Entangled political histories of twentieth-century West Africa: The case of Guinean exile networks

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
John Straussberger
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Home Country ◽  
West African ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Colonial Order

Abstract Following independence in 1958, hundreds of Guinean soldiers, students, and politicians fled their home country in order to build an opposition to President Sékou Touré in exile. This article examines how these exiles built regional and global networks in order to effect political change. In turn, West African states sought to manage exiles in order to apply political pressure on regional rivals. Despite their liminality in a region increasingly dominated by national politics and international organizations, exiles were at the centre of political contestations surrounding citizenship, sovereignty, and human rights that emerged in the three decades following decolonization. Their history underscores the importance of regional frameworks in shaping the post-colonial order in West Africa.

Rethinking the Impact of Structural Adjustment Programs on Human Rights Violations in West Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotsmart Fonjong
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
West African ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Structural Adjustment Programs ◽  
Liberalization Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Public Demonstrations ◽  
Country Specific

Abstract In this article I argue that the worsening human rights situation of West Africa in the early 1990s was largely the creation of the structural adjustment policies (SAP) of the IMF/World Bank. The austerity measures implemented through SAP plunged the region into hardship, forcing the population to demand better living conditions through public demonstrations and protests. Attempts by the West African states to contain protesters led to further human rights abuses. The implementation of a common liberalization policy across board without taking into account the specificities of each country was counterproductive. In fact, some of the excesses recorded could have been avoided if SAPs had been country specific and human rights-based.

Of Origins and Colonial Order: Southern Nigerian Historians and the ‘Hamitic Hypothesis’ c. 1870–1970

1994 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Zachernuk
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
West African ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Race Science ◽  
Racial History ◽  
Colonial Order ◽  
Hamitic Hypothesis ◽  
New Treatments

The professional Nigerian nationalist historiography which emerged in reaction against the imperialist Hamitic Hypothesis – the assertion that Africa's history had been made only by foreigners – is rooted in a complex West African tradition of critical dialogue with European ideas. From the mid-nineteenth century, western-educated Africans have re-worked European ideas into distinctive Hamitic Hypotheses suited to their colonial location. This account developed within the constraints set by changing European and African-American ideas about West African origins and the evolving character of the Nigerian intelligentsia. West Africans first identified themselves not as victims of Hamitic invasion but as the degenerate heirs of classical civilizations, to establish their potential to create a modern, Christian society. At the turn of the century various authors argued for past development within West Africa rather than mere degeneration. Edward Blyden appropriated African-American thought to posit a distinct racial history. Samuel Johnson elaborated on Yoruba traditions of a golden age. Inter-war writers such as J. O. Lucas and Ladipo Solanke built on both arguments, but as race science declined they again invoked universal historical patterns. Facing the arrival of Nigeria as a nation-state, later writers such as S. O. Biobaku developed these ideas to argue that Hamitic invasions had created Nigeria's proto-national culture. In the heightened identity politics of the 1950s, local historians adopted Hamites to compete for historical primacy among Nigerian communities. The Hamitic Hypothesis declined in post-colonial conditions, in part because the concern to define ultimate identities along a colonial axis was displaced by the need to understand identity politics within the Nigerian sphere. The Nigerian Hamitic Hypothesis had a complex career, promoting élite ambitions, Christian identities, Nigerian nationalism and communal rivalries. New treatments of African colonial historiography – and intellectual history – must incorporate the complexities illus-trated here.

Peritoneal Dialysis to Treat Patients with Acute Kidney Injury—The Saving Young Lives Experience in West Africa: Proceedings of the Saving Young Lives Session at the First International Conference of Dialysis in West Africa, Dakar, Senegal, December 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niang Abdou ◽  
Sampson Antwi ◽  
Laurence Adonis Koffi ◽  
Francis Lalya ◽  
Victoria May Adabayeri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Kidney Injury ◽  
Peritoneal Dialysis ◽  
West Africa ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Kidney Injury ◽  
West African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Young Lives

In December 2015, as part of the First African Dialysis Conference organized in Dakar, Senegal, 5 physicians from West African countries who have participated in the Saving Young Lives Program reviewed their experiences establishing peritoneal dialysis (PD) programs to treat patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Thus far, nearly 200 patients have received PD treatment in these countries. The interaction and discussion amongst the participants at the meeting was meaningful and informative. The presentations highlighted the creativity, conviction, and determination of the physicians in overcoming the various barriers and challenges they encountered to establish PD/AKI programs. Hopefully, these successes and the increased awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of AKI will inspire much needed support from government, hospital, and international organizations.

