Written for the Institute of Comparative Law. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2010/04/28). Includes bibliographical references.

The realization, promotion and protection of human rights are processes that have received both negative and positive reactions globally. The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly paved the way for the creation of similar instruments nationally, sub-regionally and regionally. These instruments are specific to issues of human rights in the particular states, sub-regions and regions in which they are adopted. Africa, Europe and America have established regional systems and adopted instruments as well as mechanisms to cater for the needs of their specific regions. Unlike general human rights, women‟s rights were not a priority and so their development began as recently as the 1980s. In Africa, the progress of the rights of women was majorly influenced by the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against women, an international instrument adopted in 1979/81. Followed by its Protocol, this instrument specifically addressed the rights of women globally. Consequently, instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Protocol on the Rights of Women, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and other mechanisms which include Commissions and Courts were established to address the rights of women in Africa. This study highlights the composition or make up of the African human rights system and its access to women. The central problem in this study is the question “Why women have not been able to access the system despite the prevalent cases of violation of their rights”. This question is emphasized by the fact that so far, no women have take any cases alleging violation of their rights to the African Commission of Human and Peoples‟ Rights. The study also critically analyses the obstacles and challenges that hinder women from accessing the system and discusses how these factors eventually limit the prevalence of women‟s rights. The study concludes by suggesting possible remedies and reforms both legal and beyond that can be enforced to boost the African human rights system to ensure that women freely enjoy and exercise the rights to which they are entitled. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Public Law / unrestricted

LL.M. (International Law) / At any given time, there are about 10 million people held in prisons around the world, with about 668,000 of these incarcerated in sub-Saharan Africa and about one million in the continent in total. On the continent, female prisoners – an estimated five per cent of the population – are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations due to their historical inequalities, socio-economic vulnerabilities and a gender- slanted criminal justice system. The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights guarantees the rights of detainees through the interpretation of several articles. The vulnerabilities of women detainees highlight the need to prioritise the rights of women in a system that is wholly unequal, fostering the rights to non-discrimination and promoting equality before the law,6 as recognised by the charter. Besides numerous international instruments, several resolutions and declarations have been adopted on the continent regarding the general rights of detainees through the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. These instruments aim to prohibit cruel treatment and torture,make provision for fair access and treatment under the judicial system, create a standard for reasonable prison conditions, accelerate penal reform and through the Special Rapporteur on Prisons (SRP), monitor the promotion and protection of the rights of detainees...

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This study adopts a comparative approach to analysing the realisation of socioeconomic rights by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as compared with the European Commission and the Inter-American Commission. It examines the different approaches the Commission has adopted in interpreting the socioeconomic rights provision of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights with a view to assessing its appropriateness or otherwise. In addition, the study discusses some of the major challenges facing the African Commission which sometimes makes it difficult for the Commission to meet its obligations in realising socioeconomic rights guaranteed in the Charter. It then compares the approach of the African Commission with other regional human rights bodies such as the European Courts on Human Rights and the Intern-American Commission on Human Rights. It concludes by noting that the African Commission can learn some lessons from the experiences of the European and Inter-American systems on human rights with regard to the realisation of socioeconomic rights.

Since 1981, when the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted on the platform of the Organisation of African Unity, one of the main challenges for players in the field of human rights in Africa has been to find effective fora in which the rights of the most vulnerable can be vindicated. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, together with other African human rights instruments, the global human rights instruments to which African states are parties and national bills of rights entrenched in the national constitutions of most African states make up the body of human rights norms that exist for the benefit of victims of human rights violation in the continent. This body of normative standards are expected to be given effect at the national level. However, given that the expectation has not always been met, international supervisory bodies have played an increasingly important role in the African human rights landscape. At the continental level, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was established under the African Charter was the original forum for the vindication of human rights for a number of years. Over the years, other continental human rights supervisory bodies have been established under the defunct OAU and the AU. National human rights institutions and these continental bodies have gained recognition as the structures of the African human rights architecture. However, since the early part of the new millennium, new institutional actors have begun to appear in the African human rights landscape. Originally established as vehicles for subregional economic integration, regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa have expressly or implicitly authorised their organs and institutions to engage actively in the field of human rights. This trend has been most evident in the operations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The entry of African RECs in the continental landscape has raised several questions. From the perspective of international law, against the background of the principle of attributed competence that guides the existence and operations of international organisations, the question of legality and legitimacy is triggered. From the perspective of protecting the unity and continued existence of the African human rights system, questions relating to the feasibility and desirability of REC involvement in the African human rights landscape emerge for determination. Using ECOWAS as the main case study but also touching on the budding human rights activities of the East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community, this study has sought to demonstrate that REC involvement in the field of human rights is legitimate and feasible. Combining descriptive, prescriptive and comparative analytical approaches, this study argues that African RECs, in particular ECOWAS, can be effective vehicles for human rights realisation in Africa without compromising their original stated objectives or upsetting the work of the structures in the traditional African human rights architecture. Extracting the challenges that can be associated with REC involvement in the field of human rights, this study sets up the criteria for a non-disruptive model for subregional realisation of human rights under the platform of RECs in Africa. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

