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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria in collaboration with Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented its annual Advanced Human Rights Course on Judicial Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights in Africa from 14 to 18 May 2018. The course brought together over 60 participants from across Africa and Europe, mainly representing members of judiciary, civil society, National Human Rights Institutions, policy makers, government officials and academia.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, welcomes the adoption by the African Union Heads of State of a treaty on the rights of person with disabilities, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (African Disability Rights Protocol), on 30 January 2018. Africa now has a continental binding legal document protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities. The adoption of the African Disability Rights Protocol marks an important step towards recognising the equal dignity of persons with disabilities on the continent.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and the Global Emergency and Counterterrorism Institute cordially invites you to a public lecture by Peter Knoope on the ‘The lone wolves’ legion’.
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Please join us for a panel discussion in celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia & Biphobia (IDAHOT). The theme for this year, Alliances for Solidarity, is a welcome reminder of the need for solidarity within the communities of sexual and gender minorities, as the rights of one specific group cannot be solidly secured if the rights of other groups are left unchallenged. 
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The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is an organ of the African Union (AU), which was established to ensure that Africa takes full ownership and participation in the development and sustainable transformation of the continent. PAP essentially operates in a consultative and advisory role mandated by the African Union.The Centre for Human Rights established a partnership with PAP through a Memorandum of Understanding which was signed on 27 October 2017. Key among the objectives of the partnership are the promotion of capacity building on human rights and democratisation in Africa, the increased visibility of PAP and the fostering of a strong interaction between PAP and Civil Society Organisations on the continent.
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The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) recently launched a collection of essays dealing with the lives and judgments of some of the first Constitutional Court Judges who were also all appointed by then President Nelson Mandela.The book, Making the road by walking, was launched at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (UP), on 18 April 2018, as South Africa and the rest of the world honour the birth-year of the iconic Nelson Mandela 100 years ago. A panel discussion took place under the banner: “Mandela’s legacy (re)considered: Historical and current perspectives of the Chaskalson Court”.Download the publication Making the road by walking
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Students on the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, recently visited the African human rights icon Dr Vera Chirwa.
On 15 April 2018, Professor Frans Viljoen (Director), Johannes Buabeng-Baidoo (HRDA Programme Coordinator) and three students on the HRDA programme (Hawi Asfaw fromEthiopia, Reshoketswe Mapokgole from South Africa and Urerimam Raymond Shamaki from Nigeria), paid a courtesy visit to the home of Dr Vera Mlangazua Chirwa in commemoration of her selfless service to human rights in Africa as well as her support to the Centre.
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The Queer Space Collective calls on you to participate in fostering the creation, telling, re-telling, archiving and accessibility of queer books and stories by donating used or brand new queer literature to the Queer Library for use by members of the University of Pretoria community.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, cordially invites you to a panel discussion on technology and democracy.Download this invitation
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3 May 2018 Geneva - As the world marks Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B Keetharuth, has called on the Government to end its crippling restrictions on freedom of the press.
“Journalists remain at risk of arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and enforced disappearance in efforts to intimidate and control them, and these human rights violations happen with total disregard for the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information, as well as individual rights,” - Ms. Keetharuth.
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In commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, is developing a photo exhibition and short video on the theme ‘Transwomen are women’. The exhibition and video will focus on the strength of Article 1(k) of the Maputo Protocol which provides that 'Women means persons of female gender, including girls'.
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Statement by the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, at its 62nd ordinary session, Nouakchott, Mauritania, 28 April 2018, on the situation of human rights in AfricaDownload this statement
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The Centre for Human Rights (the Centre) in partnership with Equality Now, Girls not Brides, Human Rights Watch and Plan International hosted a panel discussion on the recently adopted Joint General Comment to End Child Marriages and the Report on Child Marriage, commissioned by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (African Commission).
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Bamako, Mali, 24 April 2018
Honourable Chairperson and members of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, I thank you for this opportunity to address you on the occasion of the 31st Ordinary Session of this honourable Committee. The Centre for Human Rights conveys its gratitude to the Committee for granting our application for observer status during the 30th Ordinary Session in Khartoum, Sudan in December 2017. We are pleased that granting us observer status will further facilitate our engagement with the Committee for the promotion and protection of children’s rights on the continent, especially through the full, effective and efficient implementation of the provisions of African Children’s Charter.
