The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
A Commentary
RACHEL MURRAY
3
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Table of Contents
27. Article 26: Independence of the Courts and Establishment of National Institutions 565
28. Articles 27–29: Individual Duties 576
29. Articles 30–40: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 597
30. Articles 41–44: Appointment of Secretary, Election of Chair and Vice Chair, Voting, Privileges and Immunities 610
31. Articles 45 and 46: Mandate and Procedure of the African Commission 629
32. Articles 47–54: Inter-State Communications and Activity Reports 655
33. Articles 55 and 57: Individual Communication Procedure 664
34. Article 56: Admissibility of Individual Communications 684
35. Article 58: Serious or Massive Violations and Emergencies 753
36. Article 59: Confidentiality and Publication 767
37. Articles 60 and 61: Applicable Principles 782
38. Article 62: State Reporting 794
39. Articles 63–68: Signature, Ratification and Adherence, Reservations and Protocols 807
Table of Cases
AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Communication 2/88, Iheanyichukwu A. Ihebereme v USA, 13 July 1987
Communication 7/88, Committee for the Defence of Political Prisoners v Bahrain, 26 February 1988
Communication 8/88, Nziwa Buyingo v Uganda, 22 March 1995
665–66
184
Communication 11/88, Henry Kalenga v Zambia 663
Communication 25/89-47/90-56/91-100/93, Free Legal Assistance Group, Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, Union Interafricaine des Droits de l’Homme, Les Témoins de Jehovah v DRC, 4 April 1996 103–4, 141, 188, 213, 256–57, 260–61, 401
Communication 27/89-46/91-49/91-99/93, Organisation mondiale contre la torture, Association Internationale des juristes démocrates, Commission internationale des juristes, Union interafricaine des droits de l’Homme v Rwanda, 31 October 1996 52, 62, 83–84, 103–4, 148, 188, 332, 334, 335, 338, 754, 755
Communication 35/89, Seyoum Ayele v Togo, 27 April 1994 684
Communication 39/90_10AR, Annette Pagnoulle (on behalf of Abdoulaye Mazou) v Cameroon, 24 April 1997
197–98, 234, 248, 387
Communication 43/90, Union des scolaires nigériens, Union générale des étudiants nigériens au Bénin v Niger, 27 April 1994
Communication 45/90, Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, 27 April 1994
Communication 48/90-50/91-52/91-89/93, Amnesty International, Comité Loosli Bachelard, Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, Association of Members of the Episcopal Conference of East Africa v Sudan, 15 November 1999
684
684
40–41, 51, 83–84, 105–6, 108–9, 110–11, 118–19, 128, 149–50, 159, 172, 190, 197, 236–37, 257, 261, 263, 285–86, 755
Communication 53/90_7AR, Albert T. Capitao v Tanzania, 27 April 1994 684
Communication 54/91-61/91-96/93-98/93-164/97_196/97-210/98, Malawi Africa Association, Amnesty International, Ms Sarr Diop, Union interafricaine des droits de l'Homme and RADDHO, Collectif des veuves et ayants-Droit, Association mauritanienne des droits de l'Homme v Mauritania, 11 May 2000 17, 36, 38–39, 47, 62, 103–5, 112, 118–19, 143, 147, 158–59, 186, 202, 203, 220, 241, 280–81, 304, 315, 325, 339–40, 364, 541, 667
Communication 57/91, Tanko Bariga v Nigeria, 27 April 1994 684
Communication 59/91, Embga Mekongo Louis v Cameroon, 22 March 1995 249
Communications 64/92-68/92-78/92_8AR Krishna Achuthan (on behalf of Aleke Banda), Amnesty International (on behalf of Orton and Vera Chirwa), Amnesty International (on behalf of Orton and Vera Chirwa v Malawi, 22 March 1995
103–4, 147, 158–59, 186, 190–91, 234
Communication 65/92, Ligue Camerounaise des Droit de l’Homme v Cameroon, 24 April 1997
Communication 71/92, Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO) v Zambia, 31 October 1997
Communication 72/92, Bamidele Aturu v Nigeria, 27 April 1994
666
75, 89, 335, 341
684
Communication 74/92, Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés v Chad, 11 October 1995 38–39, 105, 110–11, 172, 190, 201, 249, 296, 304–5, 563, 754–55
Communication 75/92, Congrès du peuple katangais v Democratic Republic of the Congo, 22 March 1995 501
Communication 87/93, Constitutional Rights Project (in respect of Zamani Lakwot and six others) v Nigeria, 22 March 1995 34
Communication 97/93_14AR, John K. Modise v Botswana, 6 November 2000 136–37, 138–39, 167, 329, 340, 351, 363, 364
Communication 101/93, Civil Liberties Organisation (in respect of the Nigerian Bar Association) v Nigeria, 22 March 1995 189–90, 202, 221–22, 242–43, 251, 299–300, 305
Communication 102/93, Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria, 31 October 1998
22, 27, 48, 280–81, 290, 353–54, 362, 363
Communication 103/93, Alhassan Abubakar v Ghana, 31 October 1996
189, 234, 280–81, 684
Communication 105/93-128/94-130/94-152/96, Media Rights Agenda, Constitutional Rights Project, Media Rights Agenda and Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria, 31 October 1998 193, 242, 364–65, 582–83
Communication 107/93, Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities v Nigeria, 27 April 1994 684
Communication 129/94, Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, 22 March 1995 18, 209
Communication 131/94, Ousman Manjang v Gambia (The), 27 April 1994 684
Communication 135/94, Kenya Human Rights Commission v Kenya, 11 October 1995 684
Communication 136/94, William Courson v Zimbabwe, 22 March 1995 65
Communication 137/94-139/94-154/96-161/97, International PEN, Constitutional Rights Project, Civil Liberties Organisation and Interights (on behalf of Ken Saro-Wiwa Jnr.) v Nigeria, 31 October 1998
23, 34, 111–12, 115–16, 118–19, 132–33, 136, 144, 163, 172, 189–90, 201, 224, 248, 296, 300, 307, 315
Communication 140/94-141/94-145/95, Constitutional Rights Project, Civil Liberties Organisation and Media Rights Agenda v Nigeria, 5 November 1999
Communication 143/95-150/96, Constitutional Rights Project and Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, 5 November 1999
Communication 147/95-149/96, Sir Dawda K. Jawara v Gambia (The), 11 May 2000
33–34, 172, 188, 582
33–34, 190
19, 23, 38–39, 73, 83–84, 189–90, 198–99, 242, 270–71, 280–81, 312, 325, 358, 664, 753
Communication 148/96 Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria, 15 November 1999 197–98, 201, 202
Communication 151/96, Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria, 15 November 1999 142, 147, 158–59, 172, 180
Communication 153/96, Constitutional Rights Project v Nigeria, 15 November 1999 191, 197, 202, 234
Communication 155/96, Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) and Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) v Nigeria, 27 October 2001 33, 44–45, 49, 121, 151–52, 509, 548
Communication 157/96, Association pour la sauvegarde de la paix au Burundi v Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zaire (DRC), Zambia, 29 May 2003 103–4, 337, 657
