The Arab Charter on Human Rights 

• Also known as the Banjul Charter,  an international human rights instrument seeking to promote and protect human rights in the African continent.
• Emerged in the framework of the Organisation of African Unity (since replaced by the African Union)
• Adopted in 1986
• Drafted on the basis of already existing regional instruments
• Ratified by more than forty African states
• The most widely accepted regional convention.

• Adopted in its orginial version by the Arab League in 1994, but never ratified by states.
• Widely criticized at adoption as failing to meet international human rights standards.
• Efforts were made to modernize the text through a revised Charter adopted in January 2004.
• Only Jordan and Tunisia have ratified the revised Charter (requires 7 ratifications to enter into force).
• 7 additional states have signed it, but not ratified.

 Content

• unique in the sense that it covers both economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights.
• Thus different from both the European and the American Conventions which follow a more traditional methodology.
• Covers third generation rights.
• Gives importance to the assumption that a person has duties as well as rights in the community.

• revised Charter a substantial improvement on the original document, especially on issues such as state of emergency, fair trial, slavery, sexual violence, disability and trafficking. 
• Some provisions in the new Charter are still inconsistent with international human rights law, eg:
  • provisions for death penalties for minors.
  • right to life derogated in states of emergency.
  • no mention of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, although torture is prohibited.

 Mechanisms

• Overseen by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights set up in 1987.
• Later the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was created  - a regional court that rules on African Union states' compliance with the African Charter.
• In January 2006, the African Union  elected the first judges of the African Court and it had its first meeting in July 2006.

• New Charter creates a monitoring mechanism, similar to the Human Rights Committee.
• Adoption of the revised Charter paves the way to the creation of a regional human rights mechanism for the Arab states, once the Charter comes into force.

► Read more about the Court on Wikipedia

► Full text of the African Charter

► The Arab League web site contains the revised Charter in Arabic (part of the Summit report of 22–23 May 2004). 
► Visit UNDP’s website for an English version.

Updated 23-08-2006
Sources: MEDAC, Wikipedia, AI, OHCHR, Mervat Rishmawi