The Protection of Human Rights in Africa: The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

2017 ◽  
pp. 213-237
Author(s):  
Daniel D.C. Don Nanjira
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter

scholarly journals A Proposal for the Effective Implementation of the Protective Mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 178-200
Author(s):  
Allwell Uwazuruike
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Effective Operation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter ◽  
New System ◽  
African Commission

AbstractThe African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights ushered in an era of human rights promotion and protection at the regional level. However, the African Commission, created for this purpose, continues to face challenges especially with regard to the protection of human rights. This article critically examines one of the core obstacles to the effective operation of the Commission’s protective mandate – the binding nature of its recommendations – and formulates a proposal for bypassing that obstacle. It argues for the strengthening of the Commission’s protective mandate through a distinct and unambivalent adoption of the Commission’s rulings as official decisions of the AU Assembly backed by the concomitant full sanctioning power of the latter. Such adoption, it is argued, must go beyond the current near ceremonious practice whereby the Assembly receives and ‘adopts’ the Commission’s Activity Reports and focus on the recommendations themselves. Adopting this new system, it is argued, will strengthen and add meaning to the Commission’s protective mandate and further project the status of human rights across the continent.

scholarly journals East African Court of Justice and Human Rights Jurisdiction: Drawing the Line

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Liza Chula
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
East African ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Pertinent Question ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter

Human rights in Africa have gradually gained a place of recognition few could have foreseen only a decade ago. With the promotion and protection of human rights entrenched deep in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African states have a duty to uphold this principle in the larger goal of regional economic integration. The East African Court of Justice (EACJ), a regional court, has thus assumed the role of a watchdog in breathing life into these provisions, safeguarding the rule of law and ensuring everyone plays by the rules. It is unfortunate that these watchdogs can then lack the most important tool in steering the ship – jurisdiction. This paper, through a detailed analysis of literature review, tackles the pertinent question of whether the court has jurisdiction to handle human rights cases and arrives at the conclusion that an express mandate is lacking, but there is a somewhat implied mandate. Nonetheless, a clear articulation of the EACJ’s mandate is necessary to enable it to address issues effectively and efficiently.

scholarly journals Responding to Human Rights Violations in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Manisuli Ssenyonjo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
African Charter ◽  
Interim Measures ◽  
Advisory Opinions ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
African Commission

This article examines the main achievements and challenges of Africa’s two regional bodies established to ensure the implementation of human rights in Africa. It makes an assessment of the role of Africa’s oldest regional human rights body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) in the last 31 years of its operation (from 1987–March 2018). It also considers the judicial role of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) in the last 12 years of its operation (from 2006–March 2018). The increasing contribution of both the Commission and the Court to the protection of human rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is rarely subjected to scrutiny in mainstream human rights literature. The article is limited to the consideration of the Commission’s contribution with respect to: (i) decisions on admissibility of communications concerning mainly exhaustion of domestic remedies; (ii) decisions on merits of communications; (iii) adoption of resolutions, principles/guidelines, general comments, model laws and advisory opinions; (iv) special rapporteurs and working groups to deal with thematic human rights issues; (v) consideration of State reports and conducting on-site visits; and (vi) referral of communications to the African Court involving unimplemented interim measures, serious or massive human rights violations, or the Commission’s findings on admissibility and merits.

Organization of African Unity: Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right

1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Philosophy ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Member States ◽  
Stated Objective ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter ◽  
Heads Of State

The Eighteenth Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, June 24-27, 1981, made an historic step toward the protection of human rights in Africa when it passed the Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on to the member states of the O.A.U. to commence the ratification process of that document. The Charter represents the culmination of a two year drafting process.From November 28 to December 8, 1979, a gathering of African experts met in Dakar, Senegal to prepare the first draft of the proposed African Charter. The stated objective of the experts was to prepare an African human rights instrument based upon an African legal philosophy and responsive to African needs.

Decisions by the African Commission on Individual Communications under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

1997 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Murray
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Heads Of State ◽  
African Commission

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, adopted by the 18th Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity in Nairobi in 1981, which came into force in 1986, provided for a single commission with a wide range of powers in respect of the rights in the Charter. This was as a result of an initiative for an African regional mechanism for the protection of human rights by African jurists and subsequent conferences in the 1960s and 1970s, many of which were organised by the United Nations. In these debates several possibilities were raised for the form that such a body should take: from a proposal for several commissions, given the disparate and diverse cultural and political nature of African States a court, a specialised commission within the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), to a single commission. Not only was its structure contentious but also its functions, in particular whether these should include a protective as well as a promotional mandate and what such protective powers should be.

scholarly journals Justiciability of the Right to Development in Ghana: Mirage or Possibility?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-98
Author(s):  
Asare Larbi Paa Kwame
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
National Level ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Right ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Right

An analysis of the debate on the right to development (RTD) suggests that the right is pursued as a solution to solve the problems of poverty and underdevelopment. Thus, this study seeks to determine if at the national level in Ghana, the right to development is a right which is opposable by right-holders against the duty bearers. The Study adopted the Black Letter Law approach in analysing the legal effect of relevant law. This study shows that the African Charter is the only multinational treaty that makes RTD legally enforceable. It also shows that Ghana, which is dualist, has not ratified the African Charter. It is however argued that the Ghanaian courts may enforce RTD either as international law or as a human right implicitly guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. This conclusion supports the notion that development is a human rights concern. It further illustrates that the national courts of African countries are uniquely equipped to guarantee the protection of human rights and the development of the African people.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights under the 2010 Constitutional Dispensation

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226
Author(s):  
Bonolo Ramadi Dinokopila ◽  
Rhoda Igweta Murangiri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
National Commission ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
National Human ◽  
The Status ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This article examines the transformation of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and discusses the implications of such transformation on the promotion and protection of human rights in Kenya. The article is an exposition of the powers of the Commission and their importance to the realisation of the Bill of Rights under the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. This is done from a normative and institutional perspective with particular emphasis on the extent to which the UN Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles, 1993) have been complied with. The article highlights the role of national human rights commissions in transformative and/or transitional justice in post-conflict Kenya. It also explores the possible complementary relationship(s) between the KNCHR and other Article 59 Commissions for the better enforcement of the bill of rights.

TO THE QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR TORTURE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-106
Author(s):  
ASTEMIR ZHURTOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Life ◽  
International Standards ◽  
World Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Russian Federation

Cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as humiliate the dignity, are prohibited in most countries of the world, and Russia is no exception in this issue. The article presents an analysis of the institution of responsibility for torture in the Russian Federation. The author comes to the conclusion that the current criminal law of Russia superficially and fragmentally regulates liability for torture, in connection with which the author formulated the proposals to define such act as an independent crime. In the frame of modern globalization, the world community pays special attention to the protection of human rights, in connection with which large-scale international standards have been created a long time ago. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international acts enshrine prohibitions of cruel and inhumane acts that harm human life and health, as well as degrade the dignity.Considering the historical experience of the past, these standards focus on the prohibition of any kind of torture, regardless of the purpose of their implementation.

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