World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

Africa was the cradle of humanity and home to ancient kingdoms including those of Nubia and Egypt. Other great civilizations, including the Kongo and Ashanti, arose prior to contact with Arab and European arrivals on the continent. The newcomers vastly increased the scale of slave-taking that already existed in some African societies; over the course of some 450 years, the slave trade to Europe, Arabia, and the Americas led to the depopulation of much of the continent’s interior and the destruction or deformation of many African cultures. Even as slavery was being abolished, European powers lured by the continent’s abundant natural resources engaged in a ‘scramble for Africa’, carving the continent into colonies along boundaries that disregarded existing societies. Today Africans of over 1,000 ethno-linguistic groups live on a continent divided into 53 countries plus Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

Colonialism and de-colonization

To maintain control over African populations and resources, colonial administrations frequently pursued divide-and-rule tactics. This entailed granting privileges to individuals and entire peoples to the detriment of other peoples and the general welfare. Ethnic and religious tensions encouraged or created by colonial rulers persist in many parts of the continent today, perhaps the most prominent example of which is Hutu-Tutsi tension in Rwanda and Burundi that has led to cycles of mass violence lasting decades into the post-colonial era.

Most African colonies won their struggles for independence in the 1950s and 1960s, although racist white-dominated regimes in Rhodesia (today’s Zimbabwe) and South Africa persisted until 1980 and 1994, respectively. On most of the continent liberation from colonial rule gave way to similar divide-and-rule tactics and corruption practiced by Africa’s new leaders. As political elites steered patronage to their tribesmen and stifled dissent, conflicts erupted. Cold War powers poured fuel on these fires, fighting proxy wars with African bodies.

Minority groups and indigenous people under threat

Even after the end of the Cold War, most African countries remain plagued by poor governance, corruption and poverty. For the most part wealth from such resources as oil, timber and diamonds has enriched only elites, and struggle for its control has fed many conflicts – including those in Angola, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo – where elites have appealed to tribal and religious loyalty to gain popular support for their battles. The continent has been plagued by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria and other health crises, even as many populations still lack access to medical facilities, clean water, and opportunities for education and employment. As Africans have faced new challenges, from increased global economic competition to worsening drought bought on by global warming, their governments have often failed them. Some governments have comprehensively failed to assert state authority, as in Somalia and large swathes of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The marginalization of Islamic groups in parts of Northern, Eastern and Western Africa has provided fertile ground for extremist movements, and prompted a trend in the international approach to Africa that stresses the ‘global war on terror’. To the extent that this effort contributes to the further marginalization of Muslim communities, it is likely to be counter-productive.

Across the continent, neglect and hostility disproportionately targets minority peoples. The most marginalized peoples are often indigenous groups such as the Berber of North Africa and the Batwa of Central Africa. In Botswana, a country where natural resource management has led to the development of a middle class, indigenous San peoples face government policies of dispossession and discrimination.

The notion of ‘minorities’ in Africa can be difficult, as often entire country populations consist of numerical minorities; Zambia, for instance, has around 70 ethno-linguistic groups, none of which constitutes a majority. In Burundi, Hutu feel marginalized because they have often lived under Tutsi-dominated regimes that carried out massacres of Hutu. Conversely, in Rwanda, Tutsi simultaneously perceive themselves as vulnerable to Hutu domination through mass violence—a threat to which the 1994 Rwandan genocide attests. Some African minorities are reluctant to be seen as such, as the label is so clearly associated with marginalization. The minority rights approach, however, aims to overcome this marginalization through its stress on equality, participation, and empowerment of non-dominant groups. The Minority Rights Group is working with marginalized pastoralist minorities in Eastern Africa and indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region. One key issue for many minorities is land rights. Non-dominant minorities in Africa to make way often find themselves pushed off their ancestral land to make way for tourism or business developments which exploit natural resources, such as forests or gem-mining. MRG has been seeking to support minorities, through its legal cases programme, and its Trouble in Paradise campaign, to bring these issues to a wider audience.

Human rights infrastructure

The ACHPR is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights in Africa and adjudicating complaints regarding breaches of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. Based in The Gambia, the ACHPR remains little known to most Africans, and governments frequently ignore its findings. However, it is an increasing point of focus for African human rights organizations. The ACHPR reports to the African Union (AU), of which every African state except Morocco is a member. The AU has recently undertaken peacekeeping missions in the Darfur region of Sudan and Somalia. These efforts at ending ethnic, religious and clan warfare have been hobbled by poor organization and insufficient resources, but represent a significant development in African conflict management. Member states of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and many regional organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern Africa Development Community, offer additional mechanisms to address Africa’s myriad problems. All too often, however, member states have acted to protect fellow members from criticism at the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly, and other forums.