State-sanctioned human rights violations in Kenya: countering repression with resistance
Posted: 29 August, 2025 Filed under: Edward Kahuthia Murimi | Tags: 2024 Finance Bill, arbitrary arrests, barbaric governance, CIVICUS, death while in police custody, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, global alliance for civil society organisations, human rights, human rights violations, Kenya, Kenya’s Constitution, Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti, President Ruto, protesters, public policy, Rex Masai, right of peaceful assembly, right to life, rule of law, the right to freedom of expression, watchlist, widespread human rights abuses Leave a comment
Author: Edward Kahuthia Murimi
Advocate of the High Court of Kenya
Introduction
Kenya’s human rights situation has deteriorated in the recent past, and the state-sponsored human rights violations in the country can no longer be ignored. The global alliance for civil society organisations, CIVICUS, has recently added Kenya to its watchlist and rated the country as ‘repressed’ following what the organisation described as ‘a disturbing escalation in state-led repression of civic freedoms’. This article aims to shine a light on escalating human rights violations in Kenya in the hope that an international readership will inform some form of restraint by the authorities. It also highlights the disconnect between Kenya’s theoretical commitments to international human rights norms and processes and the blatant disregard for these same norms in practice. It argues that deliberate resistance is the most realistic response to the current onslaught on the exercise of human rights by President Ruto’s government.
Consequences of Child Marriage on the Girl-Child’s Right to Health in South Sudan
Posted: 2 January, 2025 Filed under: Akot Makur Chuot, Yeabsira Teferi | Tags: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), basic human right, Child Act, child marriage, contraceptives, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), customary courts, gender-based violence, girl-child, girl-child’s right to health, Harmful practices, international human rights law, international instruments, lack of knowledge, legal obligation, Maputo Protocol, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women’s Rights in Africa, right to health, right to life, sexual and reproductive rights, South Sudan, Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 3 Comments
Author: Akot Makur Chuot
Assistant Lecturer, School of Law, University of Juba, South Sudan
Introduction
Being born a girl in South Sudan is akin to being ‘born a problem.’ I derived this phrase from the article by Marry Ellsberg and others titled, ‘ If You Are Born a Girl in This Crisis, You Are Born a Problem….’ This sums up the dire situation a girl-child faces in South Sudan. Among the many egregious human rights violations experienced by the girl-child in South Sudan is child marriage. This practice has shattered the dreams and lives of many young girls. The rate at which child marriage is negatively affecting the health of the girl-child is alarming and calls for swift action from stakeholders. This is a moral and legal obligation.
With this context in mind this article examines the negative consequences of child marriage on the girl-child’s right to health, assesses the steps South Sudan has taken to curb the phenomenon, and explores the loopholes in the laws and policies.
Climate change and the 2024-2025 South Sudan National Budget Discourse: A call for the inclusion of climate adaptation budget
Posted: 15 July, 2024 Filed under: Justin Monyping Ater | Tags: adaptation strategies, climate adaptation, climate change, Climate change and the 2024-2025 South Sudan National Budget Discourse: A call for the inclusion of climate adaptation budget, climate mitigation, education, health, human rights, human rights treaties, national budget, national human rights frameworks, National Legislature, Paris Agreement, right to life, South Sudan, UNFCCC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Leave a comment
Author: Justin Monyping Ater
Law lecturer, School of Law, University of Juba, South Sudan
Introduction
On 30 June 2024, the first Undersecretary of the National Ministry of Finance and Planning of South Sudan issued a public notice announcing the end of the ‘Fiscal Year 2023/2024’. The Undersecretary further noted that the:
‘Ministry of Finance and Planning will not receive new claims until the 2024/2025 Budget is passed by the National Legislature and assented into law’.
As indicated in the notice itself, whatever is contained in it, was to be effective immediately considering the date it was issued. This is because under section 15(5) of the Public Financial Management and Accountability Act, 2011:
‘The Financial Year shall cover a period of 12 months, which shall run from 1st July to 30th June each year’.
The ‘forgotten tribe’: Persons with disabilities in Ethiopia and the State’s response to COVID-19
Posted: 25 June, 2020 Filed under: Dagnachew B. Wakene | Tags: ableism, African Disability Rights Protocol (ADP), COVID-19, CRPD, Declaration of State of Emergency, disability, Ethiopia, international disability treaty, Marrakesh Treaty, pandemic, persons with disabilities, PWDs, right to life, social distancing, suicide 4 Comments
Author: Dagnachew B. Wakene
Institute for International and Comparative Law (ICLA), Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
A person with visual impairment residing in Dire Dawa – Ethiopia’s second largest city in the Eastern part of the country – was recently reported to have set himself on fire in broad daylight and in public, apparently attempting to commit suicide. His reason, as later affirmed by his neighbors and acquaintances, was that he was entirely segregated, deserted by society, including friends who, pre-COVID-19, would assist him as his guides, give him a hand to run errands and go out-and-about his daily routines. Now, owing to the COVID-19 era mantra of ‘social distancing’, no one would approach the blind man altogether, hence instilling in him a feeling of despair, abandonment, lack of self-worth, so much so that he no longer saw the need to continue living thus decided to set himself alight right there on the streets of Dire Dawa. He was rushed to the hospital afterwards, but only in vain. The man died a few days later while on treatment.
