Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)

PULP is an open-access publisher based at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

Compendium of key human rights documents of the African Union - Sixth Edition
Edited by Christof Heyns and Magnus Killander
2016
ISBN: 978-1-920538-55-2
Pages: 440
Print version: Available
Electronic version: Free PDF available

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About the publication

This is the sixth edition of the Compendium of key human rights documents of the African Union updated to August 2016. This compendium contains documents on human rights adopted under the auspices of the African Union (AU) and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), including documents adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Due to space constraints only extracts are reprinted of many of the documents. This compendium is by no means comprehensive but includes some key documents of relevance for students of the African human rights system and others interested in its functioning. Extracts from documents related to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) reprinted in previous editions of this compendium have been left out of this edition.

For comprehensive coverage of human rights law in Africa, see www.chr.up.ac.za and the web sites listed at the end of this compendium. The assistance of Frans Viljoen and Lizette Hermann in preparing this edition of the compendium and the financial support of the Norwegian government for its printing is gratefully acknowledged. 

About the editors:

Christof Heyns is Director, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, University of Pretoria.
Magnus Killander is a researcher at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and is also the co-editor of African Human Rights Law Reports.


Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
INSTRUMENTS OF THE AFRICAN UNION

AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’RIGHTS

Selected decisions of the African Commission

  • Achuthan and Another v Malawi (2000) AHRLR 144 (ACHPR 1995)
  • African Institute for Human Rights and Development v Guinea (2004) AHRLR 57 (ACHPR 2004)
  • Amnesty International v Sudan (2000) AHRLR 297 (ACHPR 1999)
  • Article 19 v Eritrea (2007) AHRLR 73 (ACHPR 2007)
  • Avocats Sans Frontières v Burundi (2000) AHRLR 48 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Bissangou v Republic of Congo (2006) AHRLR 80 (ACHPR 2006)
  • Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) and Minority Rights Group International on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v
  • Kenya (2009) AHRLR 75 (ACHPR 2009)
  • Civil Liberties Organisation v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 186 (ACHPR 1995)
  • Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés v Chad (2000) AHRLR 66 (ACHPR 1995)
  • Constitutional Rights Project and Another v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 191 (ACHPR 1998)
  • Constitutional Rights Project and Another v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 235 (ACHPR 1999)
  • Constitutional Rights Project and Others v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 180 (ACHPR 1995)
  • Constitutional Rights Project and Others v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 227 (ACHPR 1999)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo v Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda (2004) AHRLR 19 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Doebbler v Sudan (2003) AHRLR 153 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Egyptian Initiative for Personal rights and Interights v Egypt (2011) AHRLR 90 (ACHPR 2011)
  • Forum of Conscience v Sierra Leone (2000) AHRLR 293 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Gunme and Others v Cameroon (2009) AHRLR 9 (ACHPR 2009)
  • Human Rights Council and Others v Ethiopia [Communication 445/13 (2015)]
  • Huri-Laws v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 273 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa v Angola (2008) AHRLR 43 (ACHPR 2008)
  • Interights & Ditshwanelo v Botswana [Communication 319/06 (2015)]
  • Interights and Others v Mauritania (2004) AHRLR 87 (ACHPR 2004)
  • International Pen and Others v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 212 (ACHPR 1998)
  • Jawara v The Gambia (2000) AHRLR 107 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Katangese Peoples’ Congress v Zaire (2000) AHRLR 72 (ACHPR 1995)
  • Law Office of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan (I) (2003) AHRLR 134 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Law Office of Ghazi Suleiman v Sudan (II) (2003) AHRLR 144 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Lawyers for Human Rights v Swaziland (2005) AHRLR 66 (ACHPR 2005)
  • Legal Resources Foundation v Zambia (2001) AHRLR 84 (ACHPR 2001)
  • Ligue Camerounaise des Droits de l’Homme v Cameroon (2000) AHRLR 61 (ACHPR 1997)
  • Majuru v Zimbabwe (2008) AHRLR 146 (ACHPR 2008)
  • Malawi African Association and Others v Mauritania (2000) AHRLR 149 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Media Rights Agenda and Others v Nigeria (2000) AHRLR 200 (ACHPR 1998)
  • The Nubian Community in Kenya v Kenya [Communication 317/06 (2015)]
  • Ouko v Kenya (2000) AHRLR 135 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Pagnoulle v Cameroon (2000) AHRLR 57 (ACHPR 1997)
  • Prince v South Africa (2004) AHRLR 105 (ACHPR 2004)
  • Purohit and Others v The Gambia (2003) AHRLR 96 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Shumba v Zimbabwe communication 288/2004
  • Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) and Another v Nigeria (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001)
  • Sudan Human Rights Organisation and Another v Sudan (2009) AHRLR 153 (ACHPR 2009)
  • Tembani and Freeth v Angola and Thirteen Others [Communication 409/12 (2013)]
  • Zegveld and Another v Eritrea (2003) AHRLR 84 (ACHPR 2003)
  • Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe (2005) AHRLR 128 (ACHPR 2005)
  • Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Another (on behalf of Medrum) v Zimbabwe (2009) AHRLR 268 (ACHPR 2009)
  • Resolutions, guidelines and general comments of the African Commission Observer Status for National Human Rights Institutions (1998)
  • Criteria for Observer Status for NGOs (1999)
  • Principles on Freedom of Expression (2002)
  • Robben Island Guidelines on Torture (2002)
  • Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial (2003)
  • Access to Health and Needed Medicines in Africa (2008)
  • General Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Right to Life (Article 4)

AFRICAN COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD

  • Recommendations and observations sent to the government of the Republic of Uganda on the Initial Implementation Report of the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child (2010)

Selected decisions of the African Committee

  • IHRDA and OSJI v Kenya (2011) AHRLR 181 (ACERWC 2011)
  • The Centre for Human Rights (University of Pretoria) and Another v Senegal [Communication 1/2012 (2014)]

AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

  • Rules of Court (2010)
  • Selected decisions of the African Court
  • Konaté v Burkina Faso, order of provisional measures [Application 004/2013 (2013)]
  • Konaté v Burkina Faso, judgment on merits [Application 004/2013 (2014)]
  • Mtikila v Tanzania applications 9/2011 & 11/2011 (2013)
  • Zongo v Burkina Faso, judgment on reparations [Application 013/2011 (2015)]

CHART OF RATIFICATIONS: AU HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES
USEFUL WEBSITES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY


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