Backlash Against International Courts in West, East, and Southern Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 254-299
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter ◽  
James Thuo Gathii ◽  
Laurence R. Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
East African ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Member States ◽  
White Farmers

This chapter discusses three credible attempts by African governments to restrict the jurisdiction of three similarly situated sub-regional courts in response to politically controversial rulings. In West Africa, when the Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) upheld allegations of torture by opposition journalists in Gambia, that country’s political leaders sought to restrict the Court’s power to review human rights complaints. The other Member States ultimately defeated Gambia’s proposal. In East Africa, Kenya failed in its efforts to eliminate the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and to remove some of its judges after a decision challenging an election to a sub-regional legislature. However, the Member States agreed to restructure the EACJ in ways that have significantly affected the Court’s subsequent trajectory. In Southern Africa, after the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal ruled in favor of white farmers in disputes over land seizures, Zimbabwe prevailed upon SADC Member States to suspend the Tribunal and strip its power to review complaints from private litigants. Variations in the mobilization efforts of community secretariats, civil society groups, and sub-regional parliaments explain why efforts to eliminate the three courts or narrow their jurisdiction were defeated in ECOWAS, scaled back in the EACJ and largely succeeded in the SADC.

scholarly journals Critical Issues in the Human Rights Mandate of the ECOWAS Court of Justice

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon T Ebobrah
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
West African ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Community Court ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
International Human ◽  
Human Rights Violation

AbstractA new opportunity for international human rights litigation in West Africa was presented in 2005 when the Economic Community of West African States adopted a protocol to empower its judicial organ, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, to determine cases of human rights violation that occur in ECOWAS member states. Since then, several human rights claims have been brought before the court. However, critical questions concerning the legality of the new mandate and the suitability of the court to exercise a human rights jurisdiction have lingered. Beginning with an inquiry into the foundation within ECOWAS for the exercise of a human rights jurisdiction, this article analyses the legitimacy of the human rights mandate of the ECOWAS court and interrogates crucial issues relevant to the effectiveness of the mandate. The article suggests ways to enhance execution of the mandate and concludes with a call for careful judicial navigation in the exercise of the court's expanded jurisdiction.

Genocide and State-Induced Famine: Global Ethics and Western Responsibility for Mass Atrocities in Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhoda Howard-Hassmann
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Global Ethics ◽  
The West ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa

AbstractThis article considers Western responsibility for genocide and state-induced famine in Africa. It discusses colonial genocide in South-West Africa and Congo; post-colonial genocide in Rwanda and Darfur; and state-induced famine in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. The article differentiates core, contributory, and circumstantial responsibility for genocide and famine, arguing that except for the two colonial genocides, African political actors bear core responsibility. Nevertheless, the West is responsible for protecting the human rights of all Africans, regardless of which political actors caused their suffering. The article concludes by discussing empathy and interest as means to persuade Western actors to devote more attention to Africa.

The Puzzling Paradox Presented within the African Supranational Judicial Institutions: The ECOWAS Court of Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 86-109
Author(s):  
Kehinde Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
West African ◽  
African Region ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Will ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
West African Region

The judgments of the ECOWAS Court, which are final and immediately binding, are vital for the realisation of ECOWAS aims and objectives. The enforcement of its judgments is particularly important in the case of individuals whose enjoyment of fundamental human rights, as guaranteed under the ECOWAS Community laws, is dependent on effective enforcement. Yet, an existential puzzling paradox emanates through a poor record in the implementation of the ECOWAS Court's judgments. This problem, which is not limited to the West African region deserves scrutiny and concrete proposals. Legal and political considerations surface in assessing the existence of this paradox, and despite the lack of a consistent political will, to implement the decisions of ECOWAS Court relevant judicial actors have roles to play. National courts could take a bolder approach in complementing the work of the ECOWAS Court. The ECOWAS Court itself could put in place concrete mechanisms and adopt certain practices to address this poor record of non-implementation. It is yet to be seen how substantive mechanisms would work in practice.

Óscar Romero and the Politics of Sainthood

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-291
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Vasquez ◽  
Anna L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
The Other ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Holy See ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Face ◽  
Crisis Of Modernity ◽  
The One

In this article, we explore the debates surrounding the proposed canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken defender of human rights and the poor during the civil war in El Salvador, who was assassinated in March 1980 by paramilitary death squads while saying Mass. More specifically, we examine the tension between, on the one hand, local and popular understandings of Romero’s life and legacy and, on the other hand, transnational and institutional interpretations. We argue that the reluctance of the Vatican to advance Romero’s canonization process has to do with the need to domesticate and “privatize” his image. This depoliticization of Romero’s work and teachings is a part of a larger agenda of neo-Romanization, an attempt by the Holy See to redeploy a post-colonial and transnational Catholic regime in the face of the crisis of modernity and the advent of postmodern relativism. This redeployment is based on the control of local religious expressions, particularly those that advocate for a more participatory church, which have proliferated with contemporary globalization

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