Kingsley Ighobor: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 May 2023:
Solomon Dersso was the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Union’s body charged with promoting and protecting human rights and other freedoms in Africa between 2019 and 2021.
In this interview with Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor, Dr. Dersso reflects on his tenure, Africa’s current human rights situation and what the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights means for the continent. These are the excerpts:
You were the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) between 2019 and 2021. What are your reflections on your tenure?
I became the Chairperson of the Commission just before the COVID-19 outbreak. It was a time of emergency. So, a great deal of our engagement was focused on adjusting and responding to the difficult COVID-19 conditions. (Photo above: Solomon Dersso, former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights).
According to Amnesty International, we were the first human rights body in the world to issue a statement on COVID-19 and call for human rights-based response measures. That was on 28 February 2020—just days before WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
Also, one of our priorities in our 2021-2025 strategy was to bring human rights to the wider policy and governance processes of both the African Union and the wider continent. For example, we institutionalized the annual consultative meeting between the Commission and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, which is the AU’s premier decision-making body on peace and security matters. In civil wars and other conflicts, there is a need for the AU’s Peace and Security Council to integrate human rights concerns and issues into its decision-making processes.
We broadened our engagement with civil society organizations and supported the forming of national human rights institutions to bridge the gap between continental-level discussions and policymaking and the promotion of human rights at the national levels.
We also deepened our collaboration with the UN system. Indeed, the ACHPR and Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [2018-2022], issued a joint statement on COVID-19 and its impact on the human rights of women and vulnerable groups, and the need for international action to address the economic consequences of the pandemic.
You were quite outspoken about the human rights dimension of COVID-19. Did your advocacy make some governments more sensitive to how they tackled the pandemic?
I would like to believe so. Against the background of the statements that we issued on the pandemic and its impact on human rights, the AU member states were obligated to report to the ACHPR the steps they were taking.
In terms of the securitization of COVID-19 prevention measures that went against the tenets of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, we advised such countries to reconsider their positions. Some of the steps taken by many countries were informed by our advocacy.
There’s no debate about the fact that poverty is a human rights issue. Poverty condemns people to a life stripped of human dignity. Poverty impedes access to the basic necessities that make a human live a dignified life.
How would you summarize the situation of human rights in Africa today?
We have made progress in a few areas. For example, we no longer debate whether human rights are matters of concern. There is progress at the level of debate but also in terms of consciousness.
If you read the Afrobarometer statistics, most Africans have expectations for more responsive, democratic and accountable governments.
We supported the recognition and affirmation of the legitimacy of civil society organizations and of independent media. Indeed, in many countries, various legislations have been inspired by the work of the ACHPR.
Some 46 national human rights institutions have been established in African countries, and African youths are demanding respect for their rights. That is why we see protest movements. The #EndSARS protest movement in Nigeria, for example, was a manifestation of that. These are all positive developments. You can add the increase in the representation of women in decision-making processes in some countries.
But fundamentally, I think we are still in a very dire situation in terms of gender oppression. The statistics on gender-based and sexual violence are staggering; women and girls continue to live a life filled with fear of violence and lack of protection from state authorities.
There are examples of killings of human rights defenders and human rights lawyers.
There is a narrowing of the civic space. Socioeconomic rights are not prioritized as much as they ought to be. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights specifically mentions that economic, social and cultural rights have equal status as civil and political rights.
African Union member states committed [under the 2001 Abuja declaration] to dedicating 15 per cent of their national budgets to the health sector and 10 per cent to the agricultural sector [through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)]. Only a few countries have met these thresholds.
More than 20 years after the Abuja Declaration, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how the failure to invest in the health sector haunts the continent, leaving millions vulnerable. The rising cost of living has pushed more than 50 million people into extreme poverty. I’m afraid we may not achieve many targets in the Sustainable Development Goals come 2030. It is a tragic situation.
Countries must address the skyrocketing cost of living that is depriving people of the little they have and issues around food insecurity. We need to create the fiscal space for sustaining momentum rather than building momentum and having a regression.
On the SDGs, especially targets relating to human rights, is there anything that countries can do even at this stage to salvage the situation? You sound pessimistic.
I would not call it pessimism; it is being realistic. We [Africa] have experienced a reversal of some major development gains. If you think about the enrollment of girls in school, the disruption caused by COVID-19 has been significant.
In terms of eradicating poverty, unfortunately, we have more people in poverty today than, for example, seven years ago. These trends make me worry about the regressions we are experiencing.
States can address the pressing challenge of the absence of fiscal space and take measures to protect people from falling back into extreme poverty. They can take measures to safeguard social services, which are critical for avoiding reversals in, for example, maternal mortality rate.
Countries must address the skyrocketing cost of living that is depriving people of the little they have and issues around food insecurity. We need to create the fiscal space for sustaining momentum rather than building momentum and having a regression.
There is no debate about the fact that poverty is a human rights issue. Poverty condemns people to a life stripped of human dignity. Poverty impedes access to the basic necessities that make a human live a dignified life.
Climate change has grave human rights consequences. Consider the number of people who have become food insecure as a result of the drought in the Horn of Africa; the displacements in Eastern and Southern Africa because of the cyclones; the flooding in South Sudan, in West and Central African countries—Chad, Niger and Nigeria—and people, within a day, losing all their belongings, including their houses.
From that perspective, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights recognizes economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development to have equal legitimacy and legal status with civil and political rights, which are traditionally prioritized in the discourse and practice of human rights.
Seventy-Five years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it means a lot for Africa. It is a moment to reflect on how far we have come in institutionalizing human rights on the continent and think about rectifying some of the gaps that were there at the time the Charter was adopted.
Are you concerned about what appears to be the re-emergence of military regimes in parts of Africa?
Absolutely. The Commission held a high-level session on this issue and issued a statement highlighting the dangers of coups, in terms of the regression that they cause for the democratization process and their negative human rights consequences for the continent.
There is a demand for respect for human rights, constitutional order and democratization, but the supply is way behind.
If you compare, for example, the age of leaders on the African content with the average age of Africans, the gap is huge. It is the highest gap by global standards. It is these leadership and governance deficits that are creating the excuse or the pretext for the military to stage coups.
Despite your best efforts, most African countries have yet to ratify many human rights protocols. For example, as of 2020, only eight countries have ratified the 2008 Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights. Why is there a lukewarm attitude to ratifications?
The court protocol, by the way, is very important. Part of the reason for the reluctance by member states to ratify protocols, in the case of the court protocol, has to do with the fear and concern about the implications of having a powerful legal entity as far as the influence that it may have over what happens within states and the adjudication of disputes between states.
This year, we mark seventy-five years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). What does it mean for Africa?
It means a lot. It is a moment to reflect on how far we have come in institutionalizing human rights on the continent and think about rectifying some of the gaps that were there at the time the Charter was adopted. Africa was not adequately represented then because the continent was still under colonial rule.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is one of the few international documents, in legal terms, to which specific references are made in various AU instruments. For example, even the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Charter [in 1963] and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights make reference to the UDHR. So the UDHR is indeed a basis for establishing a more ambitious human rights order in Africa.
About Solomon Dersso
Solomon Dersso is former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
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