… . HUMAN RIGHTS … .
by Jerry Bibang, National Coordinator of PAYNCoP Gabon (translation by CPNN)
As part of the celebration of the African month of justice, the Citizen Movement for Good Governance in Gabon (MCB2G) and the Panafrican Youth Network for Peace Culture (PAYNCoP), in partnership with Africtivists, organized, Saturday, August 10, a public conference on the theme “African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Access to Justice: Mechanism for this fundamental right.”
(click on photo to enlarge)
Hosted by Paulette Oyane Ondo, lawyer and human rights defender, the meeting at the Glass Cultural Center brought together several NGO leaders and associations working for the defense and promotion of human rights.
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How can human rights be defended?
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In his remarks, Jerry Bibang, the MCB2G General Coordinator and National Coordinator of PAYNCoP Gabon emphasized the context of this meeting: “the activity that brings us together today is part of the implementation of the program entitled ‘Local Initiative for Justice’, which aims to set up a framework for dialogue, exchange, discussion and debate around human and peoples’ rights issues. The program, organized by Africtivistes, consists of 5 major sessions that will be held successively in Gabon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. ”
Through this program, “the Africtivists and all the stakeholders wish to publicize the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), which remains little known to the general public,” he added.
In her remarks, Maitre Paulette Oyane Ondo began with a historical reminder before addressing the composition, functioning, mechanisms and conditions of referral to the ACHPR. For the lawyer, the Commission, created in 1987 in Ethiopia, essentially promotes, protects, guarantees and respects human rights in Africa. Its basic tool is the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The commission also acts as a jurisdiction between states or in case of a difference between a state and an individual or a group of people living in Africa. If the commission is accessible to all, there are, however, conditions for it to take up a case. The first condition is that the country involved has ratified the African Charter on Human Rights; and the second is that the complaint is related to a violation of the basic text. The lawyer took the opportunity to highlight the lack of involvement of Gabonese civil society with the ACHPR, before answering the many questions of the participants.
On the sidelines of this event, the public also was presented the Africtivistes platform by Boursier Tchibinda, one of the members of this pan-African organization as well as a presentation of the MCB2G, by Joanie Mahinou, the Deputy General Coordonatrice of this NGO.