Vision and Mission:

At the core of AFLA's activities and mandate is the push for the development of progressive human rights jurisprudence. AFLA seeks to create opportunities through which legal institutions in Africa can germinate norms and practices that abhor human rights violations. AFLA seeks a new African dawn in which the rights of all shall be respected and promoted without distinction as to ethnic origin, nationality, wealth, age, religion, gender, and other distinctions. The organization's efforts have thus been geared towards creating a new legal awareness in Africa.      
The challenges that face African governments and people present considerable scope for stimulating progressive change, but are daunting as well. In view of the extensive range of issues at stake and recognizing the important role of hundreds of locally based grass-roots organizations and individual activists, AFLA has geared its strategy in order to develop and promote practical, lasting solutions to these challenges.

Strategies:

AFLA's three key strategies in the delivery of its mandate are the following: 

1. To promote and contribute to a progressive human rights jurisprudence
2. To increase understanding and raise awareness of human rights violations
3. To challenge impunity and lack of accountability for those who violate human rights, particularly crimes against humanity

Core Activities:

 About the African Human Rights System

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was created in 1981 by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). It declares its State Parties dedications to guaranteeing “...respect for democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law and good governance....” Among the rights guaranteed are the right to life and the integrity of the person, the right to a fair trial, freedom from torture, the right to liberty and security, and the right to health and education. The Charter addresses not only civil and political rights, but economic, social and cultural rights and views the two categories of rights as “two sides of the same coin.” The Charter addresses both collective rights and rights of the individual. While finding much to admire in the Charter, human rights advocates also found concerns, such as the so-called “clawback clauses,” that have the potential to weaken some rights. The Charter came into force on 21 October 1986, a date now celebrated annually throughout Africa as Africa Day of Human Rights.

It was originally envisioned that the Charter would be implemented by both a Commission and a Court, however the OAU focused initially on establishing only the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Since the Commission’s decisions do not have the force of law, they have been largely ignored by member States. In 1994, recognizing the need for a court with legally binding decision authority, the OAU agreed to explore the creation of a court to complement the Commission. A Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was subsequently adopted by the OAU in 1998 to establish the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The Protocol Establishing the Court entered into force in 2004 after the required 15 African States ratified the Protocol. To date, 23 African nations have ratified the Protocol, less than half of the African States. The Court is in the process of setting up operations at its seat in Arusha, Tanzania. The Court’s 11 judges were elected in January, 2006, by the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union. The judges were sworn in on 2 July, 2006, before the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the AU summit in Gambia.

The future success of the African Human Rights System will largely depend on the political will of the AU and individual African countries to live up to their obligations under the Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Protocol of the Court.The Court has several notable features that set it apart from other judicial bodies. Actions may be brought before the Court on the basis of any instrument ratified by the State party in question, including international human rights treaties. The Court can apply as sources of law any relevant human rights instrument ratified by the member state in question, in addition to the African Charter.

Africa Legal Aid has close working relations with the African Commission, and is developing close working relationship with the new Court. From 1-2 December, 2006, Africa Legal Aid in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Ghana convened a high level Pan African Conference to Introduce the New African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to Human Rights and Justice Sectors. Report

International Criminal Justice 

The existence of an international criminal justice system reflects society's need for a world that does not accept exploitation of people by the powerful — regardless of whether the exploiters are individuals, groups or nations. It reflects the desire for a world where certain fundamental human rights norms are shared, protected and observed by all members of society. It rejects a culture of impunity in which such crimes do not have consequences.
Since the first Geneva Convention in 1864, the international community has sought to create mechanisms to regulate the conduct of war and protect human rights. However, even though substantial consensus has emerged about the human values accepted by the international community, there are still widespread and flagrant violations of these principles. These include ethnic cleansing, massacres, atrocities, sexual abuse and enslavement. Many of these are so grave that they constitute crimes not only against one individual, community or state, but crimes against the entire human race.
The judgment of the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1945 established the principle of individual criminal accountability as a cornerstone of international criminal law. The judgment states that “crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced.”
Nations generally agree that criminals should be brought to justice by national institutions. But, in times of conflict or repression, national institutions are often either unwilling or unable to act, either due to lack of political will or to the collapse of the justice system. The response of the international community to crimes against humanity has repeatedly been marked by tolerance of impunity, rather than enforcement of the rule of law.
The United Nations has responded in two recent instances by creating ad hoc international criminal tribunals to prosecute persons accused of flagrant violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda through the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
The international community has also responded by creating the International Criminal Court (ICC), which came into force on July 1, 2002. The Court is the first permanent global court with jurisdiction over all persons, from heads of state to soldiers of the lowest rank. It provides a powerful mechanism to make all perpetrators of gross human rights abuses subject to the rule of law. The ICC Charter has been adopted by over 100 nations, including about half of the nations in Africa. The ICC has complementary jurisdiction which means it will not act unless a nation fails to do so, or unless national proceedings are not genuine. Implementation of the Court is in progress and the first few cases have begun.
 
While these are very positive developments, massive violations of human rights are continuing. Questions arise such as whether justice will only be brought to bear on citizens of weaker nations? Are Peace and International Criminal Justice competing or complementary principles?
Africa Legal Aid has been very involved with international criminal justice issues in both African and international forums. It is also working closely with the ICC and with the UN criminal tribunals particularly, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).