Explains the meaning of all the human rights in the UN Declaration and links these to the teachings of the Catholic Bishops. Bib, index, 327pp, KENYA. PAULINES PUBLICATIONS AFRICA, 9966210555

2001 DELAY paperback

The expanded and updated English version of La Charte Africaine des Droites de l'Homme et des Peuples. This volume reveals the true dimensions of the African charter through a systematic analysis of its real or apparent innovations and a detailed assessment of the commitments of the state parties. BNS, 1066pp, USA. EJ BRILL, 9041120610

Second edition. The African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights came into force in 1986, and is unique in that it lacks a precedent. However, little scholarship exists analysing it as an operational system in practice. The success of the first edition of this book has led to this updated second edition. Contributors include experts who have been actively involved in the implementation of the Charter - commissioners, NGOs and academics. Offering a detailed evaluation of the Charter as a mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, the contributions cover the Charter's reporting system, the interpretation of different rights by the Commission, the prospects for the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and the role of NGOs. 534pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

This report looks at the context of human rights in Africa and describes what has been achieved in establishing the African Court. It also examines the difficulties that currently prevent the African Court and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights working together in a complementary way and problems regarding the processes giving access to the Court. 36pp, UK. MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP.

Draws from and builds upon many of the more traditional approaches to the study of international human rights institutions (IHIs), especially quasi-constructivism. The author reveals some of the ways in which many such domestic deployments of the African system have been brokered or facilitated by local activist forces, such as human rights NGOs, labour unions, women's groups, independent journalists, dissident politicians, and activist judges. Exposes and reflects upon the inherent inability of the dominant compliance-focused model to adequately capture the range of other ways, apart from via state compliance, in which the domestic invocation of IHIs like the African system can contribute to the pro-human rights alterations that can sometimes occur within key domestic institutions within states. Uses detailed case studies from Nigeria and South Africa. Index, bib, 336pp, UK. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Examination of the conceptual issues surrounding Africa's human rights framework and the international, continental, sub-regional and national institutions that have sought to address the problems plaguing the continent in the post-colonial era. The fields of expertise of the contributors to this multidisciplinary volume are as wide-ranging as law, politics, gender, international relations, economics and history, and all - whether academics or practitioners - are active in the arena of human rights on the continent. 320pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA MEDIA.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. This is a moment for celebration, but also for reflection on the achievements and the limitations of the commission. The purpose of this book, which accompanies a special issue of the award-winning electronic newsletter Pambazuka News, is not only to mark the 20th anniversary, but also to popularise understanding of the work of the commission. Contributors include: Hakima Abbas, Korir Sing'Oei Abraham, Roselynn Musa, Mireille Affaa Mindzie, Otto Saki, as well as interviews with Commissioner Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, Special Rapporteur on Refugees and Displaced Persons in Africa and Commissioner Faith Pansy Tlakula, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression in Africa. 178pp, UK. FAHAMU.

An exploration of complex links between culture, religion and notions of universal human rights, in an African context, combining reflection and theoretical argument with empirical detail. Tables, notes, bib, index, 288pp, UK. ZED BOOKS.

2002 1842770918 Paperback

The work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has not received the attention that it should have. The aim of this publication is to provide not only the basic documents, but also the less well known material related to the jurisprudence emanating from the consideration of communications. The two parts of this volume contain the twelve activity reports adopted by the Commission, resolutions, and final communiqués from the sessions. This is the first attempt to reproduce comprehensively the many documents of the Commission adopted since its inception in 1987. They will therefore be an essential reference for academics, students, and practitioners. The publication is produced in collaboration with the African Society for International and Comparative Law, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and Interights in London. 800pp, UK. HART PUBLISHING.

Includes the key documents published between 1998 and 2007. Once again the aim of the work is to provide not only the basic documents, but also the less well known material related to the jurisprudence emanating from the consideration of communications. This volume therefore includes, amongst other material, the most recent activity reports adopted by the Commission, resolutions, and final communiqués from the sessions. 1142pp, UK. HART PUBLISHING.

Twenty-five years after the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights was first published, unlawful killings, disappearances, torture and other human rights violations in many African countries are still occurring. Rights are best defended if they are widely known, and if people know what they can do if they are not respect. This pamphlet includes the texts of selected articles, annotation and descriptions, and lists useful addresses. 82pp, UK. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.