This study investigates the following questions: (1) What is the rationale behind the participation of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in regional and international human rights mechanisms? (2) What is the role of NHRIs in relation to regional and international human rights mechanisms? (3) What is the role and what could be the role of NHRIs in the work of the African Commission? (4) What are the areas that the NHRIs can work with the African Commission to strengthen the protection of human rights within their jurisdictions and in Africa? (5) What rules should govern the relationship between the African Commission and NHRIs? The study will further contribute to the broader understanding of the role of NHRIs at the regional level, with particular reference to Africa, and how that can benefit the African Commission and Africa in general / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof J. Oloka-Onyango from the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC), Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This study addresses the following questions: (1) What is the human rights situation in prisons in Africa? What challenges do African prisons face in general? (2) Is there a legal framework in place for the protection of prisoners’ rights in Africa and how does it relate to other human rights instruments? What is the mandate of the Commission in relation to the prisoners’ rights? (3) What has the Commission done and achieved under its promotional and protection mandates in respect of prisoners’ rights? Have the various mechanisms been fully utilised in relation to prisoners’ rights? How has the Commission been able to optimise its relationship with the states, civil society and national human rights institutions to fully protect these rights? (4) If the conclusion is reached that the Commission has not effectively addressed issues of prisoners’ rights, how would it do so more effectively? / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Lukas Muntingh and Jamil Mujuzi of the Community Law Centre, Faculty of law, University of the Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) was created amidst great criticism to the ineffectiveness of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCmHPR) in protecting human rights on the content. After much debate, spanning four decades the Protocol on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Protocol) was adopted by the Organisation of African Unity Assembly and entered into force on the 25th of January 2004. Later the 4th AU summit in January 2006 elected the eleven judges of the Court. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This study is entitled ‘investigating the challenges in enforcing international human rights law in Africa: Towards an effective regional system’. It centres around a critical research problem namely: what challenges beset regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa and how can they be addressed to ensure the effective promotion and protection of human rights in the continent? It critically reviews and revisits the discourses and scholarly arguments on the crucial issue of regional enforcement of human rights law in Africa. It traverses through historical epochs in order to explain the origins, scope and evolution of human rights law in Africa. This is done in the quest for answers to questions such as: When and how did Africa’s regional human rights system originate? What factors led to its emergence? Was the concept of human rights recognised in Africa prior to European colonial rule? What is the present status of international human rights in Africa? It therefore lays the foundations for a better understanding of the historical and philosophical origins and evolution of Africa’s regional human rights system. The study then proceeds to review the normative and institutional mechanisms established in Africa to enforce human rights at the regional level. Particularly, it highlights the roles of the African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the light of their contribution to, and challenges in, the enforcement of human rights in the region. The study concludes with recommendations on the possible ways to invigorate the African human rights system. One of the key findings is that, with appropriate reforms, the system can be more effective. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.D. (Public, Constitutional and International Law)

The world has seen gradual evolution of regional human rights arrangements. The adoption by the UN General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, was followed by the creation of numerous regional instruments that address concerns of particular importance in the regional context. Three world regions, Africa, the Americas and Europe, have established their respective regional instruments together with the supervisory mechanism, such as commissions and courts. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, with its emphasis on group rights and individual duties challenges the Western liberal account of rights, as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The cultural differences brought to the fore not only the tension between individual and group rights but also the question as to whether of the universalism of human rights is possible. The study advocates for a moderate universalism of human rights, which can only be achieved through a dialogue among different cultural approaches to the notion of human rights. This study examines the content and substance of human rights norms of the African system with a view to recommending the possible strategies for their reform. Its central thesis is, the system is rather weak and therefore needs to be reformed. Toward this end, the study analyses the provisions of the African Charter. Thereafter, it explores its weaknesses and proposes strategies for their reform. The African human rights mechanisms face a number of common and particular challenges. Prospectively, Africa is going through a tremendous and interesting phase. These challenges are not insurmountable. / Constitutional, International and Indigenous Law / LL.D.