Endorois case

Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on Behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, also known as the Endorois case, was a ruling of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) surrounding the removal of the Endorois people from Lake Bogoria by the government of Kenya. The representatives of the Endorois alleged that being removed from their traditional land had violated the rights to culture, religion, property, disposal of natural resources, and development, as defined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The ACHPR found Kenya responsible for all counts of breaching the charter. The Endorois case was a landmark decision on indigenous rights, the first international ruling on the right to development, and the first ACHPR ruling on the definition of peoples or indigenous peoples.

The Endorois, a pastoralist community, historically lived around Lake Bogoria. The Kenyan government removed them from this land between 1973 and 1986 for the creation of a game reserve, which was later used for tourism and ruby mining. Despite promises by the government, the Endorois were only partially compensated, and the reserve did not share its revenue with the community. The Endorois Welfare Council (EWC) filed a case against the government with the High Court of Kenya in the 1990s, but the court ruled that the removal had been legal and the Endorois did not have a claim to the land. Considering it infeasible to pursue the case further in Kenyan courts, the EWC sought to file a case with the ACHPR. It was represented by the international NGO Minority Rights Group International and the Kenyan NGO Centre for Minority Rights Development, which filed a communication with the ACHPR in 2003, alleging that the removal of the Endorois had violated their rights.

The ACHPR admitted the case in 2005 and heard the case in 2009, issuing its ruling November 2009. The ACHPR ruled that the Endorois were an indigenous people and should be recognised as traditional landowners. It ruled violations of the rights to religion, as the Endorois had lost access to religious sites; property, as Kenya had not recognised Endorois land ownership or provided adequate compensation; natural resources, as the Endorois had the right to use and conserve their land; and development, as developments on the land had lacked the free, prior, and informed consent of the Endorois.

The ACHPR recommended that the Kenyan government grant the Endorois complete recognition and access to their land, as well as compensation. The government took little action to implement these recommendations, for which it faced disapproval from the ACHPR and United Nations bodies. Though the Endorois have been granted limited land access and revenue sharing, they have not been granted full ownership, as of 2023. The Endorois decision influenced other cases involving land rights, such as the Ogiek case against Kenya.