The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria hosted the Advanced Human Rights Short Course on Police Oversight and Accountability in Africa from 11 to 15 September 2017. The course brought together 33 participants from several countries across Africa with backgrounds that include: national human rights institutions, police officers, academia, civil society, legal practitioners, prosecutors and government.
The course started with an opening address by Prof Frans Viljoen, Director of the Centre, followed by a presentation by Prof Elrena van der Spuy, on the underlying police oversight theoretical frameworks. Mr Sean Tait, Director of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, engaged participants on the differences between police oversight and accountability, as well as police oversight benchmarks.
This was followed by a lecture by Dr Thomas Probert, senior researcher from the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA) on the intersection between the right to life and police action in custody.
Mr Berry Didier Nibogora, Manager, African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR) and an alumnus of the Centre elucidated on the principle of policing vulnerabilities. In his lecture, Mr Berry highlighted the issues at stake and re-iterated that the police have a positive duty to protect sexual minorities.
Other topics taught during the short course include: internal police oversight theories and practice; policing actions - arrest, detention, use of force and public order; improving policing practices to ensure gender justice and working with police to improve public health outcomes of key populations. The aim of the course is to equip professionals in this area of practice with adequate knowledge and skills that will enable them to deliver better on their mandate and contribute to the advancement of police oversight and accountability in Africa.
The Centre for Human Rights is thankful to everyone that supported the short course and remains steadfast in its commitment to human rights capacity building and education in Africa.
The course was made possible with support from the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) and African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHer)