04 November 2021, Banjul, The Gambia - The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) wishes to inform the general public that its Working Group on Death Penalty and Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Africa (the Working Group), will be organizing a Validation Workshop of the Guidelines on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances in Africa, from 5 to 6 November 2021, in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia. This activity is funded by the European Union under the EU/AGA Support Project 2021-2023.
The Workshop, which is part of the promotion mandate of the Commission, is being organized within the framework of Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and pursuant to Resolution ACHPR/Res. 448 (LXVI) 2020 adopted by the Commission during its 66th Ordinary Session held virtually from 13 July to 7 August 2020, which mandated the Working Group to draft Guidelines on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances in Africa (the Guidelines).
The Workshop is organized to consider and discuss the Guidelines to be adopted by the Commission, in order to assist States to fulfill their obligations to prevent and protect their populations against the Enforced Disappearances.
The specific objectives of the Workshop are among others to ensure that the Guidelines are comprehensive, reflect the crises of enforced disappearances on the continent and provide pathway to ending this practice before the Guidelines are presented to the Commission for its adoption. The participants will consider the following issues:
- The concerns of the Commission related to the phenomenon of enforced disappearances being rampant across the continent, the range of human rights violations and its consequences on the victims are addressed.
- The lack of an African instrument that addresses specifically the prevention and protection against enforced disappearance on the continent is discussed; and
- highlight the obligations of State parties to put an end to enforced disappearances in Africa, including to investigate, prosecute and provide reparations.
The Workshop will be attended by Members from the Working Group and other stakeholders, Experts and Members from leading institutions specialized on enforced disappearances, academic scholars, UN and other international and regional bodies with expertise on the crime of enforced disappearance, Partners from the technical drafting team, NHRIs and civil society organizations that have experience working with victims of enforced disappearance either as legal representatives, assisting relatives to find their loves ones, or providing psychosocial or forensic support and the Staff of the ACHPR Secretariat.
The Workshop will be facilitated by Members of the Working Group, Experts and staff of the Secretariat of the Commission.
For further information, please contact:
Secretariat, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
31 Bijilo Annex Lay-out, Kombo North District Western Region.
PO Box 673
Banjul, The Gambia
Tel: 220 4410505/6
Fax: 220 4410504
E-mail: au-banjul@africa-union.org
