Discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is not an African value.
An activist poses for the camera outside Botswana High Court which ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality in June 2019.
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Despite taking a step backwards, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights can redeem itself by continuing to protect the rights of LGBTQ persons on the continent
The change in leadership is one of the factors that led to the decriminalisation of homosexual relationships in Angola.
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There have been great strides towards the protection of women’s rights in Africa but progress has been slow. A new body to actively implement rights protections and monitor progress must be set up.
The African Commission has adopted the final draft of a protocol that will protect the rights of persons living with disability.
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After decades of human rights abuses against Africans living with mental and other disability, the African Commission has finally drafted a protocol to the African Charter to protect their rights.
Money to protect the rights of African women has been in short supply.
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African countries are bound by continental law to put aside funds for the protection of women’s rights, but very few have managed to put their gender-budgeting guidelines into practice
Former Chadian President Hissène Habré defiant as he leaves court in Dakar in 2005.
Reuters/Aliou Mbaye
Former Chadian president Hissène Habré’s fate will be sealed by the appeals judgment in a part domestic and international trial bringing closure to victims and human rights champions after a 20 years.
Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia, addresses the United Nations in September 2014. The dictator is notorious for human rights violations.
Reuters/Lucas Jackson
President Jammeh has ruled Gambia with an iron fist since he seized power more than two decades years ago. He is responsible for gross human rights abuses, yet he hosts Africa’s human rights watchdog.
Director, Global Health, Youth and Development, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), USA & Visiting Professor, University of the Witwatersrand