Throughout 2024, the African Union (AU) reaffirmed its commitments on the protection of human rights and democratic governance across the continent. AU leaders, however, demonstrated persistent lack of genuine and sustained political will, hindering the Union’s ability to effectively engage in critical issues, including armed conflicts, with devastating consequences on civilians and widespread attacks on fundamental rights. The AU inconsistently responded to crises, at times failing to uphold its obligations, citing the principle of subsidiarity to regional bodies as a rationale for inaction.
Institutional Updates
In September, 51 African heads of state, along with AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, participated in the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, which predominantly focused on development and funding issues, overshadowing pressing human rights concerns. Fewer than 20 African heads of state were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) members discussed civil-military relations and conflict management in Africa on the margins of UNGA, without addressing the conflict in Sudan.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) convened four sessions in 2024. During its June session, it laid the groundwork for a comprehensive general comment on the right to development, reinforcing AU’s leading efforts in this area.
The February 37th AU summit inaugurated education as the Union’s yearly theme. Leadership of AU reforms changed from Rwandan President Paul Kagame to Kenyan President William Ruto, who had called for reforms granting the AU financial autonomy. The organization will elect a new chairperson in February 2025, to replace Mahamat, whose second term will expire.
Rights, Peace Process in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The AU has relied heavily on regional initiatives to address the crisis in eastern Congo, with limited results, leaving civilians to bear the brunt of the ongoing conflict.
Throughout 2024, the Rwandan military and M23 armed group continued their offensive in North Kivu, committing grave violations of international humanitarian law. The Congolese military and a coalition of abusive militias have also been implicated in laws-of-war violations in their response and increased the risk faced by displaced people. About 2.4 million people have been displaced, while fighting close to Goma has affected humanitarian aid delivery.
In July, the PSC reiterated the importance of the Nairobi and Luanda processes as “viable frameworks for reconciliation between the DRC and Rwanda.” While the PSC expressed concern regarding the role of “negative forces” and encouraged direct dialogue between the two states, it has yet to publicly denounce the responsibility of Rwanda and other parties for abuse.
In March, the PSC directed the AU Commission to expedite funding from the AU Peace Fund Crisis Reserve Facility and facilitate transfer of equipment donated to the Southern Africa Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC), which deployed in January 2024. However, these limited contributions may not empower the mission to effectively support Congolese forces. SAMIDRC took over from an East African regional force, which withdrew its troops in December 2023.
The Luanda mediation process between Rwanda and Congo secured a cease-fire agreement between the Congolese armed forces and the M23 in July that was rapidly violated.
Despite raising alarm at the violations against displaced people in eastern provinces, the ACHPR is yet to take stronger action to address conflict-related abuses in eastern Congo, including denouncing abuses by all parties.
Human Rights Crises in the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger were suspended from the AU following unconstitutional government changes. The military authorities in the three countries have severely restricted fundamental rights and freedoms, shrinking the civic, political, and media space. Armed forces in Mali and Burkina Faso, alongside with Wagner fighters and allied militias, respectively, perpetrated serious human rights violations against civilians as part of counterinsurgency operations against abusive Islamist armed groups, which gained significant ground in the Sahel region throughout 2024.
The AU has relied on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address regional issues. Yet the relationship between ECOWAS and Sahel countries seems irretrievably broken, with their withdrawal from the ECOWAS Treaty in early 2024, depriving their citizens from the possibility to seek justice for abuses through the ECOWAS court of justice.
The ACHPR has been monitoring individual cases of human rights violations in Burkina Faso, including of abducted prominent rights activist Daouda Diallo, and has called on the authorities to open an investigation into mass killings of civilians in Zaongo village, Centre-Nord region, in November 2023. The ACHPR requested an update on such investigations and raised allegations of enforced disappearances with the Burkinabè authorities as part of Burkina Faso’s state reporting review in October.
The AU, including the ACHPR, did not sufficiently address widespread conflict-related abuses, including alleged crimes against humanity by Burkinabè security forces, as well as increasing crackdown by the junta on opposition, media, and dissent throughout.
On Mali, the ACHPR called out restrictions on civic space following the suspension of political parties and associations. It denounced the September 2023 attack on a boat by an Islamist armed group, while acknowledging further abuses by such groups, in apparent failure to appropriately address abuse by state actors and their allies.
