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Center for Global Ethics Index
In fact, the last decade from 1981 to 1991 will probably remain in
African history an important period which can be qualified as a period of
"Human Rights Revolution" or "The Rise of Democracy." Two important events
marked this period: in the one hand, the publication of The African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights in June 1981 by the OAU (the
Organisation of African Unity) and, in the other hand the end of the
"single party era" under the storm of democratization which started to
blow in East Europe, Africa and Asia between 1989 and 1991 with the rise
of Gorbatchevian perestroika. In fact, since 1989, in several countries of
Africa, the word "democracy" is becoming everybody's favorite song.
Independent newspapers are growing everywhere. People talk openly against
dictatorship and organize demonstrations. In many countries, men and
women, priests, believers and non-believers march into the streets and die
for freedom and justice. In January 1991, Jacques Pelletier, French
Minister of the Cooperation, said that among 29 countries of Black Africa
traditionally "friends of France," only five had not yet started seriously
the process of democratization.3 In this process of democratization, one
phenomenon has struck our attention: the role played by the churches to
support democracy. In more than four countries, Christian bishops have
been elected president of the "National Conference," a kind of "special
Parliament," organized to lead countries from totalitarianism toward
democratic governments in a non-violent way. Many African Christian
bishops, as in Zaire,4 have clearly taken a position in favor of democracy
and pluralism against dictatorship and the single party regime which
prevailed in many countries since the independence era of '60s. In several
pastoral letters the Zairian National Conference of Catholic Bishops
called clearly for the end of the dictatorship of President Mobutu and for
the rise of "democracy." In February 1992 the United States Catholic
Conference of Bishops sent a "statement on massacre of marchers in Zaire"
sustaining the efforts of Archbishop Monsengwo to lead the country to a
democratic regime:
Dear Archbishop Monsengwo Pasinya,
I write to express condolences on behalf of the United States Catholic Conference on the deaths of the Christian protest marchers who where killed on Sunday, February 16, in Kinshasa in their prayerful and non-violent attempt to vindicate their rights as a people. I would like as well to offer you, Archbishop, in your capacity as president of the National Conference, the support of the USCC in your work on behalf of national reconciliation and peaceful change. The church in the United States stands in solidarity with the church in Zaire in its struggle for freedom, peace and justice.
We will be communicating our concern over the Kinshasa massacre with the embassy of Zaire and with the US Department of State. If there is any way in which we can show our solidarity with your efforts on behalf the transition to democratic government, we would welcome hearing from you.5
This letter shows us the importance of "international solidarity" to solve African problems today. And the project of a Global ethic may be helpful in the same way. The African struggle for democracy and for the respect of human Rights may be understood as a result of, at least, five factors:
The conjunction of all these factors defines the New Era of Africa, a new era which will surely be marked by the promotion of human rights. We use the expression of "New Era" also because the Africa of ethnocentrism and nationalism is developing a new way of life dominated by a "global vision" and "global interaction." In fact, even for an African who has never traveled abroad, it is clear today that the World has become a "global village." I still remember how the people of my small village were excited at the event of the first man marching on the moon in 1969. In African languages we created songs to sing "Apollo XI" while some boys of my village preferred to be called "Apollo." From their villages, Africans remain connected to the entire world through radio and through the contact with thousands of "outsiders" visiting Africa or working there. Many Africans are now accustomed to seeing all kinds of American Peace Corps workers, Westerns tourists, scientists, businessmen, teachers, engineers, soldiers and missionaries, agents of secret services visit Africa all time while others have been living there for a long times some of them even marry Africans, become members of African religions like Kimbanguism, receive traditional initiations, and so on. Asian people also, mainly Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Arabs and Jews have been present on the African continent for generations and generations. Some Europeans are citizens in Senegal, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zaire, Uganda and other countries. The so-called "Black Continent" is inhabited by different peoples from all over the world. That situation raises the question of "the conditions of the possibility" of "living together" peacefully and in friendship for people from different ethnic groups, races, customs, religions and ethical backgrounds. Such as a question makes the project of a global ethic relevant, in the African context.