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As South Africans, fellow Africans, and the world, finally bid farewell to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, we at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, join to honour the life of this remarkable woman. While it is a time of sadness, it is also a time of celebration.
We celebrate Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in solidarity with all other Africans. Few figures in modern Africa have had the power to unite and inspire as she had. Standing tall and proud, she made visible South Africans’ struggle for dignity, and ignited a common sense of purpose among Africans in all corners of the continent.
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The Ambassador of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria, Ambassador Trine Skymoen, and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria (UP), Prof Cheryl de la Rey, today (10 April 2018) renewed the long-standing collaborative partnership between Norway and UP. Building on two previous periods of support, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Embassy in Pretoria, provided a three-year grant to the University’s Centre for Human Rights, covering 2018 to 2020.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, is gravely concerned by recent allegations of precarious living conditions in certain residential homes for older persons. Reports of alleged abuse of older persons in the Lodewyk Spies Home, located in Pretoria, places a spotlight on some of the human rights violations that older persons face in residential care. The old age home is accused of neglecting residents, controlling the residents’ social grants cards, and depriving the residents of nutritious food. Older persons, inside and outside of residential care, face discrimination which has an impact on their prospects for employment, their healthcare treatment and their ability to make decisions about their own lives. The Centre calls upon the Department of Social Development to conduct regular investigations of all older person residential care facilities, as mandated by section 22 of South Africa’s Older Persons Act 13 of 2006.
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A recent PULP publication, Making the road by walking, considers the contribution of eight of the Judges who served on the Constitutional Court headed by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, and who were still alive and no longer served on the Court in 2013. They are Justices Ackermann, Goldstone, Kriegler, Mokgoro, O’Regan, Sachs, Skweyiya and Yacoob. They were all appointed by President Nelson Mandela. Making the road by walking is edited by three members of the Human Sciences Research Council’s Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery Programme (Narnia Bohler-Muller, Michael Cosser and Gary Pienaar).
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria held a one-week intensive short course on Women’s Rights in Africa from 26 to 29 March 2018. The course is part of a series of Advanced Human Rights Short Courses the Centre organises and offers to the members of the public. The course was attended by students of the Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa as well as practitioners from government officials, women’s rights advocates and activists, members of civil society and researchers. The course has also attracted and proved useful for cross-discipline practitioners such as medical doctors who often encounter various women’s rights concerns in their work.
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The Centre for Human Rights has learnt with grave concern reports of the attack against Mr Ericino de Salema, a journalist and political commentator in Mozambique. According to reports, Mr de Salema was abducted on Tuesday 27 March 2018 and later found severely beaten and unconscious at a ring road in the Mutanhane area of the Maputo province in Mozambique. It is reported that his legs where repeatedly hit with an iron rod, in an apparent effort to break them. It is believed he remains unconscious and that he sustained multiple fractures to his feet, femur and arms. Mr De Salema’s abduction appears to be connected to his regular feature as a political commentator on Soico Televisão (STV) Sunday Programme ‘Ponto de Vista. In recent times, Mr de Salema has expressed views on a wide variety of politically sensitive issues.
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From 23 to 25 March 2018, Constitution Hill in partnership with the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, alongside other civil society organisations presented the first edition of the Human Rights Festival. The Human Rights Festival was held in celebration of South African Human Rights Day (21 March), 21 years since the coming into effect of the South African Constitution and 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria held a one-week intensive short course on Disability Rights in the African context from 12 to 16 March 2018. The course is part of a series of Advanced Human Rights Short Courses the Centre organises and offers to the members of the public. Over 60 participants from over 20 African countries enrolled and attended this year’s course. The participants included: persons with disabilities working in human rights, LLM/MPhil human rights students, Doctoral candidates working on disability rights, human rights activists, government officials, police officers, policy makers and distinguished Professors.
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The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child are pleased to announce the call for articles for the Second Edition of the African Human Rights Yearbook (AHRY). The First Edition, which was published at the end of 2017, comprised 17 articles. This joint publication, which contains contributions in English and French, is initiated in the framework of the complementarity relationships between the three institutions. We are inviting abstracts for papers and case discussions that will propose groundbreaking academic contributions to the human rights discourse in Africa.
