The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The instrument was deposited at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on December 8, 2020, Justice Sylvain Ore, the African Court President told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Wednesday.

This brings the number of AU Member States that have ratified the Protocol to 31.

Justice Ore said: “The DRC has taken another grand step to safeguard human and peoples’ rights. I strongly encourage the central African country to take one more bold step by making the Declaration (under Article 34(6)) to allow NGOs and individuals to access the Court directly”.

The African Continental Court President reiterated a call to the other AU Member States that have not yet done so, to ratify the Protocol and deposit the declaration.

The other States which have ratified the Protocol are: Ghana, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Gabon, The Gambia, Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.

“As of to date, only six of 31 State Parties to the Protocol have deposited the declaration recognizing the competence of the Court to receive cases directly from NGOs and individuals.

“The six States are: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mali, Malawi and Tunisia,” Justice Ore explained.

The African Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, with a view to enhancing the protection of human rights on the continent.

He explained that in addition to the ratification of the Protocol, States have to make a Declaration required under Article 34(6) of the Protocol to allow individuals and NGOs to bring cases directly before the Court.

Justice Ore stressed that, without such Declaration, the African Court would have no jurisdiction over cases brought by individuals and NGOs.

The Protocol was adopted on June 9, 1998, in Burkina Faso and came into force on January 25, 2004. The Court officially started its operations in November 2006 initially in Addis Ababa and a year later moved to its permanent seat in Arusha, Tanzania.