In a historic 2022 ruling, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the forced eviction of the Indigenous Batwa community from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was a violation of their rights. With this communication, made public in June 2024, came a list of 19 recommendations for the DRC government to implement to address a series of rights violations. While Indigenous, civil society and human rights organizations say they are hopeful, months after the communication, questions remain about whether and how the government will implement the recommendations. “The president promised to respect the rule of law. We hope he will implement the decision,” said Bahati Malenga Majafu, a Batwa man living outside the park. The government did not respond to requests regarding their plans, however an official of the park shared that there are efforts to address the conflict. “We are currently in a process to find sustainable solutions to reconcile the needs of the Indigenous communities and the protection of biodiversity,” Arthur Kalonji, acting director of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, told Mongabay. He did not directly refer to the commission’s recommendations. The Batwa were evicted from the lush forests of eastern DRC in the 1970s during a campaign to formally protect a section of the Congo Basin. Thousands of people were forcibly removed from the forests they conserved for generations with no compensation or alternative land. They’ve lived in a state of extreme poverty, facing discrimination, high mortality rates and loss of culture. The commission’s communication against these…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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