Issued by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), March 2026 — Principles Engaged: 21, 22, 37(22-26), 41, 42(7), 43, 50
Submission Date: May 2026
Response(s) to the call for inputs:
Pierre J. D. (2026). Defenders Without Borders, Protections Without Reach: Cross-Jurisdictional Human Rights Defence, Conflict-Induced Displacement, and the Jurisdiction Gap in Principles 37 and 42 in the Horn of 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 the Horn of Africa, it identifies a fundamental jurisdiction gap in the Declaration’s territorial model of state-defender relations, proposes a new definitional category of cross-border defender, a home state non-pursuit obligation, and supplementary protections for HRDs who are internally displaced persons. Relevant to African human rights practitioners, international refugee law specialists, and civil society organisations working across the East and Horn of Africa.
View Paper at: Link