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On 20 May 2017, students from the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme launched a campaign against children accused of being witches in Africa. The campaign ended on 7 June 2017. The campaign, also known as #ChildNotWitch, aims to create awareness around children in various African countries, accused of being witches and the abuse and even killings that are a result of these accusations.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to a lecture titled: "The promise and peril of human rights technology"
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Gabriel Shumba is an alumnus of the Centre for Human Rights, who was tortured by agents of the Zimbabwean government for supporting the opposition in that country. In 2013, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) found the government of Zimbabwe in violation of the African Charter and directed the government to carry out an investigation of the individuals responsible for the torture and recommended that they pay adequate compensation to Gabriel Shumba.
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The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) has made a public call for comments on the draft ‘Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa’ (draft guidelines). Comments must be sent to the secretariat of the African Commission via email (au-banjul@africa-union.org | africancommission@yahoo.com | hezae@africa-union.org) no later than 30 June 2017.
Download draft guidelines in English
Download draft guidelines in French
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The Centre for Human Rights and the South African Human Rights Commission invite you to the launch of the travelling exhibition “I Decide = I Am” by Bulgarian illustrator Nadezhda Georgiva, and award winning journalist Yana Buhrer Tavanier featuring emotive paintings on the Life Esidemini Tragedy by South African artist, Daniel Mosako. The exhibition tells the personal stories of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities trapped and invisible, denied of their right to decide.
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Irish drag queen and LGBTI activist Rory O’Neill/ Panti Bliss launched the book Protecting the human rights of sexual minorities in contemporary Africa edited by Sylvie Namwase and Adrian Jjuuko. The launch took place on 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia. The Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Ireland, HiVOS South Africa and the Centre for Human Rights partnered to organize a Rainbow Happy Hour and a round table discussion on that day.
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The Centre for Human Rights celebrated Africa Day 2017 with the theme “The Africa we want: Rights, freedoms and governance in digital Africa”.This event was hosted in conjunction with Google. It was held at the historic Liliesleaf Farm, Rivonia, and attended by over eighty guests.The Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Ireland, HiVOS South Africa and the Centre for Human Rights partnered to organize a Rainbow Happy Hour and a round table discussion on that day.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria hosted its annual short course on the judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights in Africa from 15-19 May 2017. The course brought together 60 participants from across Africa, mainly representing civil society, members of judiciary, national human rights institutions, policy makers, government officials and academia.
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From 2 to 5 May, the Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (FOE & ATI ) Unit participated in the inaugural meeting of the Africa Academic Network of Internet Policy and Governance which took place in Ibadan, Nigeria. The roundtable which was organised by the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), with the support of Google, brought together academics of African descent both from within Africa and the diaspora, to identify and interrogate core issues on internet policy and governance.
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The Freedom of Expression and Access to Information Unit participated in the Ghana Data Protection Conference which took place from 20 to 21 April 2017 in Accra, Ghana.
In line with the theme of the conference of ‘Safeguarding Fundamental Human Rights through Data Protection’, the Unit presented findings of its on-going research on the adoption of a human rights based approach to data protection in Africa.
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The 5th Annual African Disability Rights Conference will be held from the 7th to the 8th of November 2017 at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria in South Africa. This year’s conference will focus on the following themes:
- a) the implications of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for the African region with particular reference to article 13, the right to access to justice and article 12, the right to equal recognition before the law;
- b) the development of mechanisms/strategies for the effective domestication and implementation of articles 12 and 13 of the CRPD and
- c) the interplay between article 13 and article 12 of the CRPD.
It is anticipated that papers presented at this conference will be reworked by authors and submitted for consideration for publication in the 2018 volume of the African Disability Rights Yearbook.
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An “icon” is a word that should never be thrown around lightly. An icon is defined as a person or thing regarded as a representative or symbol of something, or someone is very successful or admired. For example, Lionel Messi could be considered an “icon” of football, Michael Jordan for basketball, Muhammed Ali for boxing. These people are the first things that come to mind when one thinks of the particular sport they are involved in. They are icons. Icons are around to inspire.
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Roughly above a week ago, I saw the documentary film Strike a pose. It investigates the lives and personal journeys of the seven male dancers that rocked the stage with Madonna on her Blonde Ambition World Tour in 1990, 25 years after the tour. The film is as old as 2016. But I doubt that this is piece will ever stop being relevant to the queer and HIV discourse. Perhaps there is a parallel. Perhaps there is not. But I see that gay men still need a safe space to flourish. I still see that gay men need each other- sometimes even more than we care to admit.
