UN expert urges Kenya to
protect rights of indigenous people facing eviction
13 January 2014 – An independent United
Nations human rights expert today urged the Kenyan Government to protect the
rights of the Sengwer indigenous people who have lived in the Embobut Forest
for centuries and are now facing eviction.
“Indigenous peoples shall
not be forcibly relocated from their lands or territories,” said the Special
Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya.
“No relocation shall take
place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples
concerned and after agreement of fair and just compensation and, where
possible, the option of return,” he added in a news release.
The Sengwer people, also
known as the Cherangany indigenous people, have lived, hunted and gathered in
the Embobut Forest area in Kenya’s Rift Valley for hundreds of years. Today,
many of them still live in or near the Forest and continue to engage in cultural
and subsistence practices in the area.
According to reports,
police forces have been amassing in the area in preparation for evictions
ordered by the Government in pursuit of its forest and water conservation
objectives. Since the 1970s, Kenyan authorities have made repeated efforts to
forcibly evict the Sengwer from the forest for resettlement in other areas.
“Any removal of Sengwer
people from their traditional lands should not take place without adequate
consultations and agreement with them, under just terms that are fully
protective of their rights,” Mr. Anaya stressed.
He urged the Government to
ensure that the human rights of the Sengwer indigenous people are fully
respected, in strict compliance with international standards, including the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Independent experts, or
special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council
to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights
theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are
they paid for their work.
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