Communication 159/96, Union interafricaine des droits de l’Homme, Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme, RADDHO, Organisation nationale des droits de l’Homme au Sénégal and Association malienne des droits de l’Homme v Angola, 11 November 1997
Communication 197/97, Bah Ould Rabah v Mauritania, 4 June 2004
Communication 198/97, SOS Esclaves v Mauritania, 5 May 1999
Communication 199/97, Odjouoriby Cossi Paul v Benin, 4 June 2004
334, 338
169–70
169
233–34
Communication 204/97, Movement burkinabé des droits de l’Homme et des peuples v Burkina Faso, 7 May 2001 93, 97, 98, 99–100, 105–6, 123, 134–35, 161, 198, 234, 330, 360
Communication 205/97, Kazeem Aminu v Nigeria, 11 May 2000 105, 172, 194, 201, 299
Communication 206/97, Centre for Free Speech v Nigeria, 15 November 1999 201, 202
Communication 209/97, Africa Legal Aid v Gambia (The), 11 May 2000 684
Communication 211/98, Legal Resources Foundation v Zambia, 7 May 2001 19, 47, 51, 55, 56, 57, 76–77, 83–84, 88, 361–62, 684, 775
Communication 212/98, Amnesty International v Zambia, 5 May 1999 73, 83–84, 254–55, 257, 278, 295, 330, 346
Communication 215/98, Rights International v Nigeria, 15 November 1999 329, 338
Communication 218/98, Civil Liberties Organisation, Legal Defence Centre, Legal Defence and Assistance Project v Nigeria, 7 May 2001
40–41, 207, 224, 239, 684–85
Communication 222/98-229/99, Law Office of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan, 3 May 2003
148–50, 159, 193, 224, 225, 684–85
Communication 223/98, Forum of Conscience v Sierra Leone, 6 November 2000
Communication 224/98, Media Rights Agenda v Nigeria, 6 November 2000
Communication 225/98, Huri-Laws v Nigeria, 6 November 2000
102, 118–19
134–35, 139, 148, 158–59, 172, 214, 224, 280
132–33, 134–35, 136–37, 141, 158–59, 162, 194, 267–68, 329
Table of Cases ix
Communication 227/99, Democratic Republic of Congo v Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, 29 May 2003
75, 84, 85, 105, 107–8, 329, 457, 498, 527, 539–40, 656
Communication 228/99, Law Offices of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan, 29 May 2003
186, 266, 279, 290, 295–96, 304–5, 308–9, 316, 325–26, 328–29, 340
Communication 231/99, Avocats Sans Frontières (on behalf of Gaëtan Bwampamye) v Burundi, 6 November 2000 93, 217–18
Communication 232/99, John D. Ouko v Kenya, 6 November 2000 148, 172, 201, 281–82, 300, 305, 326–27, 329, 339–40
Communication 233/99-234/99, Interights (on behalf of Pan African Movement and Citizens for Peace in Eritrea) v Ethiopia and Interights (on behalf of Pan African Movement and Inter African Group) v Eritrea, 29 May 2003 656–57
Communication 236/00, Curtis Francis Doebbler v Sudan, 4 May 2003 73, 132–33, 139, 142–43, 144–45, 172, 179–80, 182, 262, 264, 333
Communication 240/01, Interights et al (on behalf of Mariette Sonjaleen Bosch) v Botswana, 20 November 2003
Communication 241/01, Purohit and Moore v Gambia (The), 29 May 2003
36, 115–16, 119
17, 32, 33, 40–41, 46, 79, 85, 86, 88, 90–91, 96, 98, 99, 100, 136–37, 166–67, 179–81, 187–88, 223, 237, 354, 362, 400
Communication 242/01, Interights, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, and Association mauritanienne des droits de l’Homme v Mauritania, 4 June 2004
296, 301
Communication 243/01, Women’s Legal Aid Center (on behalf of Sophia Moto) v Tanzania, 7 December 2004 209, 251
Communication 245/02, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe, 15 May 2006 23–24, 25,151–52, 153, 208, 772, 27–28, 29, 36, 40–41, 66–67, 150, 151–52, 153, 208, 772
Communication 246/02, Mouvement ivoirien des droits humains (MIDH) v Cote d’Ivoire, 29 July 2008 36, 48, 49, 76–77, 82–83, 86, 88, 89, 241, 345, 359, 360, 361–62
Communication 249/02, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (on behalf of Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea) v Guinea, 7 December 2004 53, 82, 84, 85, 118, 180, 332, 338
Communication 250/02, Liesbeth Zegveld and Mussie Ephrem v Eritrea, 20 November 2003 38–39, 74, 84, 85, 158, 185, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193, 198–99, 202
Communication 251/02, Lawyers of Human Rights v Swaziland, 2 July 2005
17, 20, 33–34, 41–43, 209, 251, 252, 295–96, 305, 308–9, 316, 317, 352, 362
Communication 253/02, Antonie Bissangou v Congo, 29 November 2006
45–46, 48, 90, 91, 93, 95, 96, 97–98, 99, 222–23, 248, 509, 630
Communication 255/02, Garreth Anver Prince v South Africa, 7 December 2004
259, 260, 261, 665
Communication 259/02, Working Group on Strategic Legal Cases v Democratic Republic of Congo, 24 July 2011
22–23, 41–43, 114, 117–18, 130, 206, 215, 217–18, 221, 222, 249
Communication 260/02, Bakweri Land Claims Committee v Cameroon, 4 December 2004 685
Communication 262/02, Mouvement Ivoirien de droits de l’Homme (MIDH) v Côte d’Ivoire, 22 May 2008 52, 84, 85, 86–88
Communication 266/03, Kevin Mgwanga Gunme et al v Cameroon, 27 May 2009 37–38, 54–55, 70–71, 84–85, 86–89, 128, 134–35, 189, 203, 304, 316, 317, 484–85, 506–7
Communication 269/03, Interights (on behalf of Safia Yakubu Husaini et al.) v Nigeria, 11 May 2005 115–16
Communication 272/03, Association of Victims of Post Electoral Violence & Interights v Cameroon, 25 November 2009 17, 21, 23–24, 25–26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 33–34, 37–38, 52–53, 59, 84–85, 86–87, 111, 129, 130, 215–16, 249–50
Communication 273/03, Centre for Advancement of Democracy, Social Justice, Conflict Resolution and Human Welfare v Nigeria, 11 May 2005
Communication 274/03 and 282/03, Interights, ASADHO and Madam O. Disu v Democratic Republic of Congo, 28 May 2014
498
164, 193, 207–8, 222, 223, 226, 228–29, 238, 243
Communication 275/03, Article 19 v Eritrea, 30 May 2007
Communication 276/03, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group (on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council) v Kenya, 25 November 2009
39, 40–41
253, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 264, 457, 512–13
Table of Cases x
Communication 277/03, Spilg and Mack & DITSHWANELO (on behalf of Lehlohonolo Bernard Kobedi) v Botswana, 12 October 2013
46–47, 48, 117, 139–40, 163–64, 211–12, 230, 234–35
Communication 278/03, Promoting Justice for Women and Children (PROJUST NGO) v Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 October 2013 566
Communication 279/03-296/05, Sudan Human Rights Organisation & Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) v Sudan, 27 May 2009 21–22, 30, 38–39, 41–43, 102, 103, 106, 108–9, 110–11, 128, 129, 130, 134–35, 136–37, 139–41, 151–52, 180, 181, 183, 184, 185, 187, 199–200, 202, 203, 325, 326–27, 331, 337, 340, 341, 401, 461, 524
Communication 284/03, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights & Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe v Zimbabwe, 3 April 2009 21–22, 209–10, 236–37, 282, 284, 387
Communication 286/04, Dino Noca v Democratic Republic of the Congo, 22 October 2012 21–22, 23–24, 30, 41, 50, 92–93, 98, 100, 207–8, 231, 364–65
