Landmark decision rules Kenya’s removal of indigenous people from ancestral land illegal
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.
Read the full press release and download the decision (PDF).
For more information about the case see our legal cases page.
To view and use photos see the MRG photo gallery on Flickr.
New report
From the MRG Blog
Cecile Clerc, MRG’s Head of Fundraising, discovers how Thailand’s tourism industry is exploiting highland ethnic minorities... and does the right thing. Read more...
Lucy Claridge, MRG’s Head of Law, visits a Batwa community in Burundi and learns that access to justice can seem like a far-flung dream for families struggling to meet their most basic needs. Read more...
Photo Story
Refugees in their own land
Armed conflict has left an estimated 2 million people displaced in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Among the worst affected are Bambuti Pygmies who, since being forced to leave their homes, have suffered repeated displacement.
A joint mission by the Congolese Network of Pygmy Organizations and Minority Rights Group International in September 2009 found how, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, they remain at grave risk.
Photos by Mark Lattimer/MRG.