A Primer on the African System of Human Rights Protection: Progress and Challenges

Following Europe and the Americas, Africa was the third continent to implement a system of human rights protection. The system was founded on a series of legal instruments based on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. A group of political and quasi-judicial institutions is responsible for the promotion of a human rights culture and its supervision. In addition, a court has been recently created to deliver judgments of a binding nature for the States, in cases where they do not fulfill existing obligations. This paper presents a general overview of the legal instruments and bodies that make up the human rights system in Africa, and provides examples and data that allow for an assessment of the system.