SEVERAL high ranking judicial officers from various countries in Africa continent converge today in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for a special conference to discuss matters pertaining to the implementation and impact of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
According to a statement issued by the continental court on Sunday, the officials will also discuss the challenges and prospects of the Court’s decision at the Conference, which is being held as part of cerebrations of the Court to mark 15 years since its establishment in 2006.
It is stated that the opening of the ceremony will commence by singing the National Anthem of the United Republic of Tanzania, followed by the African Union Anthem, before the participants receive welcoming remarks from the representative of the government of Tanzania.
Thereafter, a statements in behalf of regional and sub-regional courts as well as that all members states to the African Court will be issued, before allowing the official opening of the three day Conference to be graced by the President of the Court, Tanzania Justice Imani Aboud.
The Conference will be followed by a two day Judicial Dialogue that will bring together all Chief Justices of Supreme Courts across the continent. The holding of the conference comes after a three-day special training organized for senior editors and journalists from across the African continent.
Meanwhile, two Tanzanian journalists joined their peers from different African countries to attend a three-day media training on sharpening their skills in developing contents of promoting Human and Peoples’ rights justice in the continent.
The media training which involved 30 journalists from different African countries was prepared and facilitated by African Court of Human and Peoples Rights (AfCHPR). The two journalists from Tanzania are James Kamala from Daily News and Jamilah Omar from ITV.
It is aimed at using media practitioners to prepare contents which stimulate human rights awareness on the continent’s inhabitants and the court’s practices.
Part of the topics included general knowledge of AfCHPR, why cases pileup and ways of reaching justice to a number of disputes as well as looking at ways to assist journalists have access to various verdicts made by the court.
“Journalists are important tools of promoting human rights and delivering justice. We hope this training will popularise AfCHPR,” said AfCHPR Registrar, Dr Robert Eno, shortly after the journalists were handed certificates of attendance
He added that the participants will also be part of his court initiatives to create a robust pool of journalists and editors across the continent, adding that it will be knowledge-based, positive and constructive in sensitising and increasing awareness of work at the court.
AfCHPR president justice Imani Aboud insisted that journalists’ awareness on the court was important as communication, because the court should be framed to meet the needs of its various stakeholders and empower them to duly perform its mission in the chain of actions.
“Whether for litigants to bring cases, for counsel to defend litigants, for academics or other knowledgeable institutions to act as amici curiae, for States to implement decisions or for regional organs to supervise the enforcement of the Court’s proceedings journalist plays a key role,” Aboud said.
The president added that while it is not new, the perspective of mediatization of human rights justice is made novel by the African Court as an important lesson learnt in the area of strategic or public interest human rights’ litigation and that the media are critical before, during and after any successful justice process depending on how the stories are cast, presented, told and communicated.
Headquartered in Arusha Tanzania, AfCHPR was established in the year 1998 with the focus of Promoting human and Peoples’ rights and democracy among Africa Union member states
It came into force on 25 January 2004 after it was ratified by more than 15 countries; it is currently headed by Justice Imani Aboud from Tanzania.