Communication 288/04, Gabriel Shumba v Zimbabwe, 2 May 2012 134, 144, 172, 182, 183
Communication 288/04, Gabriel Shumba v Zimbabwe, 30 June 2017 102, 196
Communication 290/04, Open Society Justice Initiative (on behalf of Pius Njawè Noumeni) v Cameroon, 25 May 2006
Communication 292/04, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (on behalf of Esmaila Connateh & 13 others) v Angola, 22 May 2008
291
20, 25, 27, 33–34, 41–43, 75, 85, 86–87, 88, 132–33, 139, 140, 147, 155–56, 162, 172, 180–81, 182, 183, 188, 193, 197–98, 203, 204, 334, 335–36, 339–40
Communication 294/04, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (on behalf of Andrew Barclay Meldrum) v Zimbabwe, 3 April 2009 48, 53, 55, 57, 66, 75–76, 85, 88, 92, 94–95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 207–8, 223–24, 236–37, 251–52, 270–71, 278, 290, 334, 339–40, 341, 565
Communication 295/04, Noah Kazingachire, John Chitsenga, Elias Chemvura and Batanai Hadzisi (represented by Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum) v Zimbabwe, 2 May 2012 20, 25, 30, 41–43, 102, 104, 105–6, 109–10, 123, 124, 129, 130
Communication 296/05, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions v Sudan 180
Communication 297/05, Scanlen & Holderness v Zimbabwe, 3 April 2009 270, 280–81, 286, 288, 290, 291 Communication 301/05, Haregewoin Gebre-Sellaise & IHRDA (on behalf of former Dergue officials) v Ethiopia, 7 November 2011
20, 25, 29, 40–43, 52, 58–59, 82–83, 207, 223–24, 225, 226, 233–34, 235, 249–50, 252, 566
Communication 302/05, Maître Mamboleo M. Itundamilamba v Democratic Republic of the Congo, 23 April 2013
91, 92–93, 94, 95–96, 97–98, 100, 206, 207, 213, 231, 236–37, 248–49, 252
Communication 305/05, ARTICLE 19 and Others v Zimbabwe, 22 May 2012
Communication 313/05, Kenneth Good v Botswana, 26 May 2010
62, 268–69, 275
19, 23–24, 40–41, 56–57, 270, 278, 280, 282–83, 287, 289, 290, 291, 461, 582
Communication 317/06, the Nubian Community in Kenya v the Republic of Kenya, 28 February 2015 21–22, 23–24, 33–34, 137–39
Communication 318/06, Open Society Justice Initiative v Côte d’Ivoire, 27 May 2016 21–22, 33–34, 41–43, 46, 50, 54, 56–57, 60, 72, 73, 83, 86, 87, 88, 132–33, 136, 138–39, 143, 253, 329–30, 338, 346, 353–54, 360, 523, 756
Communication 319/06, Interights & Ditshwanelo v the Republic of Botswana, 28 June 2016 19, 21–22, 33–34, 41–43, 114, 115–16, 120, 164, 182
Communication 321/06, Law Society of Zimbabwe et al v Zimbabwe, 18 October 2013 629–30
Communication 322/06, Tsatsu Tsikata v Ghana, 29 November 2008 and 14 October 2014
225, 226, 227, 233, 243, 784
Communication 323/06, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights & Interights v Egypt, 16 December 2011
21–22, 23, 26, 29, 41–43, 57, 63–64, 83, 84–85, 86–87, 90–92, 94–96, 97–98, 99–100, 136–37, 139, 141, 142–43, 148, 151, 152–53, 181, 182, 400
Communication 323/06, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v Egypt, 12 October 2013
53, 56–57, 73–74, 84, 86, 87, 88, 266, 269, 270–71, 272, 278, 280–81, 282, 287, 291, 582
Table of Cases
Communication 328/06, Frente para a Libertação do Estado de Cabinda v Angola, 5 November 2013
Communication 333/2006, Southern African Human Rights NGO Network v Tanzania, May 2010
509, 526
784
Communication 334/06, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v Arab Republic of Egypt, 3 March 2011 104–5, 115, 120, 129, 130, 131, 135, 136, 144, 150, 159, 171, 172, 182, 183, 220, 222, 228–29, 237–38, 248, 250, 252, 566, 784–85
Communication 335/06, Dabalorivhuwa Patriotic Front v Republic of South Africa, 18 October 2013 55, 56, 57–58, 82, 83, 93, 348, 783, 808–9
Communication 339/07, Patrick Okiring and Agupio Samson (represented by Human Rights Network and ISIS-WICCE) v Republic of Uganda, 28 April 2018 194–95, 230–31, 237, 249
Communication 351/07, Givemore Chari (represented by Gabriel Shumba) v Republic of Zimbabwe, 1 March 2012 105
Communication 355/07, Hossam Ezzat and Rania Enayet (represented by Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights) v the Arab Republic of Egypt, 28 April 2018 22, 257–58, 810–11
Communication 361/08, J.E. Zitha & P.J.L. Zitha (represented by Prof. Dr. Liesbeth Zegveld) v Mozambique, 1 April 2011
161, 808–9
Communication 368/09, Abdel Hadi, Ali Radi & Others v Republic of Sudan, 5 November 2013
20, 21–22, 23–24, 26, 29, 40–43, 48–49, 134–35, 140–41, 142, 149–50, 152–53, 179–80, 181, 182, 185, 188–90, 197–98, 202, 203, 228–29, 234, 250
Communication 373/09, Interights, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, and Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l’Homme v Mauritania, 3 March 2010 22, 23–24, 43, 364
Communication 375/09, Priscilla Njeri Echaria (represented by Federation of Women Lawyers, Kenya and International Center for the Protection of Human Rights) v Kenya, 7 November 2011 636–37
Communication 379/09, Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman (represented by FIDH and OMCT) v Sudan, 14 March 2014 20, 23–24, 33–34, 41–43, 185, 193, 299, 301, 326–27, 330–31, 340, 388–89
Communication 379/09, Monim Elgak, Osman Hummeida and Amir Suliman (represented by FIDH and OMCT) v Sudan, 10 March 2015 139, 148, 152–53, 171, 185, 248
Communication 383/10, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Al-Asad v the Republic of Djibouti, 12 May 2014 162, 172
Communication 383/10, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Al-Asad v the Republic of Djibouti, 4 October 2014
Communication 389/10, Mbiankeu v Cameroon, 1 August 2015
Communication 409/12, Luke Munyandu Tembani and Benjamin John Freeth (represented by Norman Tjombe) v Angola and Thirteen Others, 30 April 2014
Communication 416/12, Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara v Cameroon, 18 May 2016
Communication 445/13, Human Rights Council and Others v Egypt, 19 May 2016
225
206
Communication 464/14, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto (represented by Innocence Project Africa) v Republic of Kenya, 14 March 2014 498
Communication 467/14, Ahmed Ismael and 528 Others v the Arab Republic of Egypt, 8 August 2015 115–16
Communication 467/14, Ahmed Ismael and 528 Others v the Arab Republic of Egypt, 27 May 2016 206
Communication 477/14, Crawford Lindsay von Abo v the Republic of Zimbabwe, 31 March 2016 684–85
AFRICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Abdoulaye Nikiema, Ernest Zongo, Blaise Ilboudo & Burkinabe Human and Peoples’ Rights Movement v Burkina Faso, App. No. 013/2011, Ruling on Reparations, 5 June 2015 41–43
Actions Pour La Protection Des Droits De L’homme (APDH) v Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, App. No. 001/2014, Judgment on the Merits, 18 November 2016 41–43
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v Republic of Kenya, App. No. 006/2012, Judgment of 26 May 2017 365, 509
Alex Thomas v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 005/2013, Judgment, 20 November 2015
