A/HRC/18/35/Add.5 Senate and National Assembly of Congo adopted in December 2010, and the President of the Republic of the Congo promulgated in February 2011, Law No. 5-2011 on the Promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous populations,1 which is discussed further in section III below. Article 1 of the law specifies that it addresses the concerns of “indigenous populations… who are distinguished from other groups of the national population by their cultural identity, their way of life and their extreme vulnerability.” The same article prohibits the use of the term “pygmy”. 13. The groups addressed in this law are undoubtedly indigenous peoples within the scope of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, given their particular characteristics, including their distinct cultural and ethnic identities, historical connections to the territories in which they live, and their non-dominant positions following a history of subjugation. They face human rights problems that are similar to those faced by indigenous peoples throughout the world, and that are matters of special concern to the Special Rapporteur. 14. Therefore, throughout this report the Special Rapporteur follows the policy and practice adopted by the Congolese Government of using the term “indigenous peoples” to refer to those groups that had previously been designated as Pygmies. By doing so, it is not the Special Rapporteur’s intention to suggest that the majority Bantu groups are not also, in a literal sense, indigenous to Congo or the African continent. Rather, he considers that the use of the term “indigenous peoples” aptly lends itself to focusing attention on the concerns of the particularly vulnerable groups in the country, concerns that are related to their distinct identity and non-dominant positions in society. 15. As with indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world, the vulnerable situation of indigenous peoples in Congo is inextricably linked to historical and ongoing patterns of discrimination. These peoples have long been treated as a sub-class, their nomadic huntergatherer ways seen as uncivilized, and their cultural habits deemed inferior. For centuries such discrimination has been reinforced by stereotypes and myths about the so-called Pygmies, which has entrenched discriminatory attitudes and led to social relationships that perpetrate exclusion and acute marginalization of indigenous peoples. C. Labour exploitation 16. In the area of labour relations, inequitable social arrangements between the Bantu majority and the indigenous peoples manifest themselves as relationships of domination and exploitation, in many instances amounting to forms of serfdom or involuntary servitude. Bantu “masters” may control a number of indigenous people, with the so-called masters seeing themselves as “owning” the members of particular indigenous families from birth, and consequently having the right to the labour and loyalty of those indigenous people. This practice has been documented by a number of international organizations, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR),2 UNICEF,3 1 2 3 6 Loi no. 5-2011 du 25 février 2011 portant promotion et protection des droits des populations autochtones. ACHPR, Report of the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities: Research and information visit to the Republic of Congo, September 2005. UNICEF, Rapport d’analyse diagnostique sur les normes et pratiques sociales vis-à-vis des populations autochtones en République du Congo, Brazzaville, 2009; UNICEF, Analyse de la situation des enfants et des femmes autochtones au Congo, Brazzaville, 2008.