African Human Rights System in crisis? Causes and effects of the withdrawal of the declarations that allow individuals and NGOs to submit communications to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Barra lateral del artículo

PDF XML
Publicado: jul 1, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32870/dgedj.v9i27.491
Palabras clave:
African Court, ecognition of jurisdiction, human rights, international tribunals

Contenido principal del artículo

José Alberto Del Rivero Del Rivero
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, México
Alfonso Calcáneo Sánchez
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, México

Resumen

Between November 2020 and April 2021, three African states consummated the withdrawals of their declarations that allowed individuals and NGOs to submit cases to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in response to politically sensitive rulings. With these withdrawals, only six out of 31 state parties to the African Court Protocol fully remain subject to the Court’s jurisdiction. Giving the relevance of this issue for the consolidation and future of the African Court, the present article addresses the context in which the withdrawals took place and their implications for the protection of human rights in Africa.

Detalles del artículo

Cómo citar
Del Rivero Del Rivero, J. A., & Calcáneo Sánchez, A. . (2024). African Human Rights System in crisis? Causes and effects of the withdrawal of the declarations that allow individuals and NGOs to submit communications to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Derecho Global. Estudios Sobre Derecho Y Justicia, 9(27: Julio-Octubre), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.32870/dgedj.v9i27.491
Número
Vol. 9 Núm. 27: Julio-Octubre (2024): Derecho Global. Estudios sobre Derecho y Justicia
Sección
Artículos de investigación
Creative Commons License

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0.

En este apartado se tratan los asuntos concernientes a los derechos de autor en lo que respecta a la revista, los autores y usuarios.

Se establece en conformidad a lo dispuesto en la Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor, Ley de Ciencia y Tecnología, Ley General de Educación, Ley Orgánica del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, lo particular del Estado de Jalisco, de la Ley Orgánica, de sus Estatutos y de sus Reglamentos de la Universidad de Guadalajara.

De la revista

  • Derecho Global está registrada con el Número de Reserva de Derechos al Uso Exclusivo del Título de la versión electrónica: 04-2015-021708234800-203, e-ISSN: 2448–5136; número de Reserva de Derechos al Uso Exclusivo del Título de la versión impresa: 04-2015-021109191900-102, ISSN: 2448-5128, otorgados por el Instituto Nacional del Derecho de Autor; con número de certificado de Licitud de Título y Contenido 16827 y es editada por la Universidad de Guadalajara.
  • Derecho Global protegerá los derechos de autor en lo que respecta a sí misma y de los titulares del contenido en ella publicado. Cualquier violación a los mismos se resolverá en conformidad a lo establecido en la Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor.

De los autores

  • Los autores tienen el derecho de colección y al autoarchivo.
  • La licencia de uso que otorgan los autores no los priva de publicar sus obras reunidas en colección escogida o completa.
  • El derecho de autor no está ligado a la propiedad del objeto material en el que la obra esté incorporada.
Biografía del autor/a

José Alberto Del Rivero Del Rivero, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, México

Postdoc in Human Rights and International Criminal Law from Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio, Spain, and Berg Institute, Spain. Professor of Law at the Master in International Human Rights Protection, Public Policies and Sustainability. Professor of Law at the Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco, Mexico. Member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) from the Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology.

Alfonso Calcáneo Sánchez, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, México

M.Phil in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Oslo, Norway, and Bachelor of Laws from the Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco, Mexico. Professor of Law at the Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco. Main research areas: International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, and the work of international tribunals.

Citas

Aboa, A. (28 April 2020). “Ivory Coast presidential candidate Soro sentenced to 20 years in prison”. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ivorycoast-politics-soro/ivory-coast-presidential-candidate-soro-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-idUSKCN22A2E0

Africa News. (30 April 2020). “Ivory Coast withdraws from African Human Rights and Peoples Court”. https://www.africanews.com/2020/04/30/ivory-coast-withdraws-from-african-human-rights-and-peoples-court/

African Union Directorate of Information & Communication. (2021). The realities of 40 years of implementation of the African Charter on Human

and Peoples’ Rights [Press release]. https://au.int/sites/default/files/pressreleases/40540-pr-40TH_ANNIVERSARY_PR.pdf

Alter, K. J., Gathii, J. T. & Helfer, L. R. (2016). “Backlash against International Courts in West, East and Southern Africa: Causes and Consequences”. The European Journal of International Law, vol. 27 (no. 2), pp. 293-328. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chw019

Amnesty International. (2 December 2019). “Tanzania: Withdrawal of individual rights to African Court will deepen repression”. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/12/tanzania-withdrawal-of-individual-rights-to-african-court-will-deepen-repression/

Amnesty International. (24 April 2020). “Benin: Withdrawal of individuals right to refer cases to the African Court a dangerous setback in the protection of human rights”. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/benin-le-retrait-aux-individus-du-droit-de-saisir-la-cour-africaine-est-un-recul-dangereux/

Anami, L. (27 May 2021). “Tanzania reverses decision to withdraw from the African Court” The East African. https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tanzania-reverses-decision-to-withdraw-from-the-african-court-3415592

BBC News. (1 February 2017). “African Union backs mass withdrawal from ICC”. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38826073

