Upon consideration of a communication submitted before it, the African Commission held that in its persecution of human rights defenders, the government of Sudan violated several provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the rights to work and health.
Implementation of the decision should currently be in progress. Enforcing the Committee recommendations will constitute concrete steps by Sudan towards meeting its obligations under the Convention. In its decision, the Commission explicitly states that Government of Sudan should inform the Commission within 180 days of the measures taken to implement the decision. One commentator notes that it is unclear whether its order will be properly enforced as there is not yet any information as to whether the NISS officers responsible for the torture have been prosecuted in Sudan, and because Sudan has remained silent both as to the merits of the complaint and following the decision of the ACHPR.
This decision handed down by Africa’s main human rights treaty body recognizes Sudan’s obligation to protect human rights defenders, and to ensure that their work promoting and protecting the rights of others is not obstructed. The victory in favor of human rights defenders is particularly important at a time when their situation in Sudan remains dire. Karim Lahidji, the FIDH President, has said: “The decision of the African Commission is significant and comes in a context where Sudanese human rights defenders continue to work in an environment that is marked by extreme insecurity and rampant impunity. Sudan must ensure that reprisals against those advocating for justice and fundamental rights and freedoms are no longer tolerated and unpunished.”
Today, human rights defenders across the world are under attack. It cannot be emphasized enough how important it is for the advancement of human rights and social justice to address the brutal rights violations faced so many human rights defenders, whether working in the realm of civil or political rights, or ESCR. Decisions such as these, at the very least, shine a spotlight on the abuses, galvanize relevant actors, and create an impetus for further action.
(Updated February, 2016)
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (an ESCR-Net member) and World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) represented the three human rights defenders before the African Commission, and the complaint was supported by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) (also an ESCR-Net member), the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and REDRESS.