History of human rights in Africa

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The concept of human rights , both in terms of content and in its historical development, is a product of Western, European-Atlantic history and cultural development. It has also taken place in political discourses and processes on the African continent - at least since decolonization from 1945 onwards .

Colonial era

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was established that the slave trade was “against the principles of humanity and general morality”. In the Berlin Treaty of 1885 , the slave trade was declared illegal in a multilateral treaty. Although the main concern of the so-called Congo Conference was the division of Africa according to the colonial interests of the states of Europe, there is still a provision in Art. VI of the treaty for the limited protection of human rights:

All the powers exercising sovereign rights or influence in the aforesaid territories bind themselves to watch over the preservation of native tribes, and to care for the improvement of their moral and material well-being, and to help in suppressing slavery, especially the slave trade. They shall, without distinction of creed or nation protect and favor all religious, scientific, or charitable institutions and undertakings created and organized for the above ends, or which aim at instructing the natives and bringing home to them the blessings of civilization.

After 1945

A real improvement in the human rights situation in Africa began a few years after World War II . The shocking crimes against humanity during this war resulted in a strengthened and more international human rights movement. The preamble of the United Nations Charter of 1945 proclaimed a belief in fundamental rights and human dignity. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 , human rights were proclaimed generally for the first time.

At the 6th Pan-African Congress in 1974 it was called for the principles of the declaration of war aims of the Second World War, the 'Atlantic Charter', to be transferred to Africa: the abolition of colonialism and racial discrimination and political self-determination as a prerequisite for social, economic and political emancipation . An effort by African nationalists developed, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Western, liberal philosophy and literature, for political independence on the basis of human rights. The international community of states recognized the legitimacy of these demands and in a resolution declared the international right to self-determination to be an element of fundamental human rights.

However, political independence in the course of decolonization was not necessarily followed by the longed-for human rights. One-party systems, dictatorships and military regimes often took power, and opposition were often eliminated. Potentates such as Jean-Bédel Bokassa in the Central African Republic (1966–1979), Francisco Macías Nguema in Equatorial Guinea (1969–1979) and Idi Amin in Uganda (1971–1979) were just the best known of the African rulers, the African strong men . There have been ethnic conflicts and racial pogroms and human rights violations in most African countries - many of which continue to this day.

The Organization for African Unity OAU, founded in 1963, emphasized respect for human rights in its preamble to its charter:

Persuaded that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to the principles of which we reaffirm our adherence, provide a solid foundation for peaceful and positive co-operation among states ...

The provision of the preamble is repeated in Art. II (1) (e) of the Charter and Art. II (1) (b) contains a weak reference to social rights. However, the principle of non-interference by other powers in national affairs, formulated in Art. III (2), had a stronger effect in practical politics. The apartheid regime in South Africa was condemned, but not the acts of African rulers like Idi Amin, Jean-Bédel Bokassa or Macías Nguema Nguema. In 1975 Idi Amin was even elected chairman of the OAU.

Claude E. Welch calls this the "fundamental dilemma that has long been at the heart of the OAU". These “double standards” are fundamental for the reluctance of the OAU to outlaw human rights violations by its member states. The newly achieved sovereignty should in no way be compromised. The Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie summed this up in his opening speech at the conference in Addis Ababa , where the OAU was founded: "The most important concerns of Africa are unity, non-interference and freedom". Biram Ndiaye wrote:

For the OAU, apart from racial discrimination and the right of the peoples to self-determination, it is not necessary to engage in close monitoring of human rights.

See also

literature

  • Konrad Ginther: The effect of decolonization on the foundations of international law . In: Swiss Yearbook for International Law , Vol. 37 (1981), pp. 9-27, ISSN  1019-0406 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Umozurike Oji Umozurike: The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights . Nijhoff, The Hague 1997, ISBN 90-411-0291-4 .
  2. ↑ United Nations Treaty Series , Vol. 479 (1963), pp. 39-89, ISSN  0379-8267 .
  3. ↑ Boaz K. Mbaya.