African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 34th Session
Agenda Item 9(a):
Human Rights Situation in Africa
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Madam Chair and Commissioners, Representatives of States, National Human Rights
Institutions, and NGOs.
I speak on behalf of Minority Rights Group International.
Minority Rights Group International has just published a Briefing Paper on Recognizing
Minorities in Africa.1 As the paper points out, some states in Africa are not paying sufficient
attention to the rights of minorities. These states appear to have concerns regarding the use of
the term ‘minority’, as elaborated at the international level, to refer to marginalized ethnic,
linguistic and religious groups in Africa. In order to secure the rights of minorities, the
challenge today is to accommodate ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity, to promote the
richness of different community values and to combat political, economic and social
exclusion, in line with their fundamental rights as articulated in international law. This leads
to the protection and promotion of human rights, constructive co-existence and conflict
prevention, and serves as a means of countering the manipulation of identities for political
purposes.
To start with, recognition of the existence of minorities would help to achieve the aims of
preserving their identities and obtaining equality with all other groups in a state, including in
relation to participation in political life as well as in development issues. To provide some
general guidance on who constitutes minorities in Africa in line with international norms the
following elements could be considered:
1. any ethnic, linguistic or religious group within a state;
2. in a non-dominant position in the state in which they live;
3. consisting of individuals, who possess a sense of belonging to that group;
4. determined to preserve and develop their distinct ethnic identity;
5. discriminated against or marginalized on the grounds of their ethnicity, language or
religion.
And notably, the key criterion that is increasingly accepted internationally in the
determination of minority status is that of self-identification, as it is for the determination of
who constitutes an indigenous person.
1
S. Slimane, Recognizing Minorities in Africa, Minority Rights Group International, 2003. Available in English and French.
It is of importance, in this regard, to consider the concept of minorities in the African context,
where political elites have exploited ethnic, tribal or religious differences for political ends
and where, for example, numerically smaller groups may exert political dominance or where
numerically larger groups have been excluded from political power.
Significantly, while the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights makes no specific
reference to minorities, it has been the practice of the African Commission to address the issue
of minorities within the context of its review of the implementation of provisions of the
Charter,2 and a minority rights approach is also reflected in state reporting Guidelines.
The recognition of the distinct identities of minorities does not pose a threat to national unity,
nor does it undermine the objective of nation building - as has been the concern of some
African states. In fact quite the opposite is the case as it is widely recognized that there is a
direct link between conflicts and the violation of minority rights.3 As the Acting UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights recently noted in his address to the High Level Working
Session of the African Peer Review Panel:4 “The protection of minorities and vulnerable
groups [would] require particular attention … It would be important to develop in Africa a
framework of norms and institutions for the protection of minorities”. In this regard it should
be noted that despite the attention given to the terrible ethnic conflicts that continue to mar
African history, there has been little international attention given to traditional African
methods that successfully mediate between ethnic groups, resolve conflicts and strengthen
relations. As efforts are made to ensure protection of minorities in Africa in accordance with
international law, it will also be useful to draw upon these traditions to build truly
multicultural societies in Africa.
A second point I would like to raise that has direct relevance to the protection of human rights
in Africa is that of development understood as a human right. Minority Rights Group
International is actively working on the right to development and has recently published a
report with the UN Independent Expert on the Right to Development.5 This report, which is
available here today, provides a legal analysis of rights and obligations within the right to
development, and further details the intersection between the rights of minorities, the rights of
indigenous peoples and the right to development. The right to development is fundamentally
different to other development frameworks because it places human rights at the centre; as the
Independent Expert on the Right to Development has noted: all objectives of policy, indices of
social development even economic growth are seen as rights that must be achieved in a
manner consistent with international human rights norms.6 National development has far to go
to meet the requirements of fulfilling a right to development including for marginalized
groups, a prime example being that Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) largely fail to
address minorities and indigenous peoples.
2
For examples see S. Slimane as above.
1994 Declaration on a Code of Conduct for Inter-African Relations.
4 Cape Town, South Africa, 25 July 2003.
5 M. E. Salomon and A. Sengupta, The Right to Development: Obligations of States and the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous
Peoples, Minority Rights Group International, 2003
6 A. Sengupta, Fifth report of the independent expert on the right to development, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/WG.18/6.
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Poverty eradication and sustainable development is the basic premise of both the right to
development, which is recognised in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights7 and
the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).8 However, “NEPAD does not yet
explicitly state the centrality of human rights”9 or the right to development. Human rights
concerns are addressed as broadly defined actions and human right principles and objectives
are not sufficiently integrated into the strategic plan of action. The UN independent expert
highlighted two fundamental requirements for integrating the right to development approach
and other mechanisms and frameworks for development cooperation. “First the realization of
human rights and fundamental freedoms... must be the central aim... Second, there must be an
independent rights-based mechanism to monitor the performances of all the countries, the
obligations of the developing countries to implement the programmes for the right to
development and the obligations of the international community to cooperate with these
countries, effectively and in full measure.”10
Given that the African Charter recognises a right to development and that NEPAD is getting
underway, the time and place are right for development understood as a human right of all
people to be given practical and effective meaning in Africa and that includes with the full
consideration of the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, and with their full and
effective participation.
Thank you for your attention.
7
See Article 22.2 of the African Charter.
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
9 A. Sengupta, (op. cit.), para 24
10 A. Sengupta, (op. cit.), para 53
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