In a landmark decision, an African regional body has found the Kenyan government guilty of violating the rights of the country's indigenous Endorois community, by evicting them from their lands to make way for a wildlife reserve.
The decision, by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, creates a major legal precedent by recognising, for the first time in Africa, indigenous peoples' rights over traditionally owned land and their right to development.
The decision was adopted by the African Commission in May 2009 and approved by the African Union at its January 2010 meeting in Addis Ababa.
"Minority Rights Group International applauds the African Commission's ruling on this case. Aside from providing immediate remedy to the Endorois community by affirming their collective right to ancestral lands, the decision constitutes a milestone in the development of indigenous rights in Africa," says Lucy Claridge, Minority Rights Group International's (MRG) Head of Law.
Endorois land was originally appropriated by the Kenyan government in the 1970s to create the Lake Bogoria National Reserve.
MRG, and Kenyan NGO the Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE), lodged a complaint with the African Commission in 2003, claiming that the Kenyan government had violated the African Charter by failing to recognise and protect the Endorois' ancestral land rights and refusing to compensate the community adequately or grant restitution of their land.
"We are delighted that the African Commission has recognised the wrong that was done decades ago," says Wilson Kipsang Kipkazi, of the Endorois Welfare Council (EWC). "This decision is the result of a sustained campaign for the recognition of the Endorois as a distinct indigenous community and the restoration of our ancestral land."