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Undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Pretoria were exposed to the world of digital verification from 13 to 15 February 2018. Sam Dubberley, Manager of Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps (DVC) programme, facilitated a training, which was organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The sole purpose was to open up the verification work to a multi-disciplinary group of students who will then become part of a global team assisting researchers at Amnesty International to advance accountability for human rights violations.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, will host a one-week intensive short course on Race and Common Citizenship in a South African context from 9 to 12 April 2018.
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On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Mauritius, the Mauritius High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, in collaboration with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, cordially invites you to a debate on the topic ‘Democracy is necessary for economic development’, presented by students of the Master’s in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA).
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On Friday 16 March 2018 the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria welcomed the 2018 cohort of its Master’s degree students. The welcoming ceremony included the launch of the highly anticipated Alumni Diaries, a colourful chronicle of the journey and impact of the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme and its alumni from its inception in 2000 until 2017.
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The Centre for Human Rights congratulates Dr Innocent Maja on his recent appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Zimbabwe effective from 1 April 2018 and running for a period of four years.
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The continued attacks perpetrated against persons with albinism on the continent has prompted the Centre for Human Rights in collaboration with the office of the United Nations Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism and several organisations representing persons with albinism to appeal to the Pan-African Parliament to prioritise the rights of persons with albinism on the continent.
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The Centre for Human Rights hosted the annual Advanced Human Rights Course on Sexual Minorities in Africa from 26 February 2018 to 2 March 2018 at the University of Pretoria, Hatfield campus. This course, which is sponsored by the Flemish Government, was attended by 61 participants from 17 African countries, as well as participants representing the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Participants included LLM/MPhil students, lawyers, magistrates, members of the civil society and staff from State departments.
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Granting asylum seekers refugee status on the basis of persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation in Africa – best practice or just best laws from South Africa?
Following a seminar organised by the Centre for Human Rights, which revealed the difficulties of asylum seekers in South Africa applying for refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, the Centre calls on the South African government to appoint trained professionals to process applications in a sensitive manner and in an environment that protects the privacy and dignity of applicants, with a view to achieving a humane yet thorough and expedited process.
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You are cordially invited to Centre for Human Rights Master’s Programmes Welcoming Ceremony.
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The Global Campus of Human Rights is glad to announce the launch of the fourth edition of the GC Visual Contest, open to photographers and video-makers, professionals and amateurs, from any part of the world.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, is convening a colloquium on 2 - 3 August 2018 and is calling for abstracts on non-heteronormative African sexualities and genders.
The colloquium has the following main themes:
- reading the LGBTI category at the African locale; and
- indigenising stigmatised non-heteronormative African sexualities and genders.
It is anticipated that papers presented at the colloquium will be reworked by authors with a view to their consideration for publication as chapters in an edited volume.
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The Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, invites applications from individuals interested in pursuing a doctorate degree in law, specifically on the topic of the impact of the United Nations human rights treaties on the domestic level.
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In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the Department of Library Services, cordially invites you to a screening of the film Queen of Katwe and the I am Woman photo exhibition.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to a Panel discussion - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a basis for asylum and refugee status.
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The Disability Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria wishes to invite applications for the following vacancy at the Centre for Human Rights (an academic department and a non-governmental organisation at the University):
Internship, Disability Rights Unit - (One post) (9 month contract appointment) - Centre for Human Rights
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Students from all universities in the world are invited to participate in the prestigious Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition in 2018. Les étudiants de toutes les universités du monde sont invités à participer au prestigieux Concours Mondial de Procès Simulé des Droits de l’Homme Nelson Mandela de 2018.
