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.

The role of international human rights organisations in the context of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Nina I. Karpachova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Human

The task of this paper is to study the role of international human rights organizations in response to the conflict taking place in eastern Ukraine. The study is based on recent reports from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE on Ukraine. The relevance of the stated topic is determined by the situation with human rights violations in the armed conflict in Ukraine and the significant role of international human rights organizations, making active efforts to resolve it. The purpose of this study is to determine the main aspects of the role that international organizations play in resolving this range of issues. This will help to identify potential opportunities to tackle the problem with human rights violations in the Ukrainian territories. The study combines quantitative and qualitative research of the entire spectrum of issues brought into the subject. The main results obtained are: analysis of the role and place of international human rights organizations in assessing the situation with the conflict in the Ukrainian territories and obtaining statistical information on the current status of human rights violations in these territories. The value of this paper lies in obtaining practical recommendations for finding ways to peacefully resolve the conflict in the East of Ukraine and implementing comprehensive measures to create conditions for the protection of human rights in this region

scholarly journals The role of african court on human and peoples’ rights protection: the case of libyan crises

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222
Author(s):  
Getahun Kumie Antigegn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government

The emergence of regional human rights systems depicts one of the greatest achievements in the internationalization of human rights. The foundation of the charter paved the way for the birth of the court thereafter. The African Court is established by virtue of the 1998 protocol to the Charter and the court is built upon an arsenal of protective and remedial techniques. The establishment of the court has reset the stage and created a new platform for the protection of human rights in Africa. The cardinal objective of the paper is to investigate the role of African Court on human and Peoples’ rights protection in Libya Crises taking the case of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi. The paper has utilized qualitative methodology. The government of Libya responded with brutal force against civilian protesters in contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law. The security force of the government of Libya killed many protesters as well. This situation intensified human rights violations and enforced many of the peoples to displace. The court issued an important ruling in March 2011, ordering provisional measures against Libya in the armed conflict in its territory. Libya government denied the claims of human rights violations in its territory and showed its willingness to subject itself to criminal investigations by the Court if necessary. The issue of the fund, independence, commitment and competence of judges to interpret mandate and jurisdiction, the willingness of the states to support and to abide by court decisions, and powers of the concerned body to enforce court decisions hampered the court from being effective. Generally, African States act in good faith with respect to the decisions of the African Human Rights Court, the court becomes more import.

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 The Role of the UN Peacekeeping in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (274-1) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Ida Caracciolo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Fundamental Component ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Rights Issues

<p>The objective of this essay is to explore the UN peacekeeping approach to human rights issues in light of the legal and political connection between promotion and protection of human rights and maintenance of international peace and security. To begin with, the evolution of peacekeeping vis-à-vis human rights will be examined from the first experiences of the UN missions in this field, mainly focused on the promotion of human rights, to the most recent ones where the protection of human rights is a fundamental component of their mandate. </p><div> </div>

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.

23. Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christof Heyns ◽  
Magnus Killander
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
African Union ◽  
Review Mechanism ◽  
African Charter ◽  
African Commission

This chapter examines the role of the African Union in the realization of human rights. It focuses on the principal human rights treaty adopted by the African Union—the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights—and the main organs—the African Commission and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights—that have been established to ensure its implementation. The chapter also considers the complementary African Peer Review Mechanism.

The African Charter and Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights; How to Make it More Effective

1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Benedek
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Actual Situation ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
African Commission

This contribution discusses how to improve the African system of human and peoples' rights on the basis both of the practice of the African Commission and of a revision of the African Charter in the light of the practice and experience of other regional human rights conventions and bodies. Particular emphasis is put on improvements in the procedure of communications. Furthermore, the role of the African Commission with regard to the move towards democracy and human rights in Africa and the relationship between the Commission and the OAU will be analyzed, and a number of proposals on strengthening the African Charter and the African Commission will be made. In presenting the actual situation of the African Commission particular attention is given to the results of the 11th and 12th sessions (March and October 1992 respectively) of the African Commission which in respect to some concerns were breaking new ground.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC AUTHORITIES IN EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF ADVISORY OPINION PROCEDURE UNDER THE PROTOCOL № 16 TO THE CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

2019 ◽  
pp. 126-139
Author(s):  
Karen Barseghi Zarikyan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
Member States ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Advisory Opinions

The purpose of the article is to underline that the comprehensive implementation of the Protocol № 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms depends on the appropriate efforts of the member States. Both the parliaments and the highest courts of the member States should take certain measures to achieve the goals persuaded by the Protocol. Thus, it is important to examine the risks of the Protocol’s implementation to find out what specific activity should be performed by the member States to minimize problems and provide for maximum benefits. In particular, advisory opinions are not biding, so the opinion of the European Court’s of Human Rights may be ignored; it can lead to delays in the proceedings before the domestic courts themselves; there is a risk that it might generate additional workload for the Court. However, the risks can be managed and in the end the advantages of advisory opinion procedure’s application outweigh its disadvantages. The article involves some important recommandations for domestic parliaments to establish sufficient procedural rules and judicial bodies to make requests in proper manner. It is also argued that domestic parliaments should inter alia establish effective mechanisms of applying for advisory opinion by domestic courts and requests by domestic courts and tribunals should be based on appropriate guidelines and explanations. Sited recommandations are of great importance for Post-Soviet countries to apply the Protocol more correctly and widely. As the international experience of requesting for advisory opinion is quite poor, it makes examples of it even more significant. So, the article also introduces two sample cases of requesting for advisory opinion made by the French Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court of Armenia accordingly. Getting acquainted with the content and the purposes of this experience will maintain the level of application of advisory opinion procedure.

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