In this follow-up decision to the historic determination that Kenya had violated several rights of the indigenous Ogiek people by evicting them from their land, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights determined which reparations are owed. This decision reinforces progressive jurisprudence on land rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights by providing actual remedies for harm and means of ensuring those remedies are implemented.
The Court determined that in order to ensure that these remedies are being implemented by the State, a hearing on the status of the reparations ordered will be scheduled twelve months from this June 2022 ruling.
There are multiple intersecting rights at stake in this case, many of which have been further given redress due to the court’s ruling. The court ruling seeks, to the extent possible, to repair the State’s illegal land-grab with just compensation. In its determinations regarding non-repetition, this ruling further reinforces State obligations to consult Indigenous persons, given the principle of the right to free, prior and informed consent, before any project that might affect their ancestral territories. The reparations may also highlight regenerative land practices in the Mau Forest, underpinned by the custodianship of Indigenous Peoples with respect to their territories. Finally, the reparations awarded in this case seek to safeguard the Ogiek’s cultural rights for generations to come. Additionally, the Court’s decision that State conduct prior to their becoming party to the Charter could be taken into account to allow for an adequate assessment of comprehensive reparations sets an important precedent for all international human rights bodies regarding temporal competence.
