Mister Chair, Mister High Commissioner, international
experts, Minority Rights Group calls on the attention
of the Council to the situation of indigenous Batwa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their existence continues to be threatened
and they face regular attacks in relation to their eviction from their ancestral lands
for the expansion of the National Park of Kahuzi-Biega (PNKB), without their free, prior
and informed consent. Rendered squatters at the park's margins,
Batwa of the PNKB ex
perience marginalisation and severe poverty. The DRC refuses to include Batwa in the management
of the park, despite the promulgation of national legislation prescribing public consultation
for new projects. Instead, Batwa have continued to face serious
and widespread human rights abuses jointly carried out by park guards and Congolese Army
soldiers. In January of this year, MRG received credible
reports that new attacks against the Batwa villages in the Kabare and Kalehe territories
took place.
It is alleged that Batwa civilians have been
injured and forced to flee into the forest; families forcibly displaced; houses burnt
to the ground and property destroyed, vandalised and impounded. Batwa leaders who actively advocate for the
rights of their communities are frequently targeted with death threats and forced to
relocate to protect themselves and their families. The human rights violations committed against
the Batwa of the PNKB should be monitored, investigated and addressed, and per
petrators
held accountable. I thank you.
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