20 (1) of the Charter, which in this case would amount to a veritable right to
secession62 . On the other hand, nothing prevents other peoples' rights, such as the
right to development (Article 22), the right to peace and security (Article 23) or the
right to a healthy environment (Article. 24) from being recognised, where necessary,
specifically for the ethnic groups and communities that constitute the population of a
State.
200.
In the instant case, one of the rights at issue is the right of peoples to freely dispose
of their wealth and natural resources guaranteed under Article 21 of the Charter. In
essence, as indicated above, the Applicant alleges that the Respondent violated the
aforesaid right insofar as, following the expulsion of the Ogieks from the Mau Forest,
they were deprived of their traditional food resources .
201.
The Court recalls, in this regard, that it has already recognised for the Ogieks a
number of rights to their ancestral land, namely, the right to use (usus) and the right
to enjoy the produce of the land (fructus) , which presuppose the right of access to and
occupation of the land.
In so far as those rights have been violated by the
Respondent, the Court holds that the latter has also violated Article 21 of the Charter
since the Ogieks have been deprived of the right to enjoy and freely dispose of the
abundance of food produced by their ancestral lands.
H.
Alleged violation of Article 22 of the Charter
Applicant's Submission
202 . The Applicant contends that the Respo ndent has violated the Ogieks '
right to development by evicting them from their ancestral land in the Mau
Forest and by failing to consult with and/or seek the co nsent of the Ogiek
Community in relation to the deve lopment of their shared cultural,
eco nomic and social life within th e Mau Forest. The Applicant states that
the Respondent failed to recognise the Ogieks ' right to development and
62
This interpretation is buttressed by the OAU's adoption of Resolution AHG/R. S. 16(1) of July 1964 on
the Inviolability of the Frontiers Inherited from Colonization.
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