Invitations in all six of the official UN languages
Invitation letter (English)Invitation letter (French)Invitation letter (Spanish)Invitation letter (Arabic)Invitation letter (Russian)Invitation letter (Chinese)
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International collaboration opportunity for students on #PolicingLaw to engage in an international effort to collect national legislation on the use of force.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria hosted a public lecture by renowned legal scholar Professor Makau Mutua on 12 February 2018. Prof Mutua is a distinguished Professor at the Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar at the State University of New York Buffalo Law School. The public lecture raised the question whether the age of human rights is over. It was premised on the central argument that while human rights and the use of the ‘language of rights’ have been a phenomenal success, it has lost the ability to coalesce action against human rights atrocities. Unfortunately, no new discourses have emerged to take the place of human rights. What is needed is a new moral language to fill the vacuum left by human rights.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria is pleased to announce the start of a comprehensive study into the impact of the United Nations (UN) human rights treaty system in 20 countries around the world.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to a Public Lecture under the theme - "Is the age for human rights over?"
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The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the largest gathering of students, academics and judges around the theme of human rights in Africa. This annual event brings together all law faculties in Africa, whose top students argue a hypothetical human rights case as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Competition continuously prepares new generations of lawyers to argue cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.
Since its creation in 1992, 150 universities from 50 African countries have taken part in this permanent fixture on the Africa legal education calendar. The Moot has been a catalyst for the establishment of the leading programmes in the field of human rights teaching and research in Africa.
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Join a global team of volunteers working to hold governments accountable. Learn skills that will enable you to authenticate social media posts, separating truth from lies.
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On 29 and 30 January 2018, the Centre for Human Rights, Disability Rights Unit convened a two-day colloquium for emerging scholars in the disability rights field. In his welcoming address, Professor Frans Viljoen stated that the focus of the colloquium, was on developing theoretical and practical skills for academic writing in disability rights as they apply to the African region. Further explaining the rationale behind the colloquium Professor Charles Ngwena, said that the colloquium was aimed at providing emerging scholars in the disability rights field with a forum for developing a paper in progress into a publishable article for submission to African Disability Rights Yearbook (Yearbook).
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On 25 January 2018, the Centre for Human Rights hosted yet another cohort of Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Southern Africa scholars for an afternoon of discussions on violence against women and the rights of sexual and gender minorities. The discussion started with introductions from Ms Patience Mungwari Mpani, Manager of the Women’s Rights Unit and Mr Geoffrey Ogwaro, Manager of the SOGIE Unit, on the work of their respective units.
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The Centre for Human Rights wishes to congratulate Ms Meskerem Geset Techane, an alumna of the Class of 2011 of the LLM/MPhil in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme, who was recently appointed into the United Nations Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice (Working Group). She is among four other experts that make up the Working Group.
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Every year, the Vera Chirwa award is given to an alumnus or alumna of the LLM/MPhil in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) programme in recognition of their contributions to the advancement of human rights.
On 8 December 2017, Melanie Smuts (Class of 2012) and Musu Bakoto Sawo (Class of 2014) were jointly awarded the prize for their groundbreaking work in South Africa and The Gambia respectively.
Melanie’s commitment to improved access to quality education in South Africa through her Streetlight Schools formed the basis for her selection for the prize. While Musu was awarded the prize in recognition of her relentless commitment towards the eradication of harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia.
As co-recipients of the 2017 Vera Chirwa Award, Melanie and Musu will be working on a human rights campaign with the Centre for Human Rights, amongst other things aimed at supporting the work that they do.
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The Organisers of the Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutionalism in Africa (SASCA) are pleased to announce the call for papers for the Sixth Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutionalism in Africa (SASCA 2018) which will be held in Stellenbosch (South Africa) from 4 -7 September 2018.
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During the 30th session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Committee) held in Khartoum, Sudan, from 6 to 16 December 2017, the African Children’s Committee granted observer status to the Centre for Human Rights.
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The pro-bono International Human Rights Clinic at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (UK) is accepting submissions from human rights activists who would like assistance filing a case before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.
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The University of Pretoria wishes to invite applications for the following vacancy at the Centre for Human Rights (an academic department and a non-governmental organisation at the University):
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS:
Project Co-ordinator / Researcher, Democracy and Transpartency Unit - (One post) (12 month contract appointment) - Centre for Human Rights
Click here to view the vacancy and to apply on the University of Pretoria system
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The Advocacy Unit of the Centre for Human Rights has made a short film in response to the shocking slave trade of migrants recently uncovered through a CNN investigative report.
Through this video, we call on the international community to double its efforts in ensuring that the rights of migrants are protected.
