and the proportionate impacts of permitting one to prevail over the other considered. The importance of indigenous land rights to their very survival as a cultural group should be taken into account in this balancing process (¶ 146). Ct. established that indigenous land rights will not always trump private property rights under this matrix, since states may have legitimate and justifiable reasons for sustaining private property rights over indigenous land rights (¶ 149).

-Alternatives to restitution of ancestral land to indigenous people must be pursued in consultation and with consent of indigenous group taking into consideration their institutions, values, customs and laws (¶ 151).  

-Failure to guarantee collective property rights to an indigenous community violates right to life of the community to the extent that access to traditional means of subsistence as well as use and enjoyment of natural resources are constrained (¶ ¶167 & 168).

-Court declines to find violation of right to life with respect to the death of 16 members of the community on the grounds of lack of causal connection (¶¶ 177 & 178).

-In finding that state is obliged to delimit and demarcate ancestral land of the Yakye Axa, Ct. stated that it was also upon the state to define the scope of such a territory: “…it is the state’s duty to identify the community’s territory and subsequently, delimit, demarcate, title and transfer the lands, inasmuch as it is the state that has the technical and scientific means to carry out these tasks” (¶ 23 of Yakye Axa v Paraguay Interpretation Judgement of February 6, 2006). Such identification of territory must factor in the historical memory of indigenous group with respect to the territorial scope.

-In dismissing state contention that restitution of ancestral land to the Sawhoyamaxa would prejudice investment treaty between Germany and Paraguay, the court was explicit that “the enforcement of bilateral commercial treaties…should always be compatible with the American Convention, which is a multilateral treaty on human rights that stands on its own…and does not depend entirely on reciprocity among states” (¶ 140).



ECtHR
Tyrer v United Kingdom, 5856/72 Judgment of April 25,1978

International human rights instruments and  Standards
-ILO Convention 169
-UN Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
-UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 14.
Yatama v Nicaragua
(Judgement of  June 23, 2005)
Pursuant to a new law in Nicaragua which required only political parties to participate in the electoral process, YATAMA, a regional political party was excluded from participating in the 2000 Mayoral elections for not meeting the threshold conditions of fielding candidates in 80% of the electoral areas in the RAAN & RAAS regions; a decision of the supreme electoral body that was not subject to judicial review. This was notwithstanding an accommodative provision in the Nicaraguan law that for indigenous organizations, their own natural form of organization and participation will be respected so that they may form regional parties [¶ 124(21)]. This resulted in non- participation of indigenous communities of the Atlantic Coast in the political processes and a four year exclusion from decision making process, hence increasing the vulnerability of indigenous communities in the regions.
Right to fair hearing in article 8, right to judicial remedies in article 25, article 23 on political participation of citizens and article 24 on equality before the law, read together with the obligations in article 1(1) and 2 of the Convention had been violated. Ct. awarded US$ 80,000 damages to YATAMA and another US$ 15,000 in costs. It also ordered the state to undertake legal reform, make public apology and publish the operative part of the decision.
-In indicting the decision of the Supreme Electoral Council to exclude Yatama from the 2000 elections, Ct. held that under article 8(1) of the Covenant, decisions of administrative bodies that may implicate human rights, such as the right to political participation, should be amenable to due process, otherwise they would be arbitrary ( ¶ 152).

- Ct. held explicitly that lack of judicial review of decision of an electoral body would offend article 25 of the Convention: “Irrespective of the regulations that each state establishes for its Supreme Electoral Body, the latter must be subject to some form of jurisdictional control that allows it to be determined whether its acts have been adopted respecting minimum guarantees and rights established by the American Convention, and those established in its own laws…” (¶ 175).

