The 66th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights will be held online, from 13 July to 7 August 2020. The African Commission session will be preceded by the NGO Forum, which will be held online on 9 & 10 July 2020.
What will happen during the NGO Forum and 66th ordinary session of the African Commission?
The NGO Forum
The Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the Ordinary Sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission), also known as the ‘NGOs Forum’ is an advocacy platform coordinated by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) to promote advocacy, lobbying and networking among and between human rights NGOs, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. The NGOs Forum shares updates on the human rights situation in Africa by the African and international NGOs community with a view of identifying responses as well as adopting strategies towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the continent.
This session, will be a first in its format and will seek to keep civil society engaged in the work of the Commission.
The Human Rights Council (HRC) was confronted with stark new evidence of the scale, sophistication, and transnational reach of repression by Nicaraguan authorities. The latest report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN), and public calls by States and civil society at the HRC and the General Assembly, underscore the pressing need for accountability and coordinated international action.
A new comparative report prepared by Oxford Pro Bono Publico for ISHR shows that the UN and regional human rights systems are increasingly recognising and naming transnational repression. Yet States still lack clear, binding obligations to prevent and address these cross‑border attacks against human rights defenders.
ISHR, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Advocates for Human Rights, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Human Rights First delivered a joint statement at the Human Rights Council on the United States' refusal to cooperate with the Universal Periodic Review.
