A:THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
As a continent, Africa has specific instruments and systems for the promotion and protection of human rights. They are the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981 (African Charter), which came into force on October 21, 1986, provides, among other things, for mechanisms to promote and protect the rights embodied in the Charter. To date, all Member States of the African Union are party to the African Charter. The Organ charged with the mandate to promote and protect human rights, in terms of Article 30, is the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which was established on November 2, 1987 with the election of its first members and is headquartered in Banjul, The Gambia. The ACHPR has developed its own Rules of Procedure to guide its deliberations as well as guidelines on State reporting which is an obligation on State parties under Article 62 of the African Charter. Despite the fact that it was established before the Constitutive Act, this Organ is integrated into the AU system as a de facto Organ requiring it to report to the Executive Council. Its eleven (11) members are appointed by the Executive Council as per Rule 5(1)(f) of the Rules of Procedure of the Council. The core budget of the ACHPR is sourced from the AU.
The promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights;
Interpretation of the provisions of the Charter and any other task assigned to it by the Assembly.
To achieve the above, the Commission is mandated, under Article 45(1), “to collect documents, undertake studies and researches on African problems in the field of human and peoples’ rights and organise seminars, symposia and conferences, disseminate information, encourage national and local Institutions concerned with human and peoples’ rights and, should the case arise, give its views or make recommendations to governments.”
As per Rule 5(1)(f) of the Rules of Procedure, the ACHPR’s eleven members serve for a six-year term, renewable, in their personal and independent capacity and not as representatives of their countries even though States party to the African Charter nominate them. It should be noted that there is no limit to the number of terms a Commissioner can serve. However, throughout the years, some members of the ACHPR have held official positions in their respective States, thereby creating a perception that they were not discharging their functions with total independence and impartiality.
Execution of Statutory Functions and Audit Findings
To date, the ACHPR has held forty-three (43) ordinary sessions. It has been active in the domain of the promotion of human rights on the continent, notably through missions it sends to Member States such as Darfur in July 2004. Its Ordinary Sessions are held twice a year. The Special Rapporteurs of the ACHPR have also investigated violations of women rights, conditions in African prisons, freedom of expression, and the rights of refugees and internally displaced people. Their reports have been used to further the objectives of the ACHPR.
The ordinary sessions are held in public and bring together a wide variety of stakeholders. The 41st Ordinary Session, for example, was attended by 484 participants, including 33 Member States, 6 national human rights Institutions, and 247 African and international NGOs from 42 different countries.
With respect to the protection of the human rights mandate, the ACHPR receives an average of 50 complaints a year, which it investigates in the light of the Charter. Since 2006, the ACHPR is required, by the Assembly (Assembly/AU/Dec.101(VI) to submit its findings on such complaints to Member States against whom the complaints were made prior to submitting them to the Assembly. This, in effect, undermines the substance and spirit of Article 46 of its Charter, which requires the ACHPR to conduct its work with impartiality and without interference.
The following are other challenges from Member States which constitute an impediment to the work of the ACHPR:
Some Member States do not grant the ACHPR authorisation to undertake missions in their countries even though all Member States have ratified the Charter;
The bulk of Member States do not submit their mandatory reports to the ACHPR (Table 9);
Certain State Parties do not comply with the recommendations of the ACHPR; and,
National Human Rights Institutions do not participate regularly and actively in the ordinary sessions of the ACHPR.
Table 9: Status of Submission of State Reports to the ACHPR (as at May 2007)
Number of States
States which have submitted and presented all their reports
States which have submitted all their reports and were to present it at the 42nd Ordinary Session of the ACHPR
States which have submitted two or more reports but owe more
States which have submitted one report but owe more
The ACHPR has considerable challenges in the area of staffing and budget. Currently, the ACHPR has 17 staff posts, including that of a Secretary, five Legal Officers, and a Documentation Officer. However, the post of the Secretary was vacant for over a year until recently, and that of the Documentation Officer is yet to be filled. Five positions, including that of the two Legal Officers, were funded from the vacant posts of that of the Secretary and the Documentation Officer due to financial constraints. The ACHPR has proposed an increase of its staff personnel from the current 17 to 35, in order to create a position of Deputy Secretary, two Researchers, and a Public Relations Officer, among others.
In 2006, the ACHPR was allocated $1,142,436. The bulk of this was spent on operational costs. This is not spelt out in its 22nd Activity Report to the AU Commission. Out of this allocation, only $47,000 was spent on its core mandate; namely promotion and protection of human rights. The perception that the ACHPR is dependent on donor funding is not unfounded. If it had not been for the US$530,000 received from external sources, the Commission would not have been able to operate.
The Panel is of the view that the ACHPR has to address the problems relating to its work and the budget. Firstly, it will have to review its spending patterns with a view to making cuts in operational costs and through a process of rationalisation, increase the resources allocated to its core mandate. This is especially important given the fact that the host country bears the cost for office space and the Organ has 17 employees. Secondly, the role of external partners in this Organ is a cause for concern. For example, the Danish Institute has been assisting the ACHPR with its Strategic Plan, even deploying experts on the premises of the ACHPR. A strategic plan is the operational plan of the mandate of an Organisation and cannot be outsourced to a foreign interest. The Canadian NGO, Rights and Democracy, put three technical advisors at the disposal of the ACHPR in January 2006.
Lastly, and linked to the latter point, is the accreditation of non-African human rights NGOs for the attendance of the ordinary sessions of the ACHPR. Human rights are not only a sensitive issue among the Member States, but it is also used by some non-African actors to pursue their geo-political agendas on the continent and influence the behaviour of African States. The ACHPR has to be sensitive to this reality in its interaction with non-African actors, lest Member States will continue to question the credibility and impartiality of the body’s report.