War, global health and human rights: drawing inspiration from the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Posted: 22 March, 2022 Filed under: Abasiodiong Ubong Udoakpan | Tags: access to health, clean water, displacement, emergency interventions, food, health care, health infrastructure, human rights, mental health, physical health, psychological well-being, regional conflict, Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian invasion, sanitation, threat to life, United Nations, war 1 Comment
Author: Abasiodiong Ubong Udoakpan
Data Protection Advisor, Researcher and a Human Rights Lawyer
Introduction
The first principle of health is life and war is a direct threat to life. For millions of people worldwide, avoiding and not only surviving war is the predominant objective in their daily existence. Sadly, the situation in Eastern Europe creates a global crisis for public health, therefore, ending the war would be a major step towards the promotion of the health and well-being of persons in this region. The challenge presented by this ongoing regional conflict also marks a crucial opportunity to prioritize human rights and public health concerns in ongoing foreign policy and diplomatic efforts by concerned nation-states. Ergo, this article seeks to explore the human rights threats that are associated with the Russia-Ukraine conflict especially as it relates to public health.
Decoding the ignorance of the world towards rising terrorism in Africa: A new Jihadist battlefield?
Posted: 17 January, 2022 Filed under: Shelal Lodhi Rajput | Tags: 300 school girls, Africa, al Qaeda, Algeria, AQIM: Al Qaeda in the West, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, campaigns of violence, Chad, civil war, French hostages, immoral activities, imposing taxes, ISIS, Islamic State groups, Islamist militants, Jihadist terror groups, mounting violence, new Syria, Syria, terrorism, terrorist attacks, United Nations, War on Terrorism Leave a comment
Author: Shelal Lodhi Rajput
BBA LL. B (Hons.)) candidate at Symbiosis Law School, Pune, India
Some of the greatest concerns for humanity right now, apart from the ongoing pandemic are the problems of climate change, ecocide and the rise of terrorism and jihadist outfits. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, which has its roots in the Middle East and South Asia, has taken center stage. While these violent religious extremists constitute a small percentage of the population, their danger is real. The International community has not been completely able to neutralise ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). In 2015, ISIS expanded into a network of affiliates in at least eight other countries. Its branches, supporters, and affiliates increasingly carried out attacks beyond the borders of its so-called caliphate. Now once again a ‘new Syria’ is being built in West Africa but the world is ignoring it, world media is not highlighting the plight of the people.
Making policy changes on the domestic level: a critical exposition of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Posted: 9 February, 2021 Filed under: Oludayo Olufowobi | Tags: affirmative action, charity approach, Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, disability, Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities, domestic level, economic empowerment, human rights, inclusion, inclusivity, infrastructural deficits, legislation, Nigeria, poverty, PWDs, SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Leave a comment
Author: Oludayo Olufowobi
Law student, University of Lagos
Fifteen percent of the world population experience some form of disability, with between 110 million and 190 million people experiencing significant disabilities. Persons with disabilities are more susceptible to experiencing more adverse socio-economic or living conditions compared to others. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) aims to bridge this gap. At the domestic level, persons with disabilities are most times subjected to live as second-class citizens. Discriminatory practices in our society and deficits in inclusive infrastructure exacerbate this problem. It is against this premise that this article seeks to explore the peculiarities of the Nigerian landscape, taking into account its plaguing insecurity, infrastructural deficits, and lapses in the protection of the human rights of persons with disabilities. There is a focus on the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition Act) 2018 vis-a-vis the government’s quest to realise the objectives of the CRPD.
African Commission’s Revised Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa should be a call to action
Posted: 21 February, 2020 Filed under: Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn | Tags: Access to Information, ACHPR, African Commission, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Union, Cyber Security, Declaration, Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, election violence, free speech, freedom of expression, online media, Personal Data Protection, social media surveillance, Special Rapporteur, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, United Nations Leave a comment
Author: Dunia Mekonnen
Almami Cyllah Fellow, Amnesty International, USA
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) revised its Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa to address new technological advances, online activity, and internet restrictions throughout Africa, after deliberating on the draft beginning from April 2018. The Special Rapporteur collected comments from civil society, States parties, and others on the new draft Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. The Declaration, is based on a series of resolutions adopted by the African Commission in 2012 and 2016.