But before talking about a global ethic, we should first ask whether Africa even has a systematic ethic. When we read books published on "African Philosophy" and "African Theology", it appears clear that we still do not yet have an "African Kant." Nevertheless, some efforts have been made to systematize the ethics of different ethnic groups, and some authors, like John Mbiti,6 have attempted to bring this system to the level of the whole continent. Furthermore, a global direction is found everywhere: in academic researches and in public symposiums. In Zaire, for instance, since 1972, the Catholic Faculty of Theology every year holds two kinds of symposium called "Philosophical Week of Kinshasa" and "Theological Week" which have produced an abundant literature on the issue of African ethics and human rights, as we can see in the following already published works, among many others: Liberation and African Philosophy (1977), Ethic and African Society (1980), Human Rights and African Philosophy (1982), Development and African Philosophy (1985), Christian Ethic and African Societies (1987), Social Order and African Philosophy (1988).7
In December 1992, a "Pan-African Workshop on Justice and Peace and Human Rights" was organized in Kumasi (Ghana). In the keynote address delivered during that symposium by Rt. Rev. Peter K. Sarpong, Catholic Bishop of Kumasi, we can clearly perceive the move towards a global ethic:
At the beginning of this last decade of our millennium, the global community, suddenly awakened to the gross injustices in our world, came up with such slogans as "Education for all by the year 2000", "Water for all by the year 2000", "Food for all by the year 2000", "Health for all by the year 2000", to captivate the imagination of humankind. They were designed to address inequalities in the world and hopefully to stem the wave of violence and hostilities everywhere. At a time when once unimaginable strides are being made in science, technology and social communications, our globe is sinking gradually but surely into the abyss of destruction. The world is revelling in wrong-doing, resulting in the degradation of the human person, sometimes to a level below that of the brute animal. One may ask why we intelligent and free human beings cannot discern what is wrong from what is right, reject the former and adopt the latter?8
Today, in many countries we have several national organizations dealing with ethic, such as the "Association of Physicians," "Association of Philosophers," "Association for the Defense of Human Rights" and "Association of Moralists." Beside these non-religious organizations we have also the "Ecumenical Association of African Theologians" and the "Ecumenical Association of the Third World Theologians"9 which carry on a significant dialogue on African values and on the issues of justice and freedom. The Catholic theology inspired by the interreligious dialogue promoted by the Council Vatican II and the Protestant Churches involved in the Ecumenical Movement developed a dialogue open also to "African Religions" and to other religions like Islam. Unfortunately all these organizations have not yet produced a general text in the spirit of a global ethic including even non-believers. Until now, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights remains the unique text bringing Africans of all beliefs to some common principles on human rights. Such a text is very important for the comprehension of ethics in Africa. That is why in this paper we want to see how this text can be used in the project of a global ethic. In fact in our world it is not enough to have "peacelovers," we need "peacemakers" and it is not enough to think in a "global way" or to have a kind of "universal mind." It is important "to act in a global way and with a global perspective" by treating in each human being the entire humanity, to paraphrase both Kant's and the ancient rabbinical principle. The survival of our world urges us to keep in mind the unity of the "human family" in each of our actions. It is in this way that we can understand the project of global ethic and its importance for African people. We will limit our analysis to a special text which is more meaningful: the "African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights".10 This text will be analyzed in connection with two other texts, the UN Declaration of Human Rights and The Universal Declaration of Global Ethic. But, because the final text of a "Global Ethic" has not yet been adopted and published we will consider in this study, the principles formulated in the draft written by Professor Swidler under the title of "Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic" and in the draft written by Professor Hans Kung under the title "Declaration of the Religions for a Global Ethic."11
After a brief presentation of the "African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights," we will focus our attention on the contribution of this African Charter to the project of a Global Ethic. This Charter has been commented on and analyzed in several books and reviews dealing with international law such as the American Journal of International Law, the Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Revue Universelle des Droits de l'Homme, Rivista Internazionale dei Diritti dell'Uomo, Cooperazione Giuridica Internazionale, Afrique 2000. Revue Africaine de Politique Internationale, Presence Africaine, Zaire-Afrique. Our paper intends to bring another kind of commentary, from the perspective of Global ethic.12 Our paper intends to bring another kind of commentary, from the perspective of Global ethic.
II. WHAT IS THE "AFRICAN CHARTER OF HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS" ?
A. Definition
The "African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights" is a declaration of human rights
published by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in June 1981. This Charter intends to
define human rights in the context of the African continent as a whole and from the African
world view. In a sense, this Charter seems to be a correction, an interpretation, and an
amplification of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. In other terms it is an application of the
UN Declaration of Human Rights to the African situation, also taking into account the evolution
of the concept of human rights since 1948. It is written by Africans and for Africans.
B. Genesis of the text
The "African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights" is not an invention ex-nihilo. It has
a long history behind it. Beside the contribution of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the
immediate history of the African Charter is rooted in the Carter administration and the action of
the Association of African Jurists.