Failure to Protect Civilians amid Persistent Atrocities in Sudan
Despite efforts to take leadership on international efforts to tackle the crisis in Sudan, at times mobilizing new mechanisms, including the High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan, the PSC-initiated committee of five heads of state, and the AU special envoy for the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocities, the AU failed to take concrete measures to prevent persistent atrocities in Sudan. The Union’s efforts have apparently focused on securing mediation and a cessation of hostilities, falling short of protecting civilians who continued to bear the brunt of the conflict.
Human Rights Watch has been advocating for the AU to roll out a UN-backed civilian protection mission.
Since the conflict in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces broke out in April 2023, countless civilians have been killed, and millions have been displaced internally and to neighboring countries. Both warring parties have exhibited a blatant disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law, resulting in war crimes and other atrocities, including grave violations against children.
On September 25, the PSC reiterated its call for a ceasefire and emphasized the need for measures aimed at protecting civilians in Sudan.
On June 21, the PSC condemned “the unprecedented catastrophic humanitarian situation” and violations of AU human rights instruments and international humanitarian law. It tasked the High-Level Panel on Sudan and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) with reporting on such violations to establish preventive measures and requested the AU Commission, in coordination with the ACHPR, to investigate and make recommendations on measures to protect civilians.
During a meeting on June 14, the PSC explored avenues for funding protection of civilians efforts under the yet-to-be-utilized facility created by UN Security Council resolution 2719. On May 21, the PSC requested that the High-Level Panel collaborate with the AU special envoy for the prevention of genocide to develop a strategy to stop atrocities and protect civilians. Persisting atrocities call for the continued inclusion of the special envoy in the AU’s response.
In August, the ACHPR decided to undertake a joint fact-finding mission (FFM) with the AU Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security into the human rights situation in Sudan. The mission is composed of five commissioners, including holders of special mechanisms mandates, allowing it to address key dimensions of the ongoing crisis, such as sexual violence and the rights of displaced communities.
However, the planned duration of the investigation may limit its depth and efficiency, and it remains unclear whether or how the ACHPR will preserve evidence collected for purposes of criminal accountability for the ongoing serious crimes committed by the warring parties.
The inability of the joint FFM to access areas heavily affected by the conflict in the absence of consent from the warring parties raised significant concern. Given the challenges to conduct investigation in conflict-ridden areas in Sudan, access for the FFM team to neighboring countries is critical. Regardless of access, the joint FFM would require significant high-level political and financial support and protection of its monitors, to ensure it possesses the resources and legitimacy necessary to fulfil its mandate.
Setbacks on Women and Girls’ Rights
In May, the ACHPR adopted a regressive position on economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) in its communication 564/15, arguing that “...each State sets itself objectives to achieve in order to fulfil them.” This denies the objective nature of state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil those rights, including sexual and reproductive health rights. The ACHPR also found that acts amounting to obstetric violence cannot be classified as degrading and humiliating treatment that results in women and girls delaying accessing maternal health care. This position contravenes definitions of torture in international human rights jurisprudence as well as research by civil society and journalists.
In April, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights of the Child's Continental Study on Teenage Pregnancy showed that one in every five adolescent girls in Africa get pregnant before they turn 19. Thousands of girls face discrimination or exclusion from schools because they are pregnant, parenting or married, amid mixed action from member states to protect girls.
Cooperation with the United Nations
The AU and UN advanced plans for an AU-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia with the expiration of the last mission in December. The new mission will prioritize peace-building measures so as to “degrade Al Shabaab and provide security and prioritize the protection of civilians in Somalia.” The PSC “strongly” emphasized the need for funding and requested that a mechanism in accordance with UNSC Resolution 2719 be established to ensure financial stability of the mission.
Refugees’ and Migrants’ Rights
Through bilateral deals with African countries, previously denounced by the AU, the European Union and its member states continued to pursue border externalization policies, seeking to outsource and evade their asylum responsibilities.
The AU and member states continued efforts to implement the 2018 Global Compact on Migration, including through the Africa regional review. The ACHPR also adopted a new Protocol to eradicate statelessness.
An ACHPR March resolution called on states to reduce internal displacement and violations against displaced people.
The Rights of Older People
Dozens of member-states are yet to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, which at October 1 needed one more ratification to come into force. While the protocol provides important human rights protections, wider ratification and implementation in line with international human rights standards, particularly on the rights to legal capacity and to live independently within the community, are essential to ensure older people enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.