-Ct. held that while the regulation of political participation is permissible, under article 23 and 24, it must respect the principle of legality, necessity and proportionality in a democratic society: “Legality requires that state to define precisely by law, the requirement for voters to be able to take part in an election and stipulate clearly the electoral procedures prior to the elections…The restriction should be established by law, non- discriminatory, based on reasonable criteria, respond to a useful and opportune purpose… necessary to an urgent public interest, and be proportionate to this purpose.” The least restrictive option should be pursued (¶ 206).

-Ct confirmed that a statute that required the signatures of 3% of voters before one is deemed qualified to contest an election was an impermissible intrusion on the right to political participation (¶ 213).

-Ct found that any requirement for political participation that would render groups with different form of political organization unable to participate offends article 23 and 24 to the extent that it limits the enjoyment of political rights more than is strictly necessary and is an impediment to political participation (¶ 220).

- The Ct. established that the requirement that all political parties present candidates in at least 80% of the municipalities is a disproportionate restriction that unduly limited the political participation of the candidates postulated by YATAMA for the municipal elections of November 2000: “It does not take into account that the indigenous and ethnic population is a minority, nor that there would be municipalities in which there would be no support for candidates, or that there would be no interest to seek this support”(¶223).
-In its analysis, the Court understood that the obligation of the State to guarantee political rights implied that regulations for its exercise and application be carried out according to the principles of equality and non-discrimination. In the case of people who belong to indigenous or ethnic communities, the regulation must also take into account specifications such as their languages, customs and forms of organization, which may be different from the majority of the population (¶¶ 218 & 219).

- Thus, the Court held that Nicaragua is obligated to “adopt all the necessary measures to guarantee that members of indigenous and ethnic communities of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua can participate, under conditions of equality, in the development policies that influence, or could influence, their rights and the development of their communities.”(¶ 225).

-Ct. held that the denial of YATAMA to participate in the 2000 elections, foreclosed the participation of indigenous peoples in decision affecting them and diluted the democratic credentials of the entire electoral process, impacting negatively on the development of a multicultural state that respects diversity (¶¶  225,226 & 227)


The decision extensively relied on comparative jurisprudence from the ECtHR, and Human Rights Committee. It also analyses and applies various legal standards emerging from treaty bodies etc. See e.g. footnote to ¶ 184 and 192.
Sawhoyamaxa v Paraguay
The Sawhoyamaxa lost their land in 19th century when it was sold at London Stock Exchange to repay sovereign dates owing to Paraguay after the War of the Triple Alliance. The new owners employed the indigenous group as casual labourers and restricted their access to traditional lands, thus bringing about significant changes in its subsistence activities. They increasingly depended on their salary for food and took advantage of their temporary stay in the various estates settled in the area to continue developing their subsistence activities (hunting, fishing, and gathering). Even with a new legal framework that envisages restitution of land to indigenous groups, the Sawhoyamaxa’s claim had not been processed by the state 11 years after commencing the procedural requirements. This has barred the Community and its members from title to and possession of their lands, and has kept the community in a state of nutritional, medical and health vulnerability, which constantly threatens their survival and integrity and had resulted in several deaths.


IACtHR ruled in favour of Sawhoyamaxa community and found violation of articles 3 (juridical personality); 4 (right to life); 8 (fair hearing) ; 25 (effective remedy) ,and  21 (property)
-The Ct. established that the lack of legal framework to support compulsory acquisition of land under rational use by third parties and ensure its restitution to indigenous community renders the provision of the Paraguayan Constitution and Agrarian Legislation which provide possibility for land claims by indigenous peoples in the country incapable of satisfying the requirements of articles 8 and 25 of the Convention (¶¶ 102-108). Congressional economic justifications for rejecting request to condemn land and transfer it to an indigenous group, likewise fails to satisfy articles 8 and 25 (¶ 105).

-Ct made it clear that the foundation for collective property in favour of indigenous people is based on its aspiration not to discriminate between two systems of property ownership. The court observed that “This notion of ownership and possession of land does not necessarily conform to the classical concept of property, but deserves equal protection under article 21 of the American Convention. Disregard for this specific  version of use and enjoyment of property, springing from the culture, uses, customs and beliefs of each people, would be tantamount to holding that there is only one way of using and disposing of property, which in turn would render the protection under article 21 …illusory for millions of persons” (¶ 120).

