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 and 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.

"Therefore, the aims of the study are to explore the origin, nature and purpose of fact-finding missions, to explore what is currently on the ground, to expose the inherent deficiencies in the current practice, which compromise the missions' capacity to promote and protect human and peoples' rights. Having identified the shortcomings, lessons and inspiration will be drawn from the practice and rules of procedure of other regional and international treaty monitoring bodies, particularly the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The starting point of the analysis shall be to identify the various fact-finding related issues that arose in the response of the Government of Zimbabwe to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) report. A survey of the reaction and response of other countries in which similar fact-finding missions were conducted, shall be carried out to gauge the consistence or otherwise in the ACHPR's practice. It shall be strongly suggested that the ACHPR should substantially borrow from other human rights systems, if necessary. After closely observing these issues, the study will come up with a position and firm recommendations to the ACHPR in terms of which its practice can be revamped for the achievement of an effective and progressive promotion and protection of human and peoples' rights as contemplated by the African Charter. ... This study has four chapters. Chapter one constitutes introductory remarks putting the study into context and the justification thereof. Chapter two explores the nature, origin, forms and importance of fact-finding in human rights protection. It searches for the underlying principles governing credible and plausible fact-finding. Chapter three analyses the ACHPR fact-finding practice to see what is there and critically compare it to the IACHR, UN and ILO practice. It aims at demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of the African system. Chapter four revisits the weaknesses unearthed in chapter three and proposes recommendations for overall improvement. The study concludes by soliciting draft rules of procedure from the general principles explored in chapter two, combined with lessons learnt from other systems in chapter three. The model fact-finding rules of procedures are marked Annexure A at the end of this work." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"The question of locus standi regarding the non-state complaints procedure before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission) is a very flexibile one. Although the language of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Charter), the enabling powers and functions of the Commission, does not provide for such broad standing, the Commission has over its 20 years of operation, given broad interpretation to the question of standing by adopting the actio popularis doctrine. As a reslut the Commission has entertained communicatons from any person, group of persons or non-governmental organisation (NGOs), whether on their own behalf or on behalf of tothers. The location or nationality of such persons is also not a bar to standing. Consequently, the Commission has accepted communications from national NGOs operating in the country of the state party against whom the complaint is made, NGOs with a regaional focus, international NGOs, and non-African nationals. ... The study has five chapters. Chapter one introduces the study and the justification thereof. Chapter two explores the origin, nature and application of locus standi in domestic legal systems with particluar respect to private protection of public rights and human rights protection using Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa as case studies. Chapter three examines the standing requirements before other regional human rights protection systems namely the ECHR, and the IACHR as well as global human rights protection mechanisms throught the lens of the HRC, the CERD-Committee, the CAT-Committee and the CEDAW-Committee. Chapter four traces and assesses the development of the broad standing requirements before the Commission regarding its non-state communications procedure and the problems associated with them. And Chapter five presents the conclusions and recommendations of the study." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr. Angelo Matusse at the Faculty of Law, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Organe institué par la Charte africaine des droits de l’Homme et des Peuples, la Commission africaine exerce une mission de contrôle du respect des droits de l’Homme en Afrique depuis 1987. Dans ce cadre, elle a rendu de 1992 à 2017, un ensemble de 57 décisions à travers lesquelles elle participe à la protection des droits des détenus en Afrique. Cette démarche est axée sur deux composantes à savoir, la reconnaissance des droits des détenus et leur mise en œuvre. Ainsi, la Commission a mis à profit son activité interprétative pour donner de la substance aux droits généraux reconnus par la Charte et adapter ces derniers au cadre de la détention. Cette dernière a donc institué des normes et principes, exigeant le respect et la protection de la dignité humaine, la protection de l’intégrité physique ou morale ainsi que le droit aux relations sociales et le droit à la légalité de la détention du détenu. Par ailleurs, la Commission a élaboré et institué les mécanismes (contentieux et non contentieux) et de suivi, à travers lesquels elle contrôle les mesures adoptées par les Etats pour donner effet aux droits des détenus. Ainsi, cette recherche a mis en lumière les points positifs et les limites de cet apport. Ces limites qui sont dues à des facteurs internes et externes à la Commission ont donné lieu à des recommandations dont la prise en compte permettra de renforcer ce mécanisme et rendre la protection des droits des détenus plus effective. / Treaty body established by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the African Commission has exercised its mission to monitor the respect of Human rights in Africa. In this context, from 1992 to 2017, it issued a set of 57 decisions through which it contributes to the protection of the rights of detainees in Africa. This approach focuses on two components namely, the recognition of prisoners' rights and their implementation. Thus, the Commission has used its interpretative activity to give substance to the general rights recognized by the Charter and to adapt them to the specific context of detention. The Commission has therefore raised standards and principles demanding respect and protection of the human dignity, the protection of physical or moral integrity, the right to social relations and the right to the lawfulness of detention. In addition, the Commission has established litigation and non-litigation mechanisms along with follow up mechanisms, through which it monitors the measures adopted by States to give effect to the rights of detainees. Thus, this research has highlighted the positive aspects and the limits of this contribution. These limits, which are due to factors both internal and external to the Commission, have given rise to recommendations that, if taken into account, would strengthen this mechanism and make the protection of detainees' rights more effective.

