A/HRC/18/35/Add.5 II. Indigenous peoples of Congo and their situation of extreme disadvantage A. Groups identified as “indigenous” (autochtone) in Congo 7. The Government of the Republic of the Congo and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) regard as the country’s indigenous peoples (peuples autochtones) those diverse ethnically and culturally distinct groups that throughout the Congo Basin in Africa have been known collectively as Pygmies. In the the Republic of the Congo, these groups include the Baaka (northern Likouala and Sangha departments); Mbendjele (southern Likouala and Sangha departments); Mikaya (Sangha Department); Gyeli (north-western West Cuvette Department); Luma (Sangha, Cuvette and Likouala departments); Twa (Plateaux department to border with Democratic Republic of Congo) and Babongo (Lékoumou, Niari, and Kouilou departments). The total population of these indigenous peoples in Congo is unclear and, as there is no reliable census data, estimates of their contribution to the country’s total population vary widely from 1.4 per cent to 10 per cent. 8. The groups identified as indigenous peoples are distinct from the majority Bantu ethnic groups, which are estimated to constitute between 90 and 97 per cent of the country’s population. The four largest Bantu ethnic groups are the Kongo or Bacongo (48 per cent), Sangha (20 per cent), Teke or Bateke (17 per cent) and M’Bochi (12 per cent). It is estimated that Bantu groups began to migrate into the area now known as the Republic of the Congo sometime after A.D. 1400. Since independence from France in 1960, the Bantu have enjoyed effective political and economic control over Congo. 9. Although they speak different languages and inhabit different regions of Congo, the groups that have been known as Pygmies share a number of defining features. Unlike the Bantu, who have long been largely sedentary and village-based, until recently, the groups known as Pygmies maintained a semi-nomadic way of life, and some still do, their subsistence based on hunting and gathering forest products. They have been characterized by their mobility over vast territories, moving to access resources according to their needs. They traditionally do not amass material assets or consolidate exclusive control over large areas of land. Their social structure is typically egalitarian, without a highly defined leadership hierarchy. B. Discrimination and marginalization 10. An overarching defining feature of these groups is their exclusion and marginalization from mainstream social and economic patterns and political power. All of these groups find themselves in non-dominant positions in Congolese society, and have suffered and continue to suffer threats to their distinct identities and basic human rights in ways not experienced by the Bantu majority. 11. While the term Pygmy continues to be used in other States of Central Africa, in the Republic of the Congo, the term carries negative connotations due to its association with an assumption of inferior status and its connection to marginalization, exclusion and oppression. For this reason, the Government has a policy against calling people Pygmies, and now officially designates such groups as simply indigenous peoples or populations (populations autochtones). 12. The Special Rapporteur observes that the Government and others aptly identify these groups as indigenous peoples or populations deserving of special attention. Notably, with the urging of representatives of these groups, NGOs and eventually the Government, the 5