The decline of democracy and the rise of coup d’états in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reflections and lessons
Posted: 25 February, 2022 Filed under: Garang Yach James | Tags: civil unrest, civil uprisings, coup d'états, gun class, human insecurities, human security, Independent Electoral Commission, militarisation of politics, military takeover, political fiasco, Republic of South Sudan, South Sudan military, stable democracies, structural inequalities Leave a comment
Author: Garang Yach J
South Sudanese Political and security analyst and PhD Student, University of Juba, South Sudan
Summary
Although coup d’états have been straddling the African continent since the 1960s, their recent resurfacing and rise is a reverse to the democratic consolidation in the Sub-Saharan African region. In this article I try to locate the trends of coups in the history of the region in order to showcase the existing susceptibility of the states in the region. I further advance the argument that militarisation of politics, the dominant military aristocracy and proclivity to change constitutions in order to extend term and age limits, delays in holding free and fair elections are among the reasons why democracy is declining, and coups are on rise in the region. I also present a compelling argument that failure to incorporate human security into governance is stifling democracy and resuscitation of coup tendencies. The article concludes that military metiers in the Sub-Saharan region have entrenched themselves and apply mock democracy to actuate militaristic propensity. Finally, the article gives four recommendations that would improve democratic governance and mitigate trends of unconstitutional change of government in the region.
UNCRC climate decision is a missed opportunity – A response to Muhumuza and Wepukhulu
Posted: 9 February, 2022 Filed under: Elsabé Boshoff, Samrawit Getaneh | Tags: climate change, climate change litigation, Domestic remedial mechanisms, emissions, global warming, international human rights law, local remedies, national courts, Paris Agreement, positive change, public international law, renewable energy, UN children’s rights committee Leave a comment
Author: Elsabé Boshoff
PhD Fellow, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo
Author: Samrawit Getaneh Damtew
Human Rights Advisor, GIZ Ethiopia and Djibouti
The UN Children’s Rights Committee (CRC) received its first Communication on climate change-induced child rights violations in Sacchi, et al. v. Argentina, et al. In its admissibility decision, the CRC confirmed that climate change has child right impacts and states have extraterritorial responsibility for harmful effects of emissions. However, the Committee declared the Communication inadmissible for failing to exhaust local remedies. In their article on AfricLaw, Muhumuza and Wepukhulu argue that this decision was the right one. We argue why the Communication should have been admissible.
Criteria for exhausting domestic remedies
The above-mentioned article argued that the decision is in line with the settled rules of exhaustion of domestic remedies. While this may be a general rule, it has exceptions. The CRC Optional Protocol in article 7(3) provides that exhaustion of local remedies is not required where the remedy is “unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief”.
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