The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on Tuesday released a landmark decision declaring that the displacement of the indigenous Batwa people from their ancestral lands within the Kahuzi-Biega National Park by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was a violation of their rights, and requesting the Batwa to receive title to their confiscated lands.

The DRC was found by the commission to have breached 11 articles under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the right to be treated equally under Article 3 and the right to property under Article 14. Conservation models that rely on the minimisation or exclusion of human activity to achieve biodiversity objectives—known as ‘Fortress conservation’—were deemed to be no longer relevant, where such exclusion involves the removal of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands without their consent.

Reintegration of the Batwa to their ancestral lands, the establishment of an expert independent committee to determine the extent of compensation and an official apology are some of the key recommendations of the ACHPR in the decision.

In a press release published by claimants representing the Batwa, Environnement, Ressources Naturelles et Développement spokesperson Jean-Marie Bantu Baluge commented:

Reclaiming the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and resources is paramount to their survival and in protecting biodiversity. The Commission’s Decision offers a lifeline to the Batwa people and other indigenous communities in the Congo Basin who have been battered for over half a century in the name of conservation.

The ruling was filed in 2015, following half a decade of unsuccessful attempts for redress in the DRC’s domestic courts. Throughout proceedings, the DRC government declined to participate and has taken no steps to comply with the ruling since its adoption in mid-2022.