The conflict between African governments and the UN Declaration of Human Rights constitutes the starting point of the process of creating the "African Charter of Human Rights." Created in 1963, in a context of war against colonialism, the OAU focused its attention on the eradication of colonialism and apartheid. To avoid conflict between member states, the OAU emphasized the principle of noninterference in "internal affairs." Soon, the abuse of power by the presidents of African newly independent states becomes an internal affair so that President Sekou Toure could claim that the OAU was not a tribunal which could sit in judgement on any member state's internal affairs.13 For a long time the OAU kept silence on the violation of human rights by Africans. The massacres of thousands of Hutu in Burundi in 1972 and 1973 were neither discussed nor condemned by the OAU, which regarded them as matters of internal affairs.14
Even though the OAU Charter reaffirms in its preamble and purposes the principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many African presidents came to think that the UN Declaration, written without their participation, does not reflect the African vision of human rights and is in a certain way another form of colonization. Then in the name of "African identity" and "African tradition" they refused to recognize any European denunciation of violations of human rights, claiming that they were acting according to "the African vision of human dignity" and the African interpretation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The OAU charter itself was responsible for that confusion because, as many African jurists pointed out,15 it missed a significant emphasis on human rights, making only passing reference to the UN Charter in its preamble and in Article II.
But during the course of the years, the abuse of power by African politicians became more and more problematic because the "oppression of Africans by their fellow Africans" became so evident and intolerable. If the independent states were few in the 60's, their number increased in the 70's and the responsibility of Africans for the violation of human rights became much more evident and even increased. In fact, as Umozurike16 pointed out, during the 1970's the violation of human rights reached its acme in Africa with the terrible behavior of presidents like Idi Amin Dada in Uganda (1971-1979), Marcias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea (1969-1979) and Jean-Bedel Bokassa in Central African Republic (1966-1979). The terror set up by Idi Amin and Bokassa and its resonance in Western media created a great deal of indignation. In 1975 the Helsinki Final Act signed by the United States, Canada, and 33 European countries emphasized respect for human rights. When President Jimmy Carter took office in 1977 he found Africa in serious trouble. The same decade was also marked by the phenomenon of "boat people" in Southeast Asia. Coming to the White House after the Helsinki Act was signed in 1975 by the United States, President Carter made the respect of human rights a sine qua non condition for any economic help to third world countries. But indignation did not come only from the outside. On their side, African jurists decided to revise the role of OAU in such matters. Before the development of Western pressure and concern about abuse of human rights in African independent states, African jurists, already aware of the gross abuse of human rights during the colonial period, gathered in Lagos in 1961, under the auspices of the International Commission of Jurists and suggested an African Human Rights Charter under which would be created a court to which individuals or groups could have recourse.17 A similar call was made in Dakar by jurists from French-speaking African states in 1967. The African Bar Association later proposed a commission of human rights to operate along the same line as Amnesty International in London and the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva. In 1967 Nigeria proposed at the 23rd session of the Commission on Human Rights that the United Nations establish regional commissions where none existed. The idea was accepted and the Commission then invited the UN Secretary-General to organize seminars in those regions where no human rights commission existed. At the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights held in Tehran in 1968, Nigeria renewed its campaign for the establishment of regional commissions. In 1969, during a UN seminar held in Cairo and attended by 19 African states, the creation of an African Commission of Human Rights with the collaboration of the OAU was decided upon.18
Finally under international pressure and the pressure of Carter administration, the OAU
decided in 1979 to address the issue of human rights. That happened also because the General
Secretary of the OAU at that period happened to be Edem Kodjo, a jurist more sensitive to the
issue of human rights and a citizen of Togo where human rights were terribly violated. In
February 1979, Edem Kodjo organized a colloquium on the topic "Les perspectives du
developpement de l'Afrique a l'horizon 2000". The conclusion of that symposium stated clearly
that "no development was possible in Africa without the guarantee of human rights."19 Then the
OAU set in motion studies of an African Charter of Human Rights. From November 28 to
December 8, 1979 the committee of experts met in Dakar to draw up a draft charter. The
Secretary-General of the OAU enjoined them to take cognisance of the "African concept of
Human Rights"20 in order to make the proposed charter distinct from other conventions already
adopted in other regions. For that reason the Secretary-General proposed to the experts:
C) The Text
The text of the "African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights" is divided into three
parts introduced by a general preamble. The second and the third parts deal with the
"Organization of the African Commission of Human Rights." The first part and the preamble are
more important for the issue of a global ethic. The first part is divided into two chapters. The
first chapter defines in 26 articles the rights of human beings (arts. 1-18) and the rights of
peoples (arts. 19-26). The second chapter completes the list of rights by defining the duties of
each individual (arts. 27-29). The preamble defines the spirit and the source of the Charter as
based in one hand on the "African tradition" and in the other hand on the "UN Declaration of
Human Rights" and other international conventions.
