The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission), which is the African organ responsible for ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, has strengthened its mandate over time through the work of its actors and informed by the actions, politics and strategies imagined by one and another.
The African Commission has made good use of the many precedents and synergies that have been set up, in order to develop numerous working tools, including the present guidelines on the conduct of law enforcement officials during assemblies. These guidelines rank among some of the achievements of the African Commission, whose thirtieth anniversary we celebrate this year.
The right to peaceful assembly is being severely tested, and one of the most significant challenges is, for instance, the attitude of law enforcement officials in our great African capitals especially during public demonstrations, and in a context where human rights defenders are often the first to be targeted and assaulted by the police
