Tema-Ghana, Oct. 27, GNA – The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ended a three-day sensitization mission to Cape Verde, to consider ratifying the Protocol establishing the African Court and the submission of the Declaration under Article 34(6) of the Protocol.
The delegation comprised Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, African Court President, Justice Modibo Sacko, Vice President, and some staff of the Registry.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tema said the African Court delegation held discussions with high-ranking government officials, including President José Maria Neves.
It said the government of Cape Verde undertook to consider the request to engage with relevant human rights stakeholders in the country on the same.
Meanwhile, Lady Justice Aboud, African Court President, told the Ghana News Agency that the success of its mandate as a human rights protection body required that all Member States of the African Union ratify the Protocol and accepted the Court’s jurisdiction as provided for in Article 34(6) of the Protocol.
She said the ratification of the Protocol and acceptance of the African Court’s jurisdiction gives it the legitimacy to fulfil its mandate.
Cape Verde has ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights but has not yet ratified the Protocol.
According to African Court information to date, 34 Member States of the African Union have ratified the Protocol, and only eight have deposited the Declaration.
The eight bold countries are Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mali, Niger, and Tunisia.
The African Court was established under Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court, which was adopted on June 9, 1998, and entered into force on January 25, 2004.
Its mission is to ensure the judicial protection of human rights in Africa and “complement the protective functions conferred on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights by the Charter”.
The main aim of its outreach visits is to strengthen the protection of human rights in Africa, to initiate discussions with the Member States with a view to ratifying the Protocol and depositing the Declaration, giving individuals and NGOs direct access to the Court, and to inform potential applicants of the procedure applicable before the Court.
The African Court is composed of eleven judges who are nationals of African Union Member States that have ratified the Protocol.
They are elected in a personal capacity from among jurists of high moral standing and recognised legal, judicial, or academic competence and experience in the field of human and people’s rights.
The African Court meets four times a year in Ordinary Sessions and may hold an Extra-Ordinary Sessions.
