Banjul, 26 January 2021: IHRDA and Centre de Documentation et de Formation sur les Droits de l’Homme (CDFDH) organized from 26-28 January 2021 a human rights strategic litigation training and case-identification workshop for 25 lawyers and activists in Togo.
The workshop was aimed at equipping Togolese lawyers and human rights defenders with skills to engage in strategic litigation using international human rights instruments and mechanisms, notably within the context of the African human rights system. It also sought to promote the application of international human rights instruments before the Togolese courts and to improve legal support mechanisms for victims of human rights violations.
Topics covered include an overview of human rights litigation in Africa; the application of human rights treaties in Togo (including domestication of treaties, relevant institutions with human rights protection mandate, and legal aid); litigating before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the ECOWAS Court; matters of observer status before the ACHPR and ACERWC, and online legal resources to support litigation and legal advocacy within the African human rights system (focusing IHRDA’s legal resources).
Participants also treated a hypothetical case to demonstrate knowledge and skills acquired, and identified strategic cases of human rights violations which they would be working with IHRDA to take up for litigation at regional level.
This activity falls within a context of increasing human rights violations in Togo, with increasing need for lawyers and activists to adequately respond to such violations and ensure justice for persons involved.
The workshop is funded by National Endowment for Democracy, USA.
