Human Rights in Africa

Published under the auspices of the Consortium on Human Rights Development, this book presents a comparative analysis of two legal instruments: one national--the New Tanzanian Bill of Rights--and the other regional--The African Charter on Human Rights and People's Rights. Both are important for the purposes of protection and promotion of human rights. Human Rights in Africa records the movement towards anarchy and dictatorship in Africa which contributed tremendously to the new thinking and re-thinking about the need to respect human dignity in Africa. In this book, the author poignantly illustrates the national disregard of human rights. Taking the case of Tanzania, Peter shows various incidents of violation of human rights. He then cites examples of violations at different levels in other African and Third World countries.

Part One of the book presents an historical examination of the Tanzanian Bill of Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. Part Two offers a thorough comparison of these two legal instruments. Part Three covers the entire scope of people's rights and Parts Four and Five take a look at the enforcement mechanism of these legal instruments. Part Six presents the author's conclusions and summary statements. Both the New Tanzanian Bill of Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights can be found in their entirety in the Appendix. This book makes informative reading to anyone interested in international law, African history, human rights and related subjects.

CHRIS MAINA PETER is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is also the author of Choosing Sides: A Polemical Approach to Three Schools of Jurisprudence.