Communication Under Articles 55, 56, and 58 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights Concerning Violation of Land Rights of an Indigenous Ethnic Minority in Cameroon
While the core of this Communication centers on the persistent violation of the protected right to property, other fundamental human rights are also implicated.
As Special Rapporteur Erica-Irene Daes correctly observed in her excellent study, commissioned by and for the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (formerly the U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities), entitled “Relevant Legal Standards and Materials Concerning Indigenous Lands and Resources,” land and resource issues, particularly the dispossession of an indigenous peoples from the lands they have historically owned and occupied, are issues of fundamental nature that implicate all the existing international human rights instruments. The Commission will see that this Communication and the accompanying documents reveal a pattern of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Government of Cameroon. The People whom I represent are, individually and collectively, direct victims of these violations and all have reliable knowledge that enables them to present clear evidence of their violations.
Click here for a printer-friendly version of the petition in pdf format
Comments