Personally, I will not support a motion to move the headquarters of the African Commission from The Gambia, for several reasons.

 

Before proceeding though, it seems certain people still confuse the African Commission for the African Centre.  The African Centre is the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, a non-governmental organization established in 1989 following a bill of the Gambia parliament.  For this reason, some human rights directories list the African Centre as a GONGO - a Government Owned Non-Governmental Organization.  The Centre receives annual subsidies from the Gambia government in addition to funding from donors.  Visit www.acdhrs.org for more info.

 

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (www.achpr.org) on the other hand was established by the OAU (now AU) in 1986 following the adoption of the African Charter (commonly known as the Banjul Charter) by the OAU in 1981.  After an intense bidding by several countries, particularly Senegal, (whose eminent jurist Kebba Mbaye was instrumental in drafting the Charter), the headquarters was relocated from Addis to Banjul in 1989.  This was a huge victory for Jawara whose government had been touted at the time as being one of the most democratic in Africa, despite its shortcomings in certain areas.

 

In my opinion relocating the HQ of the Commission anywhere else on the continent will hardly make any difference.  Some of its critics consider the Commission a mere 'paper tiger', with hardly any powers to enforce any resolution.  Under its watch, the AFPRC junta over-threw Jawara, the Abacha regime murdered Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Sudanese government continues to carry out a genocide in Darfur, demonstrators were massacred by the government of The Gambia and recently that of Guinea, etc.  The creation of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights which, hopefully, will emulate its European and Inter-American counterparts in enforcing decisions has still not taken off the ground due largely to the refusal of most AU member states to ratify the relevant protocols.

 

It is important to note that the 11 members of the Commission are directly elected by the AU General Assembly, which itself comprises mostly of petty dictators and self-appointed kings.  It is believed that the Commissioners owe their principal allegiance to their member states and often hesitate to criticise the very governments that elected them.  Those who did such as Prof. Oji Umozurike (Nigeria) and Justice Kisanga (Tanzania) or even the late Justice Alioune Blondin Beye (Mali) had vehement opposition from government delegations to the bi-annual Commission sessions. Some of them did not get their terms renewed even when they were already serving as Special Rapporteurs on certain issues such as internally displaced persons.

 

Since its inception the Commission has barely made any inroads in the protection of human rights in Africa.  The principal protection mechanism in place is under Article 55 of the African Charter, which allows the Commission to receive communications (complaints) from parties other than member states. However, as fittingly described by Justice Kisanga, the Charter contains so many "claw back" clauses that the Commission has hardly resolved any of the long list of communications.  The states parties to the Charter rely heavily on Article 56, Paragraph 5 of the instrument, which states that a communication is only receivable if the complainant has first "exhausted local remedies".  Essentially, if a communication is presented to the Commission on behalf of Chief Manneh it may be rejected based on such a "claw back" clause as paragraph 5 of Article 56.   For more info. on the Charter,   www.achpr.org/english/_info/charter_en.html

 

I sincerely doubt if it will make any difference if the Commission is relocated in Algeria or Zanzibar.  If anything, it will take away much of the focus on the human rights violations in The Gambia and the only international institution of such importance located on our soil. The annual sessions of the Commission and the frequent human rights seminars and training programs contribute to the tourism industry.  Despite its inherent weaknesses, the location of the Commission headquarters in The Gambia should be a source of pride for our small nation and no one, not even President Jammeh, should take it away from us.

 

Thank you.

 

Momodou Baldeh.