African Court

One of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities, the Ogiek people of the Mau Forest, have been awarded more than USD 1.3m by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for breaches of their rights under the African Charter. The court found the breaches were committed by the Kenyan government, which has tried to remove the Ogiek from the forest to allow other undertakings there. According to the Kenyan government, much of its activity in the forest was to protect the local water sources which are of great importance to the rest of the country.

Africa’s premier regional human rights court, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, has released a detailed report on its activities and the challenges it faces. The report, published earlier this month, gives information about the difficulties and achievements of the court during 2020 as well as its plans for the immediate future.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is not a body that goes in for rapid or unnecessary change. So, when a revised set of rules is announced, everyone interested in the court and its work should take note. This week we’ve asked human rights expert Usani Odum, who is working at the court on secondment from the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights, for his take on the changes. Here he outlines the new provisions and their likely impact.