ADDRESS OF DR. BERTRAND RAMCHARAN ACTING HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE HIGH LEVEL WORKING SESSION OF THE AFRICAN PEER REVIEW PANEL

Cape Town, South Africa, 25 July, 2003.


Mr Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen


It is an honour to be here at this High Level Working Session of the African Peer Review Panel. I should like to congratulate the NEPAD partners, the NEPAD Secretariat, the African Union, the Eminent Persons of the NEPAD Peer Review Panel, and Africa at large, for the progress that has led to this meeting. We in the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are honoured to be your partners and are at your disposal to support you in whatever way you might consider it helpful. We know that this is an African process. At the same time, the United Nations is of Africa as Africa is of the United Nations.

It is a particular pleasure to greet the eminent persons of the African Peer Review Panel, many of whom have long-standing associations with the United Nations and its human rights programme: Professor Adebayo Adejeji; Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat; Dr Graca Machel; Dr Dorothy Njeuma; Ms Marie-Angelique Savane; Dr Chris Stals;

The concept of a peer review process is an innovative one. When one considers parallel concepts in the human rights field, one could think of Eminent persons groups; Groups of friends of peace processes; the Good Offices of the Secretary-General or the United Nations High Commissioners for human rights and for refugees; high level intermediaries who mediate problems; fact-finding processes; and international peace or human rights observers.

The concept of the Eminent persons groups might be particularly of interest. In 1998 Secretary-General Kofi Annan agreed with the President of Algeria on the dispatch of such a group to that country to look into the terrorist acts in that country and I was privileged to accompany it. It briefed itself on the situation, visited the country, spoke to the authorities and people on the ground, discussed a normative framework for consideration of the situation, emphasised the importance of fundamental human rights guarantees within a framework of democracy and the rule of law and denounced terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The report of the Panel was published by the United Nations and is available for consultation.

Turning to the subject of our meeting,the objectives of the NEPAD are to work together in policy and action in pursuit of democracy and good political governance; economic and corporate governance; and socio-economic development. The NEPAD Declaration calls for action to support democracy and the democratic process; good political governance; and the promotion and protection of human rights. At the time of formally acceding to the peer review process, each State should clearly define a time bound Programme of Action for implementing the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance, including periodic reviews.

Thus far, 17 countries have opted in to the process. Of these many have ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and many have ratified United Nations Human Rights treaties. There is thus a solid normative base in human rights from which to proceed.

An immediate contribution that the African Peer Review process could make would be to encourage participating States and African States at large that have not already done so to ratify the core human rights treaties.

Of the participating States so far, some have national human rights commissions or similar national human rights institutions. The Panel might wish to pay attention to the role of such institutions in the course of its endeavours.

A good practical framework that is being put to use at the United Nations is the concept of the National Protection System. Six key aspects of such a system are: integration of international human rights norms in the constitution of a country; incorporation of international human rights norms in national legislation; recourse to international human rights norms by local courts; human rights education; the existence of national human rights institutions; and monitoring of the situation of vulnerable parts of the population. In these ways, a country strives to develop in the image of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Three general principles have proven of great value in human rights and related work: the principles of respect, confidence-building, and protection. One must strive to demonstrate respect for a people even while maintaining a dialogue with its leaders. One must endeavour to build up confidence in one's methods of work; and one must remember always that the goal is to protect people at risk. There must be credibility in the protection role.

Prevention is crucial. One must strive to prevent gross violations of human rights before they occur; one must strive to prevent humanitarian or man-made disasters. The best form of protection is prevention. The Conflict Prevention Mechanism of the African Union has pioneered this path in Africa and there is much in its experience to build on. Every country should strive for prevention. National, sub-regional, regional and international institutions should do likewise. Prevention would commend itself to the Peer Review process.

The promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights is crucial to the achievement of all three major objectives of the NEPAD. In this area we have solid experience in the United Nations to put at your disposal. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has developed a series of general comments on key articles of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that would have constructive policy guidance you may wish to draw upon. The Commission on Human Rights also has special rapporteurs on the rights to food, education, health, shelter and poverty reduction whose findings and recommendations you would want to know about and to study.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should be of particular interest to you. The future of Africa lies in its children and the protection of their rights - in peace and in war. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has pioneered practical approaches to the promotion and protection of the rights of children and the Committee's general recommendations must be high on your agenda.

