DECISION ON THE ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON
HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS (ACHPR) - Doc. EX.CL/1259(XXXVIII)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Combined Forty-Eighth (48th) and Forty-Ninth (49th) Activity Report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the ACHPR).
2. NOTES the ACHPR’s Resolution 449 as useful guidance to make respect for human rights the basis for the response to and recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic at State and continental levels, and CALLS ON States to make use of the guidelines in Resolution 449 to guarantee success in their response to the governance and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.
3. WELCOMES the ratification by Somalia of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention) during the reporting period and REITERATES ITS CALL to those State Parties that have not done so, to consider, sign and ratify the Kampala Protocol, as well as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa, and the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment.
4. URGES State Parties that have not submitted their reports to submit their Periodic Reports in compliance with Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), Article 26(1) of the Maputo Protocol and Article 14(4) of the Kampala Convention.
5. NOTES the growing collaboration between the ACHPR and the AU PSC in line with the Protocol establishing the PSC with the holding of the second consultative meeting between the two bodies, and the ACHPR’s decision towards mainstreaming human rights in all phases of the conflict cycle from prevention to post-conflict situations in Africa as envisaged in the ACHPR’s Study on Addressing Human Rights issues in Conflict Situations.
6. REITERATES ITS CALL in Decision EX.CL/Dec.995(XXXII) of January 2018, for the Kingdom of Morocco to accede to the African Charter.
7. ENCOURAGES the Kingdom of Morocco and the ACHPR to engage in a 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).
8. CALLS ON State Parties to comply with requests for Provisional Measures, to implement decisions made by the ACHPR in Communications to which they are parties, and to inform the ACHPR of the measures taken to implement those Decisions in line with Rule 112 of the ACHPR’s Rules of Procedure.
9. ACKNOWLEDGES the commitment of the Republic of the Gambia to construct the permanent headquarters of the ACHPR, and REITERATES its call on the AUC to utilize funds lying dormant in the reserve funds of the African Union to this end.
10. WELCOMES the confirmation by the Republic of Rwanda to host the 69th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR in 2021, and invites other States to host the Ordinary Sessions of the ACHPR. and
11. AUTHORIZES the publication of the Combined 48th and 49th Activity Report of the ACHPR; and in that regard REQUESTS State Parties, if they so wish, to submit, within fourteen (14) days of the date of closure of the Executive Council Session at which this Decision is adopted, their written observations on the Activity Report, to be annexed thereto upon its publication.