DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
Second Semester, 2014/2015 Academic Year
COURSE
TITTLE: POLI 468 HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Kumi Ansah- Koi
Email:
kakoi@ug.edu.gh
Phone:
024 501 3066
Office:
Room 18; Political Science Department, Kweku Folson Block
Course Description
This course focuses on Human Rights
in Africa. Students are introduced to pertinent issues bearing on the nature,
contemporary significance, ramifications and challenges of the notion of Human
Rights particularly as regards the African continent. Students are as well
introduced to basic Human Rights Instruments and also to various theories of
human rights and their practical import in Africa.
With regard to the methodology and
pedagogy, it must be stated that Cases/ Thematic Studies and Focal Analyses
constitute significance feature of the course. In addition, the web and its
resources are very much integrated into this course. Visuals from various web
sources are particularly helpful teaching aids in this Course.
This would be very interactive
course. Timely and regular attendance at, and involvement in, tutorials and
regular classes would be insisted on.
Course Schedule
Weeks 1 and 2: The Notion of Human Rights
Theories; Nature; Sources;
Evolution; Legal Obligations; International Status; Human Rights in
contemporary Socio-Political Thought; and Human rights Obligations of
contemporary States/ Societies.
We would as well focus on the basic
Human Rights Instruments and Obligations; Human Rights Promotion and
Protection; and also identify an analytical framework for zeroing in on Human
Rights Violations.
Weeks 3 and 4: Our African Matrix
The notion of Africa; Basic Socio-
Political features of Africa: Commonalities and Diversities.
Human Rights in Africa: Historical
Overview
a) Pre-
Colonial/ Traditional Africa and Human Rights
b) Colonial
Africa and Human Rights
c) Post-
Colonial Africa and Human Rights
d) Human
Rights in Africa since the End of the Cold War
African
basic instruments on Human Rights; African basic institutions and arrangements
pertaining to Human Rights; and African Contributions to the evolution of Human
Rights.
Weeks
5 and 6: A survey of Human Rights in Contemporary Africa
State of Human Rights in Contemporary Africa
Human Rights Violations and shortfalls in Africa
Detailed Case/ Thematic/ Focal Studies drawn from
Africa would be extrapolated for analyses. The selection would, among others,
cover such themes as
a)
FGM
b)
Gender/
Women/ Child Rights
c)
Minority
Rights, and
d)
Reproductive
Rights
e)
Sexual
Rights
We would as well be particularly be concerned with the
Human rights dimensions of the Civil Wars in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, as well as with the Human rights dimensions of
the electoral/ political mess in such countries as Libya, Mali, Congo, Zimbabwe
and Somalia.
Weeks 8,9,10 and 11: Promotion and protection
of Human Rights (in Africa)
Introduction (Why promotion and Protection; and what
those notions entail)
Overview
Mechanisms for the Promotion and Protection and how
they so far play out. We would be specifically concerned with the following:
1)
Constitutions
and Constitutionalism
2)
Law
and Legality/ The rule of Law
3)
The
courts of law/ Justice; The Judiciary
4)
The
Mass Media
5)
State-Owned/
Operated Human rights Institutions ( CHRAJ would be our case in point)
6)
NGOs/
Civil Society Organizations
7)
Public
Policies/ Programmes/ Initiatives
8)
International
Organizations/ Law/ Treaties/ Conventions
a)
The
UN System
b)
Regional
Institutions ( Case in point: OAU/ AU)
c)
Sub-
regional institutions ( case in point: ECOWAS)
9)
ICT
Week 12: Review/ Revision
Basic Readings:
Abdullahi
Ahmed A-Na’m and Francis M Deng (editors), Human Rights in Africa. Cross- Cultural
Perspectives, the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1990.
Human
Rights Clauses of the Charter of United Nations (1945)
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights (with the Optional Protocols) (1966)
Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(1984)
Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)
Declaration
on the Right to Development (1986)
The
1992 Ghana Constitution
The
Vienna Declaration and Programme of the Action on Human Rights (1993)
The
American Declaration of Independence
The
Constitution of the USA
The
African Peer Review Mechanism: Country Report on Ghana
Report
of Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission
US
State Department: Human Rights Country Report on Ghana
Ghana
Human Development Report
UN
Human Rights Commission: Country Reports on Ghana
Annual
Report: CHRAJ
: Ghana Police Service
: Ghana Prisons Service
Convention
on the Rights of the Child (1989)
International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of their Families (1990)
Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)
Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981)
Protocol
on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and People’s Rights (1998)
African
Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990)
The
Constitutive Act of the African Union
Report
of Ghana’s Constitutional Review Commission
Useful
Web Links
UN
Treaty database: untreaty.un.org
Official
Documents of the UN: documents.un.org
