By Francis Ameyibor
Tema, Oct. 12, GNA-Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud, President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has charged the African Union organs to continue to work closely and mutually to protect and promote human rights in Africa.
She said it was the mandate of the African Court to monitor respect for human rights on the African continent in line with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other human rights instruments.
Lady Justice Aboud made the call during the ongoing retreat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the African Court and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The retreat is aimed at strengthening the complementarity between the two institutions.
Lady Justice told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in a telephone interview that the broad objective of the retreat is to enable “these two African Union Organs to develop practical and positive solutions for realistic implementation of the complementarity between the two important institutions.
“It is my strong belief, and that of all our colleagues at the African Court, that these two institutions will continue to work closely and mutually to protect and promote human rights in Africa.
“Our mandates are to deliver justice to our citizens expeditiously, efficiently and using fair processes.”
Lady Justice Aboud added that recent developments in Africa’s socio-political and legal landscape unequivocally demanded that African leaders reaffirmed their commitment to justice.
“Whether to terrorism, armed conflicts, famine, political violence, underdevelopment, or poverty, justice continues to stand as the agreed solution.
“In fact, and as Agenda 2063 clearly acknowledges, the aim of government is human development through social justice. It can therefore not be denied that judges and courts have a role to play in achieving development justice, whether by enforcing political, socio-economic or development rights,” Lady Justice Aboud stated.
The African Court President explained that the way for African Governments to reaffirm commitments to justice was through legal and judicial knowledge sharing.
“In other words, to best administer justice on legal issues that are insistently becoming global yet with the domestic application, we judge, and courts need to engage in consistent trading of legal and judicial solutions.
“As regional courts, our role is to harmonize and unify the domestic application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” she said.
Lady Justice Aboud said: “I name terrorism and its socio-political and economic consequences, but I also name pandemics, technology, social media; and more structural questions such as free and fair elections, governance and states cooperation with international human rights courts and tribunals.”
GNA