Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has become the latest country to ratify the Protocol on the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Right (AfCHPR).
The largest country in sub-Saharan Africa deposited its instrument of ratification at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, midweek.
“The DRC has taken another grand step to safeguard human and peoples’ rights… I strongly encourage the central African country to take one more bold step by making the Declaration to allow NGOs and individuals to access the Court directly,” said AfCHPR President Justice Sylvain Oré in a statement availed to the ‘Daily News’ yesterday.
Justice Oré reiterated to other AU Member States that had not yet done so to ratify the Protocol and deposit the declaration.
The DRC’s decision to ratify the protocol brings the number of AU Member States that have ratified the Protocol to 31.
Other States which have ratified the Protocol are Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo and Gabon.
They also include The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.
As of to date, only six of 31 States Parties to the Protocol have deposited the declaration recognising the competence of the Court to receive cases directly from NGOs and individuals.
They include Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Malawi and Tunisia.
The Continental Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights with a view to enhancing the protection of human rights on the continent.
The Protocol was adopted on June 9, 1998 in Burkina Faso and came into force on January 25, 2004.The Court officially started its operations in November 2006 initially in Addis Ababa and a year later moved to its permanent seat in Arusha, Tanzania.
