20 October 2025
On 20 October 2025, Committee for Justice (CFJ) convened a regional workshop for human rights defenders from North African and Sahel countries , at CFJ’s office in Banjul. The event was held in parallel with the opening of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), using the pre-session day as a space for preparation and civil society side-events.
The workshop aimed to strengthen the engagement of human rights defenders with African Union human rights mechanisms, and to deepen participants’ understanding of relevant African treaties and instruments – in particular the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) – and its links with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It also explored avenues for litigation before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including discussion of the legal and political implications of Tunisia’s withdrawal of its Article 34(6) declaration accepting individual and NGO access to the Court. In addition, the workshop sought to strengthen practical cooperation with UN Special Procedures, especially the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).
The workshop provided participants with a practical bridge between conceptual discussions and the concrete work of the 85th ACHPR session. It included an overview of how to use the Commission’s mechanisms in practice – such as individual and collective complaints (communications), petitions, urgent appeals to special rapporteurs, and systematic follow-up to concluding observations, recommendations and decisions. Part of the discussions focused on sharing experience in preparing oral interventions during public sessions, and on coordinating among organisations present in Banjul to harmonise key human rights messages addressed to the ACHPR and other AU bodies, including the AU Commission, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
The workshop programme was structured around four main sessions, covering:
- African human rights treaties related to gender and gender-based violence, with a particular focus on the Maputo Protocol, state obligations, and possible advocacy routes;
- Litigation pathways before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including experiences from North Africa, and a discussion of the legal and political impact of withdrawals from the Court’s jurisdiction over individual and NGO applications;
- Working with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights through urgent appeals, follow-up to concluding observations, engagement with special rapporteurs, and ways to build on civil society presence in Banjul to generate sustained impact after the session;
- An open exchange with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on how to connect the Group’s mandate with the work of civil society in North Africa and the Sahel, including possibilities to activate country visits and thematic reporting.
Throughout the sessions, participants discussed common challenges facing human rights defenders in the Sahel and North Africa, including shrinking civic space, persistent patterns of discrimination and gender-based violence, weak access to justice and remedies, and practical obstacles to making effective use of AU mechanisms. They also worked collectively on developing shared regional approaches to:
- Strengthening cross-border work on documentation and advocacy;
- Developing litigation strategies before the ACHPR and the African Court;
- Designing concrete follow-up plans for the implementation of ACHPR recommendations and decisions at the national level, and linking these efforts with advocacy at AU and UN levels.
Committee for Justice extends its sincere thanks to ISLA, and in particular to trainer and colleague Nerima Were, as well as to international lawyer Ikechukwu Uzoma from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK), for their invaluable contributions and for sharing their practical experience in engaging regional mechanisms. CFJ also expresses its deep appreciation to Aua Baldé and Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), in recognition of their sustained commitment, significant efforts and rich contributions during the workshop – especially in outlining ways to connect the Working Group’s mandate with ACHPR procedures.
CFJ affirms that this workshop represents a new step in building stronger regional networks among human rights defenders in the Sahel and North Africa, helping to reinforce efforts toward justice, accountability and the fight against impunity across the African continent, and to strengthen the effective use of African and UN mechanisms to respond to serious human rights violations and turn discussions in Banjul into concrete, sustained action.