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The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mike Asplet  and
Megan Bradley
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Extract

Known as the Kampala Convention, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is the first regional treaty to comprehensively address the issue of internal displacement. Having entered into force with its fifteenth ratification on December 6, 2012, the Convention tackles a major humanitarian, human rights, and development issue for the African continent, as there are more than 9.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The treaty builds on the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, integrating international human rights and humanitarian law norms as they relate to internal displacement, and incorporating principles from African regional standards such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Great Lakes Protocol. While rooted in these standards, the Convention also reflects recent developments and the evolution of best practice regarding IDP protection. In so doing, the Convention advances the normative standard on internal displacement in a number of important areas, including in terms of the prohibition on arbitrary displacement; the responsibilities of international and regional organizations; internal displacement linked to the effects of climate change; and remedies for those affected by displacement.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 397 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2013

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References

* This text was reproduced and reformatted from the text available at the The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Web site (visited March 4, 2013) http://www.unhcr.org/4ae9bede9.html.

1 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), Oct. 23, 2009 (entered into force Dec. 6, 2012), http://au.int/en/content/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa [hereinafter Kampala Convention or Convention].

2 Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Internal Displacement Global Overview 2011 (2012)Google Scholar, available at http://www.internal-displacement.org/publications/globaloverview-2011. These figures underestimate the regional total numbers displaced, as IDMC only records those displaced by conflict, generalized violence, and human rights violations. Displacement due to factors such as natural disasters and development projects are not included in this estimate.

3 See Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, E.S.C. Res. 1998/53, Annex, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 (Feb. 11, 1998), available at http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/d2e008c61b70263ec125661e0036f36e [hereinafter Guiding Principles].

4 See International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, Protocol to the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (Nov. 30, 2006), available at http://www.brookings.edu/fp/projects/idp/GreatLakes_IDPprotocol.pdf.

5 Kampala Convention, supra note 1, at Preamble, art. 5(1). Article 1(k) of the Kampala Convention defines IDPs as ‘‘persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.’’

6 Brookings Institution, Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: A Manual for Law and Policy Makers 13 (2008).

7 Kampala Convention, supra note 1, at arts. 5(6), (7).

8 Id. at arts. 5(1), 9(1)(a).

9 Id. at arts. 9(2)(c), 9(2)(d).

10 The Fourth Geneva Convention bans ‘‘individual or mass forcible transfers.’’ See Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War art. 49, Aug. 12, 1949, 973 U.N.T.S. 75; see also Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and see also Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II) art. 17, June 8, 1977, 1125 U.N.T.S. 609. The Rome Statute recognizes forcible population transfers as an act that may be a crime against humanity. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court art. 7(1)(d), July 17, 1998, 2187 U.N.T.S. 90, available at http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/romefra.htm.

11 Kampala Convention, supra note 1, at art. 4(4).

12 Id. at art. 4(6).

13 Id. at art. 3(1)(g).

14 Id. at art. 7(4).

15 Id. at art. 3.1(h).

16 Id.at art. 11(2).

17 Id. at art. 11(1).

18 Guiding Principles, supra note 3, at principle 28.

19 Kampala Convention, supra note 1, at art. 11(4).

20 Ctr. for Minority Rights Dev. (Kenya) and Minority Rights Grp. Int’l on behalf of Endorois Welfare Council v. Kenya, Case No. 276/2003 (African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Feb. 4, 2010), http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b8275a12.htm.

21 Guiding Principles, supra note 3, at principle 29.

22 Kampala Convention, supra note 1, at art. 12(1).

23 Id. at art. 12(2).

24 Id. at art. 8(3)(e).

25 Id. at art. 8(3)(f).

26 Id. at arts. 3(2)(a), 3(2)(c).

27 Id. at arts. 3(2)(b), 3(2)(d).