Human Rights Court Struggles to Make Impact

Christine Afandi (The EastAfrican)—The African Court of Justice has failed to make an impact on human rights abuses on the continent, two years after its inception.

This was the conclusion of a South-South round table meeting held in Arusha recently on the promotion of human -ights systems. The meeting was organised by the East African Law Associations umbrella body in collaboration with the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative of Uganda and co-sponsored by the International Court of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya chapter and the Cyrus Vance Centre for International Justice.

The law bodies said that the enforcement of human rights continues to be an issue in Africa and more advocacy and lobbying by civil society organisations is needed to create awareness and action from governments.

The court, which was established under the auspices of African Union and started operations two years ago, is mandated to deal with human rights violations contrary to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It however has no jurisdiction on crimes such as genocide.

The meeting resolved to adopt measures to harmonise regional human rights standards on the continent. This is needed for the court to work smoothly without interference.

Development of a functioning human-rights system was also mooted, with civil society organisations expressing their willingness to assist the fledging African Court on Human and People’s Rights with the increasing cases of human rights violation in countries plagued by war.

Gerald Niyundeko, president of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, said the institution, which was moved from Ethiopia to Arusha in Tanzania last September, was little known but there were plans to publicise its functions through the media.

Mr Niyundeko said a key problem facing the human- rights court is the fact that most African Union member states are hesitant to ratify the protocol that established it.

“The court faces the risk of being misconstrued by those who don’t know it; we need to use the media to educate the continent about our activities,” he said.

Currently, only 24 out of 53 African union members, among them Kenya and Tanzania, have ratified the protocol. In addition, only Burkina Faso and Mali have issued declarations accepting the court’s jurisdiction in cases moved by individuals and non-governmental organisations.

However, the framework upon which legal reforms can be undertaken in the respective countries to embrace the African Court remains a challenge that requires immediate intervention.

Mr Niyundeko said the court recognises that it cannot operate in a vacuum—as such, there is a need to adopt more sustainable financing strategies for African human-rights organisations that play a crucial role in disseminating information to the public and in some countries have had their freedom of expression curtailed by intimidation from the government machinery.

Lawyers, judges and other practitioners agreed to work to fast-track ratification of essential human-rights documents at the African and Inter-American level.

Even as the court prepares to promote awareness on its activities, civil organisations involved in human-rights work have been asked to keep in touch with people at the grassroots to ensure successful implementation of its programmes.

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