94 mental health patients in Gauteng: A lesson for State parties to the CRPD – A classic case of a poor deinstitutionalisation process
Posted: 28 March, 2017 Filed under: Patricia Mwanyisa | Tags: 94 mental health patients, adequate standards of living including adequate food, Centre for Human Rights, clothing and housing, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, deinstitutionalisation, disability rights, freedom from torture or cruel, Gauteng, Health Ombud, human rights, human rights-based approach, ICESCR, inhumane or degrading treatment, mental disability, Mental Health Care Act, NGO, provincial government, psychosocial, right to highest attainable health, right to independent living and inclusion in society, right to life, South Africa Leave a comment
Author: Patricia Mwanyisa
Consultant – Human Rights and Access to Justice
As South Africa took time to celebrate its annual human rights day on March 21, this year (2017) the deaths of the 94 patients in Gauteng Province in a space of under a year should not be forgotten. The provincial government of Gauteng took the decision to remove persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities from government health institutions to reduce spending on their healthcare. The implementation process was poorly planned, rapidly executed and chaotic. The move had fatal and disastrous consequences as it not only contravened national and international law, but also proved cruel and inhumane. The record shows 94 lives were lost, families have been severely traumatised and a healthcare support system regardless of whether it was the most ideal or not was shaken to its knees.
Apart from violating domestic law – the National Health Act 61 (2003) and the Mental Health Care Act 17 (2002)) – as a State party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), among other international instruments, there are several frameworks that were contravened by South Africa. This case provides an opportunity for some serious learning for South Africa (SA) as well as other African States. Learning from previous mistakes is vital for progress. Focus should be directed on how to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. It is probably more important to provide guidance to State parties or governments when they have made mistakes as opposed to the naming and shaming – particularly after the fact. To be productive, however requires the state or those in power to accept responsibility, acknowledge their mistakes and be receptive to the guidance. Ultimately, objectively and substantively unpacking the critical aspects or points at which things went wrong in the Gauteng saga from an international human rights perspective would be beneficial for the planning and implementation of these types of projects or programmes in the future.
The right to happiness in Africa
Posted: 13 July, 2016 Filed under: Saul Leal | Tags: Africa, apartheid, Christopher Mbazira, colonialism, constitution, David Bilchitz, economic development, Egypt, employment, Frederick Fourie, freedom, Ghana, Justice Albie Sachs, Leopold Sadar Senghor, Liberia, liberty, Namibia, Nigeria, racism, right to happiness, right to life, safety, security, South Africa, Steve Biko, Stu Woolan, Swaziland 3 Comments
Author: Saul Leal
Vice-Chancellor Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA)
Leopold Sedar Senghor said: emotion is African.[1] This emotion has been channeled to constitutions. Happiness is a core value in many African constitutions. It was explicitly mentioned in Liberia, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Swaziland, and Egypt.