"The objectives of the study are as follows: 1. To critically examine the efficacy of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa (SRRWA) with particular emphasis on the new legal framework created by the Protocol. 2. To investigate the operation of some universal and regional organs with comparable mandate, and their possible relevance to the improvement of the SRRWA. 3. To put forward recommendations for the improvement of the mandate of the SRRWA that will enhance its impact on the promotion and protection of women's rights in Africa. ... Following this introduction, the study is divided into three chapters. The first chapter traces the envolvement of the SRRWA in the Commission, provides its current operations and briefly expounds on the other mechanisms in the Commission targeting women. The second chapter evaluates both the terms of the mandate (within the context of the Protocol), and its successes and shortcomings. The third chapter explores comparative international and regional protection mechanisms and their possible relevance to the SRRWA. The fourth chapter contains recommendations on improving the mandate and concluding remarks." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an African Union (AU) mandated programme whose main focus is to address key social, economic, and political issues for the African continent. Within the NEPAD programme and vision is the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which has been described as a system of self-assessment, constructive peer dialogue, persuasion, and sharing of experience among member states of the African Union. The APRM is the execution mechanism for NEPAD, whose mandate is to monitor the preformance of states in different programme areas including human rights. The mandate on human rights monitoring falls within the political governance component of the NEPAD Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance (NEPAD Declaration). The APRM has been introduced with a human rights monitoring component in a context where there already exist a number of other human rights mechanisms and institutions such as the African Commission. The proposed processes of the APRM in monitoring human rights in some ways resemble those of the African Commission while at the same time there are major differences between these mechanisms. For example, while the Africa Commission is a quasi-judicial body, which engages in legal processes, the APRM is a political process where heads of state are among the main actors. Some analysts have expressed the view that the creation of the APRM as a political process adds a vital component to the human rights monitoring in Africa which, since the creation of the African Commission, has remained purely legal and thus had limited success in ensuring human rights protection in Africa. While some have shared their doubt over the added value and role of the APRM in human rights monitoring, others have hailed it for providing a forum where heads of state will make political commitments for the protection of human rights. In this regard, the aim of this study is to analyse the role that the APRM will play in human rights monitoring in Africa. This analysis is done in relation to the work that is being done by the African Commission and the challenges that it has confonted over the years. In analysing the role of the APRM in human rights monitoring, this study unpacks the concept of peer review and analyse its practical implementation in Africa, especially in the field of human rights. This study also explores the implications on human rights protection and promotion of the co-existence of the African Commission and the APRM. ... Chapter 1 states the research questions/hypothesis, objectives of the study, relevance of study and literature review. It also looks at the scope and limitations of the study. Chapter 2 gives background information to the concept of peer review, how it is used in ensuring compliance with set standards by states and organisation. An analysis of the use of peer review by other international organisations is done. Further it gives an analysis of the APRM with a specific focus on its human rights monitoring role. Chapter 3 provides a brief background of the African Commission, its mandate and the challenges confronting it in its work. Thereafter there is an analysis of the challenges of the APRM in human rights monitoring and protection. Furthermore, the chapter critically analyses and evaluates peer review and its application in human rights monitoring in Africa. This chapter also highlights the similarities, overlaps and differences in the work and mandate of the APRM and the African Commission. Chapter 4 is the concluding chapter, which also provides recommendations for enhancing the efficiency and the co-operation of the APRM and the African Commission." -- Chapter 1. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"Astoundingly, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) does not contain [a] derogation clause. Furthermore, it has been established by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission) in the case of Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertes v Chad (Commission Nationale case) that a member state of teh ACHPR cannot derogate human rights in case of emergencies. Hence, the Commission's view may lead to a conclusion that all rights under the ACHPR are non-derogable. This raises the issue of whether it is tenable to conclude that a state facing a situation that endangers the nation, should not at all derogate from the provisions of the ACHPR. Emergency clauses, which permit derogation of human rights in times of emergencies, are also found in most domestic legal instruments. Most African states also encompass this clause in their constitutions. Although the levels of compliance by states are questionable, some of these constitutions also include a list of non-derogable rights. The constitutions of Ethiopia and Mozambique also provide for a derogation clause and a list of non-derogable rights. The aim of the study is to make a critical analysis of the African derogation system. Firstly, the study will analyse the concept of derogation and non-derogable rights in general. Secondly, the jurisprudence and the law of the African system with regard to derogation and non-derogable rights will be examined. In analysing the jurisprudence of the Commission effort will be made to critically study the cases that have been examined by the Commission in relation to derogation and non-derogable