Honourable Chairperson,

Honourable Commissioners,

Distinguished Delegates,

We thank you for the opportunity to address the 87^th Ordinary Session of the African Commission.

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa warmly congratulates the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, a landmark instrument that has shaped the continent’s human rights architecture. We commend the Commission for its steadfast commitment over the decades in interpreting, promoting, and safeguarding the Charter’s ideals, thereby advancing accountability, justice, and the protection of human dignity across Africa.

Honourable Chair we remain concerned about persistent patterns of human rights violations across the continent, especially the deployment of force and restriction of civic space during elections. Across several African countries, recent elections have been marked by repression, violence and significant restrictions on civic space.

In Mozambique, following the 2023 electoral period, security forces used excessive force against demonstrators, resulting in at least five deaths and over 50 injuries, and carried out multiple arbitrary arrests. While the authorities opened investigations and detained some security officials, significant cases remain unresolved, including the shooting of protesters in Maputo on 28 October 2023, undermining accountability.

In Tanzania, the October 2025 elections saw at least 300 arrests of political activists and protesters, including opposition leader Tundu Lissu who is still detained on charges of treason for alleged actions related to the protests. Countless deaths were recorded due to use of live ammunition on the streets by security forces, under the cover of an internet shutdown. The Commission of Inquiry established in March 2025 released its report in April this year. While this is considered a good milestone, we call on it Commission to conduct its own fact-finding mission and demand accountability. 

In Cameroon, following the October 2025 presidential elections,  protesters faced arrest and brutality from security forces. Security forces arrested opposition leaders Anicet Ekane, who later died in custody, and Djeukam Tchameni remains in custody to this day, while Issa Tchiroma Bakary was forced to flee to The Gambia. Investigations into these incidents have not been made fully public and accountability remains uncertain while arbitrary detention continues.

In Uganda, during the January 2026 presidential elections, the Uganda Communications Commission issued a directive suspending public internet access, outbound data roaming, and SIM card sales ahead of the 15 January 2026 elections, significantly disrupting access to information and communication. The National Bureau for NGOs also suspended permits of several civil society organisations from 9 January 2026, including Chapter Four Uganda and the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders-Uganda, restricting civic space. During this period, opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) was surrounded by security forces, protests were suppressed, and reports indicate multiple arrests and limitations on lawful political activity.

Honourable Chairperson, elections cannot continue to serve as platforms and arenas for violations of rights, while the African Union sends congratulatory messages and nothing more.

It is time for the Commission to demand accountability from Mozambique, Tanzania, Cameroon and Uganda, and for the Commission to design more robust election-related interventions, including demanding meaningful action from the African Union on violent and fraudulent elections that violate human rights norms and fail to meet standards of being free, fair and credible. Elections are now synonymous with rights violations; Africans look to this Commission to reverse this.   

Beyond electoral contexts, we also draw the Commission’s attention to ongoing patterns of violence affecting civilian populations.

In Nigeria, we respectfully draw the Commission’s attention to the continuing violence in the country’s Middle Belt region. Since 2017, the International Committee on Nigeria has documented repeated attacks on villages, including killings of civilians, destruction of property, and displacement of communities. Reports indicate that both Christian and Muslim communities are affected, with significant humanitarian consequences. We remain concerned that sufficient measures have not been taken to protect communities, ensure accountability for violations, and address the root causes of the violence.

We therefore urge the Commission to call on the Government of Nigeria to strengthen protection for affected communities, investigate and prosecute perpetrators, and provide humanitarian support to those impacted.

Honourable Chairperson,

In addition to these country-specific concerns, we wish to highlight persistent delays in the determination of communications by the Commission, which continue to affect access to justice for victims. In some instances, communications before this Commission have taken between 5-10 years to reach a determination. By comparison, proceedings before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child are often concluded within 2 years, while cases before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights generally take between 2-5 years. These delays risk undermining confidence in the regional human rights system and may partly explain the decline in communications submitted to the Commission in recent years. This is, in our view, an urgent issue for this Commission to address, and we urge the Commission to:

• Take concrete measures to reduce delays in rendering decisions on communications and ensure timely determination of cases;
• Strengthen internal case management and follow-up mechanisms to improve the predictability and timeliness of decisions; and
• Provide regular public updates on the status of pending communications to enhance transparency and confidence in the system.

Honourable Chairperson, Commissioners,

While we acknowledge the importance of providing regional guidance on the protection of human rights defenders in Africa, we must respectfully but unequivocally reject the current draft Declaration on Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders. While we intend to submit written comments on the draft as requested by the Commission, we feel compelled to publicly declare our fundamental disagreement with both the conceptual philosophy and substance of the draft declaration due to the significant negative impact it will have on human rights defenders across the continent. In its present form, it is a deeply troubling and potentially dangerous instrument that risks legitimising restrictions rather than strengthening protections. By conflating States and their security apparatus with independent human rights defenders, elevating vague and undefined notions of “common or shared African values” above binding human rights standards, and imposing broad, ambiguous duties on defenders that can easily be weaponised, the draft creates a framework that States could exploit to suppress dissent, shrink civic space, and criminalise legitimate human rights work. Rather than reinforcing the Commission’s long-standing jurisprudence this text introduces regressions that would undermine the very individuals and groups it purports to protect. We therefore urge the Commission to withdraw and fundamentally reconsider this draft to ensure that any future instrument unequivocally strengthens rather than weaken the protection of human rights defenders across Africa.

Thank you for your attention.