AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AND THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS MEET IN ARUSHA 19-22 SEPTEMBER, 2016

Arusha, 19 September, 2016:   The Arusha-based African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) and the Banjul-based African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) today began their Fifth Annual Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania.

The President of the African Court, Hon. Justice Sylvain Oré, said that the 19-22 September 2016 Annual Meeting serves to cement relationship of cooperation based on complementarity between the two institutions.

They will discuss progress, among others, on the establishment of the Legal Aid Fund; the creation of the Pan African Human Rights Institute ; and 2016 celebrations to mark the African Year of Human Rights.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. AfCHPR

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights is a continental court established by African countries to ensure protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The 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, which was adopted by Member States of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in June 1998. The Protocol came into force on 25 January 2004 after it was ratified by more than 15 countries.

2. ACHPR

The African Charter established the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Commission was inaugurated on 2 November 1987 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Commission’s Secretariat has subsequently been located in Banjul, The Gambia.

3. The fourth joint meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya in July, 2015.

Further information can be obtained from the Court’s website at www.african-court.org