Rwanda`s Gacaca Courts: Looking back on an innovative mechanism of transitional justice

ANALYSIS Elena Barth 22 October 2020 When emerging from a period of violence, oppression and systematic human rights abuses, transitional societies are necessarily concerned with the question of whether and how to enter into a process of judicial work-up of the past events and the rebuilding of their social fabric. Transitional justice designates an academic…

Child Marriage – The Impact of COVID-19 on the Practice of Child Marriage

ANALYSIS Freda Louwes 5 October 2020 The Sustainable Development Goal 5.3 promotes the elimination of all harmful practices, such as child marriage, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (United Nations 2020). Still, child marriage remains a prevalent global issue. Child marriage refers to any marriage in which at least one of the two…

The legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and our collective responsibility

COMMENT Isabelle Zundel 30 September 2020 It is a major challenge to introduce the notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was way more than an American jurist. She was the second woman serving the Supreme Court. She is an idol for humans all over the world through her determined, lifelong campaign for women’s rights. Her death…

Peoples’ Rights in Africa: Bridging the Era of Independence Struggles with the Present

COMMENT Cecilia Ngaiza 30 August 2020 Reading through the preamble to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981 (hereinafter referred to as the “Charter”) one may gather an opinion that, peoples’ rights entrenched in the Charter were primarily designed to emphasise on total independence and development of the then colonised African societies. Such…

Economic Globalization and COVID-19

What lessons for food security in West Africa? OPINION Dr. Alhousseini DIABATE 10 August 2020 Under the impetus of international donors, West African countries have adopted the model of economic globalization and market economy as a means of combating food insecurity. The main argument put forward by the donors is that the globalization model makes it…

Black Lives Matter

Prof. Dr Thoko Kaime 24 June 2020 The Chair of African Legal Studies expresses deep solidarity with the protests against structural racism and its daily manifestations in the USA, in Germany and elsewhere around the world. We firmly support the struggles for justice, equality and the protection of the rights of black people and people…

Renee Bach – Fighting post-colonial power structures through litigation

OPINION Isabelle Zundel and Prof. Dr Thoko Kaime, 15 June 2020 Renee Bach, a young white American woman with evangelical background, came to Uganda in 2007. Straight out of high school, she had little professional training and even more trifling experience. Yet she was able to found “Serving His Children” a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which…

Luanda Leaks and the Turning Tide of Accountability for Africa‘s Political Elites

COMMENT Prof. Dr Thoko Kaime and Lena Scheibinger, 4 June 2020 Introduction Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos ,faces allegations of corruption and embezzlement of state resources after the publication of the Luanda Leaks: a trove of  more than 715,000 confidential business and financial documents concerning Ms…

Achieving justice for victims of gross human rights in Sudan

COMMENT Prof. Dr Kaime and Lena Scheibinger, 4 June 2020 Significant step in the al-Bashir indictment In February 2020, the Sudanese government indicated its intention to hand over Omar al-Bashir, the country’s former strongman to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Arrest warrants against…

Celebrating Africa Day

OPINION Prof. Dr Thoko Kaime, 25 May 2020 Today, on May 25th, is Africa Day. It is a special day to reflect on Africanness, African brotherhood and sisterhood. It is also a difficult day as it brings into sharp relief the failure of our independence projects. Most of our nations are still under the cosh…