“Within a decade of its operationalization, the African Court has already brought about renewed hope and optimism within the African human rights system, and positioned itself as a veritable instrument in the quest for regional integration, peace, unity, good governance, respect for individual freedom and development,” the judge said.
That’s how, last Monday, the President of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR), Justice Sylvain Oré, wanted to remember the good results achieved for the protection of human and people’s rights on the continent during his opening speech of the official celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Arusha-based court’s work.
However, delegates attending the symposium noted that even though there was remarkable improvement in the state of human rights in the continent; much more remains to be done to improve the situation.
Moreover, there are still some critical issues in the functioning of the judicial organ of the African continent, that was not created simultaneously with the adoption of the Regional Convention on Human Rights, as occurred with the European and Anglo-Saxon system of promotion and protection of human rights.
The African Charter, which regulated the matter, and was adopted in 1981, only provided for the establishment of a Commission for the control and supervision of the conduct of States with respect to their obligations under the Charter itself.
The creation of the African Human Rights Court took its first steps in the course of the nineties, when the secretary-general of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) decided to convene a committee of experts to draw up an ad hoc protocol.
The protocol was adopted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 9 June 1998 and entered into force on 25 January 2004, establishing the Court under Article 1. Thirty states have ratified the protocol on the Court today, but only seven recognize its jurisdiction to receive cases from NGOs and individuals.
That’s why, during the tenth anniversary celebrations, the AfCHPR’S Vice President, Justice Ben Kioko, appealed to all the member states, urging them to file declarations recognizing the competence of the Court to receive even these cases.
The Fifth High-level Dialogue on Human Rights
The tenth anniversary of the African Court is also being celebrated with the fifth High-level dialogue on democracy, human rights and governance in Africa, sponsored by the African Union Commission, which this year takes place 23 to 26 November in Arusha, where more than three hundred delegates arrived, including representatives of Member States of the African Union (AU).
Tanzania’s first female Vice President, Samia Hassan Suluhu, inaugurated the meeting by saying that “the event constitutes an excellent opportunity to consolidate the positive results achieved over the years; and besides, to ensure better coordination of the organizations established to deal with human rights on the continent, according to Aspiration 3 for Agenda 2063, the strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent conceived by the AU”.
We can consider that the tenth anniversary of the African Court is celebrated as part of 2016, declared by the AU as the African Year for Human Rights, with a specific focus on the role and living conditions of women.
Tensions between the International Criminal Court and the African Union
Interwoven with this is the controversial decision of the AU Executive Council that, last January, on the initiative of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, decided to review the Rome Statute of 1998, asking member countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The African leaders complained about excessive European interference in the ICC affairs and the fact that the Court has focused its investigative efforts almost exclusively in Africa, ignoring other obvious and important cases of international crimes in different regions of the world.
African critics of the ICC are pushing to implement an internal solution for the whole continent, envisaging the establishment of an African Court of Justice and Human Rights, which could come to process 14 different types of violent crimes.
Last month, Burundi, South Africa and Gambia announced their formal withdrawal from the ICC, which by the way, is chaired by a Gambian lawyer, Fatou Bensouda. In addition, Kenya, Uganda and Namibia expressed their wish to retire from what they see as an imperialist instrument controlled by the former colonial powers.
It is however important to note that the president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has ruled for twenty-two years over one of the most oppressive regimes in the world where the freedom of individuals and human rights are constantly violated. Whereas the withdrawal of Burundi, plunged into a new spiral of ethnic violence, is a result of the preliminary investigation opened against it in April by the Hague Tribunal.
Furthermore, some African countries such as Botswana, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Tunisia, have publicly opposed the withdrawal from the Rome Statute proposed by many members of Pan-African institution.
Many other African countries could follow this orientation if The Hague Court can effectively become impartial, free from political interference and capable of ensuring justice for victims of international crimes.
“Within a decade of its operationalization, the African Court has already brought about renewed hope and optimism within the African human rights system, and positioned itself as a veritable instrument in the quest for regional integration, peace, unity, good governance, respect for individual freedom and development,” the judge said.
