Protecting the rights of minorities in Africa

Help for small people groups

This guide by Ibrahima Kane looks very useful and may be interesting to those who are concerned about endangered languages and small people groups. I’ve already downloaded it and started working through it.

One area you may be interested in is the constitutions, conventions, protocols and charters. In other words, the legal documents which pertain to human rights in Africa.

There is also information about monitoring bodies in Africa and a glossary of terms.

I have to admit it is not an easy read as there are a lot of technical terms and citations of laws.  I think it is really one of those documents you browse through and pick up the bits you need. Having said that, it is clearly presented, and I do believe it is a worthwhile document to work your way through if you are at all interested in the situation of minorities in Africa.

I was particularly interested in the East African Community Treaty of 1999 (page 41 of the guide) which, among other things, compels States to ‘develop and promote indigenous languages, particularly Kiswahili as a common language’. The third part of the guide offers strategies for advocacy and litigation.

Protecting the rights of minorities in Africa: a guide for human rights activists and civil society organisations

‘The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the subsequent African human rights treaties do not consider minorities as a legal category recognised in African human rights law. This guide outlines regional opportunities for minority rights protection in Africa, highlighting the legal as well as the institutional framework that is in place.’

Protecting the rights of minorities in Africa: a guide for human rights activists and civil society organisations Linguistics : Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa LGBTI rights in Uganda