African Court of Human and People's Rights: Ten years on and still no justice

In June 1998, at an Organization of African Unity's summit in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, African Heads of State signed the Protocol to establish the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. The breakthrough was the result of for solid years of hard work, intense negotiations and compromise to reach a common position. How disappointing for Africa's peoples then that ten years after the Protocols' adoption, the Court has yet to hear a case. There is no doubt about the scale of the needs. In the time that has elapsed, countless human rights violations have taken place on the African continent, with minorities and indigenous peoples particularly affected. As some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities on the continent, minority and indigenous people experience multiple human right violations on a daily basis. Yet, du to their marginalized position, states are often indifferent to their plight. A strong legal mechanism is therefore essential if the rights of Africa's minorities and indigenous peoples are to be realised. But it would be misleading to say that no progress has been made. Some important steps ave been taken: judges ave been appointed, rules of procedure have been elaborated, and the location for the Court - Arusha in Tanzania - has been established. But as this report outlines, there has been more work on logistics than on the real issues. The goal of a functioning, effective Court threatens to be derailed by bureaucracy. One of the most important issues is the relationship between the African Commission and African Court. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is currently the main human rights monitoring body on the continent and, encouragingly, states have been increasingly willing to engage with its work. However, the African Commission is a quasi-judicial body an d the states' track record of enforcing its decisions as been poor.