-Ct. reaffirmed the principles established in Awas Tingi v Nicaragua  and set out substantive norms on the nature and scope of indigenous land rights thus: 1) their traditional possession of lands is equivalent  to fee simple property/free hold title; 2) their traditional possession gives rise to a legitimate demand for official recognition and registration of property title; 3) forced displacement of indigenous people from ancestral territory does not divest them of title to their property even though they lack legal title, unless the lands have been lawfully transferred to third parties in good faith, in which event; 4) they are entitled to restitution thereof or to obtain other lands of equal extension and quality. (¶ 128).

-Indigenous community’s right to restitution of ancestral land from which they were displaced will subsist as long as their cultural connection to the land survives. The court found that such close relationship with ancestral land is “ expressed in different ways, depending on the particular indigenous people involved and the specific circumstances surrounding it, and it may include the traditional use or presence, be it through spiritual or ceremonial ties; settlements or sporadic cultivation; seasonal or nomadic gathering, hunting and fishing; the use of natural resources associated with their customs and any other element characterizing their culture” (¶ 131). The rights of indigenous people whom the state prevents from manifesting their cultural connectedness to a given ancestral land through repression or violence will not lapse (¶ 132).

-In finding violation of article 4 on right to life and holding the state culpable for the deaths of 18 minors, members of the Sawhoyamaxa, the court restated its basis thus: “ In order for this positive obligation to arise, it must be determined that at the time of the  occurrence of the events, the authorities knew or should have known about the existence of a situation posing an  immediate and certain risk to the life of an individual or of a  group of individuals, and that the necessary measures were not adopted within the scope of their authority which could be reasonably expected to prevent or avoid such a risk” (¶ 155). The court adopting this to the vulnerable situation of the community, opined that “those measures which the state undertook to adopt before the members of the Sawhoyamaxa community were different, in view of the urgent nature, from those the state should adopt to guarantee the rights of the population…in general” (¶ 173).

ECtHR
Kilic v Turkey (2000) III, EurCourtHR,63
Oneryldiz v Turkey, Application No. 48939/99, EurCourtHR (gc), Judgement of November 30, 2004
Osman v United Kingdom (1998) VIII, 116

International Instruments and standards
ILO Convention 169
UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Saramaka v Suriname
(Judgement of November 28, 2007).
The Saramaka are a tribal community descending from slaves who after freeing themselves were recognized as an autonomous group by treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities in 1762. Since the 16th Century, the community has collectively occupied the Upper Suriname River lands where they practise hunting and gathering, fishing and traditional agriculture (¶¶ 80-84). A Chinese logging company was granted concessions to log in the territory traditionally occupied by the Saramaka without their prior informed consent nor compensation.  Gold mining concessions were equally issued by the state of Suriname. Both development activities had serious impact on the cultural intergrity and environment and therefore threaten the very survival of the community. The Government of Suriname argued that the Saramaka as a collectivity lacked standing before the court. It submitted that its grant of logging and mining concessions were part and parcel of its sovereign rights and were carried out in accordance with domestic law. It contended that the Saramaka were licensees in the land in dispute with respect to which, the state had ultimate title. In particular, it alleged that the community has no right with respect to sub- surface natural resources, including timber and minerals, over which the state sovereign rights permitted its unfettered exploitation in the public interest and according to law. It further pleaded that legislation singling out protection of the Saramaka community’s alleged ancestral land would be discriminatory. In the circumstance, it was not in violation of any of the provisions of the Convention
The State was found to be in violation of the right to property, as recognized in Article 21, the right to juridical personality in article 3 and the right to judicial protection under article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights in relation to the obligations to respect, ensure, and to give domestic legal effect to said rights, in accordance with Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof. The State was ordered to delimit, demarcate, and grant collective title over the territory of the members of the Saramaka people, in accordance with their customary laws and in consultation with the community.

