Individuals who have suffered violations of their rights under the African Charter can now instruct project ARC (Advice, Representation and Cases) to take cases on their behalf – as well as those of State Parties, African intergovernmental organisations and NGOs with observer status before the African Commission.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), based in Arusha, Tanzania was established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is the primary human rights instrument governing the member states of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity). The Charter protects civil, political social, economic, and cultural peoples’ rights. The ACHPR also has jurisdiction over any other relevant human rights instruments ratified by the State concerned.
ARC also aims to provide practical training to lawyers to enable them to take cases before the ACHPR.
Since April, Burkina Faso, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and Ghana have all made declarations allowing individuals direct access to the Court.

Petitions
In respect of the other State Parties, ARC can assist in petitioning the African Commission on their behalf to request the submission of their case to the ACHPR by the Commission.
Currently twenty six (26) African Union Member States have ratified the Protocol establishing the Court: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.

Dismissed
In the 8 years of its existence, only 11 cases have been submitted to the Court. Most of them have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
ARC is reviewing these 11 cases – in particular, the case of Soufiane Ababou v People's Democratic Republic of Algeria was dismissed by the ACHPR for lack of jurisdiction, and referred back to the African Commission.
But in February, the case came back before the court when Mr Youssef Ababou alleged that his son, Soufiane, had been forced to join the military in Algeria against his will.

The ARC project said it hopes to assist in “developing a vibrant and meaningful practice before the ACHPR for the benefit of all concerned.”