African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ©ISHR
The African Commission on Human & Peoples’ Rights is Africa’s main human rights body, holding public sessions twice a year at which States’ compliance under the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights is reviewed.
Preceding these sessions, human rights defenders gather at the NGO Forum to discuss human rights concerns and urge the Commission to take action. Such engagement is key to strengthening the African human rights system.
For over a decade ISHR has engaged actively with the Commission. Through lobbying, support to Special Rapporteurs, membership of Commission working groups and the NGO Forum Steering Committee, and by the publication of biannual reports and periodic monitors on the NGO Forum and Commission sessions, ISHR contributes to building this human rights system.
To learn more about this mechanism and how human rights defenders can engage, please visit our ISHR Aacademy, clicking here.
Throughout its 85th session, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) saw the periodic reviews of Egypt, Tunisia, and Botswana, a report by the fact-finding mission on Sudan, and panels on the elimination of racial discrimination, the externalisation of migration management, and the right to a healthy environment.
In line with its mandate to advocate for the protection of human rights defenders before international and regional mechanisms, ISHR presented the situation of defenders' protection on the continent.
While the actions of the decade are orientated on the reparation of Africans and people of African descents, the African Commission held a panel to assess the implementation of the recommendations with a focus on human rights.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in civil war. In view of the unheeded calls for a ceasefire and the alarming violations of human rights, the African Commission conducted a virtual joint fact-finding mission on the situation in the country.
Insecurity and violent extremism, particularly in Africa's Sahel region, are prompting States to adopt counter-terrorism measures. However, in many cases, these measures are also used to restrict rights and criminalise the the work of defenders.
As part of the 85th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Working Group on Extractive Industries, the Environment, and Human Rights convened a panel on the right to the environment in Africa.
This report sheds lights into the lived realities of human rights defenders in six often-overlooked countries in Africa: Cape Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, and Seychelles.
The Road map for civil society engagement outlines a programme through which civil society organisations (CSOs) can maximise their impact while engaging with the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights through the State Reporting Procedure.
The health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has led States to take measures to combat the spread of the virus. Despite the state of health emergency, some of these measures were considered inappropriate and have considerably limited the rights of defenders with a considerable impact on their work.
In order for the African human rights system to function to its fullest potential, human rights defenders must be able to share crucial information and perspectives regarding situations on the ground. However, many defenders still face unacceptable risks and are unable to cooperate safely with the African human rights system.
A landmark new manual for and about women human rights defenders has just been launched by the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition. Providing women human rights defenders with the tools to document their experience and that of colleagues, the manual aims at generating awareness about violations and abuses against defenders and supporting demands for human rights change.
This issue of Kumulika - our analytical publication on the African Commission - covers key developments at the 55th session and the NGO Forum which preceded it.
