COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER WITH THE EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN CONVENTIONS

Abstract

The formation of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the two Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights internationalized human rights. These efforts were given an added boost at the regional levels by the European Convention on Human Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This paper attempts an exposition of the African Charter about guaranteed rights therein, and the machinery for the enforcement of those rights. The paper undertakes a comparative analysis of the European and American Conventions on Human Rights. The paper claims that the guaranteed rights under the African Charter when compared to the other Conventions are either framed in ambiguous terms or are vigorously limited by claw-back clauses. Hence, these rights may be easily derogated under the African system. The paper finds that, though the African Charter is very zealous and latent with certain imperfections, the adoption of the Charter is indicative of Africa’s efforts to promote and protect human rights. It is left to be seen how the recently established African Court of Justice and Human Rights can sustain this effort.