The Global Compact on Refugees: A breakthrough opportunity in addressing the protracted refugee crises in East Africa
Posted: 4 October, 2019 Filed under: Juliet Nyamao | Tags: Agenda for Sustainable Development, climate change, climate changes, East Africa, Ethiopia, flee, fleeing war, forced displacement, Global Compact on Refugees, human rights violations, humanitarian funding, Kenya, migration, New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, refugee camps, refugee self-reliance, refugees, SDG, sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable development, Uganda, UN, United Nations, war 2 Comments
Author: Juliet Nyamao
Human Rights Attorney, Kenyan Bar
In recent years, the world has witnessed an explosive increase in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons. The upsurge in forced displacement has increased the demand for humanitarian assistance and strained the limited resources of host nations, majority of which are developing economies. The resulting economic strain compelled the international community to develop sustainable mechanisms for protecting refugees and displaced persons in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Read the rest of this entry »
Violence against women and girls in Africa: A global concern to ponder on International Women’s Day and beyond
Posted: 8 March, 2018 Filed under: Kennedy Kariseb | Tags: Africa, conflict, education, empowerment, feminism, girls, human rights, international human rights, international law, International Women's Day, IWD, IWD2018, pandemic, sexual violence, SRVAW, treaty, UN, United Nations, VAW, violence, violence against women, women, women's human rights, women's rights, women's rights movement 2 Comments
Author: Kennedy Kariseb
Doctoral candidate, Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
It has been four decades since the United Nations (UN) observed for the first time International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March 1975. Although there are traces of celebration of this day, dating as far back as 1909, its formal initiation came in the wake of the first World Conference of the International Women’s Year that took place in Mexico City, Mexico. Its object, as aptly argued by Temma Kaplan, is to mark ‘the occasion for a new sense of female consciousness and a new sense of feminist internationalism’.[i]
In a sense, 8 March is meant to be a day of both celebration and reflection for women the world over: a celebration of the gains made in enhancing women’s rights and the overall status of women globally, while reflecting and strategising on the voids and shortcomings still persistent in the women’s rights discourse. The occasion of the forty-third celebration of the IWD clearly marks an opportunity for feminist introspection on the broader question of violence against Women (VAW) and its regulation under international law. This is because while VAW is not the only form of human rights abuse women suffer, it is one in which the gendered aspect of such abuse is often the most clear and pervasive.
South Africa’s intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Time to seriously consider an African alternative?
Posted: 28 October, 2016 Filed under: Owiso Owiso | Tags: Africa, African Charter, African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Court of Justice and Human Rights, African Union, AU, Election and Governance, frican Charter on Democracy, human rights, ICC, impunity, International Criminal Court, International Criminal law, justice, Kenya, Malabo Protocol, Omar Al-Bashir, Rome Statute, South Africa, Sudan, Uhuru Kenyatta, United Nations, United Nations Security Council, William Ruto 1 Comment
Author: Owiso Owiso
LLB – Nairobi, PGD Law – KSL
While the decision by South Africa to commence the formal process of withdrawing from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is shocking, honest observers will admit it was not entirely unforeseen. African countries through the African Union (AU) have long voiced misgivings about the International Criminal Court (ICC) and it was just a matter of time before the usually slow-moving AU clock started ticking. The AU had earlier this year urged its members to consider withdrawing from the Rome Statute.[1] This was triggered by the refusal by the United Nations Security Council and the ICC to accede to the AU’s requests for suspension or termination of the cases against Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
While South Africa’s decision should be condemned, nothing much is likely to come of such condemnation. Treaties are a product of state consent[2] and it follows that withdrawal is equally a unilateral act of the state.[3] Even if an argument could be advanced against such unilateralism, the process is still a political one which rests almost entirely with the political class, at least in imperfect democracies. South Africa’s move is likely to embolden other African countries to commence similar processes. South Africa is Africa’s biggest economy and the AU’s largest member contributor. It is also arguably one of Africa’s better-off imperfect democracies. For these reasons, it is often the case in continental affairs that other African countries hold on to their cards until South Africa plays after which they emerge from their cocoons and play theirs in more or less similar fashion. With the possible exception of ‘righteous’ Botswana and perhaps Mauritius that considers itself African only when the situation suits it, the possibility that other African countries will follow South Africa’s lead on the ICC cannot be ruled out. In light of such possibility, how then does Africa assure its citizens that the fight against impunity as is entrenched in its founding instrument[4] is still top of its agenda, if at all it ever was?
