After a week long extra ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Right, held in Banjul recently, the Commission has adopted two resolutions which, among others, has decided to send fact finding missions to Kenya and Somalia to investigate serious human rights violations that are alleged to have taken place in the two  countries.

These resolutions were disclosed on Saturday, February 23, during the closing of the 4th extra ordinary session of the commission held at the Corenthia Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

According to justice Sanji Mmasenono, chairperson of the African Commission on Human and People’s Right, the human rights situation in Kenya is a matter of concern to the commission.

Madam justice Mmasenono informed the audience that she, on behalf of the commission, had already issued a statement calling
for restraint, exhorting all sides to restore their differences through peaceful dialogue, urging the Kenyan government and
its people to honour its human rights obligations and duties under the African charter.

Madam justice Mmasenono spoke at length, and recalled that issues of poverty, under development, disease and conflicts continue to pose challenges to the promotion and protection of human rights, especially in Africa.

She explained that while these challenges were especially preoccupying for the African Commission, they were not in themselves the reason for holding this extra ordinary session of the African Commission.

“This session is held, among other reasons, to finalise considerations of the African Commission’s ‘Revised Rules of procedure’ ahead of a meeting with the African Court, later this year, to harmonise the rules of the two institutions,” she noted.

She maintained that the African Commission is mandated to collaborate with a range of human rights stakeholders and institutions on the continent. “This collaboration, cooperation and harmonisation of activities with other human rights bodies  means that the African Commission needs to re-examine its own rules of procedure, especially with the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, with which the African Commission will be working very closely,” she said.

The African Commission Chairperson concluded her statement by thanking the government of the Republic of the Gambia for hosting the commission for twenty years.

Declaring the 4th extra ordinary session closed, Marie Saine Firdaus, Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice, commended the commission for the week long productive work. She stated that The Gambia government is proud to be associated
with the development of the rules of procedure, a document, she said, will guide the operations of the African Commission in
the future.

According to SoS Saine Firdaus, the 4th extra ordinary session is a milestone on the development of the African human rights system, noting that there is a need for synergy and complementarity between these two bodies, to consolidate the gains made by the African Commission.

Hence, in her view, the need to review the ‘rules of procedure’ of the African Commission cannot be over emphasised.  She concluded by reaffirming government’s resolve to work with the commission.