The Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF) participated as an expert contributor in the high-level consultation convened by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Dakar, Senegal, from 9–11 April 2026 to review and refine the draft African Declaration on the Promotion of the Role of Human Rights Defenders and their Protection in Africa.
The three-day meeting brought together regional and international specialists, state representatives, national human rights institutions, civil society, and academia to strengthen what is expected to become a landmark continental standard for the protection of civic space and human rights defenders (HRDs) in Africa.
AJJF’s participation reflects its growing role as a trusted African institution working at the intersection of judicial independence, rule of law, access to justice and civic freedoms. The consultation sought to ensure that the draft declaration is comprehensive, practical and responsive to escalating threats facing HRDs across the continent, including restrictions on association, assembly, expression, reprisals, attacks, arbitrary arrests and shrinking civic space. Participants were also tasked with identifying gaps in the draft text and proposing new principles for inclusion.
For AJJF, the process was especially significant because sustainable protection of defenders and civic space depends not only on policy commitments, but also on credible courts, independent judges, accountable state institutions and effective remedies. HRDs often rely on the justice system when their rights are violated. By contributing legal and institutional expertise, AJJF helped foreground the role of courts and justice actors in ensuring investigations, prosecutions, reparations and constitutional compliance.
Only a limited number of African states have adopted dedicated laws protecting defenders. The proposed declaration therefore aims to close this normative gap by providing an African framework rooted in the continent’s realities, while drawing from universal standards and existing African instruments. This should accelerate the rate of adoption of laws for the protection of HRDs by African states.
AJJF welcomed the inclusive methodology of the process, which involved line-by-line review of the draft declaration followed by group work on issues not yet sufficiently covered. This approach strengthens the legitimacy of the final instrument and helps ensure that the declaration speaks both to African values and contemporary governance realities.
As Africa faces increasing democratic pressures, digital surveillance risks, unconstitutional power retention, conflict-related abuses and attacks on reform voices, the new declaration has the potential to become a major normative tool for governments, courts, parliaments, national human rights institutions and civil society.
AJJF is proud to have contributed to this historic continental effort and remains committed to supporting implementation once adopted, through judicial engagement, training, legal reform dialogue and strengthening access to justice for defenders across Africa.