Amiri Ramadhani v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 010/2015, Judgment, 11 May 2018
218, 252, 784
835
Table of Cases
Anaclet Paulo v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 020/2016, Judgment, 21 September 2018
194–95, 219
Beneficiaries of Late Norbert Zongo, Abdoulaye Nikiema Alias Ablassé, Ernest Zongo and Blaise Ilboudo and the Burkinabé Human and Peoples’ rights Movement v Burkina Faso, App. No. 013/2011, Judgment of 28 March 2014 207–8, 213–14, 216, 233–34, 784 Judgment on Reparations, 15 June 2015 250–51
Delta International Investments SA, MR AGL de Lange and Mrs M De Lange v Republic of South Africa, App. No. 002/2012, Decision of 30 March 2012 822
Diocles William v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 016/2016, Judgment, 21 September 2018 218, 223, 232, 252
Femi Falana v African Union, App. No. 001/2011 581–82
Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza v Republic of Rwanda, App. No. 003/2014, Ruling on Withdrawal of Declaration, 3 June 2016; and subsequent judgment 24 November 2017 821–22
Kijiji Isiagi v United Republic of Tanzania, App.No.032/2015, Judgment, 31 March 2018 95–96
Lohé Issa Konaté v Burkina Faso, App. No. 004/2013
Judgment of 5 December 2014
269, 273–74, 281, 282, 283, 287, 289, 582, 784
Separate Opinion of Judges Sophia A. B. Akuffo, Bernard M. Ngoepe and Duncan Tambala, 5 December 2014
Judgment on Reparations, 3 June 2016
279
290–91
Michelot Yogogombaye v Republic of Senegal, App. No. 001/2008, Judgment, 15 December 2009 821–22
Minani Evarist v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 027/2015, Judgment, 21 September 2018 252
Mohamed Abubakari v United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 007/2013, Judgment of 3 June 2016 223, 252, 784
Rutabingwa Chrysanthe v Republic of Rwanda, App. No. 022/2015, Order, 3 June 2016 643–44
Tanganyika Law Society and the Legal and Human Rights Centre v United Republic of Tanzania, and Reverend Christopher R Mtikila v United Republic of Tanzania, App. Nos. 009/2011, and 011/2011 346, 348, 350–51, 359, 362, 783–84, 820–21
Thobias Mang’ara Mango and Shukurani Masegenya Mango v the United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 005/2015, Judgment of 11 May 2018 21–22, 224, 228–29, 232
Reverend Christopher R. Mtikila v the United Republic of Tanzania, App. No. 011/2011, Ruling on Reparations, 13 June 2014
363 Urban Mkandawire v Republic of Malawi, App. No. 003/2011, Judgment
EAST AFRICAN COURT OF JUSTICE
Burundian Journalists Union v Attorney General of the Republic of Burundi, Reference No. 7 of 2013
Uhai Eashri Health Development Initiative (Rwanda) v Human Rights Awareness & Promotion Forum (HRAPF) & the Attorney General of the Republic of Uganda, 20/2014-21/2014
ECOWAS COMMUNITY COURT OF JUSTICE
Barthelemy Dias v Republic of Senegal, ECW/CCJ/JUG/05/12, 23 March 2012
Djot Bayi & 14 Others v Nigeria & 4 Others, ECW/CCJ/APP/10/06, 28 January 2009
65
188–89, 224
136–37, 197–98
Hadijatou Mani Koraou v Niger, ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/08, 27 October 2008 54, 170
Manneh v The Gambia, ECW/CCJ/JUD/03/08, 5 June 2008 654
Musa Saidykhan v the Gambia, ECW/CCJ/JUD/08/10 16 December 2010 136–37, 204
Registered Trustees of the Socio-economic and Accountability Project (SERAP) v Nigeria & UBEC, ECW/CCJ/JUD/07/10, 30 November 2010 440
Nosa Ehanire Osaghae, Jonah Gbemire, Peter Aiko Obabiafo Plaintiffs, Daniel Ikponmwosa. Suing for themselves and on behalf of Niger Delta People v Republic of Nigeria, ECW/CCJ/JUD/03/17, 10 October 2017 754
SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria, ECW/CCJ/JUD/18/12, 14 December 2012 551
Simone Ehivet and Michel Gbagbo v Côte d’Ivoire, ECW/CCJ/JUD/03/13, 22 February 2013 185, 327
Siriku Alade v the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ECW/CCJ/JUD/10/12, 11 June 2012
197–98, 201–2
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v UK, App. No. 61498/08, 2 March 2010
Burdov v Russia, App. No. 59498/03, 7 May 2002
Campbell and Cosans v UK (1982), 4 EHRR 293 [1982] ECHR 1
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands v Greece (1969) 12 YB 1
Hornsby v Greece, App. No. 18357/91, 19 March 1997
Hugh Jordan v UK, App. No. 24746/94, 4 August 2001
Ireland v UK, App. No. 5310/71, 13 December 1977 141
Kuric and Other v Slovenia, App. No. 26828/06, 26 June 2012 138–39
Selçuk and Asker v Turkey, (1998) 26 EHRR 477 151
Soering v UK, App. No. 14038/88, 7 July 1989 164
Tyrer v UK, App. No. 5856/72, 15 March 1978 144–45
INTER- AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Edwards v Bahamas, Case 12.067, Report 48.01, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.111, Doc.20 (2000) 120
INTER- AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 of 17 September 2003 requested by the United Mexican States Juridical Condition and Rights of Undocumented Migrants 46
Advisory Opinion OC-5/85 of 13 November 1985 on Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the Practice of Journalism, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (Ser. A) No. 5 (1985) 270–71, 286
Advisory Opinion OC-8/87, Series A, No. 8 (1987) 150
Claude Reyes et al v Chile
Loyza Tamayo v Peru
Velásquez Rodríguez v Honduras, Judgment of July 29, 1988, Inter-Am.Ct.H.R. (Ser. C) No. 4 (1988)
27, 109–10, 153, 511–12
Yean and Bosico v the Dominican Republic, Order of 8 September 2005
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Public Ministry v Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac and Vukovic Zoran, Judgment of 12 June 2002, IT-96-23 & 23/1 170
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
Carpo v Philippines, Communication No. 1077/2002, UN Doc.CCPR/C/77/D/1077/2002 120 Gridin v Russian Federation, Communication No 770/1997, UN Doc CCPR/C/69/D/770/1997 224 Hijrizi v Yugoslavia, Communication No 161/2000, UN Doc CAT/C/29/D/161/2000 151 Karnel Singh Bhinder v Canada, Communication No 208/1986, UN Doc CCPR/C/37/D/208/1986 261 Randolph Barrett and Clyde Sutcliffe v. Jamaica, Communication No. 271/1988, UN Doc. CCPR/C/44/D/271/1988 164 Thompson v St Vincent, Communication No. 806/1998, UN Doc.CCPR/C/70/D/806/1998 120
NATIONAL JURISDICTIONS
Botswana
Attorney General v Dow [1992] BLR 119, Court of Appeal of Botswana
State v Ntesang [1995] 4 BCLR 426; [1995] 2 LRC 338
Thomas Sibanda v the Attorney General of Botswana & Secretary of the Independent Electoral Commission, Case No. MAHLB-000347-09 (High Court)
54
Utjiwa Kanane v the State, Botswana Court of Appeal, Criminal Appeal No 9 of 2003 (30 July 2003) unreported 65
Ghana
Ahumah Ocansey v the Electoral Commission; Centre for Human Rights & Civil Liberties (CHURCIL) v Attorney General and the Electoral Commission, (2010) AHRLR 165 (Supreme Court) 354–55
Kenya
Charles Onyango-Obbo and Anor v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2002) (Supreme Court)
Cord v the Republic of Kenya and Others, H.C. Petition No. 628 of 2014 (High Court)
Nigeria
