The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is turning 30 since its adoption. The Charter is also soon turning to its 20 in Mauritius since ratification. The Charter indeed has been hailed for its unique normative content and aspired to be a beacon of human rights in the Continent which has attracted the attention of academicians as well as experts in the field of human rights. The Charter has undoubtedly affected domestic systems through the promotional and protective mandates exercised by the African Commission. How much the Charter has actually influenced domestic human rights practices however, has not yet formed much of the available literature. More so, Mauritius being a party to the Charter for nearly two decades has not enjoyed the attention of writers on the African Charter. Not much is known as to the interactions of Mauritius with the African system which calls for investigation of how much the Charter has influenced the domestic system for two decades long. Beyond formidable normative content, the success of a human rights system depends on the impact it exerts on domestic systems through shaping the behaviours, actions and practice of domestic institutions. Such reflection is therefore, important to gauge the impact of the African Charter and profile its future towards success. This study attempts to enlighten the impact of the African Charter in Mauritius by embarking on examination of the practices of domestic institutions and actors offering unexploited area to ponder critically. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

With the banking sector showing remarkable growth in Ghana, it is a probable target for liberalisation by the European Union to enable their banks to enter this market. The author addresses the following research questions: (1) What are the possible outcomes of increased foreign participation through commercial presence upon liberalising the banking sector under Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)? (2) Which recognised human rights, that Ghana has an obligation to respect, could be affected by liberalising the banking sector in Ghana under EPAs? (3) What are the outcomes of liberalising the banking sector on poverty reduction and development in Ghana? / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / 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 Mr K.K.K. Ampofo, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This study critically analyses and shows the merits of women participation in decision making during post conflict peace-building processes. Also explores the African Union's (AU) mechanisms that can facilitate women participation in peace-building and decision making processes in post-conflict countries. The scope of this thesis will be limited to Rwanda and Mozambique as countries that have suffered armed conflicts but progressively managed in post conflict to increase women participation in both peace-building and decision making processes. Discusses what the two countries can contribute to other countries that are in a post conflict phase in terms of providing best practices. Consequently, a framework will be drawn from these best practices in conjunction with the provisions under the AU to address the role of women in decision making processes during post conflict / 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 Pauo Comoane / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This dissertation seeks to explore the principle of complementarity, its advantages and its success so far through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) self-referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It seeks also to investigate whether there are loopholes in the principle of complementarity, especially with regard to referrals by the Security Council involving states that are not parties to the Rome Statute. In particular the dissertation seeks to explore whether states can use this principle to hamper the efforts of the ICC to bring justice to victims of the most serious crimes of international concern and to end impunity / 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 Dr Raymond Koen of the Faculty of Law, University of Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This research is founded upon three fundamental premises. The first is that good governance is central to human development. The second premise is that the realisation of socio-economic rights is a necessary condition for the attainment of human development. The third premise is that pro-poor growth policies and frameworks are veritable tools through which human development can be delivered and socio-economic rights realised. The research Focuses on the view that human development should be the end of every growth policy regime and good governance the means to such end. Socio-economic rights on the other hand should serve as indicators to the formulation, implementation and the measurement of such policies / 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 Dr Lilian Chenwi of the Community Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

<p>The protection of the rights of sexual minorities in Africa is a controversial issue. It is not unusual to find newspaper reports on gross violations suffered by this minority group. Gays and lesbians are victims of violence, sometimes resulting in death. Sexual minorities in Africa are often confronted with government actions such as those of the Nigerian government that recently submitted to the parliament a Bill to make provisions for the prohibition of relationships between persons of the same sex, celebration of marriage, registration of gay clubs and societies and publicity of same sex relationships. The objective of this study was to suggest possible legal protection and recognition of sexual minority rights under the African human rights system.</p>

No description available.

This thesis undertakes an in-depth examination of the power of human rights advocacy in combating women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, the thesis explores the gender discrimination that lies at the core of women's susceptibility to the virus. Culturally-imposed social roles are depicted as the fundamental cause of the violation of women's human rights, including their right to health. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the potential of using a human rights approach to address this issue. It adopts the assumption that "the mobilization of shame" triggered by civil society's actors can alter states' human rights practices. Looking at a specific type of actors, namely the transnational advocacy networks, the thesis concludes that "the human rights approach to HIV/AIDS" can be an efficient and effective strategy to pressurize governments to implement their international human rights obligations.

<p>The protection of the rights of sexual minorities in Africa is a controversial issue. It is not unusual to find newspaper reports on gross violations suffered by this minority group. Gays and lesbians are victims of violence, sometimes resulting in death. Sexual minorities in Africa are often confronted with government actions such as those of the Nigerian government that recently submitted to the parliament a Bill to make provisions for the prohibition of relationships between persons of the same sex, celebration of marriage, registration of gay clubs and societies and publicity of same sex relationships. The objective of this study was to suggest possible legal protection and recognition of sexual minority rights under the African human rights system.</p>

In 1996, Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies created a set of human rights posters which represent several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from what he calls an “African perspective”. In this study I investigate how Maviyane-Davies has constructed ‘African-ness’ and probe what he refers to as the “alternative aesthetic” that he is trying to create. I use a visual social semiotic approach to examine the discourses he draws on to re-image and re-imagine Africa and Africans in a manner that contests the stereotypical representations found in political, news and economic discourses about Africa, paying particular attention to the ways he uses images of the body. My analysis of the posters shows how complex and difficult it can be to contest regimes of representation that work to fix racialised and derogatory meanings. In response to the pejorative stereotypes of the black body, Maviyane-Davies uses images of strong, healthy, and magnificent people (mostly men) to construct a more affirmative representation of Africa and Africans. Significantly, he draws on sports, touristic, traditional and hegemonic discourses of masculinity in an attempt to expand the complexity and range of possible representations of African-ness. In so doing he runs the risk of reproducing many of the stereotypes that sustain not only the racialised and gendered (masculinist) representations of Africa, but also a sentimentalisation and romanticisation of a place, a people and their traditions. Apart from women in prominent positions, other conspicuous absences from these images include white people and hegemonic references to Western modernity. I do not believe he is discarding whites and modernity as un-African, but is rejecting the naturalisation of whiteness as standing in for humanity, and particular icons of Western modernity as significations of ‘modernity’ itself