The Republic of Cameroon has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Right.

This brings the number of African Union Member States to have ratified it to 29.

The instrument was deposited on August, 17, 2015 at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to a statement.

The other States which have already ratified are Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Gabon and The Gambia.

Others are Ghana; Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger, Uganda, Rwanda, Arab Saharawi Republic , Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Tunisia.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is a continental court established by AU to enhance the protection of human and peoples’ rights in Africa.

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. Without such Declaration, the Court would have no jurisdiction over cases brought by individuals and NGOs.

So far only seven states have made the Declaration.

These include Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivore, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The 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.

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.

The AU is made up of 54 Member States.

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