The ghost of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) haunts Africa

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	The ghost of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) haunts Africa
Author:	Ndagire, Josephine
Year:	2011
Periodical:	East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights (ISSN 1021-8858)
Volume:	17
Issue:	1
Pages:	53-69
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Africa
Subjects:	OAU African Union African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights human rights
Abstract:	This article examines the compatibility of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter) and the Constitutive Act of the African Union. It posits that the atmosphere that inspired the Banjul Charter in the 1970s and 1980s, including the ideology of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), is past. The change in the aspirations of the African peoples ushered in a new political entity, the African Union (AU) which, in principle, fundamentally differs from the OAU. At the heart of the Constitutive Act of the AU is a commitment to protect human rights-a sharp contrast with the OAU Charter. The result is a political document aspiring to protect human rights more than a human rights treaty. Much as the OAU is no more, its 'ghost' curtails efforts to protect human rights in the contemporary context. On this basis the author argues that perhaps it is time to align the Banjul Charter with the Constitutive Act. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]