Extractive Industries, Land Rights and Indigenous Populations’/Communities’ Rights
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Industries extractives, Droits fonciers et Droits des Populations/Communautés autochtones autochtones Populations/Communautés des Droits et fonciers Droits extractives, Industries Extractive Industries, Land Rights and Indigenous Populations’/Communities’ Rights Report of the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities Extractive Industries, Land Rights and Indigenous Populations’/Communities’ Rights East, Central and Southern Africa Submitted in accordance with the ”Resolution on the Rights of Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa” Adopted by The African Commission on Human and Peoples’s Rights at its 58th Ordinary Session 2017 Report of the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities Extractive Industries, Land Rights and Indigenous Populations’/Communities’ Rights Copyright: IWGIA Typesetting and Layout: Jorge Monrás Prepress and print: Eks-Skolens Trykkeri, Copenhagen, Denmark ISBN: 978-87-92786-76-0 AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS (ACHPR) No 31 Bijilo Annex Layout, Kombo North District, Western Region – P.O.Box 673 – Banjul, The Gambia Tel: (+220) 441 05 05/441 05 06 – E-mail: [email protected] – Web: www.achpr.org INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS Classensgade 11 E, DK 2100 – Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: (+45) 35 27 05 00 – E-mail: [email protected] – Web: www.iwgia.org The report has been produced with the financial support of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Table of contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................6 Foreword ..................................................................................................................8 Executive Summary ................................................................................................10 I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................16 II. ISSUES AND DEFINITIONS ...............................................................................23 A. Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa? .....................................23 B. Land Rights for Whom? ...........................................................................28 C. Beyond Extractive Industries? .................................................................35 III. MECHANISMS AND SAFEGUARDS .................................................................40 A. Protect, Respect and Remedy.................................................................41 B. Free, Prior, and Informed Consent ..........................................................44 C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ....................................52 D. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples .......................54 E. African Union and Africa Commission .....................................................56 F. Extractive Industry Standards..................................................................58 G. International Financial Institutions ...........................................................64 H. Indigenous Voices ...................................................................................66 I. Good Practices and the Absence Thereof ...............................................67 IV. COUNTRY PROFILES ........................................................................................70 A. Uganda: Communal Tenure in Focus .........................................................71 1. National Setting .................................................................................72 2. Local Context ....................................................................................78 3. Discussion .........................................................................................87 B. Namibia: Whose Sovereignty over Natural Resources? ......................................88 1. National Setting .................................................................................89 2. Local Context ....................................................................................94 3. Discussion .......................................................................................100 C. Kenya: Moving Downstream ....................................................................102 1. National Setting ...............................................................................102 2. Local Context ..................................................................................106 3. Discussion ....................................................................................... 118 D. Cameroon: Beyond Oil, Gas and Minerals ...............................................120 1. National Setting ...............................................................................120 2. Local Context ..................................................................................123 3. Discussion .......................................................................................129 V. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................130 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................132 A. African states .........................................................................................132 B. Business Enterprises .............................................................................134 C. International Financial Institutions .........................................................135 D. Indigenous populations/communities ....................................................136 E. Civil Society Organisations ....................................................................137 F. National Human Rights Institutions .......................................................137 G. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ............................138 6 REPORT OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION’S WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS/COMMUNITIES Acronyms and Abbreviations ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights AfDB African Development Bank CAR Central African Republic CBO Community-based organisation CCO Certificates of Customary Ownership CED Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement CERD Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination CLA Communal Land Associations CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ECO Ecological Christian Organisation ECOFAC Conservation et utilisation rationnelle des écosystèmes forestiers en Afrique centrale EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative EMRIP United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment FPIC Free, Prior and Informed Consent FPP Forest Peoples Programme ICMM International Council on Mining & Metals IFC International Finance Corporation IPO Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations KEDF Kaoko-Epupa Development Foundation KNCHR Kenya National Commission on Human Rights LAC Law Assistance Centre LAPSSET Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NNDFN Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia NULP Northern Uganda Land Platform OD Operational Directive OKANI Association OKANI OP Operational Policy REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation SEAT Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 7 SRIP UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples ULA Uganda Land Alliance UN United Nations UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNHR United Nations Human Rights UNPFII United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues WGEI Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations WGIP Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa WWF World Wildlife Fund 8 REPORT OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION’S WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS/COMMUNITIES Foreword frica’s quest for development has largely, if not wholly, been premised on its rich Aland and natural resources. Although for most African countries achieving eco- nomic growth driven by natural resources has been illusive at best and devastating at worst, they continue to hinge their hopes and dreams on it. Especially in the last two decades, African countries seem to have redoubled their efforts to explore and extract every natural resource within their jurisdiction with a view to ‘industrialize and moder- nize’ their economies. This has been exacerbated by the skyrocketing of the global demand for natural resources driven especially by the rapid growth of non-Western economies with huge populations such as China and India, and the establishment of liberal investment regimes and proliferation of risk-mitigating investment agreements that have enabled transnational enterprises to operate in regions that were previously beyond reach. Indigenous communities of Africa are the ones who feel the brunt of this phenome- non the most. This is mainly because, first, indigenous communities in Africa live on or near lands and territories where most of these remaining natural resources are found. Second, traditionally indigenous communities by and large have collective land tenure systems which is not recognized by many African states and even worse is considered terra nullius (no one’s land) since there is no ‘visible’ use or occupation of the land. Hence, they are evicted from their ancestral lands and territories without any free,