Oral statements usually contain two parts: (1) an exposé of a given human rights situation, and (2) recommendations whereby you call on the African Commission to take certain measures or actions. NGOs are given the floor by the Chairperson of the African Commission when making an oral statement. They can be done in any official language of the African Commission; however, in practice, your oral statements should be in English, French, Arabic, or Portuguese, as simultaneous interpretation is generally not available for Swahili and Spanish.
For more information on oral statements, see Rule 52 of the Rules of Procedure.
Angelique Decampe is an environmental human rights defender based in Madagascar. She is the President of the community association Razan'ny Vohibola, which is at the forefront of protecting the Vohibola forest. She constantly faces harassment and intimidation, including death threats, due to her actions against the logging of the forests. Angelique’s plight was highlighted at the 79th ordinary session with a statement made by ISHR, in order to illustrate the urgent need for protection for people defending their natural resources and environment and alert the Working Group on Extractive Industries in that regard.
Rita Kahsay is a human rights defender from the Tigray region of Ethiopia who advocates for the rights of women and girls in conflict zones. Since the Tigray conflict began in 2020, she has been documenting the struggles faced by women and girls in Tigray, particularly how sexual violence is used as a weapon in warfare. Rita lived in refugee camps in Sudan that sheltered Tigrayan refugees, where she recorded the challenges and violence that women and girls experience while fleeing the conflict.
She delivered a powerful statement at the 73rd Ordinary Session in October 2022: Rita called on the Commission to further investigate violence against women, especially on conflict related sexual violence, and denounced the ongoing genocide towards the Tigrayan population. Soon after her intervention in November 2022, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front signed the “Pretoria Agreement” calling for a permanent cessation of hostilities. However, in reality the destructive conflict and arbitrary killings continue in the region and the work of CSOs is more needed than ever.
On Tuesday, Omna Tigray had the opportunity to shed light on the ongoing war on #Tigray at The 73rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human & Peoples’ Rights.
“The #Ethiopia|n government has attempted to frame this war as a domestic security issue.” 1/2 pic.twitter.com/PTHrdrCLcI
— Omna Tigray (@OmnaTigray) October 28, 2022See the next sections on how you can engage in other actions of the African Commission, including side events.