Suppressing dissent: The Gambian reality
Posted: 19 April, 2016 Filed under: Satang Nabaneh | Tags: 1997 Constitution, Abubacarr Saidykhan, Amnesty International, Babucarr Ceesay, Ban Ki-moon, deprivation of life, detention, Ebrima Barry, Gambia Students Union (GAMSU), human rights violations, Human Rights Watch, immunity, insurrection, Lasana Jobarteh, law enforcement, mutiny, Ousainou Darboe, peaceful protests, President Jammeh, Public Order Act, right to protest, riot, rule of law, Solo Sandeng, The Gambia, United Democratic Party (UDP), United Nations, unlawful arrests, use of force 3 Comments
Author: Satang Nabaneh
Gambian Reporter to the Oxford Constitutions Online Project
The right to freedom of assembly as guaranteed by the 1997 Constitution includes the right to take part in peaceful demonstrations. However, people are deterred from organising and participating in such demonstrations. Section 18(4)(C) allows for the use of force and the deprivation of life in the ‘suppression of a riot, insurrection or mutiny’. This gives law enforcement officials with immunity when a person dies under circumstances in which reasonable force was used.
On Thursday, 14 April 2016, Mr. Solo Sandeng, National Organising Secretary and other members of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) were arrested for leading a peaceful protest for electoral reforms and demanding for the resignation of President Jammeh. Two days after the arrest, senior members of the UDP, including the leader Ousainou Darboe, confirmed in a press conference the death of Solo Sandeng while in detention. Lawyer Darboe also stated that two detained female protesters were also in a coma following their arrest and alleged brutal torture by the security agents. Angered by the harsh treatment meted on the detainees, Darboe and a group of UPD stalwarts led began a protest march but were swiftly rounded up by Gambia’s security force and arrested. Eyewitnesses said the security agents fired tear gas at the crowd to disperse it.
We must include and empower people with disabilities
Posted: 8 December, 2015 Filed under: William Aseka | Tags: 3 December 2015, Basic Education Act of 2014, constitution, Constitution of Kenya, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD, disability, disability rights, discrimination, education, emplyment, gender, inlcusion, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Kenya, Kenya National Survey for Persons with Disabilities, political participation, social participation, social particpation, transportation, United Nations 2 Comments
Author: William Aseka
Disability Rights Program Advisor, Kenya Human Rights Commission
Today one billion people around the world are living with disabilities. According to Kenya National Survey for Persons with Disabilities more than three million people in Kenya are living with disabilities. Many persons with disabilities have good jobs and proper education. However, far too many persons with disabilities in Kenya face barriers to inclusion in many key aspects of society. As a result, people with disabilities do not enjoy access to society on an equal basis with others, which includes areas of transportation, employment, and education as well as social and political participation. The right to participate in public life is essential to create stable democracies, active citizenship and reduce inequalities in society.
Some reflections on the current Africa’s project on the establishment of African Court of Justice and Human Right (ACJHR)
Posted: 29 June, 2015 Filed under: Tefera Degu Addis | Tags: ACJHR, Africa, African Court of Justice and Human Rights, African Union, AU Summit, challenges, crimes against humanity, customary international law, genocide, ICC, International Criminal Court, International Criminal law, International Tribunal, jurisdiction, opportunites, Protocol, Rome Statute, United Nations, war crimes 2 Comments
Author: Tefera Degu Addis
LLM candidate, International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, University of Essex School of Law, UK
It has been more than thirteen years since the ICC was established and started its operation on most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crime against humanity, crimes of war and aggression. The court is established by virtue of the Rome Statute as a permanent international criminal tribunal independent from other UN bodies. To date, all cases that have been investigated by ICC are from Africa. African countries generally have cooperated in the early stages of the establishment of ICC.
Nowadays, however, it seems that the relationship between the ICC and Africa is turning into a growing trend of contention. It has been a point of discussion in the academia and in the international politics as to whether the court is indeed exclusively targeting Africa regardless of their contribution and cooperation in the creation and advancement of ICC. The AU and various leaders in Africa have expressed their dissatisfaction in different occasions that the court is “neo-colonialist policy” or “post-colonial court.” As a result, the AU in 2008 adopted a protocol on the establishment of African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR). The protocol is being circulated and so far 11 countries have signed the document. Last year at the AU Summit, the current president of Kenya urged for the immediate establishment of the court.
Notwithstanding the current uncertainty about the fate of the Draft Protocol and thereby the establishment of the ACJHR, it is worthwhile to examine some of the challenges and opportunities that the court might face and the future of international criminal justice in Africa.
AfricLaw 