Kurt Melvin A.

Javier
LLB 1-2

African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

The African Union (AU) is a supranational union consisting of fifty-three African

states. Established in 2001, the AU's purpose is to help secure Africa's democracy,
human rights, and a sustainable economy, especially by bringing an end to intra-African
conflict and creating an effective common market.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Is an international human rights instrument that is intended to promote and

protect human rights and basic freedoms in the African continent.

It emerged under the aegis of the Organisation of African Unity (since replaced
by the African Union) which, at its 1979 Assembly of Heads of State and
Government, adopted a resolution calling for the creation of a committee of
experts to draft a continent-wide human rights instrument, similar to those that
already existed in Europe (European Convention on Human Rights) and
the Americas (American Convention on Human Rights). This committee was duly
set up, and it produced a draft that was unanimously approved at the OAU's
1981 Assembly.

Rights protected:

1. Civil and Political Rights

freedom from discrimination

Equality

life and personal integrity

 Dignity

freedom from slavery

freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

rights to due process concerning arrest and detention

the right to a fair trial

freedom of religion

freedom of information and expression

freedom of association

freedom to assembly

freedom of movement

freedom to political participation

and the right to property

2. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

right to work

the right to health

right to education

3. Peoples' Rights and Group Rights

family protection by the state

 right to equality

right to self-determination

right to development

right to peace and security

a generally satisfactory environment

Duties

The Charter not only awards rights to individuals and peoples, but also
includes duties incumbent upon them. These duties are as follows:

The duty to preserve the harmonious development of the family.

To serve the national community by placing both physical and intellectual abilities
at its service.

Not to compromise the security of the State.

To preserve and strengthen social and national solidarity.

To preserve and strengthen national independence and the territorial integrity of

one's country and to contribute to its defence.

To work to the best of one's abilities and competence and to pay taxes in the
interest of society.

To preserve and strengthen positive African cultural values and in general to

contribute to the promotion of the moral well-being of society.

To contribute to the best of one's abilities to the promotion and achievement of

African unity.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The Organization of American States (OAS) is an international organization,
headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five
independent states of the Americas. Over the course of the 1990s, with the end of
the Cold War, the return to democracy in Latin America, ,and the thrust
toward globalization, the OAS made major efforts to reinvent itself to fit the new context.

The American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San Jos,
is an international human rights instrument. It was adopted by many countries in the
Western Hemisphere in San Jos, Costa Rica, on 22 November 1969. It came into
force after the eleventh instrument of ratification (that of Grenada) was deposited on 18
July 1978.

Contents:

1. Chapter I establishes the general obligation of the states parties to uphold the
rights set forth in the Convention to all persons under their jurisdiction,

2. Chapter II give a list of individual civil and political rights due to all persons.

the right to life "in general, from the moment of conception

to humane treatment,

to a fair trial,

to privacy,

to freedom of conscience,

freedom of assembly,

freedom of movement

3. Chapter III deals with economic, social, and cultural rights.

 4. Chapter IV describes those circumstances in which certain rights can be
temporarily suspended, such as during states of emergency, and the formalities
to be followed for such suspension to be valid.

5. Chapter V, with a nod to the balance between rights and duties enshrined in the
earlier American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, points out that
individuals have responsibilities as well as rights.

European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the oldest organisation working for
European integration. It is an international organisation with legal personality recognised
under public international law and has observer status with the United Nations. The seat
of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg, France. The Council of Europe is responsible
for both the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human
Rights.

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (formally the Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international
treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by
the then newly formed Council of Europe,[1] the convention entered into force on 3
September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and
new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.The
Convention established the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Contents:
1. Article 1- binds the signatory parties to secure the rights under the other Articles
of the Convention "within their jurisdiction".

2. Article 2- protects the right of every person to his or her life.

3. Article 3- prohibits torture and "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

4. Article 4- prohibits slavery, servitude and forced labour but exempts labour: done
as a normal part of imprisonment, in the form of compulsory military service or
work done as an alternative by conscientious objectors, required to be done
during a state of emergency, and considered to be a part of a person's normal
"civic obligations".

5. Article 5- provides that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.

6. Article 6- provides a detailed right to a fair trial, including the right to a public
hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal within reasonable time,
the presumption of innocence, and other minimum rights for those charged with a
criminal offence (adequate time and facilities to prepare their defence, access to
legal representation, right to examine witnesses against them or have them
examined, right to the free assistance of an interpreter).

7. Article 7- prohibits the retroactive criminalisation of acts and omissions.

8. Article 8- provides a right to respect for one's "private and family life, his home
and his correspondence", subject to certain restrictions that are "in accordance
with law" and "necessary in a democratic society".

9. Article 9- provides a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

10. Article 10- provides the right to freedom of expression, subject to certain
restrictions that are "in accordance with law" and "necessary in a democratic
society".

11. Article 11- protects the right to freedom of assembly and association, including
the right to form trade unions, subject to certain restrictions that are "in
accordance with law" and "necessary in a democratic society".

12. Article 12- provides a right for women and men of marriageable age to marry and
establish a family.

13. Article 13- provides for the right for an effective remedy before national
authorities for violations of rights under the Convention.

14. Article 14- contains a prohibition of discrimination.

15. Article 15- allows contracting states to derogate from certain rights guaranteed by
the Convention in time of "war or other public emergency threatening the life of
the nation".

16. Article 16- allows states to restrict the political activity of foreigners.

17. Article 17- provides that no one may use the rights guaranteed by the Convention
to seek the abolition or limitation of rights guaranteed in the Convention.

18. Article 18- provides that any limitations on the rights provided for in the
Convention may be used only for the purpose for which they are provided.