The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, meeting in its Third Ordinary Session in Libreville, Gabon, from 18 to 28 April 1988:
Recalling that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which entered into force on 21 October 1986, established a Commission whose members were elected on 29 July, 1987 by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and which held its First Session in Addis Ababa;
Noting that the Charter does not contain any formal provision indicating that the Headquarters of the Commission be established at the Headquarters of the OAU;
Noting indeed that Article 30 of the Charter specifies only that an African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is established within the OAU, charged with promoting human and peoples’ rights and ensuring their protection in Africa;
Noting also that Article 64 of the Charter stipulates that the OAU Secretary-General will convene the first meeting of the Commission at the Headquarters of the Organisation and that subsequently the Commission will be convened whenever necessary and at least once every year by its Chairman;
Bearing in mind the quasi-legislative nature of the Commission and its need for a full-time Secretariat, it is not desirable to have the Headquarters of the Commission where the political and administrative organs of the OAU are located;
Convinced that the Headquarters of the Commission can only be hosted by a State which has ratified the Charter and which offers to the Commission substantial material and human resource facilities for is establishment, work and research;
1. RECOMMENDS to the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government to establish the Headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in a country other than the one hosting the political and administrative organs of the OAU;
2. RECOMMENDS ALSO to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government to choose, in order to establish the Headquarters of the Commission, a country which has ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and which offers to the Commission substantial material and human resource facilities for its establishment, work and research.
