On the site
The following Justice Initiative projects are underway in, or relevant to, Angola:
The Africa Citizenship and Discrimination Audit.
The Audit is surveying the law and practice concerning citizenship and discrimination in fifteen countries: Angola, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Compilation of relevant legislation, regulations and judicial decisions began in 2004. Through 2005, affidavits will be collected from individual victims of discrimination. The Audit will result in a comparative report on trends in citizenship, ethnic discrimination, and citizenship-based discrimination across the continent. Where results are sufficiently detailed information and local partners are willing, the project may lead to national-level litigation or law reform advocacy. Report of the Audit's Preparatory Meeting, July 19-20, 2004
African Union (AU) Research and Advocacy Project.
In 2005, a series of linked activities will promote the rights to freedom of expression and information in Africa. These include an analysis of African commitments and declarations on media freedom, freedom of expression and information, and the development of recommendations for reform. An audit of media freedom will be undertaken in selected African countries to analyze compliance with existing African and international standards. A coalition of civil society organizations will engage the AU leadership to promote a binding continental instrument on free expression guarantees. The project aims to create an informed and articulate constituency of civil society actors, equipped to work in advocacy directed at national governments and the AU.
Capacity building and networking: the Oxford Media Law Advocates Program.
Ten media lawyers from Africa participated in the Justice Initiative’s 2004 summer school, now in its third year, with an expanded program including African participants for the first time. Summer School Program and Press Announcement
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and African regional courts.
Since July 2004, the Justice Initiative and the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an alliance of NGOs, have engaged in dialogue with the Commission of the African Union on the best ways to integrate Africa’s various regional courts without delaying the establishment of the human rights court. In the course of 2004, the Justice Initiative, together with the Coalition and the AU, developed a set of guidelines for nominating candidates to the human rights court bench. In 2005, the process will aim to expedite the integration of the human rights court and the AU’s Court of Justice, following an AU decision of July 2004. The Justice Initiative provided legal advice to Kenya and Botswana enabling cabinet-level consideration of ratification of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights Protocol to take place.
Fellows in Africa.
In 2005, five or six fellows from West and Southern Africa will be recruited for programs at the Central European University, Hungary, and up to six from Angola and Mozambique for placement in Sao Paulo University in Brazil. Human Rights Fellows Program, CEU