REVUE : African Yearbook of Human Rights / Annuaire africain des droits de l'homme (vol. 4, 2020)

Frans VILJOEN, Trésor Makunya MUHINDO, Janet GBAM 

This fourth volume of the African Human Rights Yearbook comes at a time when humanity and particularly our continent is facing new health, economic and humanitarian challenges arising from the outbreak and persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Africa’s human rights situation, which already gave cause for concern, has seriously deteriorated, thus shaking the progress made here and there, including the very foundations of our systems for protection and promotion of human and peoples’ rights. This adverse reality that we have to deal with has, in many respects, weakened the momentum of the institutions working for the development and well-being of Africans and eroded the hopes of peoples in the protection of their rights and respect for their dignity.

In the midst of this bleak picture, this edition, like the previous ones, is intended to be a tool that contributes to the development of the African human rights system and provides relevant responses to the issues raised by the theme chosen by the African Union for this year 2020: ‘Silencing the guns: creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development.’ This year, the Yearbook continues to be not only an effective form of communication on how the authors perceive and understand the African human rights system, but also on how we interpret our norms and give effect to rights in response to issues of current and future relevance.

The wealth of the contributions of academics, experts, civil society actors, etc., makes this edition a didactic tool to encourage and promote academic research on human rights issues, taking into account of course the distinctive features of the problems specific to the African context. Its ambition is not to merely praise a system, shed light on its merits or promote the image of human rights institutions, especially not at a time when what would normally have been a reason to live is fading away and when, at the risk of sinking, we must question the principles and accept the critical analysis which alone opens the way to the positive improvement of our entire human rights system.

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute once again to the commitment of all the men and women of the continent who, since the first edition, have contributed in different ways to the sustainability of this publication initiated by the three African Union organs with a human rights mandate and making up the African human rights system. We continue to hope that it will serve to strengthen a culture of human rights, the rule of law and good governance on the continent and guarantee the harmonious development and well-being of its peoples.

Honourable Sylvain Ore

President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Preface / Préface

I
ARTICLES FOCUSED ON ASPECTS OF THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM AND AFRICAN UNION HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS
ARTICLES PORTANT SUR LES ASPECTS DU SYSTÈME AFRICAIN DES DROITS DE L’HOMME ET LES NORMES DES DROITS DE L’HOMME DE L’UNION AFRICAINE

Fashioning rights in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: understanding the proceduralisation of substantive rights, Ezéchiel Amani Cirimwami 

Assessing violations of states’ socio-economic rights obligations in the African Charter: towards a model of review grounded in the teleological approach, Anneth Amin 

La Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples dans le Forum permanent des cours régionales des droits de l’homme, Patrick Badugue 

Le système africain des droits de l’homme face à l’état d’urgence sanitaire due à la Covid-19, Olivier Baraka Bahoze

Les Protocoles normatifs à la Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples, Rafaâ Ben Achour

Domesticating the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Ghana: threat or promise to sexual minority rights?, Ernest Yaw Ako

Le droit saisi d’en-bas: les frémissements des droits des Pygmées sur leurs forêts ancestrales en République démocratique du Congo, Patient Lwango Mirindi

An appraisal of the Draft Framework for Reporting and Monitoring Execution of Judgments of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Suzgo Lungu

, 

Abd el Atty 

Mosaed 

A bundle of mystery? Unpacking the application of the ‘bundle of rights and guarantees’ in the admissibility of applications before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Mwiza Jo Nkhata

La question homosexuelle en Afrique: entre droit, politique et éthique, Ousmanou Nwatchok, Abdoulaye Sylla  

Social media and the prohibition of ‘false news’: can the free speech jurisprudence of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights provide a litmus test?, Aaron Olaniyi Salau 

Perspectives africaines des droits de l’homme en droit international des investissements, Randianina Radilofe 

 

II
SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE AFRICAN UNION’S THEME FOR 2020: SILENCING THE GUNS: CREATING CONDUCIVE CONDITIONS FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT
FOCUS SPECIAL SUR LE THEME DE L’UNION AFRICAINE POUR L’ANNEE 2020: FAIRE TAIRE LES ARMES EN AFRIQUE: CRÉER UN ENVIRONNEMENT PROPICE AU DÉVELOPPEMENT

A vehicle for peacebuilding or cloak of impunity? The Zimbabwe National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Mazambani Delis, Tapfumaneyi Nicol Tinashe 

An examination of unlawful foreign military operations in Africa, Amouri, Baya 

Silencing the guns to end genderbased violence in Africa: an analysis of article 10(3) of the Maputo Protocol, Budoo Ashwanee 

The role of continental and regional courts in peace-building through the judicial resolution of election-related disputes, Kakai Grace Wakio 

Les mécanismes d’intégration des ex-rebelles dans le processus de stabilisation des zones de conflits en Afrique, Nyandjou Cédric Yasser Nzouakeu

III
CASE COMMENTARIES
COMMENTAIRES DE DECISIONS

Responsabilité étatique en matière de disparitions forcées à l’aune de l'affaire Collectif des familles de disparu(e)s c. Algérie, Eric Bizimana

Evaluating the decision in Michelo Hansungule and others (on behalf of the Children of Northern Uganda) v. Uganda: a case commentary, Charissa Fawole 

When to push the envelope? Corruption, human rights and the request for an advisory opinion by the SERAP to the African Court, Prosper Maguchu 

L’arrêt Association pour le progrès et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes et Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa c. Mali en procès, Yannick Miteo Ngombo, Grâce Muzinga Manzanza 

Les ordonnances de la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples en indication de mesures provisoires dans les affaires Sébastien Ajavon c. Bénin et Guillaume Soro et autres c. Côte d’Ivoire : souplesse ou aventure?, Samson Mwin Sôg Mè Dabiré 

Revisiting the Endorois and Ogiek cases: is the African human rights mechanism a toothless bulldog?, Stella Nasirumbi