SADC member states urged to uphold Indegenous People’s rights
SADC member states urged to place land at the centre of IPs, debate
CAPE TOWN - A lot has to be done by the Southern African Development Community ( SADC) member states to ensure that rights of the Indigenous Peoples ( IP) are protected.
According to Bakhwe Human Rights activist, Gakemotho Satau, as indigenous people they make a strong request for recognition, respect and human rights protection for IPs.
Satau told participants during an Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Training in Cape Town that indigenous people’s rights are collective rights and not an individual’s rights hence they need to be respected for the benefit of SADC and should not be confused as minority rights.
He argued that inclusion of IPs as peoples and to have a say in their own future, based on their own culture, identity, hopes and visions has to be considered.
“SADC must adhere to protocols such as the UN Frameworks and Conventions on the rights of IPs, African Commission, IWGs, UNSR- rights of IPs and there has to be subsequent implementation of such procedures.
“Land rights is a critical commodity to IPs, hence SADC states member states should place land at the centre of IPs debate. There has to be shareholding participation on their development,” Satau said, adding that the UN has undertaken further initiatives to promote the cause of indigenous peoples across the globe.
He pointed out that challenges faced by IPs are among others, that their human rights and fundamental freedoms are not safeguarded. Indigenous rights will lead to tribalism and ethnic conflict, undermining of the knowledge systems, threatened existence, vulnerable and unable to cope with environmental uncertainty, and official discrimination where there is exclusion and dispossession of indigenous peoples by government institutions and dominant groups.
“The meaning of indigenous people is ‘ native or belonging naturally to a place. Indigenous people mean that they have a historical continuity before pre- invasion and pre- colonial societies and have developed on their territories and consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the prevailing society.
“Indigenous peoples have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.
“The African Commission recognises that the issue of indigenous peoples’ rights appears to be a sensitive one for many African governments. Key characteristics which identify indigenous people and communities in Africa does not aim to give a clear cut definition of indigenous peoples as there is no global consensus on a single universal definition, and nor would such a definition be desirable or necessary,” Satau told the workshop.
He argued that the IPs limitations in SADC are that their cultures are under threat, in some cases to the point of extinction due to forced assimilation into the mainstream cultures and development paradigms.
He said they are further evicted from their land or been denied access to the natural resources upon which their survival as peoples depends. The survival of their particular way of life depends on access and rights to their traditional lands and the natural resources, opined Satau.
He pointed out that in African context, the question of aboriginality or of ‘ who came first’ is not, in itself, a significant characteristic by which to identify indigenous peoples.
Rather than aboriginality,
in Africa the principle of selfidentification is a key criterion for identifying indigenous peoples, he said, adding that this principle requires that people identify themselves as indigenous, and as distinctly different from other groups within the state.
“The term ‘ indigenous’ is not applicable ( yes/ no) in SADC like many other African regions as ‘ all Africans are indigenous’. There is no question that all Africans are indigenous to Africa in the sense that they were there before the European colonialists arrived and that they were subject to subordination during colonialism.
“In Botswana, all Batswana are indigenous, the Khoisan must assimilate to monolingual Tswana cultural symphony ( learn, think, cry, marry Setswana) – a serious violation of Article 5 of the African Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms,” stated Satau.