CARMEL RICKARD: A court to protect human rights in Africa
The African Court on Human & Peoples’ Rights should be one of the most important institutions in Africa. A new strategy aims to realise this dream
The invitation to be part of a training team at the African Court on Human & Peoples’ Rights was irresistible. The court is periodically in the news, but few people know much about it. Here was a chance to learn more myself. We flew into Tanzania’s tiny Kilimanjaro airport last week and then spent more than an hour driving the remaining 52km to Arusha, where the court is housed in property on loan from Tanzania National Parks, surrounded by a wooded area from which cuckoos called most of the day. It sounds (and is) picturesque, but the location also indicates one of the institution’s many problems. The court was promised its own home with an appropriate building and infrastructure. But more than 12 years since the forum was established, nothing has materialised. In 2012, UK lawyer Oliver Windridge interviewed the court’s registrar, Robert Eno. When asked where the court would be in five years’ time, Eno said it would be one of the most important institutions in Africa. It would be u...
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