Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2021 3(1) rights, therefore, does not automatically flow out of the protection of individual rights. Central to the enjoyment of such rights is the perception by the group that they are distinct from other members of the national political community and the recognition by others of this specificity. The recognition of such communities by African Governments, including the putting in place of mechanisms to enable them to enjoy the right of nationality, is therefore very important. B Minority Rights and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Minority rights are the individual rights as applied to members of a racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, or gender communities. The individual as well as collective dimensions of minority rights are embedded in art 3 of the 1992 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities as well as in Francesco Capotorti’s 1977 Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities. 34 Athanasia Akermark, Will Kymlicka and Will Norman argue that there are four types of minorities: national minorities, immigrant minorities, religious minorities, and sui generis groups, which include stateless people with citizenship or rights. 35 On the other hand, the rights of indigenous people came to light in 1989 when the Organization of American States elaborated a draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which was approved in 1997. 36 The rights of indigenous peoples are, however, encapsulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (‘UNDRIP’), which affirms that ‘indigenous peoples possess collective rights, which are indispensable to their existence, wellbeing, and integral development as peoples.’ 37 Article 33 of the UNDRIP further states that: Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live. Indigenous peoples’ rights also have a strong cultural bond to land. John Borrows calls such a bond ‘landed citizenship.’ 38 James Minahan’s study highlights some 420 national groups and indigenous peoples in the world who may risk statelessness as they are not recognised by nation-states of the contemporary 34 35 36 37 38 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, GA Res 47/135, UN GAOR, 47th sess, 92nd plen mtg, UN Doc A/RES/47/135 (18 December 1992); Francesco Capotorti, Special Rapporteur, Study on the Rights of Persons Belonging to Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Add.1–7 (1979). See Athanasia Akermark, Justification of Minority Protection in International Law (Kluwer 1997); Will Kymlicka and Will Norman (eds), Citizenship in Diverse Societies (Oxford University Press 2000). See Organization of American States, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Annual Report, Doc No AG/RES 1022 (XIX-O/89), 9th plenary sess, 18 September 1989; Organization of American States, Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Doc No AG/RES 1479 (XXVII-O/97), 7th plenary sess, 5 June 1997. Albert Kwokwo Barume, Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Africa: With Special Focus on Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (IWGIA Document No 128, March 2014) 176, quoting United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, GA Res 61/295, UN GAOR, 61st sess, 107th plen mtg, Agenda Item 68, Supp No 49, UN Doc A/RES/61/29 (2 October 2007) 7. John Borrows, ‘Landed Citizenship: Narratives of Aboriginal Political Participation’ in Kymlicka and Norman (eds), Citizenship in Diverse Societies (n 35) 327. 40