Africa-Press – Eritrea. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has issued a resounding call for decisive action to tackle growing threats to human rights across the continent, as its 83rd Ordinary Session opened this week in The Gambia.
In a passionate keynote address, Commission Chairperson Remy Ngoy Lumbu urged African governments to uphold the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, warning that unresolved conflicts, repression of dissent, and systemic discrimination are undermining peace and development. He raised the alarm over the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where, he said, armed violence by M23 rebels and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has created a worsening humanitarian crisis.
“Now is the time to end these massacres,” Lumbu said. “We must secure the Great Lakes region to prevent another genocide.”
The Commission condemned the persistence of internet shutdowns, media closures, and the harassment of human rights defenders in countries like Cameroon, Mali, and Ethiopia. Lumbu also decried the slow pace in criminalising FGM and the widespread underrepresentation of women in leadership across Africa.
The DRC’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) echoed the urgency, citing escalating atrocities in its eastern provinces.
CNDH President Paul Nsapu Mukulu appealed to the ACHPR to adopt an urgent resolution and dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate abuses, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and sexual violence.
“The humanity of us all is at stake,” Mukulu declared. He welcomed the April 25 signing of a “Declaration of Principles” between the DRC and Rwanda as a step toward peace but warned that accountability must remain central.
Meanwhile, the session also spotlighted reparative justice, with Lumbu celebrating the African Union’s declaration of 2025 as the Year of Reparations. He stressed that reparations must go beyond compensation, calling for deep structural reforms to address the legacies of slavery and colonisation.
The EU’s Ambassador to The Gambia, H.E. Immaculada Roca Cortes, reaffirmed Europe’s commitment to Africa’s human rights agenda, praising the partnership’s progress while acknowledging shared global challenges.
As the session continues in The Gambia, the ACHPR’s message is clear: the time for empty rhetoric is over. From conflict zones to courtrooms, Africa must act with unity and resolve to uphold the dignity and rights of all its people.
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