Fawehinmi v Abacha (1996) 9 NWLR (Pt.475) 710 (Court of Appeal)
General Sani Abacha and Others v Chief Gani Fawehinmi [2000] 4 SCNJ 401 (Supreme Court)
209
Mohammed Garuba and Others v Lagos State Attorney General and Others, Report, (1994) 4 Journal of Human Rights Law and Practice 205 209
Registered Trustees of the Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) v the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Others (1994) 4 Journal of Human Rights Law and Practice 218 209
South Africa
BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs, 2004, 5, SA 124 (SW) 552–53
Chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly, Ex Parte: In Re Certification of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 4 SA 744; 1996 10 BCLR 1253 (CC) 547
Government of the Republic of South Africa & Others v Grootboom & Others 2000 11 BCLR 1169 (CC) 1184 547
S v Magwanyane and Another, 1995 3 SA 391 (CC) 114, 118
South African Constitutional Court in Christian Education South Africa v Minister of Education [1999] 2 SA 83 (CC)
Tanzania
Mbushuu v Republic (1994) LRC 349; [1995] 1 LRC 2016 (High Court)
Uganda
Attorney General v Susan Kigula and 417 Others, Constitutional Appeal No. 3 of 2006 [2009] UGSC 6, 21 January 2009 (Supreme Court)
Uganda Law Society and Jackson Karugaba v Attorney General, Constitutional Petitions 02 of 2002 and 08 of 2002 (unreported) (Constitutional Court)
United States
Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
Zimbabwe
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe v Attorney General and Others [1993] 4 SA 239 (Supreme Court)
Table of Legislation
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
Art 1 16–43, 73, 154, 212, 375, 551, 678–79, 681–82
Art 2
Art 3
29, 44–89, 90, 91, 253, 254–55, 262, 322, 335, 345–46, 360, 395, 468–69, 478–79, 485, 487–88, 491, 493, 671, 672, 840–41
45–46, 47, 66–100, 214, 544, 823–24
Art 3(1) 92, 94–96
Art 3(2) 92, 96–97
Art 4 29, 50–51, 101–31, 162–63, 248, 472, 492, 677, 702–3, 792, 809
Art 5 6, 21–22, 29, 48–49, 57, 73, 101, 117, 132–83, 191, 200, 263, 318–19, 409, 410, 420, 424, 468–69
Art 6 81–82, 112–13, 156–57, 162, 184–204, 207–8, 248
Art 7 34, 37, 52, 93, 112–13, 118–20, 152, 156–57, 163, 190, 205–52, 565, 566–67, 568, 569, 573, 574–75, 702–3, 729–30, 784–85, 786, 835
Art 7(1)
Art 7(1)(a)
Art 7(1)(b)
207–21, 237, 241–42
205, 207–8, 209, 212, 221–23, 226
211–12, 223–27, 786
Art 7(1)(c) 29, 92–93, 227–33, 239–40, 249
Art 7(1)(d) 233–34, 237–38, 239, 566–67, 746
Art 7(2) 242–43, 755, 822
Art 8 51, 188, 253–65, 582–83, 810–11
Art 9 22, 48, 266–93, 296, 305, 697, 810
Art 9(1) 269–73, 279
Art 9(2) 255, 266, 273–81, 282–83, 284, 285–86, 287, 296, 576
Art 10 261, 294–305, 308, 309, 317
Art 10(1) 299, 300, 301–4, 358
Art 10(2)
Art 11
Art 12
Art 12(1)
Art 12(2)
Art 12(3)
Art 12(4)
303–4
296, 304, 307–17
75, 199–200, 318–43, 630
336
325, 329–31, 336, 544, 585
331–33
334, 544
Art 12(5) 50, 329, 334, 335–36, 485
Art 13 47, 49–50, 72, 76–77, 344–63, 471, 504, 590, 783–84, 824
Art 13(1) 294–95, 345–46, 348–60, 501–2
Art 13(2) 344, 345–46, 360–61
Art 13(3) 345–46, 361, 809–10
Art 14 50, 52
Art 15 386–99
Art 16
Art 16(1)
Art 16(2)
Art 17
Art 17(1)
Art 17(2)
51, 148, 368, 389–90, 400–36, 553
401, 410–11, 431, 432
401, 410–11
437–57, 472–73, 558–59
437–49
449–56
Art 17(3) 449–56
Art 18 458–83
Art 18(1) 158–59, 461, 462–63, 464, 470
Art 18(2) 462, 463
Art 18(3) 56–57, 62–63, 461, 464–75, 634, 800, 840–41
Art 18(4) 77–78, 81, 423–24, 476, 478–79
Art 19 54–55, 72, 484–96, 526
Art 20 358, 497–12, 590–91
Art 20(1) 346, 498, 501, 504, 506
Art 20(2) 504–11
Art 20(3)
Art 21
Art 21(1)
504–11
366–67, 374, 378, 416–17, 508–26, 527, 545–46
511, 512–13
Art 21(2) 366–67, 512–13, 514–15, 516, 518
Art 21(4)
Art 21(5)
516, 591
509, 511, 512
Art 22 404, 511, 515, 521–56, 553–54, 754–55
Art 22(1) 530
Art 22(2) 526, 527–28
Art 23 200–1, 498, 538–39, 588–90
Art 23(1) 539–43
Art 23(2) 337, 543
Art 24 418, 545, 547–57
Art 25 28, 558–64, 574
Art 26 237–38, 347–48, 559, 561, 565–198
Art 27
Art 27(1)
135, 269–70, 288, 301, 453–54, 580, 581–210, 596
581–208, 583
Art 27(2) 135, 259, 261, 287, 288, 350–51, 454, 579, 580, 582–83, 596
Art 28
584, 596
Art 29 303, 477, 576–77, 585–96, 792–93
Art 29(1) 585–86
Art 29(2) 585, 588, 589
Art 29(3) 588
Art 29(4) 592–218
Art 29(5) 588
Art 29(6) 585, 595–96
Art 29(7)
585, 594–221
Art 29(8) 591
Art 30 597, 667–68
Art 31 576–77, 597, 602–3, 674–75, 839
Art 32
Art 33
597, 603
597, 606
Art 34 597
Art 35 49, 597
Art 36 597, 606, 809–10
Art 37
Art 38
597, 809–10
597, 607
Art 39 597
Art 39(2) 608
Art 39(3) 608
Art 40
Art 41
598
610
Art 42 610
Art 43 610, 627
Art 44 610
Art 45
291–92, 580–81, 629, 630–5, 637, 640–41, 644, 776, 811–12
Art 45(1) 636–37, 642–43
Art 45(2) 659
Art 45(3) 636–37, 767–68
Art 46
Art 47
629, 630, 634–35, 673–74, 676
655, 657–19, 661
Art 48 655, 661
Art 49 655, 660–61, 662
Art 50 655, 659
Art 51 655, 661
Art 52
Art 53
Art 54
655, 662
655, 660
655, 662–25, 769–70
Art 55 642, 656–57, 664, 665–47, 673–74, 675, 684, 717, 753, 828
Art 56 233–34, 658–59, 667, 684–99, 825
Art 56(1)
667, 693–98
Art 56(2) 62, 667, 698–99, 706
Art 56(3) 268–69, 284–85, 568, 667, 706–7, 711
Art 56(4) 676, 711–13
Art 56(5) 567–68, 667, 713–14, 743
Art 56(6) 268–69, 743, 748
Art 56(7) 666, 748, 752
Art 57 664
Art 58 541, 641, 664, 753–117, 809–10, 828
Art 59 630, 636, 639, 673–74, 767–144, 813
Art 60 782, 824
Art 61
Art 62
Art 63
Art 64
Art 65
Art 66
782
794–806
807, 808
807, 811–12
807, 808–9
807, 813–14
Art 67 807
Art 68 807
OTHER INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC)
10, 244, 422–23, 438, 449, 461, 470, 472, 576–77, 588
Art 5 101
Art 6 139
Art 11 31–32, 438, 441–42, 443
Art 13 31–32
Art 14 406–7
Art 15 396–97
Art 45 767–68
American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) 636–37, 743
Art 4 101
Art 8 217–18, 786
Art 13
Art 29
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
Art 1
Art 2
270–71
270–71
60–61, 782
60–61
60–61
Art 3 60–61
Art 4 60–62
Art 5 60–61
Art 6 60–61
Art 7 60–61
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 8–9, 215–16, 743, 823–24
Art 2 101
Art 6 786
Art 14 45–46
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 39–40, 45–46, 214, 253, 254, 660–61, 701, 782, 823–24
Art 6
Art 7
Art 14
Art 19
Art 22
117–18, 472, 785–86
241
205, 217–18, 784, 786, 823–24
287, 583, 824–25
294, 301
Art 25 345–46, 350–51, 359, 783–84, 824
Art 40 254
Optional Protocol 2 112–13, 115, 116–17 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 32, 386, 400–1, 449, 716–17
Art 11 33
Art 12 33, 430
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)
Art 1
Art 2
Art 3
12, 31–32, 431, 438, 464–65, 470, 840-–42
451–52, 468–69
451–52, 466–67
Art 4(2)
Art 6
Art 7
Art 8 466–67
Art 9
Art 10
Art 11
Art 12
Art 12(1)
Art 12(2)
Art 13
Art 13(j)
Art 14
Art 14(2)
Art 15
Art 15(a)
Art 16
Art 17
Art 18
Art 19
Art 20
Art 21
Art 22
411, 419–20, 425, 428, 430–31, 466–68
426
388, 394, 395–97, 466–67
393–94
Art 10
Art 10(2)
Art 12(2) 819
Art 14(3) 819–20
Art 15 820
