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The Human Rights Situation of
Indigenous Peoples in Africa
Moringe Parkipuny
Member of Parliament
Ngorongoro, Tanzania
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Mr. Parkipuny delivered these remarks before the Sixth Session of the United
Nations
Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneve, Switzerland on August 3,
1989.
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Madam Chairperson, fellow representatives and friends in the struggles of
indigenous peoples rights, first, I convey from Africa the message of unity
and resolute determination to consolidate the strive for our common course.
I have learnt that this is the first time that representatives of any
community in Africa have been able to attend this very important forum. This
is a historic moment for us. We are only two in attendance, both from Tanzania,
of the Haxza and Maasai communities. I take this opportunity to express our
very profound appreciation of the generosity of the United Nations Voluntary
Fund and the NGO Human Rights Fund for Indigenous Peoples, which have helped
to sponsor our trip to Geneva. We look forward to the future when more
delegates from Africa will be able to make use of this valuable forum. Also
would you please accept my wish for your attention and time to introduce our
plight and to provide you with some basic information about the situation in
Africa, which has not been aired in this forum before.
The environment for human rights in Africa is severely polluted by the
ramifications of colonialism and neo-colonial social and economic
relationships in which we are compelled to pursue our development and
sovereignty in a global system replete with injustices and exploitation. Let
us keep in mind the fact that the over whelming majority of African countries
attainted political independence only in the decade of the 1960s. That is,
most have existed sovereign political entities for a period of less than three
decades. And indeed the process of decolonialization is still in progress in
Africa. The struggle of peoples of South Africa against direct and indirect
bondage of apartheid allied with the might of Western economic hegemony
provides ample testimony of the agonies of Africa in its determination to
overcome the inhumanities of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
In that historical context, African countries are at present going through a
necessary phase of consolidating the fabric of national identity and unity of
all their peoples, free from the destructive afflictions of tribalism which
have already created massive losses of life in several countries. These
historical factors are crucial in seeking to place into perspective the
question of human rights of indigenous and distinctive cultural communities in
Africa.
However, in common with other regions of the world, Africa is not composed of
a monolithic human cultural population. This holds equally true in the case of
the different countries of our continent. Most African counties have people of
diverse cultural roots. What is more, almost a century of colonialism has left
a legacy of very unequal access to education, which has in turn created wide
disparities in participation in the apparatus of the state and national
economy. Yet there is hardly any African state that has a charter of rights
that gives recognition to the existing cultural diversity.
Preoccupation with the promotion of rights of the majority and vital need to
consolidate national identity and unity are beyond doubt necessary
undertakings. But these concerns should never be pursued to exclusion of the
protection of the legitimate rights vulnerable minorities. To do that
undermines the very objective of national unity and places a primary component
of human rights to cultural diversity outside the agenda of national ethics,
integrity and freedom to developmental options.
In Africa, uniformity of approach and state monopoly of interpretation of
national identities have also the conception of what development actually
means have thrown wide open the floor for prejudices against the fundamental
rights and social values of those peoples with cultures that are distinctly
different from those of the mainstream of national population. Such prejudices
have crystallized in many African countries into blatant cultural intolerance,
domination and persistent violations of the fundamental rights of minorities.
In East Africa there are two main categories of vulnerable minority peoples
who have been in consequence subjected to flagrant violations of community and
individual rights. These are hunters and gatherers, namely the Hadza, Dorobo
and Sandawe together with many ethnic groups who are pastoralists. The Maasai
of Tanzania and Kenya are the largest and most widely known of he many
pastoral peoples of East Africa. These minorities suffer from the common
problems which characterize the plight of indigenous peoples throughout the
world. The most fundamental rights to maintain our specific cultural identity
and the land that constitutes the foundation of our existence as a people are
not respe3cted by the state and fellow citizens who belong to the mainstream
population. In our societies the land and natural resources are the means of
livelihood, the media of cultural and spiritual integrity for the entire
community as opposed to the individual appropriation.
The process of alienation of our land and its resources was launched by
European colonial authorities at the beginning of this century and has been
carried on, to date, after the attainment of national independence. Our
cultures and way of life are viewed as outmoded, inimical to national pride
and a hindrance to progress. What is more, access to education and other basic
services are minimal relative to the mainstream of the population of the
countries to which we are citizens in common whit other peoples.
Let it be understood, we do not advocate separatism, but assert the
fundamental human right to maintain our cultural identity within the framework
of united nations of Africa. We do not expect overnight change.
We trust that our modest plea in this most appropriate forum of the United
Nations has been understood. We speak with the total conviction that respect
for our differences strengthen unity and national identity in our countries
and the world at large.
With the greatest respect to Mother Earth, the cradle of all life, I salute
you all. Thank you very much for your time and attention.
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