70 Years after the UDHR: A Provocative Reflection Shaped by African Experiences

Agbor Avitus

doi:10.17159/1727-3781/2020/v23i0a8782

Abstract

The 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights presents an opportunity for critical reflections from the Global South on why the dream of universalising the rights contained in this ground-breaking document is still just a dream. Shaped by a rigorous interrogation of African experiences as narrated by practitioners and scholars, this paper revisits some of the leading contentious issues which, undoubtedly, have impacted on the realisation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the African continent. The paper revisits the issue of meaning, and how uncertainties surrounding it have triggered controversial perceptions and constructions of the notion of human rights, aggravated by adjectival calibrations. Capturing the views of scholars and practitioners, this paper takes an evidence-based approach to the matter as it identifies and discusses some of the common, recurrent challenges that have compromised the aspiration of universalising the ideals articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include, amongst other things, the impact of slavery and the slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism, the nature and impact of western hypocrisy, double-standards, bias and inconsistency – factors that not only dilute the recognition of human rights but further deepen the mistrust and misgivings Africans have about human rights. Lastly, the paper appraises the adverse impact of corruption on the realisation of human rights on the African continent. It is argued that all these factors, cumulatively, adversely impact on the perception and realisation of human rights on the African continent.

Highlights

In 2018 the global community celebrated the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
For the African continent, slavery and the slave trade, followed by colonialism, constitute the worst and most degrading forms of human treatment, the arrogation of superiority leading to the assumption of a right to control independent human beings for economic reasons, subjugating them to the status of second-class human beings
We begin with the premise that slavery, the slave trade, the most severe forms of racism associated with colonialism, and subsequent official racist practices such as Apartheid in South Africa or the Jim Crow laws in the United States are extraordinarily serious human rights violations

Summary

Introduction

In 2018 the global community celebrated the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (hereafter the UDHR). The continent had undoubtedly known injustices, past, present and continuing Such injustices are experienced on many fronts: political, racial, religious, tribal, and socio-economic. These injustices shape the perception and reception of human rights as well as their implementation in the challenging contexts of Africa. Prior to discussing some of these, perhaps it is necessary to consider some of the contentious ideological issues which have dominated contemporary human rights discourse, penned mostly by African scholars, in which they articulate their views and capture the very fundamental uniqueness of African society which, in their opinion, cannot be ignored in the context of human rights One of these issues is the question of the meaning of human rights

The question of meaning and categorisation

The question of origin: some unfortunate misgivings

The corruption factor: the complicity of the West

Conclusion

Literature

12 July 2020