David Weissbrodt, Joan Fitzpatrick, and Frank
Newman, International Human
Rights—Law, Policy, and Process (3d ed. 2001).
Supplement to Chapter 1: Introduction to International Human Rights (May 2003) [1]
Section B.4.c. Regional Organizations and Law-Making: The New African Union
In July 2002, the African Union (AU) formally replaced the Organization of African Unity. The AU is loosely based on the European Union model and aims at economic integration, social development, and eventually, political unity. The AU will continue to base its human rights system on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights just as the Organization of African Unity did. The AU Constitutive Act’s Article 3(h) outlining the objectives of the new African Union states that one of the objectives of the Union shall be to “promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.” The AU, therefore, inherited the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights that the African Charter’s Articles 30-45 established. For a guide to further information on the African regional human rights system see chapter 11, section H, and Fordam. O. Wara’s pathfinder available at <humanrts.umn.edu/regional.htm> (last visited February 21, 2003).