Issued by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), March 2026 — Principles Engaged: 3, 4(a), 4(b), 7, 35, 38, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46
Submission Date: May 2026
Response(s) to the call for inputs:
Pierre J. D. (2026). The State Cannot Be Its Own Accountability Mechanism: Ubuntu Jurisprudence, Customary Law Traditions, and the Structural Contradiction of Classifying State Actors as Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders under Principle 4(a) in Southern Africa.
This submission was presented to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in response to a formal call for inputs on the Draft Declaration on the Promotion of the Role of Human and Peoples’ Rights Defenders and Their Protection in Africa. Focused on Southern Africa, it addresses the structural contradiction of Principle 4(a) which classifies state actors including the police and army as human rights defenders, drawing on Ubuntu jurisprudence from South Africa and Zimbabwe and the Nyamakala accountability tradition of the Kurukan Fuga Charter. It proposes a three-tier restructuring of Principle 4, a whistleblower savings clause, and amendments to Principle 43’s investigative obligation. Relevant to African constitutional law scholars, human rights accountability practitioners, and civil society organisations working on state accountability.
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