Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Editors' Preface
- Introductory Preface: The African Charter and African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 1 The African Union and the Regional Human Rights System
- 2 The State Reporting Mechanism of the African Charter
- 3 Communications under the African Charter: Procedure and Admissibility
- 4 Evidence and Fact-Finding by the African Commission
- 5 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: Articles 1–7
- 6 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter: Articles 8–14
- 7 Group Rights
- 8 The Role of Non-governmental Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions at the African Commission
- 9 A View from the Inside: The Role of the Secretariat
- 10 The Special Rapporteurs in the African System
- 11 Working Groups of the African Commission and their Role in the Development of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 12 The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights
- 13 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Group Rights
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Table of cases
- List of abbreviations
- Editors' Preface
- Introductory Preface: The African Charter and African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 1 The African Union and the Regional Human Rights System
- 2 The State Reporting Mechanism of the African Charter
- 3 Communications under the African Charter: Procedure and Admissibility
- 4 Evidence and Fact-Finding by the African Commission
- 5 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: Articles 1–7
- 6 Civil and Political Rights in the African Charter: Articles 8–14
- 7 Group Rights
- 8 The Role of Non-governmental Organisations and National Human Rights Institutions at the African Commission
- 9 A View from the Inside: The Role of the Secretariat
- 10 The Special Rapporteurs in the African System
- 11 Working Groups of the African Commission and their Role in the Development of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
- 12 The Creation of a New African Court of Justice and Human Rights
- 13 Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Though major human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have recognised ‘peoples’, in no other instrument have the rights of peoples been afforded more concrete scope than in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Indeed, peoples' rights figure prominently within the Charter, with six operative paragraphs dedicated specifically to this area of law. This unique feature of the Charter reflects the values of African societies, where ‘a person is not regarded as an isolated and abstract individual, but an integral member of a community’.
The Charter's commitment to both individual and collective rights reaffirms the interdependence of all human rights. In its Preamble, the Charter recognises the rights of peoples as constituting a condition sine qua non of the realisation and guarantee of individual rights. Group rights not only facilitate the realisation of other human rights, but many rights have both individual and collective dimensions.
This chapter examines the evolution of group rights under the African Charter on the basis of jurisprudence developed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as resolutions and reports adopted by this regional body.
Peoples as rights-holders under the Charter
Although the African Charter devotes six Articles to peoples' rights – ranging from the rights of equality, self-determination and protection of existence, to the right of peoples to national resources, development, peace, and to a general satisfactory environment – there is no definition of the term ‘peoples’ in the Charter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The African Charter on Human and Peoples' RightsThe System in Practice 1986–2006, pp. 244 - 288Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008