KNOCKING AT THE DOOR OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE’S RIGHTS: HOW CAN THIS QUASI-JUDICIAL BODY BE BENEFICIAL TO MAURITIUS?

Resumo

The Republic of Mauritius signed and ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereafter the African Charter) in 1992. With this ratification, Mauritius committed itself to protect, respect and promote the three categories of rights provided by the African Charter. One key way of achieving a desirable and acceptable standard of human rights is by way of submitting communications relating to human rights abuses to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereafter the African Commission) against a signatory state by individuals or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The paper illustrates that this quasi-judicial avenue has not
been effectively explored by Mauritians to enhance their human rights standards and to ensure that their legitimate expectations from the government are fulfilled. The word ‘enhance’ has been deliberately chosen as one could argue that Mauritians do enjoy a relatively higher standard of human rights compared to citizens of a majority of African states and it explains the fact that little
attention and importance are given to the African Commission. It is argued that there is always the possibility of enhancing human rights of people and Mauritian’s individual as well as collective rights can be further enhanced.