Constitutional governance and the evolving African constitutionalism would be key to your endeavours. The doctrine of democratic legitimacy, developed by the United Nations Security Council and the Conflict Prevention Mechanism of the African Union, has to be a fundamental starting point in your endeavours. Africa needs to nurture and protect an African constitutionalism grounded in universal and regional human rights norms.

As you proceed with your work, the reports of African States, submitted to United Nations human rights treaty bodies, will be of interest to you - as will be the comments of the treaty bodies on those reports. The findings and recommendations of United Nations human rights rapporteurs will also interest you.

In the States you will review you will undoubtedly wish to ask if there are national human rights institutions, and how they are functioning. Where they do not exist, you would want to encourage their establishment. They will be your natural allies.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights should be one of your key African partners. For it is their task to nurture, foster, and protect a culture of human rights in Africa. The records and jurisprudence accumulated by the African Commission since its inception will be extremely useful for determining the status of implementation of the Charter and human rights on the Continent. There is therefore an urgent need to develop a clear strategy for effective collaboration between the African Commission and the African Peer Review Mechanism in order to go forward hand in hand.

The Protection of Minorities and Vulnerable groups would require particular attention. As a former Director dealing with African situations in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs I could detect the importance of minority protection within the framework of African constitutionalism. It would be important to develop in Africa a framework of norms and institutions for the protection of minorities. The concluding document of the inaugural conference of the Nyerere centre in Arusha, Tanzania, identified this issue as one requiring urgent attention.

Governance is a central issue and the Economic Commission for Africa is spearheading the process on the strengthening of governance in Africa. This is something to which I know you attach high importance. If there is one message that I would like to convey to you it is that you can make a difference. You have the hopes and prayers of people in Africa and the world at large who believe in you. Please help the people of Africa.


The support of African civil society will be crucial to your endeavours. For you cannot succeed with Governments alone. The people have to be at the forefront of your concerns and your strategies. The success of an initiative such as NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism and Process will depend largely on whether there is active participation by the people in the process of its implementation, including their access to information on NEPAD and broader governance issues. It will also depend on whether it can generate human-centred programmes at the country level and receive support from within the continent and outside for their implementation. Furthermore, success will depend on whether it can gather information relating to its impact quickly and efficiently. Feedback sources in such initiatives are needed so that the nature and growth of NEPAD can be monitored effectively. The African Peer Review Mechanism is the instrument through which NEPAD will ensure and determine its effectiveness.

As the United Nations system focal point on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights has sought to encourage efforts to ensure that the implementation of NEPAD is anchored in the realisation of the commitments it has made on these issues, especially at the national level.

The African Peer Review Mechanism would be need to base its actions on key principles of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and the Constitutive Act of the African Union such as universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness. NEPAD's role will be crucial in the realization and enjoyment of all rights for women and men and must therefore adhere to the principles of non-discrimination and equality of all persons.

The African Peer Review Mechanism would also need to help implement its reviews in accordance with regional and international human rights standards and recommendations such as the UN human rights treaty bodies and special rapporteurs. In this regard, a system of information sharing and joint technical support initiatives to countries under review by both institutions could be put in place.

The African Peer Review Mechanism could be strengthened by developing relations with the United Nations Commission and Sub-Commission on Human Rights.

The human rights indicators to be used in the African Peer Review Mechanism's evaluation process must reflect the universality and indivisibility of human rights. The International Bill of Rights, comprising the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the two Covenants on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the Convention on the elimination of racial discrimination, and the Convention against torture provide the normative framework. The African Peer Review Mechanism should be enjoined to make the ratification, adherence and implementation of States' obligations under these treaties an important benchmark in the review process. In particular, the process could incorporate specific benchmarks relating to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights, especially as NEPAD is a poverty reduction strategy designed to foster sustainable development in Africa.

Let me conclude by assuring you that the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights stands ready to provide expert support aimed at mainstreaming principles of human rights, gender equality and justice and reconciliation in the NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism implementation strategies, using the core human rights treaties. The imperatives of ensuring that respect for human rights and the rule of law are central to the African Peer Review Mechanism also provides a basis for paying deserved attention to issues of discrimination, gender equality, and equitable treatment of minorities and other vulnerable groups. In determining whether and how a country's resources are distributed, disaggregated data based on gender, ethnicity, geographical balance, religion and other categories of human rights concern will be required. This will also apply to review of policies and decisions which have a tendency to reinforce power imbalances in many societies.

Please know that you will always have our support in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Thank you.