Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) -The hearing in a landmark case challenging the Kenyan government’s right to evict the Ogiek ethnic community, an indigenous minority claiming the right to inhabit the expansive Mau forest, opens here Thursday.
The Ogiek land case is seeking action from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights against the Kenyan government for “serious and massive violations of human rights and failure to comply with court orders.”
The case was filed before the African Court by the Centre for Minority Rights Development in Kenya on behalf of the Ogiek community.
A full court hearing will be held at the headquarters of the AU, about the rights of the 20,000 members of the Ogiek community, contesting the government’s orders to withdraw from the forest.
In court documents, seen by PANA, the Ogiek Community claims orders issued by the government of Kenya, evicting them from the 400,000 hectares Mau forest complex, would seriously violate their community rights to land.
The court file shows there is a “near universal acknowledgement” of the Ogiek’s dependence on the Mau as space for the exercise of their traditional livelihoods and as the source of their sacred identity, which should not be violated.
In an attempt to deal with large-scale land acquisitions affecting local communities, the AU this month issued a set of guidelines, requiring countries to safeguard community land rights while developing or deciding land policies.
Photo: First people