rights. Lastly, the compatibility of the Ethiopian and Mozambique constitutions in light of the African system and international standards will be discussed. ... Chapter one highlights the basis and structure of the entire study. Chapter two presents a brief historical evolution as well as conceptual framework of the system of derogation and non-derogable human rights in state of emergency. Chapter three focuses on the ACHPR and the jurisprudence of the Commission with regard to derogation and non-derogable rights in state of emergency. Chapter four assesses the compatibility of the non-derogable rights provided in the constitutions of African states with African and international standards. This chapter will [analyse], in particular, the constitutions and the practices of Ethiopia and Mozambique. Chapter five is a conclusion of the overall study stating specific recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr. Leopoldo Amaral, Faculty of Law, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"It is submitted that South Africa presents the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Commission) and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Court) with inspiration to draw from on how social-economic rights can be protected. Issues of locus, defining the state's obligations, effective remedies and their enforcement can be drawn from. However, it is impossible to transpose a domestic system directly into the regional system. It is also submitted that South Africa's Constitution and jurisprudence is not without criticisms as assessed against the backdrop of international human rights law. In this respect the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Committee) offers immense inspiration. Through its practice of giving normative content to the rights in the ICESCR the Committee has given extensive definition to some of the rights in the ICESCR and the obligations that attach to them. The obligation of the states to take steps to the maximum of the available resources to achieve progressively the full realisation of the rights in the Covenant has been the subject of extensive elaboration by the Committee. In addition to this the Committee has read into the ICESCR a very important concept, the principle of 'core minimum obligations'. This concept sets the benchmark in determining whether the state has discharged it obligations at the minimum level. The Commission and Court should take advantage of the provisions of the Charter which allow for inspiration from other instruments. The Charter obliges the Commission and the Court to draw inspiration from international law and human and peoples' rights, including the UDHR and other instruments adopted by the United Nations and African countries in the area of human rights. This is in addition to taking into consideration other instruments laying down rules expressly recognized by the states. This paper sets out to show that the African system can draw inspiration from South Africa and the Committee in order to surmount the challenges affecting the realisation of the rights. The paper is divided into five parts. The first part outlines the normative framework of protection of economic, social and cultural rights within the ICESCR, the African Charter and South African Constitution. The second part explores the challenges hampering the effective realisation of these rights followed by an analysis of the African Court and the lessons it may draw not only from the Committee and South Africa's Constitution but from the African Commission as well. The fourth part looks at the forth-coming African Court and its challenges, pointing to aspects on which it may seek inspiration. This will be followed by a conclusion and recommendations." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Sandra Liebenberg at the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"The promotion and protection of human rights is important both at the national and international level. However, at the national level, several factors including government excesses tend to negatively affect the status of implementation of human rights. This has led to national human rights situations being measured against international standards. In this regard, different strategies have been developed to ensure compliance with international norms, the most basic of which is that of state reporting. ... This procedure is found in international and regional human rights instruments. Examples are treaties in the United Nations (UN), European, Inter-American and African human rights systems. In the African system, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights is the core human rights instrument. The African Charter is seen as a 'unique' document that represents the 'African' concept of rights. ... Under article 1 of the Charter, state parties undertake to adopt legislative and other measures to give effect to the rights in the Charter. Article 62 obliges each state party to submit every two years, from the date the Charter comes into force, a report on the legislative or other measures taken with a view to giving effect to the rights and freedoms recognised and guaranteed by the Charter. The organ responsible for evaluation of reports is the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Commission). ... It should be noted from the outset that the African Commission's competence to ensure effective implementation of the African Charter by member states has been affected due to various problems affecting the state reporting system. The most endemic of these include infrequent and inadequate reporting. ... Chapter one introduces the study, the framework of the problem that the study seeks to address and the methodology to be employed. Chapter two discusses the concept of state reporting, how the system works under the African Charter and the challenges therein. A comparative analysis of other international and regional reporting systems is also made with the chief objective of identifying how they deal with state reporting problems. Chapter three presents an overview of the APRM which includes an analysis of the human rights aspects of the mechanism. Chapter four critically analyses how the APRM can be utilised to help the African Commission address the problems of infrequent and inadequate reporting under the African Charter, and chapter five contains the conclusion and recommendations of the study." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Alejandro Lorite at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM