Introduction

Though major human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have recognised ‘peoples’, in no other instrument have the rights of peoples been afforded more concrete scope than in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Indeed, peoples' rights figure prominently within the Charter, with six operative paragraphs dedicated specifically to this area of law. This unique feature of the Charter reflects the values of African societies, where ‘a person is not regarded as an isolated and abstract individual, but an integral member of a community’.

The Charter's commitment to both individual and collective rights reaffirms the interdependence of all human rights. In its Preamble, the Charter recognises the rights of peoples as constituting a condition sine qua non of the realisation and guarantee of individual rights. Group rights not only facilitate the realisation of other human rights, but many rights have both individual and collective dimensions.

This chapter examines the evolution of group rights under the African Charter on the basis of jurisprudence developed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as resolutions and reports adopted by this regional body.

Peoples as rights-holders under the Charter

Although the African Charter devotes six Articles to peoples' rights – ranging from the rights of equality, self-determination and protection of existence, to the right of peoples to national resources, development, peace, and to a general satisfactory environment – there is no definition of the term ‘peoples’ in the Charter.