[JURIST] The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights ruled Thursday that the government of Kenya violated the rights of the Endorois people when it forcibly evicted them from their land. The Endorois are a group of about 60,000 people who were removed from their land around Lake Bogoria in 1973 when the Kenyan government began developing the region. They were represented by Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) and the Kenyan organization Minority Rights Development, which filed the initial complaint with the commission in 2003. The African Commission found that the government violated Articles 1, 8, 14, 17, 21 and 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and ordered the government to take steps within three months to begin returning the land to the Endorois and providing them with compensation. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) lawyer representing the Endorois applauded the decision, calling it “the first of its kind.” Another lawyer for the Endorois, Korir Sing’Oei, praised the commission’s decision:
This ruling is likely to further expose the inadequacy of Kenya’s current constitution, which fails to accord protection to minorities, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups. It will put pressure on those drafting the new constitution to put in place positive measures to address this glaring omission.Kenya is currently in the process of revising its constitution, having unveiled a new draft in November. Other African peoples have faced similar land disputes with their governments, including the Botswana San, or Bushmen people who were relocated by the government from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1997. A spokesperson for a rights group representing the Bushmen announced last month that they would take their land dispute case against the Botswana government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).