The State was ordered to grant the members of the Saramaka people legal recognition of the collective juridical capacity, pertaining to the community to which they belong, with the purpose of ensuring the full exercise and enjoyment of their right to communal property, as well as collective access to justice, in accordance with their communal system, customary laws, and traditions. Damages of US$ 675,000 to be managed by an Implementing Committee of 3 persons and applied towards community development awarded. Costs of US$ 85,000 payable to the 2 Representatives of the Victims-Forest Peoples Programme and Association of Saramaka Authorities also awarded.





-With respect to the right to property, the court affirmed that scope of indigenous and tribal peoples land rights should be established by an assessment of the customary norms of the community and on the basis of consultation with them (¶¶ 100 & 101). In this respect, a statute that merely grants an interest (as apposed to a right) to the indigenous community in relation to their land,  subjecting their enjoyment to public good, will not satisfy the obligation of a state under article 2 of the Convention (¶¶ 108-110) . A statute that compensated only title holders to land the subject matter of mining and leaves non-title holders (the Saramaka) without recourse would also fail to satisfy article 2 of the Convention (¶111).

-The court interpreted the proviso to article 21 of the Convention as capable of permitting a restriction in the enjoyment and use of land and natural resources within the territory of an indigenous or tribal group. Such restriction must be established by a law of general application and should be necessary, proportional and aimed at achieving a legitimate objective in a democratic society (¶ 127).

-The court explicitly held that restriction of property rights will not be permitted if it has the effect of threatening the survival and existence of a tribal or indigenous community and its culture (¶ 128 -To ensure that  the exploitation of natural resources did not threaten the survival of indigenous and tribal group, the court obliges state parties to the Convention to: i) ensure effective participation of the community in conformity with their customs and traditions in any development process; ii) secure their benefit sharing in the outcomes of the development program, and; iii) undertake prior legitimate and comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment of the proposed development intervention (¶ 129)
-The court also established that in order to achieve the participation of indigenous or tribal people in small scale logging/mining development, state parties must secure the free, prior, informed and culturally-compliant consultation of indigenous people (¶ 133). However, with respect to large scale logging/mining programs, state obligation goes beyond consultation and enlarges into prior, informed consent (¶¶ 134-137 (referencing CERD General Comment no. 23 and Special Rapporteur’s report).In this, the court was emphatic:

“…the safeguard of effective participation that is necessary when dealing with major development or investment plans that may have a profound impact on the property rights of the members of the Saramaka people to a large part of their territory must be understood to additionally require the free, prior and informed consent of the Saramakas, in accordance with their traditions and customs.”

Whether a development is small scale or large scale is an issue of fact based on its impact on indigenous peoples’ culture and livelihood.
South Africa
Alexkor Ltd. & Government of South Africa v Richtersveld Community and Others, CCT/1903 (October 14, 2003).

Canada
Delgamuukw v British Columbia [1997] 3 S.C.R 1010 (December 11,1997)

African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
The Social and Economic Rights Action Centre & the Centre for Economic and Social Rights v Nigeria, Communication 155/96 (2001)

European Court for Human Rights
Connors v United Kingdom Application No. 66746/01 (Judgement of July 15,2002)


Human Rights Committee
Lansman v Finland, Communication 511/1992, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/52/D/511/1994 [Decision of November 8, 1994]).
Apirana Nahuika et al. v New Zealand,  Communication No. 547/1993,
U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/70/D/547/1993 (2000).

International instruments and standards
- Universal Declaration on Human Rights
-International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights
-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
 ILO Convention 169
 -World Bank Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples,
-UNHRC General Comment 23
-UN CERD General Recommendation No. 23. -UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights.