A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

D. Regional Human Rights Instruments
Regional instruments also protect human rights. For example, both the European Convention for
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention) (entered into
force Sept. 3, 1953) and the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (American Convention)
(entered into force July 17, 1978) recognize and give effect to the human rights principles established
in the UDHR. 109 In Africa, a specific regional charter protects human rights.
i. African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights
The African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) was adopted in 1981 and
entered into force on October 21, 1986. 110 As of June 11, 2009, 53 African states were parties to
the African Charter. 111 Liberia ratified the African Charter on August 4, 1982. While it was inspired
by the UDHR, the two international covenants, and the other regional human rights charters, the
African Charter reflects a high degree of specificity due in part to the African conception of the
term “right” and its meaning in reference to the responsibilities of human beings. 112 State parties
undertake to “recognize the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in [the Charter] and . . . to
adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them.” 113 State parties also “have the duty to
promote and ensure through teaching, education and publication, the respect of the rights and
freedoms contained in the present Charter and to see to it that these freedoms and rights as well
as corresponding obligations and duties are understood” and “to guarantee the independence of
the Courts and . . . allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions
entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present
Charter.” 114 Thus, the African Charter places an especially strong emphasis on the need for an
independent administration of justice to protect human rights. 115
The African Charter recognizes the following civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of
individual human beings:
• freedom from discrimination;
• equality before the law;
• respect for one’s life, personal integrity, and inherent dignity, including freedom from slavery,
slave trade, and torture, and from cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment;
• the right to liberty and personal security, including freedom from arbitrary arrest or
detention;
• access to the courts for redress of grievances;
• presumption of innocence and the right to a defense, to be tried within a reasonable time,
and to be free from ex post facto laws;
• freedom of conscience, profession, thought, and religion;
• the right to receive information;
• freedom of association;
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