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TheAfrican Disability Rights Yearbook (ADRY) is calling for papers for consideration for publication in Section A of the ADRY in 2018. The ADRY publishes once a year with a focus on disability rights issues and developments of contemporary concern to persons with disabilities on the African continent. It comprises three sections – Section A containing doctrinal articles and for which we are calling for papers; Section B containing country-focused overviews of developments in disability rights in selected African countries; and Section C containing brief overviews of developments at the African regional and sub-regional levels.
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More than 50 Master’s graduates
At the University of Pretoria's graduation ceremony on 8 December more than 50 students graduated with a Master's degree from the following Master's programmes organised by the Centre for Human Rights:
- LLM International Trade and Investment Law in Africa (TILA) (23 students graduating; two with distinction)
- LLM/MPhil Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) (organised in collaboration with 13 partner universities across the African continent; 27 students graduating, a record number of eight students with distinction)
- LLM/MPhil Multidisciplinary Human Rights (two students graduating)
- LLM/ MPhil Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa (one student graduating)
- Master’s by research (one student graduating)
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On Friday, 8 December 2017, the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria commemorated the legacy and life of Oliver R. Tambo (1917 – 2017) with the unveiling of a bust of the late leader and the launch of a book written by retired Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs titled Oliver Tambo's dream in the OR Tambo Law Library.
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Democracies are fragile. Now, more than ever, fake news, populist politicians and disenchanted voters are putting this fragility to the test. Against this backdrop, the Centre for Human Rights (Centre), Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, on 7 December hosted a one-day international conference on the theme ‘Democracy Under Threat’.
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For over 35 years since the right to development gained formal recognition as a human right, it has remained the subject of a highly politicised debate. Unfortunately, as former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay noted on the occasion of the commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development in 2011, the politicised debate ‘has done little to free the right to development from the conceptual mud and political quicksand in which it has been mired all these years’. Conceptually, the right to development entails concrete action to ensure its realisation. Following the universal recognition of the right to development in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993 and the undertakings under other international instruments to make its realisation a reality, it is crucial to determine to what extend these commitments have been actualised.
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To set the scene for the forth-coming International Human Rights Day slated for 10 December 2017, the Centre for Human Rights in collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands and Village Verbals hosted ‘The body that takes pride’ a panel discussion with visual and performance art which narrowed in on the themes of the rights of women and LGBTIQ persons. The star-studded panel was comprised of the Natalia Molebatsi, Nondumiso Msimanga, Beverly Ditsie and Prof Tiffany Willoughby-Herard.
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The Global Campus Human Rights Week is held from 4 to 9 December 2017 in Pretoria. The event is organised by the Global Campus of Human Rights / European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EUIC) in partnership with the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The first even on the agenda was a seminar on African cinema and human rights. Before the seminar, the Global Camp made several presentations, introducing all the regional programmes. These presentations comprised of sub-presentations made by delegates from the 7 branches of the Global Campus of Human Rights: Arab World, Europe, South East Europe, Latin America Caribbean, Caucasus, the Asia Pacific and Africa.
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The following vacancy is available: Terms of Reference
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the Global Campus of Human Rights cordially invite you to a multi-disciplinary international conference on the theme ‘Democarcy under threat’.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the Global Campus of Human Rights, Cinema Human Rights and Advocacy, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway and the Kingdom of the Netherlands cordially invite you to film screenings, presentations and discussions on African cinema and human rights.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to its Master’s degree graduation ceremony. This graduation ceremony is hosted annually on or around 10 December to celebrate International Human Rights Day.
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(By Prof Charles Ngwena)
What seemed unimaginable has happened. After an uninterrupted ‘reign’ of 37 years, Robert Mugabe, the de facto emperor of Zimbabwe, has ‘resigned’ from office. There has been genuine jubilation not least among those who have been at the receiving end of Mugabe’s increasingly despotic, corrupt and dysfunctional governance – the majority of Zimbabweans. Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken office as Mugabe’s successor. It is a historic moment. Since attaining independence in 1980, Zimbabweans have only known Mugabe as their political supremo – initially as prime minister and latterly as president. The fact of Mugabe’s departure from office, alone, has raised hopes that we might be at the cusp of a compassionate, fairer, humane and democratic Second Republic. At the same time, the clouds are pregnant with contradictions, counselling us not to throw caution aside even as we pine for change. Why is this?
