A Critical Analysis of the Content and System of State Reporting Under the African Charter: A Nigerian Case Study

Abstract

After setting out the various civil, socioeconomic, and group rights, the African Charter created the state reporting system as a means for monitoring their implementation by states. However, this method of monitoring the Charter’s implementation and as its implication vis-à-vis the implementation of human rights in the African continent h not been critically analysed. This article examines the system of state reporting under the African Charter with the aim of evaluating and analysing this process of dialogue between the states and the Africa Commission. The article makes an clear and original contribution to knowledge given the dearth in academic publications that analyse the contents of the dialogical process of state reporting between the Commission and member states. Through a systematic analysis of Nigeria’s 4th, 5th, and 6th periodic state reports, the article makes a case for the use of state reporting as a means for highlighting significant areas of human rights intervention across African states. It argues that improved usage of this system, especially through the implementation of concluding observation, would not only improve the human rights dialogue across Africa but also promote the better realisation and implementation of the various rights outlined in the African Charter.