Art 19 820
Art 20 820
Art 23 820
Art 25(1) 820
Art 27 832, 834–35
Art 27(1) 41, 833–34
Art 30 33–34
Art 33
Art 34(6)
Art 23 466–67
Art 24 466–67
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights 11–12, 598, 767–68, 792–93, 815–44
Art 2
Art 3(1)
Art 4
Art 5
Art 5(1)
826
643–44, 805, 817, 821–23, 824, 827, 831, 833
United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) 132–33, 151
Art 1
Art 5
140–41, 144, 149, 786
149
Art 15 220
Art 16 142
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 461, 464–65, 466–67, 795, 841
Art 1 63
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 477, 564, 814, 842–43
Art 33
826
764–65
826
643–44, 817
823, 826, 831
Art 5(2) 821, 831–32
Art 5(3) 643–44
Art 6(1) 825
Art 6(3) 825, 826, 827
Art 7 783–84, 823–24
476–77, 564
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 439, 461, 474
United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) 10, 155–56, 176, 564, 790
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 9, 60–61, 167–68, 253, 782, 823–24
Art 19 583
Art 25 823–24
Art 27 449
List of Abbreviations
ACERWC African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
ACHPR African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
ACHR American Convention on Human Rights
ACJ African Court of Justice
ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
AGA African Governance Architecture
AHRLJ African Human Rights Law Journal
AHRLR African Human Rights Law Reports
AIPPA Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
AJICL African Journal of International and Comparative Law
AMU African Maghreb Union
APCOF African Policing Civil Oversight Forum
APRM African Peer Review Mechanism
APT Association for the Prevention of Torture
AU African Union
AUC African Union Commission
CAL Coalition of African Lesbians
CEDAW UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
CEEAC Economic Community of Central African States
CEN-SAD Community of Sahel-Saharan States
CEJIL Center for Justice and International Law
CERD Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and South Africa
CPTA Committee on Prevention of Torture in Africa
CRPD UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
CSO civil society organisation
CSSDCA Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa
DPA Department of Political Affairs (of the AU)
DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo
EAC East African Community
ECHR European Convention on Human Rights
ECOSOCC Economic, Social and Cultural Council
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EHRLR European Human Rights Law Review
FGM female genital mutilation
GIMAC Gender Is My Agenda Campaign
HRQ Human Rights Quarterly
ICC International Criminal Court
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
List of Abbreviations
ICJ International Commission of Jurists
ICLQ International and Comparative Law Quarterly
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
ICTY Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
IDP internally displaced person
IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development
IHRDA Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
ILC International Law Commission
IWGIA International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs
LEDAP Legal Defence and Assistance Project
NANHRI Network of African National Human Rights Institutions
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGO Non-governmental organisation
NHRI national human rights institution
NQHR Netherlands Quarterly on Human Rights
OAU Organisation of African Unity
OHADA Organisation pour l’Harmonisation des Droits d’Affaires en Afrique
OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
OPCAT UN Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
OSJI Open Society Justice Initiative
PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
PAHRI Pan-African Human Rights Institute
PAP Pan-African Parliament
PRC Permanent Representatives’ Committee
PRI Penal Reform International
PSC Peace and Security Council
REC Regional Economic Community
SADC Southern African Development Community
SERAP Socio-Economic Rights Action Center
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UMA Arab Maghreb Union
UN United Nations
UNCAT United Nations Convention Against Torture
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNSPT United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture
WILDAF Women in Law and Development in Africa
1. Introduction
A. Human Rights in the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union
1. The Organisation of African Unity
When the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) was created in 1963 among the principal human rights issues, even if they were not necessarily termed such, with which it was occupied was decolonisation for all African peoples, in the context of self-determination, and ending apartheid in South Africa.1 The OAU, which was to become a key actor in the success of the future African human rights system, was established by a Charter whose principles were clearly grounded in ‘freedom, equality dignity and justice’,2 the ‘unity and solidarity of the African States’, and a ‘better life for the peoples of Africa’,3 but could not have foreseen the breadth of what would be considered human and peoples’ rights which would be included in later African instruments. As Dugard wrote not long after the OAU Charter was adopted, this was really a ‘charter of liberation’.4
Having acquired their independence from colonial rule, and with some African peoples still, during the 1970s and 1980s, fighting for this right, it is predictable that the OAU and these new African States would be fiercely protective of their sovereignty and corresponding obligations not to interfere in the internal affairs of others.5
The focus on decolonisation and the anti-apartheid struggle helped to introduce the language of human rights into the discussions at the level of the political organs of the OAU.6 As the years advanced and more States became independent, and with the end of apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s, so the OAU’s attention shifted to other considerations. Globalisation, development and unconstitutional changes of government started to become increasingly important. Its principal human rights body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘African Commission’), created under the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, began operating in 1987. With its headquarters based in The Gambia on the other side of the continent, its work was often forgotten by the Addis Ababa organs, and the African Commission did not always seem
1 See R. Murray, Human Rights in Africa: From the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union, Cambridge University Press, 2004, chapter 1. See also, OAU documents: Resolution on South Africa, CM/ Res.1427 (LVII); Resolution CIAS/Plen.2/Rev.2, as the first resolution of the OAU.
