Preface
I am pleased and honored that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has asked me to write the preface for this important report.
I naturally have strong opinions on the subject of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association – not just because I cover these rights as UN Special Rapporteur, but also because I am a lifelong African human rights defender, civil society member and citizen. These rights are dear to me personally and professionally, and rarely in my lifetime have I seen them so systematically under siege.
In Ethiopia, independent human rights NGOs have been nearly exterminated thanks to a 2009 law that limits foreign funding to local NGOs, even as the government itself relies heavily on foreign funding and investment. In 2013, Kenya tried to enact similar restrictions.
In Zimbabwe, we have seen a wave of brutal repression against peaceful assemblies. In Uganda and Nigeria, we have seen draconian laws that essentially eliminate assembly and association rights for the LGBTI community. And in Uganda again, “walking to work” has essentially been made illegal for some citizens and there are restrictions on how many people can gather together, even peacefully. The same is true in Burundi where people are only allowed to jog singularly or in duos at most. The list of examples goes on, as readers will see in this report.
Even more disturbing than the repression itself, perhaps, are the various rationales for limiting assembly and association rights. Our governments claim that foreign-funded associations are neo-colonial fronts acting at the behest of foreigners, even as they themselves court and receive foreign funding. They claim that peaceful assemblies lead to chaos.
