16 October 2006
Challenges of language and fundamental Human Rights in Africa
The Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) Rights Commission,
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Commission on Gender Equality (CGE),
South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the United Nations Office of
the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNOHCHR) plans to commemorate and
celebrate Africa Human Rights Day in the Free State province, in QwaQwa at the
Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality. Africa is a diverse continent.
Diversity has the potential to draw a number of human and communal rights
challenges. These challenges could range from cultural, language, religious,
access to land and freedom of expression.
The CRL Rights Commission's along with 'its' partners has 'its' broad
legislative mandate as the protection and promotion of cultural, religious and
linguistic rights of communities. Human rights have an impact on community
rights and the reverse is the case in this regard. Therefore, there is a
challenge to tease out the relationship between the two areas namely, human
versus community. Since 2005 the CRL Rights Commission commemorates 21 October
as Africa Human Rights Day. This commemoration acknowledges the genesis of the
African Charter on Human and People's Rights.
The chosen topic for this year is: "Challenges of Language and Fundamental
Human Rights in Africa." Surely, language has much to address questions of
human dignity as far as community dignity and self respect. The subtle
objective of this year's celebration and commemoration is to offer participants
an opportunity to transcend issues and debates and to address language issues
from a human-communal point of view in Africa. Through this commemoration we
hope to provide an opportunity for discussions, sharing, and engagements
theoretical, methodological and ground-local perspectives to be able to gain
better understanding from a human-communal perspective on the specific
situation of Africa and its people.
The African Charter on Human and People's Rights was adopted by the then
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) during the General Assembly of Heads of
States and Government, held in June 1981 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Charter came
into force on 21 October 1986. This year, June 2006 marked the 25th year of the
adoption of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and 21 October
2006 will mark 20 years of entry into force of the African Charter.
In addition, a joint seminar amongst Chapter Nine Institutions will signal
to South Africans that these institutions take very seriously the promotion and
protection of human rights in South Africa and in the rest of the African
continent. As the seminar is hoped to come up with recommendations to the
African Commission on how to strengthen the African human rights architecture,
it is hoped that a joint report of recommendations will have more credibility
than uncoordinated individual recommendations by individual institutions. In
that respect, from a strategic point of view, joint recommendations by Chapter
Nine Institutions may have more possibilities of being considered and perhaps
being taken on board by the African Commission. Such collaboration between
these key national human rights institutions in South Africa will signal the
importance and relevance of the African Charter in South Africa, and hopefully
this will expedite the processes to domesticate the Charter in South
Africa.
To that effect, a joint collaboration between Chapter Nine Institutions and
UNOHCHR to commemorate this important milestone in the African system of human
rights will contribute to the strengthening of the system and the domestication
of the African Charter. This will also strengthen relations between Chapter
Nine Institutions and the UNOHCHR in South Africa. The proposed seminar will
provide opportunities to the Chapter Nine Institutions and United Nations (UN)
to explore possible strategies to contribute to the strengthening of the work
of the African Commission. For example, the African Commission still has a
backlog of cases, which hampers its effectiveness in building a culture of
human rights in Africa. Such a seminar will assist the partners in developing
creative and constructive strategies, from their different perspectives, to the
African Commission to consider for addressing challenges faced by the region
and Africa as a whole.
Enquiries:
Advocate Graig Philander
Tel: (011) 339 1775
Cell: 082 882 3723
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
16 October 2006
