While large-scale human rights violations persist on the continent, Africa's human rights system is robust and getting stronger, writes Ahmed Haggag* Let me at once come to the conclusion. The human rights situation in Africa lies in the median: It is neither perfect nor catastrophic. This is not a diplomatic assessment. Allow me to explain. Any observer of Africa will be struck by the level of human rights violations suffered by civilians during the past decades in conflict areas such as in Angola, Mozambique, Congo, Liberia and now Darfur. Abuses are not only confined to countries suffering from inter-state or internal conflicts, but also to countries that are reasonably stable but have been governed by a one party system or passed through military coups. Nonetheless, this bleak picture should not prevent us from seeing in many parts of Africa positive developments in the field of human rights and the emergence of strong civil society organisations, and the adherence by almost all African countries to international and regional instruments and conventions on human rights. The real start was the adoption by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, a bill of rights similar to those that are in existence in Europe and Latin America. This year we celebrated 20 years of the African Charter, which was a dream to many African human rights activists who envisioned an integral role for the charter in the growing global trend in this regard, underpinned by their belief that no real or tangible political, economic or social development would occur in African countries without due respect to human rights. The adoption of the African Charter was indeed a milestone for the African human rights system, which tries to give more serious attention to the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa and provides institutional oversight in the face of incessant and gross violations that characterised post-colonial African governance. Although some of early assessments of the charter were negative, I believe it heralded a new chapter in African history and bore its most positive results later. Yes, at the beginning, the African Commission emanating from the charter was timid in approaching different African governments about violations committed in their countries. But later it became bolder and managed to bring to justice several perpetrators of rights violations. For several years in many African heads of state summits the annual reports of the president of the African Commission were routinely dealt with in closed meetings with little discussion while in subsequent years we deliberately made those reports public. This was instrumental as no government wished to see its name listed as a violator of human rights. We were also fortunate to have several enlightened leaders who cared about the issues and insisted that full debate on such reports be conducted. The African system encompasses, besides the African Charter, mechanisms established under it and the newly created African Court on Human Rights whose judges have been recently elected and which will commence its work very soon. The system also includes instruments and agreements such as the Convention on Specific Aspects of Refugees Problems in Africa (several million refugees and displaced persons are in Africa), the African Charter on the Welfare of the Child, and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa. The charter of the OAU, founded in May 1963, did not specifically refer to human rights. The organisation was created in the midst of the rivalry of two the superpowers, the Soviet and the West, who were competing to have influence on the continent. Only 32 Africa countries were independent at that time, the rest remained under colonial rule, epitomised by the apartheid system in South Africa. Most of the then sovereign African countries had attained their independence in a liberation struggle. Human rights were not a priority. The international system of human rights was also just gaining momentum. Later on, the Constitutive Act of the new African Union -- established in 1999 and which replaced the OAU, was more positively oriented towards human rights promotion and protection. Generally speaking, the African Charter contains similar provisions to those found in other principal international and regional human rights instruments, notably the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. A distinct feature of the African Charter is that it contains elaborate provisions for substantive human rights protection in all areas without being hampered by the traditional divide between civil and political rights on the one hand and economic, social and cultural rights on the other. Its extension of human rights protection to what has been termed "group" or "collective rights", that ordinarily were not classified as falling within civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights, is unique. It took a long time to convince African governments to sign and later ratify the African Charter since some of them feared it would infringe on their legal system and would be utilised by opposition groups. But at present all African countries are party to the charter. Regarding the African Court, however, while many states have signed its protocol several have refrained so far from ratifying it. Nonetheless, the court will fill an important gap since Africa should be in the forefront of bringing to justice those who are responsible for gross human rights violations, not waiting for international bodies such as the International Criminal Court to intervene. The African Commission is also improving in performance. During recent years we have seen an increasing number of women elected as new members. And it is more aggressive in promoting positive activities throughout the continent. It is inviting more and more civil rights organisations and African NGO's to its meetings. Its secretariat, in Banjul, Gambia, is becoming more professional. It needs, however, to make its activities better known and more visible. The same challenge awaits the African Court. The next 10 years of the African human rights system should entail more consolidation in areas where development has been positively steady, while it should strive to improve in areas where progress has failed. This needs not only the cooperation of African governments, but increasing participation and involvement of civil society organisations in all countries, together with sincere assistance from friends of Africa outside the continent. No pressure please, gentle and constructive persuasion is more successful. And the African Union can do a lot. I conclude with a phrase diplomats are fond to utilise: I am cautiously optimistic. * The writer is secretary general of the Africa Society in Egypt and former assistant secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity.
