Facilitating Access to Justice for Baka around the Lobeke National Park in South-East Cameroon

Abuse perpetrated against Baka people by their non-indigenous neighbours is one of the most common forms of rights violations 

Like most indigenous forest peoples in the Congo Basin, Baka communities living near Lobeke National Park share territory with non-indigenous Bantu populations. They often live on the edge of the villages that are administered by the settled, and agriculturalist Bantu neighbours, many of whom view themselves as superior to the Baka. Although it is not widely reported, our experience in the field suggests that abuse perpetrated by Bantu represents the most common form of attack on Baka peoples' dignity.

There are no statistics that show the nature of cases brought before traditional chiefdoms, but anecdotally it appears that some of the most common disputes relate to land (such as the appropriation of a Baka person’s fields by a Bantu who has an agreement to rent them) and labour (where a Baka has worked for a Bantu but has not been paid). 

The abuse to which Baka are routinely subjected also includes physical attacks, discrimination, marginalization, bullying, sexual violence and even, on occasion, murder. 

Barriers to justice for the Baka

If a Baka person is victim of a crime and wants to pursue justice via the judicial authorities – such as the gendarmerie or the police, they can face huge barriers, the first being language. Given that extremely few non-indigenous individuals speak Baka, the complainant will be unable to interact with the authorities in their native language so, from the outset, they are at a disadvantange. 

Complaints or reports are subject to several formalities, including the presentation of a national identity card. However, the number of indigenous people who have this document is extremely low and this prevents them from taking their disputes to court. Failure to present this document can even lead to them being imprisoned. Even if they have the required documents, Baka often struggle to pay the fees required to lodge a complaint and may therefore even be required to do community service in return for having their case heard. 

If the case is to come before a judge, the victim will be confronted with further financial and logistical obstacles. For the Baka in Lobeke, the nearest courts are in Yokadouma, some 200km from Mambele, where ASBABUK’s offices are located (and further still from communities). It is difficult and expensive to reach Yokadouma by public transport and involves many hours of travel on heavily degraded roads. Even once they have overcome these hurdles, they may well ultimately feel that their case is not treated impartially – if they can even understand the proceedings, since there is often no interpretation into Baka. The justice system is not adapted to the Baka’s customs and traditions, nor the reality of their situation and it’s therefore little surprise that Baka are often left frustrated. 

Traditional authorities (i.e. chiefs) provide an alternative path for redress, and indeed the judicial authorities frequently advise complainants to turn to local chiefdoms as a first course of action. However, the Baka have little confidence in these traditional courts, for a variety of reasons. Chiefs are almost universally Bantu rather than Baka. While a few village chiefs are aware of the discrimination Baka face and their difficulty in accessing justice, most turn a blind eye or simply deny there is any issue. We also found that usually just two or three of ten notables that sit on the traditional councils (that decide cases) are Baka, despite the fact that in most chiefdoms around Lobeke, Baka are the majority of the population. The Baka believe they rarely get a fair hearing, complaining that the opinion of Baka notables during hearings is scarcely considered (their presence being little more than a box-ticking exercise).

Supporting better access to justice 

After time spent with communities evaluating the situation, ASBABUK and FPP settled on a two-pronged programme that would build the capacity of both ASBABUK and local authorities to improve access to justice for Baka community members.

ASBABUK’s management team asked FPP to provide support in navigating the legal system, so they can help community members submit complaints when their rights are violated and follow them up.

In response, FPP organised a week-long series of workshops for around ten ASBABUK members in Bertoua at the end of 2023. We held sessions on what constitutes evidence, how to collect and administer it, and the standard of evidence needed for a claim. We provided practical information on the difference between a request, a complaint, or a denunciation, and coached ASBABUK in how to draft each. Finally, we ensured participants understood the exact roles of the different local institutions and their jurisdictional role, and how to refer cases to each of them. 

Engaging with key actors

After their legal training, with a deeper understanding of both their rights and the authorities’ responsibilities, ASBABUK joined FPP in early 2024 in meetings with traditional and judicial authorities across the Salapoumbe and Moloundou districts, to address the second axis of the project.

We met Divisional Officers, Gendarmerie Brigade Commanders, Police Commissioners, Heads of Social Action Services and the traditional chiefs of 15 villages to canvass their opinion on the handling of disputes involving Baka. We used the opportunity to provide them with copies of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to draw their attention to imbalances in the handling of disputes involving the Baka.

Our original evaluation mission had revealed that almost no traditional courts have a register for recording and monitoring cases, and the few that do cannot provide printed summons to enforce their decisions and rulings. To address this need, we took materials to local authorities in Salapoumbe and Moloundou (pens, plastic folders, census sheets and forms that we had prepared for monitoring individual cases), and held learning sessions on how to use the tools to periodically assess the handling of cases.