2 Preamble, OAU Charter. 3 OAU Charter, Article II.
4 J. Dugard, ‘The Organisation of African Unity and Colonialism: An inquiry into the plea of self-defence as a justification for the use of force in the eradication of colonialism’, 16 ICLQ (1967) 157–190.
5 K. Mathews, ‘The Organization of African Unity’, in D. Mazzeo, African Regional Organizations, Cambridge University Press, 1984, 49–84. M-C. D. Wembou, ‘The OAU and international law’ in Y. El Ayouty, The Organization of African Unity after Thirty Years, Praeger, Westport Connecticut, 1994, 15–26. A. Clapham, Africa and the International System. The Politics of State Survival, Cambridge University Press, 1996. G. Naldi, The Organisation of African Unity: An Analysis of Its Role, Mansell, 2nd edition, 1999.
6 See e.g. Lusaka Manifesto: A Policy Statement for Decolonisation in Respect of Southern Africa, adopted by the OAU and UN, Resolution GA 2505, UN Doc. A/PV.1815, 20 November 1969; A. Aidoo, ‘Africa: Democracy without human rights’, 15 HRQ (1993) 703–715; R. Murray, Human Rights in Africa: From the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union, Cambridge University Press, 2004, chapter 1.
to have the confidence to alert them to its key position in the human rights architecture of the continent. Consequently, while the OAU cannot necessarily be said to have neglected human and peoples’ rights from its discussions, neither was the key treaty and its institution always integral to its discussions.
2. The Drafting of an African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Subsequent Interpretation of Its Provisions
Adopted in 1981,7 the primary instrument on human rights for the African continent, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), has now received near universal ratification from all African Union (AU) Member States bar Morocco which, having now ratified the AU Constitutive Act in 2017, gives some hope that accession to the ACHPR will follow.8
The decision to adopt a regional human rights instrument is the result of a number of different pressures and initiatives.9 These included regional seminars organised by the UN,10 the sustained commitment by African jurists and organisations such as the International Commission of Jurists,11 as well as the political context of the time.12 A 1967 Dakar Conference of African jurists from Francophone Africa called for consideration of the ‘feasibility of creating a regional system for the protection of human rights in Africa’ with an ‘inter-African Commission on human rights’,13 followed by what Ouguergouz considers ‘pivotal’ seminars in 1978 around economic development.14 A year later in September 1979 in Monrovia in Liberia, after various activities by the UN Economic Commission for Africa, a seminar was held and discussions took place on the basis of several documents including two prepared by the eminent T. O. Elias and Judge
7 27 June 1981. 21 ILM (1982) 58.
8 Morocco has been encouraged to do so by the AU Executive Council in January 2018, see Decision On The African Commission On Human And Peoples’ Rights, EX.CL/Dec.995(XXXII), January 2018, para 7.
9 F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, chapter 1; R. Murray, Human Rights in Africa: From the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union, Cambridge University Press, chapter 1. See also F. Viljoen, ‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The travaux préparatoires in the light of subsequent practice’, 25 Human Rights Law Journal (2004) 313–325.
10 Regional Seminar on Human Rights in Developing Countries, 8–22 February 1966, UN Doc.ST/TAO/ HR/25; Seminar on Establishment of Regional Commissions on Human Rights with Special Reference to Africa, 2–15 September 1969, Cairo, Egypt, UN Doc.ST/TAO/HR/38; Seminar on Study of New Ways and Means to Promote Human Rights with Special Reference to the Problems and Needs of Africa, 23 October–5 November 1973, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, UN Doc.ST/TAO/HR/49.
11 African Conference on the Rule of Law, Lagos (Nigeria), 3–7 January 1961: Report on the Proceedings of the Conference, International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, 1961; Conference of French-Speaking African Jurists, Dakar, Senegal, 5–9 January 1967, resulting in the Dakar Declaration, see 29 Bulletin of the International Commission of Jurists, 1967. F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, at 20; F. Viljoen, ‘Human rights in Africa: Normative, institutional and functional complementarity and distinctiveness’, 18(2) South African Journal of International Affairs (2011) 191–216, at 199–200.
12 C. A. Odinkalu, ‘International criminal justice, peace and reconciliation in Africa: Re-imagining an agenda beyond the ICC’, XL Africa Development (2015) 257–290, at 267; K. O. Kufuor, The African Human Rights System: Origin and Evolution, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, at 33–35.
13 Conference of French-Speaking African Jurists, Dakar, Senegal, 5–9 January 1967, resulting in the Dakar Declaration, see 29 Bulletin of the International Commission of Jurists, 1967.
14 Human Rights and Economic Development in Francophone Africa, Institute of International Law and Economic Development and Faculty of Law of the University of Rwanda, H. Hannum, ‘The Butare Colloquium on human rights and economic development in Francophone Africa: A summary and analysis’,
Keba M’Baye.15 A few months after, in Dakar, Senegal, the Heads of State convened a further meeting at which Senegal’s President Leopold Senghor set out the context to the draft African Charter being considered by African experts.16 This draft ‘Dakar’ text developed the substantive content of the Charter,17 and was then presented to a ministerial conference in The Gambia under the invitation of its president.18 After a rather lukewarm reception and little progress, the discussions were galvanised a few weeks later after the assassination of the Liberian President William Tolbert, leading to a commitment to human rights and to finalise the draft.19 Consequently in January 1981 a further ministerial level meeting was held in Banjul, The Gambia, and a text finally adopted which was then submitted to the 37th Session of the OAU’s Committee of Ministers. Although there was some discussion then around the powers of the proposed African Commission perhaps going too far, it was with the encouragement of President Dawda Jawara of The Gambia that on 27 June 1981 the ACHPR was adopted.20
As Viljoen notes, although there were therefore a number of drafts of the ACHPR,21 there is limited information available on the discussions that took place during these various meetings: a ‘cohesive and extensive narrative’ is lacking.22
The drafting process reflects two diverse State perspectives which then become apparent in the text of the ACHPR: ‘some aimed at ensuring a genuine human rights friendly supra-national institutional framework, which would inevitably also see an erosion of state sovereignty; others were at the table only to appease public opinion and amend reputations to deflect international and domestic criticism’.23 How these debates played out in respect of the different provisions in the ACHPR are discussed in each of the relevant chapters of this Commentary.
During the crafting of the ACHPR there were also different suggestions raised as to the form that any monitoring body should take, including a plurality of commissions, as well
1 Universal Human Rights (1979) 63–81. Dakar Colloquium on Human Rights, ‘Association Sénégalaise d’Etudes et de Recherches Juridiques and the ICJ’, 22 Revue Sénégalaise de Droit, (1977). F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, at 23–25.
15 HR/LIBERIA/1979/BP/2; HR/LIBERIA/1979/BP.3.
16 29 November–8 December 1979, Address delivered by H. E. Leopold Sedar Senghore, President of the Republic of Senegal, OAU Doc.CAB/LEG/67/5.
17 F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, at 42–43.
18 Report of the Secretary-General on the Draft African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Council of Ministers, 37th Ordinary Session, 15–21 June 1981, OAU Doc. CM/1149 (XXXVII).
19 OAU Doc. CM/Res.792 (XXXV). See F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, at 44–46.
20 F. Ouguergouz, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A Comprehensive Agenda for Human Dignity and Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Martinus Nijhoff, 2003, at 47–48.