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kiki* with Panti (*A gathering of people for a casual chat, laughter, and at times serious discussions. May involve locked doors, tea and gossip.) In conversation with Rory O'Neill (aka Panti Bliss, performer, writer, mentor, and LGBTIQA+, HIV and human rights activist)
Event Details
Date: Thursday 18 May 2017
Time: 14:30 - 16:00
Venue: Conference Room 100, UP (Hatfield Campus)
RSVP: johan.maritz@up.ac.za by 15 May 2017
GENEVA (3 May 2017) – The Government of Eritrea must free journalist Dawit Isaak who has been awarded a prestigious press freedom prize some 15 years after he was detained, a United Nations human rights expert says.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, is also calling on the authorities in Asmara to release unconditionally all others detained unlawfully.
“The Eritrean authorities should stop the practice of arrests and detention carried out without legal basis instantly,” said Ms. Keetharuth, welcoming the award of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2017 to Mr. Isaak.
Dawit Isaak, who is 52 and a playwright, journalist and writer, moved to Sweden in 1987, where he later became a citizen. He returned to Eritrea only after independence in 1993 and was one of the founders and reporters of Setit, the first independent newspaper in the country.
Mr. Isaak was arrested in September 2001 during a political crackdown on the so-called G-15, a group of politicians, and journalists critical of Government policies. Some were detained and tortured, others disappeared. The last known sighting of Mr. Isaak was in 2005. His whereabouts now are unknown.
“The case of Mr. Isaak is emblematic of all those who have been subjected to enforced disappearances by the Government of Eritrea and remain unaccounted for,” said Ms. Keetharuth.
The Special Rapporteur recalled the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, which concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Eritrean officials had committed crimes against humanity, including the crime of enforced disappearance, in a persistent, widespread and systematic manner since 1991.
“The Government of Eritrea has an obligation to urgently provide information on the fate and whereabouts of all those deprived of physical liberty. This would be a first and long-overdue indication that the Government is committed to rebuilding trust with the Eritrean people,” Ms. Keetharuth said.
“By allowing independent monitors immediate and unhindered access to all places of detention, official and unofficial, the Government would send a strong signal that it acknowledges human rights violations of the past, while taking steps to improve the situation on the ground now.
“The arrests of Dawit Isaak and his fellow journalists remain the most visible sign of repression of freedom of expression. The Eritrean authorities continue to stifle all forms of expression that could be perceived as critical of the Government and its policies,” she said.
Ms. Keetharuth reaffirmed that freedom of expression was a basic human right, and a free press one of the tenets of a democratic society, providing a valuable check on potential excesses by government.
Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuth (Mauritius) was appointed as the first Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea in October 2012. From 2014 to 2016, she also served as a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea. Since May 2014, Ms. Keetharuth is an expert member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Until 2012, Ms. Keetharuth was the Executive Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa in Banjul, The Gambia. She also worked with Amnesty International in Kampala, Uganda, and as a lawyer and broadcaster in Mauritius. In 2017, Ms. Keetharuth was awarded with the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award by the University of Leicester, in recognition of her human rights work.
Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21571&LangID=E#sthash.rFwqqqsA.dpuf- Details
It is not often that I identify with the race struggle. One does not become genuinely emotionally aware of it by reading Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, seeing Idris Elba’s rendition of the Madiba or the Sophia town play- although I believe, I came very close. ‘Race’ has not always my reality. I live here in South Africa but I do not pretend to understand it fully, yet. What I do share with this reality is the consciousness of a tedious journey of struggling towards acceptance. If this is anything to go by, the parallel realities of the several immutable features that attract pain and exclusion share the same ‘darkness’. These features, race inclusive, are gender and gender expression, sex and sexuality, disability at several levels, ethnicity and ancestry, social and political class, religious affiliations or the lack of it. There will really be no end to this list. But Freedom Day every year as the celebration of the first time that exclusion was formally stopped as regards the peoples’ right to vote is not only a symbol of so much but a parallel victory for every reality that smacks of discrimination and exclusion.
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Dear Africa,
It’s not so often that I get to run my mind’s musings by you. This was worse when you were a slim black leather volume on a green plastic table in a quiet part of Port Harcourt. Now you are the world. You are the minds of countless dreamers, lovers, activists, writers and travellers that are quizzed and dare to quiz. What is this quiz, this mystery? Not knowing, not sharing, not seeing, not hearing and as such, neither bearing nor understanding.
Often, I think, prejudice is nourished not by hate but by distance. Of course, distance permits us perspective and some objectivity. But it is often to be blamed for skewed and blurry vision. More so, it is often difficult to understand that which is not engaged with. However, we do not all have the audacity or opportunity to engage even if we wanted to.
