The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), acting through the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (the Special Rapporteur), Commissioner Lawrence Mute, announces the publication of the English text of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa (the Declaration) Https://Www.Achpr.Org/Legalinstruments/Detail?Id=69. The Declaration was adopted during the Commission’s 65th Ordinary Session in November 2019.
This Declaration replaces the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, adopted by the Commission in 2002, to elaborate on the scope and content of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter).
The Special Rapporteur trusts that States, as well as non-state actors, will use the Principles established in the Declaration for purposes of ensuring the rights to freedom of expression and access to information which are enunciated in Article 9 of the African Charter. He in particular encourages stakeholders to use the Declaration to ensure that responses to the COVID-19 pandemic do not violate the rights enshrined in Article 9 of the African Charter.
Banjul, 17 April 2020