Many African governments recognized the human rights groups that sprang up in the closing decade of the Twentieth Century, although they were often placed under tight security surveil-lance, or incorporated into government-controlled structures at the expense of their original or autonomous roles. In political terms, this ghosting process comprises the usurpation of the modern democratic government and civil society by authoritative exclusionary policies, preempt-ing the democratic context of popular activities by replacing them with states agenda to maintain only the authoritative structure and the security functioning of the state. This book ranges over the implications of this dynamic, providing an overview of democracy and human rights in Africa in the 1990s, the position and treatment of women in Africa, and extensive treatment of African prison systems with case studies focusing on the Gambia, Egypt, South Africa and the Sudan. 244pp, USA. EDWIN MELLEN PRESS.

Prisons have always been a key focus of those interested in human rights and the rule of law. This book looks at the challenges African governments face in dealing with these issues. Written by some of the most eminent researchers from and on Africa, including the former Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, it provides a detailed consideration of the situation in African prisons and examines how regional and international legal instruments have dealt with human rights concerns such as overcrowding, healthcare, pre-trial detention and the treatment of women and children. Critically, the book reveals that there are processes and reforms underway across nations in Africa, and makes recommendations for strengthening and building on them. Index, bib, notes, 254pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

Contains materials on human rights, peace and justice relevant to Africa, extracted from academic writings, reports from the United Nations and non-governmental organisations, speeches, official documents, national constitutions and human right cases. Where possible, material from Africa has been selected. 432pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PRETORIA UNIVERSITY LAW PRESS.

Critical assessments of the role and relevance of the twenty year old African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, its structure, mechanisms, resources and institutional autonomy, while locating the general discourse on human rights and democracy in Africa in its wider political and socio-economic contexts. 200pp, SENEGAL. CODESRIA.

A new analysis of African conceptions, experiences and aspirations of human rights manifested in complex global, regional and local idioms. The authors argue that Africa has strengthened and shaped international law, such as the right to self determination inspired by the process of decolonisation, and the definition of the refugee. Also explored is the varied constructions of human rights in African and Western discourses and the roles played by states and NGOs in promoting or sub-verting human rights. BNS, 320pp, USA. UNIV. PRESS OF PENNSYLVANIA, 0812237838

Examines the various factors responsible for the phenomenon of state collapse in Africa, arguing that the role of human rights violations is critical to understanding the phenomenon; uses Sierra Leone and Somalia as case studies. Argues that the difference in success of international intervention in these countries was due to the huge attention paid to accountability for human rights violations in Sierra Leone, which has been absent in Somalia. Concludes that contemporary international law needs to come to terms with the phenomenon of State collapse, including an unambiguous outlining of the responsibility of non-State actors, who become the main actors in situations of total anarchy and chaos. 256pp, NETHERLANDS. ELEVEN INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING.

In Africa and Asia the conceptualisation of freedom for individuals and societies has been heavily influenced by the translation of specific European or American ideas of freedom into new political and social contexts. This volume represents a pioneering preliminary assessment of some of the causes and consequences of this process. BNS, 352pp, USA. STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0804745145

This book attempts to provide a comprehensive analytical overview of human rights in Africa, dealing particularly with the regional system of human rights protection. Four themes are followed throughout the book, these are: the principle of ‘uti possidetis’, the tensions in the modern post-colonial African state; poverty; and the interrelationship between national and international human rights protection. Index, bib, 670pp, UK. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Uses African and biblical references to set out the case to abolish the death penalty. 143pp, KENYA. PAULINES PUBLICATIONS AFRICA.

2002 9966215670 Paperback

Investigates how ideas of freedom impede struggles against poverty and injustice in emerging democracies. Reaching beyond a narrow focus on the national elite, it explores how activists' aspirations of self-improvement, pursued under harsh economic conditions, find in the human rights discourse a new means to distinguish oneself from the poor masses. Among expatriates, the emphasis on abstract human rights avoids confrontations with the political and business elites. Drawing on long-term research among the Malawian poor, it brings to life the personal circumstances of Malawian human rights activists, their expatriate benefactors, and the urban and rural poor. 262pp, USA. CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Now available in paperback, this is 'the first major comparative study of how human rights NGOs have brought revolutionary change south of the Sahara. Governments are both the most important protectors and abusers of human rights, while NGOs have become the most effective detectives in discovering abuses and the most active advocates in seeking solutions. Notes, bib, index. xiii, 356pp. USA. UNIV. PRESS OF PENNSYLVANIA, 0812217802