A First for Africa - support our petition

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http://www.rainforestfoundation.info

 

 

Make it a FIRST for Africa! Safeguard indigenous people's rights

 

The first-ever law in Africa guarding against the discrimination,

exploitation and violence endured by indigenous peoples could be

passed in the Republic of Congo by the end of 2007.

 

We need your help now to safeguard the basic human rights of

indigenous peoples who play a crucial role in protecting Congo's

rainforests. Please sign our petition urging Congolese President

Denis Sassou Nguesso to support this vital legislation affecting the

lives of tens of thousands of indigenous peoples.

 

The Rainforest Foundation has been working with Congolese human

rights groups and indigenous activists to produce the law since 2003.

Finally a draft version of the law exists. But the struggle is not

over. The law needs the full support of MPs and Congolese President

Sassou Nguesso.

 

Passage of the law will:

• Outlaw discrimination and violence

• Recognise indigenous people as full citizens of the Congolese

state

• Provide access to state education and health care

• Ensure that indigenous peoples have a say in political

decisions that affect them

• Recognise rights to land and natural resources

• Protect sacred sites

 

We are urging all of our supporters to add their voices to those of

the Congolese indigenous peoples. Please sign our petition at the

link above below, and encourage the government of Congo to pass this

historic law. Let your friends and family know. Let's do everything

we can to get this law passed – we have days, not weeks to do it.

 

Go to www.rainforestfoundation.info to sign up

 

 

ENDS

 

 

Notes:

 

[1] Three years on from the publication of a damning report on the

abuses of indigenous peoples in the Republic of Congo, a new law is

ready to be passed that recognises their rights: the first of its

kind in Africa. Our local partner OCDH has, with our support,

coordinated a campaign to ensure that the real issues affecting

indigenous people will be addressed by the law. With financial

support from the UK Department for International Development we have

worked with indigenous communities, NGOs, the Congolese government

and international organisations to undertake training, research,

legal text writing and lobbying; and we now have a final text.

 

[2] This is the first law of its kind in Africa and has attracted

considerable international attention. The UN High Commission for

Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation both got

involved in drafting the texts. We also understand that the Special

Rapporteur on indigenous peoples may visit the Republic of Congo.

 

[3] The law is now with the Ministry of Justice and due to be passed

to the Council of Ministers before going before Parliament. The next

parliamentary session starts in October 2007, when we understand the

law will be debated and voted on. However, the struggle is not yet

over. The law has to get through the bureaucratic process, and then

once before Parliament, needs to get the support of enough members.

So there is plenty of work still to be done to be sure that we do not

fall at the last hurdle.

 

[4] OCDH and other local partners are working hard to convince MPs

and other government departments to support the law. The text has

been worked on by people from the Ministry of Justice and the

President's office and they are strongly in favour of passing the

law. Remaining to be convinced are the decision makers: the MPs,

Senators and the President.

 

[5] In 2004 OCDH (supported by the Rainforest Foundation) published a

report which illustrated the extent to which indigenous peoples'

rights were being abused. The Ministry of Justice then drafted an

outline law to protect `pygmy' peoples' rights, and invited

contributions and comments from civil society organisations. The

Rainforest Foundation, welcoming this positive initiative on the part

of the government, secured funding from the British government, (the

Department for International Development, DFID), to support civil

society to make an informed contribution to this law and to do

lobbying and advocacy work to ensure that the law is passed.

 

[6] The Congolese groups, working in collaboration with staff from

the Ministry of Justice, produced their analysis of the national

context and their recommendations for a future law protecting the

rights of indigenous peoples in the Republic of Congo. This involved

four months of desk studies, training, and preparation, followed by

six months of field work and analysis, culminating in a week-long

workshop held in May 2006. In this meeting the field work and the

desk studies were brought together and 60 recommendations concerning

the law were developed.

[7] The Rainforest Foundation also worked with the Indigenous Peoples

Law and Policy Programme of the University of Arizona to complete an

analysis of the international legal context. This paper sets out

clearly the commitments in the conventions and treaties that Congo

has signed, and the accepted international norms concerning

indigenous peoples' rights. The Ministry of Justice re-drafted the

proposed law working from the recommendations of their workshops, and

the detailed recommendations from civil society. This draft was

discussed at a further workshop for all key partners.