In 2022, after many years of civil society advocacy, the Democratic Republic of Congo promulgated a landmark law “on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Indigenous Pygmy Peoples” (Law No. 22/030). Until then, there was no national legislation specifically protecting the rights of these peoples, whose indigenous cultural identity and survival are completely dependent on their ancestral territories, but who face continuous threats of dispossession due to natural resources exploitation and endure extreme marginalisation since the arrival of Belgian colonisers. The term “Pygmy” is contested. It encompasses various ethnic groups of the Congo basin. Several advocacy organisations consider it useful in their struggle for recognition, while others reject it as pejorative.
Members of “Pygmy” communities and groups that campaign for their rights have welcomed the law as a remarkable step forward in the pathway towards social justice, having its basis in international human rights norms that the DRC had already recognised. The law is intended to ensure the “Pygmy” peoples' access to justice and basic social services and contains provisions related to civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights and rights to environment, land and natural resources, including the right to grant or withhold their free, prior and informed consent when it comes to measures potentially impacting their territories. The law currently awaits implementation, which provoked researchers to take a closer look into the history and politics surrounding it.
As a combined effort of researchers from the Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Sustainable development in Southern and Central Africa (CERIDAC), the University of Helsinki and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN, Japan), a critical review of this law and the adjacent political process was conducted. Findings suggest that implementation is complicated due to dominant interests in land acquisition for resources exploitation, legal complexities regarding land ownership, misalignment with existing policies pertaining to forestry, mining, agriculture and conservation as well as the persistent stigmatisation of “Pygmy” communities.
The review was conducted with the aim to inform the general public, decision-makers, indigenous and local communities and civil society organisations of the developments surrounding the law and its lacking implementation, in order to stimulate discussion and enthusiasm for its effective operationalisation. Key findings highlight how political opportunities for change can advance an indigenous rights agenda, yet, these might be limited by the “politics of enforceability” in the Congolese context, where commitments to social justice, colonial mentalities, extractive interests and questions of public interest and fairness intersect – and clash.
This research is globally relevant as similar issues exist in many other countries, including those with indigenous populations in the Global North, such as in Finland.