DECISION ON THE ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON
HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS (ACHPR)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Combined fiftieth (50th) and Fifty-first (51st) Activity Report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the ACHPR);
2. REQUESTS the Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to delete the names of the countries cited in paragraph 60, B, V of the report;
3. EXPRESSES its appreciation for the efforts deployed by the ACHPR during the reporting period to promote and protect human rights on the continent, in particular in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
4. WELCOMES the commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, under the theme: “Realities of 40 years of implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the journey towards the Africa We Want”; with various stakeholders and key actors working in the promotion and protection of human rights, throughout the year 2021;
5. REITERATES ITS CALL to Member States that have not yet ratified relevant human rights instruments of the African Union (AU), to do so, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa;
6. COMMENDS State Parties to the African Charter (State Parties) that are up to date with their reporting obligations, and ENCOURAGES State Parties that have not submitted any report namely Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and South Sudan, as well as those with more than three outstanding periodic reports to submit their Periodic Reports in compliance with Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), Article 26 of the Maputo Protocol, and Article 14 of the Kampala Convention;
7. CALLS ON States Parties to support the processes for the adoption of the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security and; the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on the Specific Aspects of the Right to Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa;
8. ALSO CALLS ON State Parties to comply with the Provisional Measures requests issued by the ACHPR, and ENCOURAGES States to also implement decisions issued by the ACHPR on Communications to which they are parties, as well as recommendations following Promotion Missions and Periodic Reports, and to inform the ACHPR of the measures taken to implement those recommendations and Decisions in line with Rule 112 of the ACHPR’s Rules of Procedure 2010 and Rule 114 of the ACHPR’s Rules of Procedure 2020;
9. ENCOURAGES the PRC to work closely and monitor implementation of coordination and collaboration mechanisms between African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR), African Court on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and African Committee of Experts on Rights and Wellbeing of Child (ACERWC) in view of supporting better mandate delivery by these organs and enhancing institutional coherence of the Union
10. WELCOMES the confirmation by the Republic of Rwanda to host an ordinary session of the ACHPR, when the sanitary conditions allow, and CALLS ON Member States, particularly those that have not yet done so, to consider hosting one of the Sessions of the ACHPR;
11. REITERATES ITS CALL for the ACHPR, to implement the Executive Council Decisions: a) EX.CL/Dec.995(XXXII) relating to the review of the structure 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; b) EX.CL/Dec. 1045(XXXIV) which institutionalize an annually Joint Retreat of the PRC and the ACHPR; and c) EX.CL/Dec.1126(XXXIX) on governance matters of the Commission;
12. FURTHER REITERATES ITS CALL on the AUC, working jointly with the ACHPR and the Gambian Government, to implement Executive Council Decisions EX.CL/Dec.1045(XXXIV) and EX.CL/Dec. 1080(XXXVI), by establishing a Special Fund for resource mobilization, as well as taking other concrete actions required including the laying down of the foundation stone, for the construction of the ACHPR’s permanent headquarters;
13. COMMENDS the AUC and the R10 for facilitating and supporting the recruitment of critical staff of the ACHPR, in line with the EX.CL/DEC.1097(XXXVII);
14. AUTHORIZES the publication of the Combined 50th and 51st Activity Report of the ACHPR; and in that regard REQUESTS States 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.