Human rights developments in the African Union during 2009

Abstract

The year 2009 witnessed numerous human rights developments on the African continent. The African Union added a treaty on the protection of internally displaced persons to its already robust normative human rights framework. The African Commission reviewed and expanded its working groups, extended its reach to emerging issues, including climate change and the global financial crisis, and adopted reporting guidelines under the African Women’s Protocol and a framework document on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. For its part, the African Court handed down its first judgment, while the African Children’s Committee further cemented its role in examining state reports under the African Children’s Charter. This note provides an overview of these developments.