So we set out to bring the picture closer. The mysteries of wearing queer ‘shoes’ in Africa as Africans. The taste and textures of the throbbing and pangs . Let’s talk. Let’s write. Just us. Let’s study and listen so that seeing would be much clearer. Let’s walk, engage in no particular order but let’s resolve to attend to every chapter there is before we are done. The chapters on love and living, the places, scars, secrets , strengths, failures and victories, fears, faiths and realities of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual and non-binary selves.
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The right to life is often described as a supreme human right, but it is clearly under pressure worldwide.The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria for the first time hosted its first annual short course on the right to life from 10-13April 2017. The course brought together several participants from across Africa, mainly representing civil society, national human rights institutions, police officers, prosecutors and academia.
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The right to life is often described as a supreme human right, but it is clearly under pressure worldwide.The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria for the first time hosted its first annual short course on the right to life from 10-13April 2017. The course brought together several participants from across Africa, mainly representing civil society, national human rights institutions, police officers, prosecutors and academia.
Experts in the field who lectured and participated on panel discussion consisted of: Professor Christof Heyns, Director Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa University of Pretoria and Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Commissioner Solomon Dersso, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Commissioner Med Kaggwa, Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ Working Group on the Death Penalty and Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings in Africa; Dr Thomas Probert, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa; Stuart Maslen, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa; Valentina Cadelo, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights; Dr Japhet Biegon, Amnesty International; Sarah Swart, International Committee of the Red Cross; Sylvie van Lammeren, International Committee of the Red Cross; Dr Thompson Chengeta, Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa and Adebayo Okeowo, Centre for Human Rights. The course is the first of its kind presented by an academic institution in Africa.
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The Eduardo Mondlane University is one of several leading African Universities that partner with the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in the execution of the Disability Rights Law Schools Project sponsored by the Open Society Foundation.
At Eduardo Mondlane University, disability rights teaching has been incorporated into the human rights module for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. There is also an active clinic group that takes up cases of discrimination against persons with disability as well as carry out vigorous sensitization visits in communities.
Following a support visit held in 2016 by the Disability Rights Unit of the Centre for Human Rights, a video was produced to highlight some of the incredible work being done by students and their lecturers/supervisors in advancing the rights of persons with disability in Mozambique. Watch below:
CHR and ICAR Release Comprehensive Study of Business and Human Rights Law and Policy in South Africa
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The Centre for Human Rights (CHR) at the University of Pretoria and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) are pleased to jointly release the “Shadow” National Baseline Assessment (NBA) of Current Implementation of Business and Human Rights Frameworks in South Africa.
This document represents one of the most exhaustive studies of South African laws, policies, regulations, and standards that pertain to business and human rights at the national level.
CHR and ICAR hope all stakeholders, including South African civil society groups, academia, government representatives, business groups, and investors, will engage with this tool, add to it, and apply it in their efforts to address business-related human rights harms.
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The Centre for Human Rights (CHR), together with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), hosted an Africa regional consultation on National Action Plans (NAPs) for business and human rights. The consultation forms part of a larger project driven by a coalition that consists of CALS, CHR, Singapore Management University (SMU) and other individual experts. The aim of the project is to gather a global South perspective on the content and development process of NAPs for business and human rights. The project was mandated by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (Working Group).
The consultation, which took place at the University of Pretoria, was the second of two scheduled consultations that would feed into an implementation guide on NAPs for business and human rights that is currently being developed by the Working Group. The consultation attracted representatives from international organisations, government, national human rights institutions and the business sectors from 8 African countries.
The programme focused on issues around the development process and content of NAPs and also asked the participants to identify or highlight pertinent issues within their respective countries that should receive attention by a NAP on business and human rights. The participants also discussed the fundamental question, around what the case for NAPs on business and human rights is in Africa, and whether NAPs could potentially address business and human rights concerns on the continent.
The findings of the consultation will result in a report that, together with the findings from the first consultation held in Bali, Indonesia, will be submitted to the Working Group. The Working Group will then consider using the information to update its implementation guiding document. In an attempt to continue consulting relevant stakeholders about NAPs on business and human rights, the coalition also developed an online survey on the topic. All those interested are encouraged to participate in the survey, which may be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TVP3NX5.
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The Centre for Human Rights, in support of the African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment, and Human Rights recently hosted a consultation in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which focused on the impact of extractive industries on human rights and the environment in Central Africa.