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On 18 November 2005, the Southern Africa Development Community Tribunal (SADC Tribunal) was inaugurated as a judicial body established to resolve disputes between Southern African states and between states and their citizens. At that time, there were many celebrations around the inauguration of the Tribunal because a regional court with the power to hear human rights cases is a critical mechanism in the pathway to justice after exhaustion of local remedies. However, the celebrations were short-lived. In 2009, Zimbabwe challenged the legitimacy of the Tribunal stating that it had not been established according to international law norms. This led to suspension of the Tribunal by decision of SADC leaders, in 2010.
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The Global Campus Human Rights Week will be held during the week from 4 to 9 December 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. The events will feature a film screening and discussion on African cinema and human rights, meetings of institutional and governance structures of the Global Campus, a visual / performance art and panel discussion on the rights of women and LGBTIQ persons, a multi-disciplinary conference on contemporary and future challenges to democracy worldwide and the graduation of the 18th cohort of students on the Master’s degree programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. The event is organised by the Global Campus of Human Rights in partnership with the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The conference is realised thanks to the European Union.
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It has been confirmed! The 2018 African Human Rights Moot Competition will take place in Ghana, and will be co-organised by the School of Law, University of Ghana and the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.
On 14 November 2017, the University of Ghana joined a small group of African Universities that have twice hosted the African Human Rights Moot Competition, when its Vice Chancellor and the Centre’s Director signed a Memorandum of Understanding, providing that the Moot will be hosted in Accra, from 6 to 11 August 2018.
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On 9 November 2017, twenty three (23) alumni of the Disability Rights Scholarship Programme met at Saint George Hotel in Pretoria following the culmination of the 5th Annual African Disability Rights Conference. The purpose of the alumni meeting was to establish and form a platform for the alumni to network, share information about the scholarship programme, prospects for academic advancement and collaborate on issues pertaining to regional and country progress on disability rights.
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The importance of inclusive education has been recognised globally as critically important for the advancement of the right to education. The retention and successful throughput of students with disabilities in higher education institutions is at a critical juncture. In Africa, the transformation of higher education systems so that they provide quality inclusive education for all students is in its infancy.Students with disabilities are for the greater part still not able to equally participate in higher education institutions as their abled bodied counterparts. The Disability Rights and Law Schools Project in Africa partner universities met in Pretoria to discuss the current state of inclusion in higher education with regards to students with disabilities.
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Dr Samuel Kabue, a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee), welcomed the Conference’s thematic focus, which is on legal capacity. He noted that the Committee has been grappling with the concept of ‘legal capacity’, and its practical application, especially in Africa. He lamented the fact that even for states that have ratified, the implementation of the CRPD is impeded by a lack of state reporting, a failure to accept individual complaints and failure to designate national monitoring mechanisms for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities.
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A group of representatives of organizations working on the protection of persons with albinism in Africa convened in Pretoria on Monday 6 November 2017 at the call of the United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism, Ms. Ikpwonosa Ero. Ms. Ero’s mandate as the Independent Expert was created in 2015 by the UN Human Rights Council, to address discrimination and stop the killings of people living with albinism.
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On Saturday 4 November 2017, the Centre for Human Rights (Centre) in partnership with Iranti-org and SIPD -Uganda convened a panel discussion on intersex human rights in Banjul, The Gambia. The event came on the side-lines of the 61st ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) which is taking place from 1-15 November. This was monumental considering that the African Commission is celebrating its 30 years anniversary and achievements ever-since it became operational 30 years ago.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and UNESCO developed a massive open online course (MOOC) on the International and African Legal Framework on Freedom of Expression, Access to Information and the Safety of Journalists. The MOOC, which runs from 13 November to 18 December 2017, is hosted on the Canvas Network platform. Enrollment is free of charge and after the successful completion of all the modules, participants will receive a certificate.
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Only a few days to go! Files are packed, presentations rolled out and stakeholders from all across Africa are getting ready to attend the 5th Annual African Disability Rights Conference that will be held from 7 to 8 November 2017 at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria in South Africa. The array of participants include scholars, researchers, practitioners, human rights activists, advocates for law reform, persons with disabilities, civil society groups, lawyers, policymakers, and analysts.
