International Commission of Jurists
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ judgment of 22 September 2022: A clear rebuke of Tunisia’s authoritarian drift

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ judgment of 22 September 2022: A clear rebuke of Tunisia’s authoritarian drift

Nov 6, 2023 | News

Today, the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) opens its 71st Ordinary Session. To mark the occasion, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in collaboration with inkyfada, looks back at AfCHPR’s September 2022 judgement against Tunisia, in which it ordered the republic to return to constitutional democracy and establish an independent constitutional court. The ICJ examines the impact of the judgement on human rights in Tunisia, and how individuals can operationalize the AfCHPR to challenge the curtailment of fundamental freedoms, judicial independence and rule of law in Tunisia.

ICJ’s questions and answers:

It has been more than a year since the African Court on Human and People’s rights issued its judgment in case No. 017/2021, “Ibrahim Ben Mohamed Ben Brahim Belguith v. Republic of Tunisia”, of 22 September 2022. The case was brought by Mr. Belguith, a national of Tunisia and a lawyer, who complained of violations of his rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other human rights instruments as a result of the promulgation of several Tunisian presidential decrees adopted under the “state of exception” pursuant to article 80 of the 2014 Constitution since 25 July 2021. In this judgment, the African Court ordered Tunisia to repeal these decrees, to return to constitutional democracy within two years and to ensure the establishment and operation of an independent constitutional court within the same period.

What does this judgment mean and why is it important for the rule of law and human rights in Tunisia? The ICJ provides answers in the Q&A below:

    1. What is the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights?
      * The African Union 
      * The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
      * The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
      * The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
      * Tunisia’s adherence to the African Human Rights System
    1. Why was the African Court seized of the situation in Tunisia? Contextual overview
      * President Kais Saied’s power grab of 25 July 2021
      * The absence of a Constitutional Court
    1. What did the 22 September 2022 judgment rule?
      * How the African Court came to rule on the matter: the application
      * What the judgment ruled:
    1. What are the next steps?
      * Implementation
      * Other complaints against Tunisia pending before the African Court
Download the full Q&A in English here
Download the full Q&A in French here
Download the full Q&A in Arabic here

 

 

 

 

The ICJ recommends that the African Union acknowledge COVID-19 vaccines are a “public good”

The ICJ recommends that the African Union acknowledge COVID-19 vaccines are a “public good”

Feb 4, 2021 | Advocacy, News

The ICJ, in a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union, recommended that the African Union acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines are a “public good” and all States must ensure access to these vaccines in order to realize the human rights of their inhabitants.

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, to which most AU Member States are Party, provides that “every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health” (Art 16(1)). The Charter also places an obligation on the States Parties to take all “necessary measures to protect the health of their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick” (Art 16(2)).

This obligation must be understood consistently with the equivalent Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights (ICESCR), to which most AU Member States are also Party.  That provision protects the right to the “highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”, and requires States to take all necessary measures to realize this right including to ensure “the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases” (Art 12(1)(c)).  Vaccines, for some such diseases including COVID-19, are necessarily an integral part of prevention, treatment and control.

“It is essential for the process of vaccine procurement and allocation to be in line with international human rights standards. The African continent and its people cannot afford to be left behind, and the best way to ensure that does not happen is to move forward and prioritize each individuals right to health and corresponding human rights.” –

Justice Sanji Monageng, ICJ Commissioner, Botswana

Therefore, under these treaties and other internationally binding human rights law, it is clear access to certain vaccines is necessary to fulfill a human right, must not be seen as a privilege. Vaccines are a public good and should be treated as such by States. This understanding was affirmed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in December in a statement on universal and equitable access to vaccines. CESCR stressed that: “every person has a right to have access to a vaccine for COVID-19 that is safe, effective and based on the application of the best scientific developments”. It further implored States to “give maximum priority to the provision of vaccines for COVID-19 to all persons”.

Recommendations of the International Commission of Jurists

The AU will be expected by the constituents of its Members to fulfil its proper leadership function in terms its Constitutive Act an ensure the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. To this end, the ICJ calls upon the AU to adopt resolutions:

  1. Calling on all member States to ensure that their COVID-19 responses, including vaccine acquisition and distribution, comply with international human rights law and standards including those particularly relating to the rights to health and to duty ensure this right is realized through international cooperation.
  2. Calling on all member States to endorse and fully participate in the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool.
  3. Calling on all member States to openly support the approval and implementation of a waiver of intellectual property rights in terms of the TRIPS agreement in order to ensure equitable and affordable access of COVID-19 vaccines and treatment for all.
  4. Calling on all member States to urgently publish public, comprehensive vaccine rollout plans and transparently provide clear and full health-related information to their populations.
  5. Calling on all participants in COVAX to endorse and fully participate in the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool.
  6. Calling on the WTO to respond expeditiously and favourably to the proposal communicated by India and South Africa for waiver of IP protection for vaccines.

To read the full submission, click here.

Contact

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, ICJ Africa Director Kaajal.Keogh(a)icj.org +27 84 5148039

Tanveer Jeewa, Media and Legal Consultant Tanveer.Jeewa(a)icj.org

South Sudan: Human Rights Council should appoint independent expert

South Sudan: Human Rights Council should appoint independent expert

Feb 26, 2016 | Advocacy, Open letters

The ICJ joins other NGOs in calling on the HRC to appoint an independent expert to investigate, publicly report on, and promote accountability for ‘severe, widespread and ongoing violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in South Sudan’.

The open letter, which includes additional recommendations for a resolution on South Sudan to be adopted at the 31st ordinary session of the Human Rights Council (29 Feb – 24 Mar) is available here: Open Letter South Sudan

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