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Compendium of key human rights documents of the African Union - Fourth Edition

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Category: Legal compilations
Compendium of key human rights documents of the African Union - Fourth Edition
Edited by Christof Heyns and Magnus Killander
2010
ISBN: 978-0-9869857-0-6
Pages: ix 485
Print version: Available
Electronic version: Free PDF available

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About the publication

This is the fourth edition of the Compendium of key human rights documents of the African Union updated to August 2010. 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 those relating to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The earlier editions of the Compendium have been used widely by judges, lawyers, civil servants, NGOs and academics alike, in Africa and abroad, who have an interest in the African human rights system.

Many of the documents reprinted here are also available in the reference work Human Rights Law in Africa (2004), edited by Christof Heyns and Morné van der Linde, and the African Human Rights Law Reports. These two publications contain many more sources than are reprinted here. For comprehensive coverage of human rights law in Africa and for updates on this material, see www.chr.up.ac.za.

The titles of documents used in the table of contents have in many cases been abbreviated; the full titles are used as headings in the text.

This Compendium was compiled at the Centre for Human Rights, with Christof Heyns and Magnus Killander as editors, with the assistance of Frans Viljoen. The assistance of Karen Stefiszyn, and Michelo Hansungule in the compilation of previous editions is gratefully acknowledged. Lizette Besaans formatted the document, supervised the production process and held the whole project together. The organogrammes of the AU were compiled by Karen Stefiszyn and Magnus Killander. Yolanda Booyzen provided IT assistance. Lizette Besaans is the manager of PULP.

We are most grateful to Ms Julia Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the AU, for her warm encouragement and support for this publication, as is reflected in the foreword.

This publication was supported by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

The 2010 edition of the Compendium will also be available in French. An earlier edition is also available in Arabic and Portuguese.

About the editors:

Christof Heyns is Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
Magnus Killander is a researcher at the Centre for Huma Rights, University of Pretoria and is also the co-editor of African Human Rights Law Reports.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION

INSTRUMENTS OF THE AFRICAN UNION

  • Charter of the Organization of African Unity (1963/1963)
  • Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (1991/1994) 
  • Constitutive Act of the African Union (2000/2001)
  • Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act (2003/) 
  • Protocol on the Pan African Parliament (2001/2003) 
  • Protocol on the Peace and Security Council (2002/2003) 
  • Statutes of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (2004) 
  • African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981/1986) 
  • Protocol on the African Human Rights Court (1998/2004) 
  • Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (2008/)
  • Protocol on the Rights of Women (2003/2005) 
  • OAU Refugee Convention (1969/1974) 
  • African Children’s Charter (1990/1999) 
  • Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism (1999/2002)
  • Protocol on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism (2004/) 
  • African Convention on the Conservation of Nature (Revised) (2003/) 
  • Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003/2006) 
  • Non-Aggression and Common Defence Pact (2005/2009) 
  • Charter for African Cultural Renaissance (2006/) 
  • African Youth Charter (2006/2009) 
  • African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007/) 
  • AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (2009/)
  • Grand Bay (Mauritius) Declaration (1999) 
  • Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government (2000) 
  • Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation (2000)
  • Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002)
  • Kigali Declaration (2003) 
  • Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (2004) 
  • Guidelines for Electoral Observation Missions (2004) 
  • Banjul Declaration (2006) 
  • AU Organogram

AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

  • Rules of Procedure of the African Commission (1995)
  • Guidelines for National Periodic Reports (1998) 
  • Guidelines for Reporting on Women’s Protocol (2010) 
  • Concluding Observations on a Periodic Report (2009) 

Selected Decisions of the African Commission
List of reprinted decisions by article of the African Charter

  • 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 Endoris Welfare Council v Kenya communication 276/2003
  • 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 communication 227/99
  • Doebbler v Sudan (2003) AHRLR 153 (ACHPR 2003) 
  • Forum of Conscience v Sierra Leone (2000) AHRLR 293 (ACHPR 2000)
  • Gunme and Others v Cameroon communication 266/2003 
  • 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 and Others v Botswana (2003) AHRLR 55 (ACHPR 2003) 
  • Interights et al 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)
  • 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) 
  • Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) and Another v Nigeria (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001)
  • 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 communication 294/2004

Resolutions of the African Commission

  • Electoral Process and Participatory Governance (1996)
  • Observer Status for National Human Rights Institutions (1998) 
  • Criteria for Observer Status for NGOs (1999) 
  • Dakar Declaration on the Right to a Fair Trial (1999) 
  • Death Penalty (1999) 
  • HIV/AIDS (2001) 
  • Principles on Freedom of Expression (2002) 
  • Robben Island Guidelines on Torture (2002) 
  • Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial (2003) 
  • Human Rights Defenders (2004) 
  • Refugees (2004) 
  • Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression (2004) 
  • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa (2004) 
  • Status of Women in Africa (2005) 
  • Impunity (2005) 
  • Terrorism (2005) 
  • Darfur (2005) 
  • Implementation of Recommendations (2006) 
  • Women and Girls Victims of Sexual Violence (2007) 
  • Re-appointment of Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression (2007)
  • Elections in Africa (2008) 
  • Human Rights Situation in The Gambia (2008) 
  • Maternal Mortality in Africa (2008) 
  • Moratorium on the Death Penalty (2008) 
  • Access to Health and Needed Medicines in Africa (2008) 
  • Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations (2009)
  • Advisory Committee on Budgetary and Staff Matters (2009) 
  • Transformation of the Focal Point on Rights of Older Persons (2009) 
  • Committee of Experts on Rights and Welfare of the Child (2009) 
  • Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in The Gambia (2009) 
  • Protection of Rights of People Living with HIV (2010) 
  • Communication Form

AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

  • Interim Rules of Court (2008)
  • Yogogombaye v Senegal Application 1/2008

NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT

  • NEPAD Declaration (2001)
  • Memorandum of Understanding on the APRM (2003) 
  • Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance (2002)
  • African Peer Review Mechanism: Base Document (2002) 
  • Objectives, Standards, Criteria and Indicators for the APRM (2003)

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

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