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By ratifying the Maputo Protocol in 2004, South Africa made a commitment to improve the status and protect the rights of women and girls in the country. It also committed under Article 62 of the African Charter and Article 26 (1) of the Maputo Protocol to submit periodic reports to the African Commission every two years from the time of ratification, highlighting the steps taken to guarantee the rights of women and girls. After consideration of these reports, concluding observations and recommendations are given to State Parties to guide them on the implementation of the rights as mentioned in the treaty.
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The Centre for Human Rights in collaboration with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) held a three-day judicial training for judges from across Africa. The training which focused on freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists took place from 23 to 25 October.
In attendance were senior judges from Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Mauritania, Mozambique, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. There was also a judge from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community of Court of Justice.
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The Centre for Human Rights works for the improvement of the human rights of minorities - including sexual minorities - and other disadvantaged or marginalised persons or groups across the continent.
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The Centre for Human Rights (CHR), Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, is looking for a research consultant to prepare a baseline report on the impacts of the extractive industries on human rights and the environment in Africa. This work forms part of a project in which the CHR offers support to the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment, and Human Rights (WGEI) of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission).
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On Wednesday 18 October 2017, the Women's Rights Unit of the Centre for Human Rights (the Centre) organised a one-day meeting with Government and civil society organizations on Malawi’s compliance with the concluding observations issued by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) specifically in relation to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). The meeting was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in Malawi. The meeting brought together a total of about 20 stakeholders from the relevant government ministries, National Human Rights Commission, Office of the Ombudsman and Civil Society Organisations involved in the state reporting process in the country. The meeting was held at the Sunbird Capital hotel, in the capital city of Lilongwe.
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The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, calls for applications for full-time doctoral scholarships in the field of sexual and/or reproductive rights and their intersection with culture or criminalisation in the African region.
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We, LGBTI human rights defenders and human rights lawyers, having gathered at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, from 16 to 19 October 2017 for a training on Strategic Advocacy and Litigation for LGBTI Human Rights Defenders in Africa, strongly condemn the harassment, arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention of ordinary citizens perceived to be gay in Egypt and Burundi; human rights activists working with health rights organisations in Tanzania; as well as human rights lawyers planning to litigate a case on LGBTI health rights in Tanzania.
Download this statementDownload Petition to the Government of Tanzania to respect, promote and protect legal practitioners and human rights defenders from all forms of threats, harassment and intimidation
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The Disability Rights Scholarship Programme provides awards for master’s degree study to disability rights advocates, lawyers, and educators to develop new legislation, jurisprudence, policy, research, and scholarship to harness the innovations and opportunities offered by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
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The Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (UP) on 17 October 2017 entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). The foreseen collaboration will be spear-headed by the Centre for Human Rights, but may involve other departments, centres, institutes and units in the Faculty of Law.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, deplores any form of sexual harassment and is steadfastly committed to supporting the University community in any way possible to ensure that it is a safe environment – free from sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination – and to foster the values of equality, integrity, human dignity, privacy and mutual respect.
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The first African Forum for Doctoral Research in Human Rights (AfriDoors) was held at the University of Pretoria from 9 to 13 October. AfriDoors brought together close to 50 doctoral students, post-docs and faculty from the member institutions of Strengthening Human Rights Research and Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SHUREA). SHUREA is a project funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland through the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) and is aimed at strengthening policy relevant human rights research.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria cordially invites you to a seminar on South Sudan and issues arising from narratives on human rights and armed rebellion.
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The Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Unit, Centre for Human Rights in collaboration with the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy in Pretoria is currently hosting the 2018 Training Workshop on Strategic Advocacy and Litigation for LGBTI Human Rights Defenders and Activists. This workshop, now ongoing, shall run from 16 October 2017 to 19 October 2017. In attendance are LGBTI human rights defenders from the legal, health, civil society and other sectors across the African continent. The participants are trained on using several advocacy stragies, including faith-based, disruptive and prison advocacy, as well as strategic litigation at national level, and how to use the UN and African regional human rights system for the advancement of LGBTI human rights.
