ABSTRACT
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948, only three African nations voted in favor of it (Egypt, Ethiopia, and Liberia). This was not because there was widespread African opposition to it but because much of Africa was under colonial rule (i.e., rule by European countries). Over the next few decades this changed, with many struggles for the establishment of independent states. Part of this movement was the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. (The OAU lasted until 2002, when it was succeeded by the current African Union.) Immediately upon the enactment of the Charter of the OAU, work began on formulating an OAU document on human rights, which was finally completed and ratified in 1981. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) takes the basic view of the UDHR that rights are universal, but, largely because of the colonial legacy in Africa, it also claims that rights must be understood in social, cultural, and historical contexts. Two features of the ACHPR that distinguish it from previous international rights documents are (1) that it speaks to the rights not only of individuals but also of “peoples” (i.e., cultures and societies as such), and (2) that it speaks of duties as well as rights. Following the adoption of the ACHPR, the OAU later adopted other rights documents that focused even more specifically on rights related to elections, popular participation in government, and economic de-velopment, as well as the rights and welfare of children.