Article 1 of the Constitution of Liberia, 1986, proclaims that all free governments are instituted by the people’s authority, for their benefit, and they have the right to alter and reform it when their safety and ‘happiness’ require it.[2] The preamble of the Egyptian Constitution, 2014, cites ‘a place of common happiness for its people’. The Namibian Constitution, 1990, assures the right ‘to the pursuit of happiness’. In this regard, Frederick Fourie defends the preamble of the Namibian Constitution, explaining that it is coloured by the struggle against colonialism and racism; that it is built around the denial of the ‘right of the individual life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ by colonialism, racism and apartheid.[3]
No woman should die while giving life: Maternal mortality – the unfinished business of the MDG era
Posted: 21 July, 2015 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: abortion, access to education, Beijing Platform of Action, birth, CEDAW, childbearing, death, discrimination, family, family planning, fertility, health, marriage, maternal death, maternal health, maternal mortality, pregnancy, right to life, sexual and reproductive health rights, women's rights 2 Comments
Author: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn
Human rights lawyer, Ethiopia
Maternal mortality is one of the shocking failures of development and a dreadful social injustice. According to recent UN official figures, 536,000 women die every year during pregnancy and birth. This is one death every minute. Out of the 536,000 maternal deaths, 99% are experienced by women in developing countries. The highest maternal mortality rates are in Africa; with a lifetime risk of 1 in 16. Maternal death is often the result of policy decisions that directly or indirectly discriminate against women. Maternal death is also often an indication of inequalities between men and women in their enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Below I illustrate how other rights are either implicated by or essential in combating maternal mortality.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Call for an African Union resolution on the use of drones in Africa
Posted: 5 August, 2013 Filed under: Benjamin Ng’aru | Tags: Africa, African Charter, African Union, Al-Qaeda, Ben Emmerson QC, CIA, CIA's angry birds, constitutive act, Djibouti, drone strikes, Ethiopia, extra-judicial killings, Glomar response, human rights, Human Rights Watch, humanitarian law, International Court of Justice, international human rights, international law, right to fair trial, right to life, right to privacy, Seychelles, Somalia, UN Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, United States of America, unmanned aerial vehicles 4 Comments
Author: Benjamin Ng’aru
Legal Assistant, Local Authorities Pensions Trust; Volunteer Programmes Assistant, Legal Exchange Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
On 15 March 2013 Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the United States (US) Court of Appeals Circuit in American Civil Liberties Union Foundation v Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) dismissed the CIA’s standard Glomar response to its expanded and clandestine programme to carry out targeted killings on suspected terrorist. Barely two months later, a High Court in Peshawar, Pakistan, held that drone strikes (and their continued use) “are a blatant violation of Basic Human Rights and are against the [United Nations] (UN) Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution …and a violation of the sovereignty [of Pakistan]”. Whereas not fully specific on the human rights instruments violated, these judicial pronouncements point to an increasing dissatisfaction by the international community on the lack of a concise and regulated use of the “CIA’s angry birds”.
This note seeks to merely highlight possible violations of various rights including the right to life, right to fair trial as well as the right to privacy, which are all enshrined in the African Charter; and call upon the African Union (AU), through its various organs, to promote more transparency on the use of drones and foster the enactment of a continental regulatory framework to govern the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by western nations on African soil.
The use of drones in African’s airspace has been on a steep rise. The latest documented incident was on 27 May 2013 when Al-Shabaab allegedly shot down a UAS Camcopter S-100 near the town of Buulo Mareer, southern Somalia. The London based Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that over 200 persons, mostly non-combatants, have been killed by drone strikes in Somalia since 2003. American drone support bases have been reportedly set up in Arba Minch (Ethiopia), Seychelles, Camp Lemonnier (Djibouti) and recently in Somali’s shell-crated international airport in Mogadishu. A 2012 study by Stanford Law School and New York University’s School of Law indicated that there were more civilians and innocent residents killed in the drone strikes than militants throughout the period of the drone program.
The Death Penalty and the Right to Life in the Draft Constitutions of Zambia and Zimbabwe
Posted: 18 April, 2013 Filed under: Andrew Novak | Tags: burden of proof, constitution, death penalty, extenuating circumstances, India, right to life, South Africa, United States of America, Zambia, Zimbabwe Leave a comment
Author: Andrew Novak
Adjunct Professor of African Law, American University Washington College of Law and incoming Adjunct Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society, George Mason University
On 16 March 2013, Zimbabwean voters overwhelmingly ratified a new constitution, which contains a right to life provision that dramatically scaled back the scope of the death penalty. The new constitution restricts the death penalty only to aggravated homicide and requires a judge to consider all mitigating factors in order to dispense a death sentence. The death penalty is a prohibited sentence for women and persons under the age 21 or over the age 70. The new constitution also establishes a constitutional right for prisoners to seek commutation or pardon from the executive. The death penalty was abolished for non-homicide offences, including treason, a notoriously politicised charge in recent years. Newspaper reports indicated that the Cabinet would review the cases of each of the current 72 death row inmates, even though a new hangman was hired in February 2013 after a twelve-year long search. The two women on death row would have their sentences automatically commuted.
AfricLaw 
The right to life in Africa: General Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Posted: 10 February, 2016 | Author: AfricLaw | Filed under: Paul Ogendi | Tags: 57th Ordinary Session, abolition, Africa, African, African Charter, African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Commission, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, albinos, customary international law, death penalty, dignified life, General Comment, IHL, international human rights law, non-discriminatio, poverty, protection of the right to life, Resolution 263, Resolution 275, right to life, sexual minoroties, use of force | 3 CommentsResearcher, Working Group on death penalty and extrajudicial summary or arbitrary killings in Africa, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
During its 57th Ordinary Session held from 4 to 18 November 2015 in Banjul, The Gambia, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) adopted General Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (General Comment No. 3) focusing on the right to life.
The document is timely because the protection of the right to life is currently under threat globally. Africa is no exception.
The Commission in 2012 expanded the work of one of its working groups focusing on the right to life to include not just death penalty but also extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings in Africa.
Some of the salient features of the new General Comment are discussed below.
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