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SUMMARY: In 2015, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission), based in Banjul, The Gambia, and the AU body supervising state compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, granted observer status to the NGO Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL). When the Executive Council of the African Union (AU), with its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, subsequently considered the Commission’s activity report, it directed the African Commission to retract the observer status granted to CAL. A potential deadlock was avoided when two NGOs (the Centre for Human Rights and CAL) submitted a request for an advisory opinion to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, soliciting the Court’s view on how the matter could be resolved. However, the Court has now declined to give its view, on the basis that the two NGOs were not competent to bring the request. This decision puts the Commission and the Executive Council on a potential collision course. The circumstances of the case revealed that the system of NGO obtaining observer status with the AU is illusory, as no NGO has as yet obtained this status.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (UP), takes note of the 2018 raking of law faculties or schools by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR), in which the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Law is placed at position 92.
According to the THEWUR, using a fixed set of criteria, UP’s Faculty of Law is the top law faculty not only in South Africa, but in Africa. As one of six departments within the Faculty of Law, the Centre for Human Rights acknowledges and thanks our staff, current students, our many graduates, partners, donors and other supporters, for their contributions in making the Centre – and the Faculty – a centre of excellence in Africa.
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Students and other interested parties are invited to attend a panel discussion on: ‘Working as a UN expert’. The Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria is currently in the unique position where three of its professors serve as expert members of United Nations bodies involved in the development of international law. They will discuss their work and how the appointment procedure works. This should be of special interest to students who consider a career with an international dimension.
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‘The Constitution as a whole should guide governance in Ethiopia, not selected parts chosen for particular purposes.’ Dr Solomon Dersso, a member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, expressed this view when he delivered the 2017 Julius Osega Memorial Lecture in Addis Ababa on Friday 29 September. The African Commission is the African Union’s longest-serving human rights body.
Download this lecture Download the report prepared by the School of Law, Addis Ababa University
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A two-days Conference on the theme ‘Regional Perspectives on the Right to Development’ was jointly organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, University of South Africa. The Conference took place on 28 and 29 September 2017 at the University of Pretoria.
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The Disability Rights Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, conducted a training course on disability mainstreaming, coordination, financing and implementation for senior government officials of the Africa Union member states and focal persons from the African Union Commission (AUC). Senior government officials from Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Somalia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria and Zimbabwe attended the one-week training which took place from 18-22 September 2017 at Capital Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, in collaboration with International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) hosted its Advanced Human Rights Short Course on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Africa from 25-29 September, 2017. The course brought together 32 participants; from different countries across Africa and Europe, with backgrounds that include: NGO managers, delegates of indigenous communities, academia, government policy makers, civil society, independent community consultants and legal practitioners.
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Mauritius ratified (with reservations) the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) in June 2017. This makes 39, the countries that have ratified the Maputo Protocol. The presence of the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition in Mauritius provided an opportunity for the Women’s Rights Unit to host an all stakeholder meeting not only to celebrate this momentous step towards full realisation of women’s rights but to also reflect on the challenges that delayed ratification since signing in 2005 and lessons apparent. In addition the meeting discussed the impact of ratification of the Maputo Protocol on the lives of women and girls in Mauritius and the critical next steps post the ratification.
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The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is the largest gathering of students, academics and judges around the theme of human rights in Africa. This annual event brings together all law faculties in Africa, whose top students argue a hypothetical human rights case as if they were before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Competition aims to prepare a new generation of lawyers to argue cases of alleged human rights violations before the African Court.
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The African Human Rights Moot Court Competition Conference took place at the University of Mauritius on 22 September 2017. Every year, the conference is one of the major highlights of the Moot Court competition. The conference utilises the platform of the Moot Court, which brings together students and faculty representatives from over 54 different universities around Africa, to raise, discuss and advance important issues of human rights in the continent. The 2017 conference theme was “The Maputo Protocol and poverty alleviation: Towards the realisation of women's rights in Africa”.
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The Centre for Human Rights received a delegation from the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone on 22 September to explore potential collaboration. The Human Rights Commission expressed interest in support in capacity building of commissioners and staff in particular in relation to disability rights, LGBTI rights, business and human rights, women's rights and complaints handling.
