protection and redress for victims of crime and human rights violations

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Chapter 15 • Protection and Redress for Victims of Crime and Human Rights Violationsgender-related dimensions of racial discrimination”. In so doing, it will give “particularconsideration”, inter alia, to the “availability and accessibility of remedies andcomplaint mechanisms for racial discrimination”. 110*****Under article 2(c) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination against Women, the States parties undertake “to establish legalprotection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure throughcompetent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection ofwomen against any act of discrimination”. The Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination against Women urged Belarus “to create adequate remedies for womento obtain easy redress from direct or indirect discrimination especially in the area ofemployment [and] to improve women’s access to such remedies, including access tocourts, by facilitating legal aid to women and embarking on legal literacy campaigns”. 111The Committee also recommended that Cameroon “provide access to legal remedies”for women subjected to various forms of violence. 112*****Lastly, it is interesting to note in this context that the question of effectiveremedies for human rights violations was also dealt with in Part I, paragraph 27, of theVienna Declaration and Programme of Action, in which the participating States agreedby consensus that:“Every State should provide an effective framework of remedies to redresshuman rights grievances or violations. The administration of justice,including law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies and, especially, anindependent judiciary and legal profession in full conformity withapplicable standards contained in international human rights instruments,are essential to the full and non-discriminatory realization of human rightsand indispensable to the processes of democracy and sustainabledevelopment.” 1133.4.2 The regional levelThe right to a domestic remedy is, of course, also guaranteed by the regionalhuman rights treaties. Article 7(1)(a) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’Rights stipulates that every individual shall have “the right to an appeal to competentnational organs against acts violating his fundamental rights as recognized andguaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs in force”. This provision wasviolated, inter alia, in a case against Zambia, in which one of the victims had beendenied the opportunity to appeal his deportation order. In the view of the AfricanCommission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, this deprivation of the right to a fair110 General Recommendation No. XXV (Gender-related dimensions of racial discrimination), in United Nations Compilation ofGeneral Comments, p. 195, para. 5(d).111 UN doc. GAOR, A/55/38, p. 37, para. 360.112 Ibid., p. 55, para. 50.113 See UN doc. A/CONF.157/53.786 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers
Chapter 15 • Protection and Redress for Victims of Crime and Human Rights Violationshearing violated both Zambian law and international human rights law, including article7(1)a) of the African Charter. 114 The right to be heard, as guaranteed by article 7(1)(a),was also violated in a case against Nigeria, in which the courts were prevented by agovernment decree from entertaining any complaints concerning a number of decreesregarding, inter alia, the proscription of newspapers. The African Commission onHuman and Peoples’ Rights did not accept the Government’s argument that it was “inthe nature of military regimes” to provide for such “ouster clauses” in order to avoidexcessive litigation. According to the Commission:“A government that governs truly in the best interest of the people ...should have no fears of an independent judiciary. The judiciary and theexecutive branch of government should be partners in the good orderingof society. For a government to oust the jurisdiction of the courts on abroad scale reflects a lack of confidence in the justifiability of its ownactions, and a lack of confidence in the courts to act in accordance with thepublic interest and rule of law.” 115The Commission therefore decided that the ouster of the courts’ jurisdictionviolated the right to have one’s cause heard under article 7(1) of the Charter. 116*****Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights on the right tojudicial protection reads as follows:“1. Everyone has the right to simple and prompt recourse, or any othereffective recourse, to a competent court or tribunal for protection againstacts that violate his fundamental rights recognized by the constitution orlaws of the state concerned or by this Convention, even though suchviolation may have been committed by persons acting in the course of theirofficial duties.2. The States Parties undertake:(a)to ensure that any person claiming such remedy shall have hisrights determined by the competent authority provided for bythe legal system of the state;(b) to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy; and(c)to ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce suchremedies when granted.”114 ACHPR, Amnesty International (on behalf of W. S. Banda and J. L. Chinula) v. Zambia, Communication No. 212/98, decision adopted on5 May 1999, paras. 60-61 of the text of the decision as published at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/africa/comcases/212-98.html115 ACHPR, Media Rights Agenda and Others v. Nigeria, Communications Nos. 105/93, 128/94, 130/94 and 152/96, decision adopted on31 October 1998, paras. 78 and 81 of the text of the decision as published at:http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/africa/comcases/105-93_128-94_130-94_152-96.html116 Ibid., para. 82.Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 787
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