A/HRC/60/29 Indigenous Peoples, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith.28 Regional contextualization of the term “Indigenous Peoples”: the examples of Africa and Asia (b) 31. A regional contextualization of the term “Indigenous Peoples” has emerged in recent years. This approach is in line with the recognition in the Declaration that the situation of Indigenous Peoples varies from region to region and from country to country and that the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical and cultural backgrounds should be taken into consideration.29 32. In postcolonial Africa and Asia, some peoples remained attached to their ancestral lands, way of life, livelihoods and culture but, given their political marginalization, did not partake in the shaping of the modern States. Their traditional land-use practices were stereotyped as backward and uncivilized, and their customary rights over their ancestral lands were not considered or protected in national legislation. Many postcolonial Governments have attempted, and some still attempt, to force them to abandon their traditional lifestyles, including by transferring ownership of ancestral lands, territories and resources to third parties. However, they have resisted and continue to do so, to preserve their cultural identities, which are closely linked to their ancestral lands. (i) Understanding of Indigenous Peoples in Africa 33. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has stressed that in postcolonial Africa, the term “Indigenous Peoples” does not mean first habitants of a given land or country. Instead, the concept refers to a limited number of African communities, whose cultural identities face extinction because of prejudiced views of their livelihoods and ancestral ways of using lands. They are mostly hunter-gatherers and pastoralists, whose mobile lifestyle was and continue to be stereotyped as backward, outdated, unfriendly to national development and destined to disappear.30 34. For outsiders, the lands traditionally used and occupied by these peoples were considered unoccupied, empty, unused or belonging to no one (terra nullius). Consequently, these lands were either declared State-owned, given to private owners or simply taken by dominant neighbouring groups. 35. The African Commission has thus concluded that in Africa, the term “Indigenous populations” does not mean “first inhabitants” in reference to aboriginality as opposed to non-African communities or those having come from elsewhere, and that this peculiarity distinguishes Africa from the other continents where native communities have been almost annihilated by non-native populations.31 36. The African Commission further elaborates on the term “Indigenous Peoples”: It is a term through which those groups – among the variety of ethnic groups within a [S]tate – who identify themselves as [I]ndigenous and experience particular forms of systematic discrimination, subordination and marginalization because of their particular cultures and ways of life and mode of production can analyse and call attention to their situation. It is a term through which they can voice the human rights abuses they suffer from – not only as individuals but also as groups or peoples. If genuinely understood in this way, it is a term through which the concerned groups can seek to achieve dialogue with the [G]overnments of their countries over protection of 28 29 30 31 GE.25-12002 Declaration, preamble. Ibid. See African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Report of the African Commission’s Working Group of Experts on Indigenous Populations/Communities (Banjul, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Copenhagen, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2005). African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Advisory Opinion of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Advisory Opinion, May 2007, para. 13. 7