African human rights institutions meet

ALGIERS - The African Commission on Human and People's Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights held on Thursday their first joint annual meeting in Algiers to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a bid to promote and protect human rights in the African continent.

The meeting was co-chaired by Head of the African Commission Catherine Dupe Atoki and Head of the African Court, Judge Gerard Nijungeko.

It was held at the headquarters of the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) in Algiers.

The official APS news agency reported that the two-day meeting aims to "discuss and consider ways and methods to strengthen their bilateral collaboration and also undertake the challenges of the protection of human and people's rights, on the basis of shared values."

The source added that the two institutions said they are determinant to "strengthen their relations of complementarity, and the African human rights landscape, through the promotion of the process of constructive dialogue."

The African Charter established the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. The Commission was inaugurated on November 2, 1987 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Commission consists of 11 members elected by the AU Assembly from experts nominated by the state parties to the Charter.

As for the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, it is a continental court established by African countries to ensure protection of human and peoples' rights in Africa. It complements and reinforces the functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The Court has jurisdiction over all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the States concerned.

The Court is composed of eleven Judges, nationals of Member States of the African Union.