On 11 May, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held a panel on the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation”. The panel’s objective was to highlight the importance of human rights during this critical trade process.
Mauritius is one of the island States of Africa. The local civil society can find it challenging to connect to civil society on the continent, and to raise the restrictions they face to international and regional human rights mechanisms.
On 10 May 2023, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) held a panel aiming to discuss ways to realise States’ obligations regarding the production of ESCR data and its use in policy-making, as well as how the Commission could work with States in realising them.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) examined the combined 12th to 15th periodic reports of the Republic of Senegal during its public session held from 3 to 13 May 2023 in Banjul, The Gambia. The report presents the progress made by Senegal to effectively implement the African Charter between 2015 and 2022.
On 9 May, ISHR delivered a statement on the situation of the village Similimi in Côte d’Ivoire affected by the operations of a manganese extracting company. This statement also highlighted the lack of an African legal instrument protecting the environment, human rights and environmental defenders.
During the 75th session of the African Commission, ISHR delivered a statement on the situation of human rights defenders in Africa. The aim was to highlight the impact of anti-constitutional changes of government on the rights of human rights defenders and to call on the Focal Point on Reprisals to publish his first report.
ISHR has developed a simple list of ten concrete actions the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights says businesses should take to respect human rights defenders and adhere to the UN Guiding Principles.
Updates on the binding treaty process on business and human rights led by the open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) have been presented to the Human Rights Council. ISHR calls for the text to better recognise and protect human rights defenders.
Olnar Ortiz Bolívar and Alexandra Lezama, human rights defenders from Venezuela, are attending the Human Rights Council 52nd session, where the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela will present an oral update on the human rights situation in the country.
Alexandra Lezama is a human rights defender from Venezuela who came to Geneva to expose the facts and consequences of illegal mining and the contamination of the environment in the State of Bolívar.