Calcáneo Sánchez, A. (2015). The Dominican withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A legal and a contextual analysis (Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, Oslo). https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/46874

Caminero, A. (7 November 2014). “RD enfrenta CIDH; mantiene respaldo a sentencia del TC”. El Nacional. http://elnacional.com.do/rd-enfrenta-cidh-mantiene-respaldo-a-sentencia-del-tc/

De Silva, N., & Misha, P. (19 May 2020). “A Court in Crisis: African States’ Increasing Resistance to Africa’s Human Rights Court”. Opinio Juris. http://opiniojuris.org/2020/05/19/a-court-in-crisis-african-states-increasing-resistance-to-africas-human-rights-court/

Gouvernement de la République du Bénin. (2020). Retrait du Bénin de la CADHP - Déclaration du ministre de la Justice et de la Législation. https://www.gouv.bj/actualite/635/retrait-benin-cadhp---declaration-ministre-justice-legislation/

Gurjal, Z. (3 May 2020). “Ivory Coast withdraws from African Human Rights and Peoples Court”. Jurist. https://www.jurist.org/news/2020/05/ivory-coast-withdraws-from-african-human-rights-and-peoples-court/

Human Rights Watch. (11 March 2016). “Dispatches: Rwanda Turns the Clock Back on Access to Justice”. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/11/dispatches-rwanda-turns-clock-back-access-justice

International Justice Resource Center. (14 March 2016). “Rwanda Withdraws Access to African Court for Individuals and NGOs”. https://ijrcenter.org/2016/03/14/rwanda-withdraws-access-to-african-court-for-individuals-and-ngos/

International Justice Resource Center. (5 December 2019). “As African Court Releases New Judgments, Tanzania Withdraws Individual Access”. https://ijrcenter.org/2019/12/05/as-african-court-releases-new-judgments-tanzania-withdraws-individual-access/

International Justice Resource Center. (6 May 2020). “Benin and Côte d’Ivoire to Withdraw Individual Access to African Court”. https://ijrcenter.org/2020/05/06/benin-and-cote-divoire-to-withdraw-individual-access-to-african-court/

Pasqualucci, J. (2003). The Practice and Procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Cambridge (Cambridge University Press)

Plagis, M. A., & Riemer, L. (2020). “From Context to Content of Human Rights: The Drafting History of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Enigma of Article 7”. Journal of the History of International Law. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718050-12340173

Radio France Internationale. (5 March 2016). “Rwanda: individus et ONG ne peuvent plus saisir directement la CADHP”. https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20160305-rwanda-victoire-ingabire-cour-africaine-droits-homme-peuples

Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2016). Withdrawal for review by the Republic of Rwanda from the Declaration made under article 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. https://www.african-court.org/wpafc/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Withdrawal-Rwanda.pdf

Salgado Ledesma, E. (2012). “La probable inejecución de las sentencias de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos”. Revista Mexicana de Derecho Constitucional, 1(no. 26). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/iij.24484881e.2012.26.5990

Southern African Development Community. (2012). Final communiqué of the

nd Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Final_32nd_Summit_Communique_amended_on_Agust_19_2012.pdf

Tyagi, Y. (2008). “The Denunciation of Human Rights Treaties”. The British Yearbook of International Law, vol. 79 (issue 1), pp. 86-193. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/bybil/79.1.86

Úbeda de Torres, A. (2011). “The optional contentious jurisdiction of the Court”, in Burgorgue-Larsen, L., & Úbeda de Torres, A., The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Case Law and Commentary (pp. 3-24). Oxford: Oxford University Press

United Nations. (n.d.). Status of Ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-10&chapter=18&clang=_en

Treaties and court decisions

Actions pour la Protection des Droits de l’Homme v. Côte d’Ivoire, Judgment, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (18 November 2016)

African Union. (1998). Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. African Union. https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-establishment-african-court-human-and

Ally Rajabu and Others v Tanzania, Judgment, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (28 November 2019)

Constitutional Court v. Peru, Competence, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, (1999)

Ghati Mwita v. Tanzania, Ruling on Provisional Measures, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (9 April 2020)

Guillaume Kigbafori Soro and others v. Côte d’Ivoire, Order for Provisional Measures, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (22 April 2020)

Houngue Eric Noudehouenou v. Benin, Order on Provisional Measures, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (5 May 2020a)

Houngue Eric Noudehouenou v. Benin, Order on Provisional Measures, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (6 May 2020b)

Ingabire Victorie Umuhoza v. Rwanda, Ruling on Jurisdiction, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (5 September 2016)

Nadege Dorzema y Otros v. República Dominicana, Supervisión de Cumplimiento de Sentencia, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, (22 November 2019)

Niñas Yean y Bosico y Caso de Personas Dominicanas y Haitianas Expulsadas v. República Dominicana, Supervisión de Cumplimiento de Sentencia, (12 March 2019)

Sebastien Germain Marie Eïkoue Ajavon v. Benin, Order on Provisional Measures, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 17 April 2020

Suy Bi Gohore Emile and Others v. Côte d’Ivoire, Judgment, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, (15 July 2020)