Human Rights Watch and the U.S. State Department each released reports at the end of February highlighting the poor status of human rights on the continent of Africa. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of cause for hope for things to improve in the immediate future.
Human Rights Watch focused its report on the numerous human rights commissions that have been set up throughout Africa. Currently 20 African nations have human rights commissions of one sort of another to investigate human rights abuses — more than on any other continent. Unfortunately, except for a select few, most of the human rights commission are shams designed to deflect international criticism rather than root out human rights abuses. According to Human Rights Watch,
FOr the most part [the commissions] have proved to be a disappointment. Many have indeed been formed by governments with dismal human rights records, weak state institutions, and no history of autonomous state bodies. Some appear largely designed to deflect international criticism of some serious human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch’s Binaifer Nowrojee told The GUardian (UK), Millions of Africans are being displaced, tortured or killed. Yet the sad truth is that human rights commissioners in AFrica often turn a blind eye to these abuses. Many commissioners fail to publicly denounce abuses, either from fear of retribution or out of hope of government favor.”
The notable exceptions to this are human rights commissions in South Africa, Ghana and Uganda which have exposed abuses and challenged government practices. Of course the fact that only three out of the twenty African human rights commission are more than public relations tools isn’t a percentage to be proud of.
Meanwhile the State Department noted that although political violence did subside in Africa somewhat since 1999, human rights abuses in Africa were still far too common in 2000. Among those cited,
- In Sierra Leone there were “reports of … extrajudicial killings, rapes, and beatings in 60 percent of the country.”
- Arbitrary arrests, disappearances and torture were reported in Angola, Eritera, Ethiopia, Guinea, Nigeria, and Uganda.
- Mob lynchings occurred in Tanzania.
- In Burundi, which is run by a military dictatorship, civilians were routinely victimized by summary executions, rape and other violence.
- Female genital mutilation still thrives in Benin, Ethiopia, Mali and other parts of AFrica.
- More than 1,500 people died in Nigeria last year as a result of religious fighting between Muslims and Christians
And that list could go on and on. The underlying problem is a lack of liberal democracy and multi-party political systems that could check arbitrary state power.
Sources:
Human rights commissions in Africa ‘are often a sham’. Chris McGreal, The Guardian (UK), February 23, 2001.
US paints grim Africa human rights picture. Agence-Frances Presse, February 26, 2001.