DECISION ON THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON
HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
Doc. EX.CL/1058(XXXII)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Forty-Third Activity Report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and AUTHORISES its publication taking into consideration concerns raised by Member States;
2. EXPRESSES its appreciation for the efforts deployed by the ACHPR during the reporting period to promote and protect human rights on the continent;
3. FURTHER EXPRESSES concern on the non-implementation of Decision EX.CL/Dec.887(XXVII) of June 2015 on the withdrawal of the observer status from the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) and REQUESTS the ACHPR to comply with the Decision;
4. URGENTLY REQUESTS the convening of a joint Retreat between the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) and the ACHPR, to resolve various concerns expressed about the relationship between the ACHPR and the Policy Organs and Member States, and find modalities for enhanced coordination and collaboration with Policy Organs and Member States; to improve their dialogue and resolve outstanding issues and RECOMMENDS the appropriate measures to this end in respect of the full authority of the Organs;
5. URGES State Parties to submit their Periodic Reports in compliance with Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) and Article 26 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol);
6. REITERATES ITS CALL to State Parties to sign and ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, thereby ensuring its entry into force;
7. ENCOURAGES the Kingdom of Morocco to sign and ratify the African Charter in addition to other relevant regional human rights instruments;
8. FURTHER ENCOURAGES the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco and the ACHPR to engage in dialogue towards facilitating the conduct of the fact-finding mission to the territory referred to by the African Union as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the United Nations as Western Sahara, as mandated by Decision EX.CL/Dec.689(XX);
9. ENCOURAGES State Parties to comply with requests for Provisional Measures, as well as Decisions and recommendations of the ACHPR as set out in the Communications to which they are parties, and URGES State Parties to inform the ACHPR of the measures taken to implement its Decisions in line with Rule 112 of the ACHPR’s Rules of Procedure;
10. URGENTLY CALLS ON the Commission to expedite recruitment for Legal Officers who work in Arabic and Portuguese and Legal Officers for Protection, in addition to the various unfilled positions at the ACHPR Secretariat in accordance with its organogram;
11. APPROVES the commencement of the process of reviewing the structure of the Secretariat of the ACHPR to better align its composition and organogram with the mandate entrusted to it and the expansion in its work over the years;
12. NOTES ACHPR’s decision to increase the number of days for its Ordinary Sessions from fifteen (15) to twenty-one (21) days, and for its Extraordinary Sessions from ten (10) to fifteen (15) days, in order to dedicate sufficient time to its work;
13. COMMENDS the Host Government for its commitment to constructing permanent Headquarters equipped with the requisite facilities for the ACHPR, and URGES expeditious finalization of the process, including through reporting to the Executive Council on the progress being made;
14. EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION to the Republic of The Gambia for the excellent facilitation accorded to the ACHPR during its commemorative activities to mark the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of the ACHPR and the 61st Ordinary Session, held in Banjul, The Gambia in November 2017; and
15. WELCOMES the offer by the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to host the 62nd Ordinary Session, and CALLS ON Member States, particularly those that have not yet done so, to consider hosting one of the Sessions of the ACHPR.