The African Human Rights System and the Issue of Minorities in Africa

Abstract

The issue of minorities, understood in terms of the question of the democratic accommodation of the ethno-cultural diversity that is characteristic of the postcolonial African state, is a major factor underlying the security and governance crises affecting many countries on the continent. As Obiora Chinedu Okafor points out, the issue of minorities ‘has been, and will for the foreseeable future remain, the central problem of post-colonial African state craft’. Indeed, without properly addressing this issue, the post-colonial African state cannot guarantee social justice, substantive equality and inclusion for all members of its diverse population in the processes of the state. As Alemante G. Selassie puts it, ‘no issue is more perplexing or more critical than how African societies should treat ethnic identity’. He goes on to warn that, ‘[n]othing less than the future hope of Africa for stability, democracy, and development is at stake.’ Notwithstanding the fact that the post-colonial African state is by far the most seriously affected, in the discourse on human rights and democratisation, as well as in the political framework of African states, inadequate attention is paid to the issue of minorities and the various human rights and governance issues it raises. As Bertram G. Ramcharan observes, ‘[t]he protection of minorities in Africa is a subject practically untouched in the literature or in African policy documents