21 The UN proposal, as provided in B. G. Ramcharan, ‘The travaux preparatoires of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’, 13 HRLJ (1992) 307–309, Annex II; the Monrovia proposal, the M’Baye Draft, see C. Heyns, Human Rights Law in Africa, 1999, Vol. 4, 2002, at 65–77; the Dakar Draft, CAB/LEG/ 67/3, Rev.1; and the ACHPR itself, see F. Viljoen, ‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The travaux preparatoires in the light of subsequent practice’, 25 Human Rights Law Journal (2004) 313–325, at 315.
22 F. Viljoen, ‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The travaux preparatoires in the light of subsequent practice’, 25 Human Rights Law Journal (2004) 313–325, at 324.
23 F. Viljoen, ‘Human rights in Africa: Normative, institutional and functional complementarity and distinctiveness’, 18(2) South African Journal of International Affairs (2011) 191–216, at 199.
1. Introduction 4
as a judicial body, suggested as early on as 1961.24 A commission initially set up within the structures of the OAU failed to operate,25 resulting in a separate commission being the final choice, but not without some discussion over its functions.26
As the third regional system to be established and for some time seen therefore as the baby of the regional treaty bodies, many even in the human rights world still dismiss the African system as having little to add. The African Commission was considered (and perhaps hoped by some) to be a weak institution, ‘a façade, a yoke that African leaders have put around our necks’,27 criticism which followed it, sometimes unfairly, through its early years.28 Concerns towards the apparent unusual content of the ACHPR rights, its ‘claw-back clauses’,29 collective rights30 and sections on individual duties31 meant that the African system was starting on the back foot, with a critical eye being cast over it from the inception. As a result, it could easily be dismissed. This is a huge oversight. As this Commentary illustrates, the African Commission, since its inception, and now the African Court have developed a richness of jurisprudence and detail on the content of the ACHPR and in so doing have also informed the international human rights system and arguably ‘reconstruct the human rights corpus’.32
In the process, the African Commission has gained in confidence and has inspired confidence in others. It is now, for example, more common for senior State officials to be present during its sessions; for States to at least commit to implementing the African Commission’s findings (even if it is somewhat wanting in practice); for statutory or constitutional national human rights institutions to be sufficiently interested to acquire affiliated status and attend the meetings; and for several hundred civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to put their faith in the African Charter bodies to address violations that they or those they are representing have suffered.
Yet the system is not without its many challenges and flaws. There are inconsistencies in its jurisprudence; too much time is taken to adopt decisions on communications and there is a lack of information on the extent of implementation of its findings; and still, after three decades, there is a lack of knowledge or awareness of even the existence of the ACHPR, its Commission and Court, let alone the rich interpretation of the rights within it.33
24 African Conference on the Rule of Law, Lagos, 3–7 January 1961.
25 See R. Murray, ‘Decisions by the African Commission on individual communications under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights’, 46 ICLQ (1997) 412–434, at 412.
26 Working Group on the Monrovia Seminar, 1979, UN Doc.ST/HR/SER.A/4 (1979). See further, Chapter 29 (Articles 30–40).
27 M. wa Mutua, ‘The African human rights system in comparative perspective: The need for urgent reformation’, 5 Legal Forum (1993) 31–35; R. Gittleman, ‘The Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A legal analysis’, 22 Virginia Journal of International Law (1982) 667–692.
28 U. O. Umozurike, ‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Suggestions for more effectiveness’, 13(1) Annual Survey of International and Comparative Law (2007) 179–190, at 180–181.
29 See for further discussion Chapter 2 (Article 1).
30 See for further discussions, Chapters 20–25 (Articles 19–24).
31 See further, Chapter 28 (Articles 27–29); M. wa Mutua, ‘The Banjul Charter and the African Cultural Fingerprint: An evaluation of the language of duties’ 35 Virginia Journal of International Law (1995) 339.
32 M. wa Mutua, ‘The Banjul Charter and the African Cultural Fingerprint: An evaluation of the language of duties’ 35 Virginia Journal of International Law (1995) 339, at 344.
33 M. Ssenyonjo, ‘Responding to human rights violations in Africa: Assessing the role of the African Commission and Court on human and peoples’ rights (1987–2018), 7 IHRLR (2018) 1–42.
3. Key Events and the Creation of the AU
Key events and resulting declarations at the OAU and AU level and at that of the African Commission and Court reflect different points of their history of human and peoples’ rights on the continent and illustrate shifts in focus over time. Conflicts in a number of African States throughout the decades,34 the genocide in Rwanda35 and other political crises also played a part in the development of the broad spectrum of human and peoples’ rights norms and institutions under the umbrella of the AU.
These issues are apparent in several declarations adopted by the OAU and AU. The 1990 Declaration on the Political and Socio-Economic Situation in Africa and the Fundamental Changes taking Place in the World36 marked not only the end of the Cold War and the impact of this on the continent, but also the OAU’s perception of what human rights then meant for Africa. Included in this Declaration was reference to greater attention on ‘selfreliant, human-centred and sustainable development on the basis of social justice and collective self-reliance’, but that these issues were the responsibility of African governments, rather than just external actors. It recognised the importance of a ‘political environment which guarantees human rights and the observance of the rule of law’; the ‘involvement of all including in particular women and youth in the development efforts’; and the resolution of conflicts.37 The 1998 Ouagadougou Declaration, adopted by the 34th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State of the OAU, reiterated many of these issues.38
A series of ministerial and ambassadorial conferences organised at the level of the OAU illustrate the commitment of the Organisation to human rights and their resulting declarations are key indicators of their perspective on not only the ACHPR but also the place of the African Commission, at that time the only ACHPR organ in existence, within the OAU. The Grand Baie (Mauritius) Declaration and Plan of Action emanating from the OAU’s First Ministerial Conference on Human Rights in Africa in April 1999 restated the universality and indivisibility of human rights, noted in particular the need for effective protection of the rights of women and the child, persons with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS and committed to adopting a ‘multi-faceted approach’ to eliminating violations on the continent.39 Civil society received attention and, among other matters, the Declaration underscored that the primary responsibility for promotion and protection of rights lies with the State.40
34 E.g. Resolution on Liberia, CM/Res.1650 (LXIV).
35 Report of the Secretary-General on the Establishment of an International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the Genocide in Rwanda and Surrounding Events, CM/2048 (LXVII). The creation of the Panel was approved in 1997, Establishment of the Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the Genocide in Rwanda and the Surrounding Events, Doc. CM/2063 (LXVIII); International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and Surrounding Events. Special Report, 7 July 2000; R. Murray, ‘The report of the OAU’s international panel of eminent personalities to investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and the surrounding events’, 45(1) JAL (2001) 123–133.
36 Adopted at the 26th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State of the OAU, AHG/Decl.1 (XXVI) 1990.
37 Adopted at the 26th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State of the OAU, AHG/Decl.1 (XXVI) 1990, paras 8, 10 and 11 respectively.
38 AHG/Decl.1 (XXXIV).
39 Grand Baie (Mauritius) Declaration and Plan of Action, April 1999; Resolution on the Ministerial Conference on Human Rights in Africa, CM/Res.1673 (LXIV). Decision on the Report of the Secretary General on the Ministerial Conference on Human Rights, CM/Dec.475 (LXX).
40 Grand Baie (Mauritius) Declaration and Plan of Action, April 1999; Resolution on the Ministerial Conference on Human Rights in Africa, CM/Res.1673 (LXIV). Decision on the Report of the Secretary General on the Ministerial Conference on Human Rights, CM/Dec.475 (LXX). See also Algiers Declaration, AHG/Decl.1 (XXXV).
