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UNESCO cooperates with human rights courts in Africa to reinforce international standards on freedom of expression and rule of law
With the signature of this agreement, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 established institutional partnerships with all regional courts in Africa, namely the African Court on Human and Peoples鈥 Rights, the ECOWAS Court of Justice and now the East African Court of Justice, to reinforce regional frameworks on human rights and to ensure freedom of expression, press freedom, and an end to impunity for crimes committed against journalists in the region.
UNESCO鈥檚 partnerships with regional human rights courts aim to ensure higher credibility and outreach for its specialized training programme for judicial officials, aligned with UNESCO鈥檚 Global Priority Africa, in order to promote the exchange of best practices and to reinforce international and regional standards on freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists, thereby fostering the respect for the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in general.
It is my hope that the agreement with be implemented with both parties in good faith and that the role of the Court in the implementation agenda will be well underscored by its stakeholders. Considering the importance of the Agreement to the Court in particular and to the East Africans in general, I wish to thank and commend UNESCO for accepting to work with the EACJ for the benefit of the people of the East African Community.
Considering the higher degree of independence that judges in many countries enjoy, their decisions can be an important factor to guarantee the implementation of freedom of expression standards and the safety of journalists. The judiciary can in particular play an essential role in reinforcing the 鈥渢hree Ps鈥 (Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution), to guarantee journalists鈥 safety and end impunity for crimes and attacks against them. To that effect, the signature of this Memorandum of Understanding effectively defines a strategic framework for UNESCO and the East African Court of Justice to actively cooperate in enhancing the knowledge and capacities of the judiciary on these issues, by promoting the exchange of best practices and regional jurisprudence related to freedom of expression, access to information, and the safety of journalists.
To that effect, 91麻豆国产精品自拍 launched a video highlighting landmark decisions of the African Court, the ECOWAS Court and the EACJ, (including , 2014; , 2018; and , 2019), relating to issues of freedom of expression, press freedom, safety of journalists, decriminalizing defamation and ending impunity for crimes against journalists. In particular, the video presents the mandate and functioning of the African Court, and details how cases relating to freedom of expression in the region can be brought to redressal through the Court.
Regional Judicial Courts in Africa and Landmark Jurisprudence on Freedom of Expression
Developed through UNESCO鈥檚 partnerships with regional and sub-regional courts in Africa 鈥攁nd with the support from the and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan鈥 this video aims to underline the role of judicial actors and courts in protecting fundamental human rights, and to raise awareness on key decisions that uphold international and regional standards on freedom of expression.
These activities fall within the framework of UNESCO鈥檚 Judges鈥 Initiative which has, since 2013, raised the capacities of judicial actors in over 150 countries around the world. Over 23,000 judicial actors, including judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, have been trained on issues of freedom of expression, access to information and safety of journalists, notably through a , including in , on-the-ground and for Supreme Court judges, and the publication of a number of and .