The consultation brought together a range of stakeholders working in the field of extractive industries in the Central Africa sub-region, with a strong representation from the DRC. The consultation took place over the course of three days (13 – 15 July 2015), and included presentations from the participants on issues that included environmental impacts of the extractive industries, community engagement and participation, development and human rights, and the different roles and responsibilities of state and non-state actors.
The Central Africa consultation was the third sub-regional consultation in a series of five sub-regional consultations, that hopes to cover all the sub-regions in Africa. The first consultation focused on Southern Africa and took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the second that focused on East Africa took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The findings and submissions from these consultations will be captured in a report that elaborates on the findings of all the different sub-regional consultations.
The hosting of this consultation was made possible by financial support received from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and trade. The fourth sub-regional consultation will focus on and take place in West Africa, though the exact date and time is not yet certain.
Please feel free to send any questions or queries regarding the sub-regional consultations to josua.loots@up.ac.za.
The Working Group also welcomes written submissions for purposes of developing its final findings report on the situation of extractive industries in Africa, and in particular the human rights and environmental impacts.
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The Centre for Human Rights, together with the Institute for Human Rights and Business' office in Kenya, hosted a consultation for East Africa on behalf of the African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights violations in Nairobi, Kenya, from 19 - 21 January 2015. The consultation brought together representatives from civil society, national human rights institutions, affected communities and role players from the extractive sector in East Africa for a three-day consultation focusing on challenges, best practices and the way forward in the sub-region. The Working Group was represented by Commissioners Pacifique Manirakiza and Lawrence Mute, and Expert Members Clement Voule, Sheila Keetharuth and Eric Kassongo.
The East Africa sub-regional consultation involved several panel presentations focusing on the different country contexts, and included views on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Rwanda. Thematic issues that were discussed over the course of the sub-regional consultation included the role of national human rights institutions in promoting a human rights-based approach to extractive industry governance, the accountability of state and non-state actors with regard to corporate human rights abuse, the experiences of human rights defenders working in the field, experiences of affected communities, benefit sharing practices, and the environmental impacts of extractive industries in East Africa.
The consultation brought together an excellent group of participants, and very insightful and interesting presentations were delivered. The consultation took place in an environment of constructive engagement, and the Working Group managed to engage with the participants throughout the process. The information gathered during the consultation will be contained in a sub-regional consultation report, currently in development and to be published as soon as possible.
It should be noted that invitations were extended to a number of interest groups, and the organisers were disappointed with the lack of participation from governments and the business community. The next sub-regional consultation is scheduled to take place in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, from 6 - 8 July 2015. This consultation will focus on Central Africa and again hopes to bring together representatives from government, national human rights institutions, civil society, affected communities and the business sector.
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The symposium on mining and agriculture was hosted by the Australian Government in Kampala, Uganda, from 8 – 10 October 2014. The purpose of the symposium was to look at research and other projects on the African continent focusing on issues around mining and agriculture.
All projects included in the symposium are funded by the Australian Government. The Centre for Human Rights received a grant under the Australian Development Research Awards Scheme (ADRAS) in 2012. The collaborative project of the Centre for Human Rights (CHR) and the African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights is funded by the ADRAS grant.
Over the course of three days, participants presented the research projects they are working on, explored potential areas for collaboration, and developed project plans and proposals based on existing experiences.
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The African Union Commission together with the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights convened the first Africa Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from. This event followed in the steps of the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights. The 2014 Annual Forum will be the 3rd one of its kind, and takes place from 1 – 3 December 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Africa Forum focused on human rights issues that are relevant to the African region and included stakeholders from government, national human rights institutions, the corporate sector, civil society organisations, and academia. The Centre for Human Rights supported Ms Sheila Keetharuth, an expert member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights, in her capacity as a representative of the Working Group.
The underlying focus of the conference was the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights, which constitutes the basis of the mandate of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. At the conference, the African Union Commission (AUC) announced the development of an ‘African framework for implementing the UNGPs’, which should be the first of its kind. The AUC has not issued any further detail but is expected to work in close collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on this project.
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The African Commission Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights, with assistance from the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), hosted a sub-regional consultation focusing on Southern Africa from 29 – 31 August 2014. The purpose of the consultation was to bring together stakeholders and representatives from all constituencies involved in the extractive industries sector. The event was attended by representatives from South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.
Representatives from different Southern African countries gave presentations on the human rights and environmental challenges they face within their respective lines of work. Some of the substantive issues that were discussed at the Consultation included land rights, mining law and policy, the environmental impact assessment procedures and frameworks, and the different roles and responsibilities of government, private actors, civil society, and affected community members.
The findings of the sub-regional consultations will be captured in a report, and made public by the Working Group.
