The African Union: Concepts and implementation mechanisms relating to human rights

The paper therefore takes as its basic premise the following: • Since its establishment, the OAU has been preoccupied with human rights, as evidenced by the struggle for the decolonisation of Africa and the right to self-determination and independence. Embodied within this, no doubt, is the fact that those agitating and fighting for independence used human rights standards to justify their struggle, as colonialism had no regard for the human rights of colonised people. • The AU, in contrast to the OAU, made human rights an explicit part of its mandate, as embodied in its Constitutive Act, and mainstreamed human rights in all its activities and programmes. However, it is clear that the current methodologies require strengthening with a view to developing a holistic, comprehensive and integrated approach to ensure that all human rights are respected. • Because it is linked to the above points, the human rights discourse cannot be divorced from its historical context or the prevailing political, social, economic and cultural conditions on the continent – particularly when it is understood that the struggle for human rights and the establishment of a human rights system are products of a concrete social struggle.1 In this regard, human rights are also as much about civil and political rights as they are about economic, social and cultural rights. • Africa’s common positions and collective voice have asserted tremendous influence in the evolution of the continent’s human rights architecture and in shaping Africa’s future.