Among the important articles for the issue of human rights we have articles 17, 18 and 27
which present ethics as indispensable and as the key to the interpretation of any human right. We
have also article 8 which guarantees the liberty of conscience and religion. Articles 10, 11, 12
and 13 are also very interesting because they open the door for "democracy." The word
"democracy" is not used in the Charter, but article 13 guarantees the right to participate in
government either directly or through freely chosen representatives and protects access to public
property and services on the basis of non-discrimination. Also interesting for a global ethic is the
constant reference of the Charter to ethics which appears several times in the text.
We put at the end of this paper the complete text of the African Charter and a parallelism
we created to show the connection between the "human rights" defined in one hand in the
African charter, and in the other hand in the UN Declaration and in the draft Global Ethic.
III. CONTRIBUTION OF THE AFRICAN CHARTER TO A GLOBAL ETHIC
A. Contribution as Ethics
The first question to be addressed is to know whether this text can qualify as an "ethical
text." When we look at the story and the context of the text, we find that it has been promulgated
neither by an association of african moralists nor by churches but by politicians, by heads of
states gathered in the OAU, which is a political organization. But an attentive analysis of the
content of the text reveals that the text is not totally lacking in an ethical atmosphere. What do
we mean by ethics in that context?
Professor Swidler reminds us that "Ethic" refers to "the fundamental attitude toward good
and evil, and the principles to put it into action."22 Understood in that sense, an ethic is present
in the ACHPR. First of all we perceive that there are many similarities between the ethical
principles of a Global Ethic formulated by the Professors Swidler and Kung. In these two texts of
a Global Ethic it clearly appears that the foundation of a global ethic is in one hand the concept
of "good and evil" and on the other hand "the dignity of the human being" which implies the
respect of "human rights." Kung's text states clearly:
We recall to mind the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United
Nations. What is formally proclaimed on the level of rights we wish to confirm and deepen
here from the perspective of an ethic: the full realization of the intrinsic dignity of the human
person, of inalienable freedom, of the equality in principle of all humans, and the necessary
solidarity of all humans with each other.
For its part, Swidler's text says:
This document presupposes and affirms the rights and corresponding
responsibilities enumerated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of the United Nations as a Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic which we
believe must undergird any affirmation of human rights and respect for the
Earth. In accord with that first UN Declaration we believe there are five general
presuppositions which are indispensable for a global ethic: every human
possesses inalienable and inviolable dignity, everyone is obliged to do good
and avoid evil...
By reading the "African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights" we find,
mutatis mutandis, the same presuppositions. The preamble states clearly that the
African Charter takes into account the UN Declaration of Human Rights and
specifies that in this African charter of human rights the fundamental rights "stem
from the attributes of human beings" (les attribus de la personne humaine). That is
to say, in concurrence with the general notion of human rights, that in the African
world view human rights are not defined on the basis of the family or the
collectivity, but one has rights by the fact of being a human being. Completing
this foundation, article 4 affirms the "inviolability" of the human person and
article 5 emphasizes that each individual has a dignity inherent in her person.
It appears then that the "Global ethic" (as defined in Swidler's and Kung's texts) and the
African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights have a common vision in the fact that:
1. They perceive "Human Rights" as based on the notion of "Human Nature."
2. They consider that the "Human Nature" has an intrinsic value and inviolable dignity.
3. They consider that this "common Human Nature" is the foundation of the principles of
equality, justice, freedom and fraternity or solidarity which constitute the foundation of all
human rights.
In both the "Global Ethic" and "ACHPR," we find the primacy of ethics and its
expression in a fundamental rule, a kind of golden rule as an indispensable key to any definition
and understanding of human rights and to any possibility of "living together" in the world.
In the ACHPR we do not have the golden rule in the same words used by Swidler and
Kung like, "What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others or what you wish done to
yourself, do to others." But we clearly have the same rule in article 27 which states powerfully
that all rights and liberties defined in the Charter must be put into action by each person only in
the respect of the right and the security of others and in the respect of the morality: "The rights
and freedoms of each person shall be exercised with due regard to the rights of others, collective
security, morality and common interest" (art. 27, #2).
The concept of respect of others means that people must avoid to do to others what is not
good. It corresponds to the golden rule in the expression of "What you do not wish done to
yourself, do not do to others." The article also specifies that each individual has duties towards
his/her family, towards the society and towards the international community : "Every individual
shall have duties towards his family and society, the State and other legally recognised
communities and the international community" (art. 27; #1).
By duties we should understand "the good to do to other people." An attentive reading
shows clearly that this article 27 is the key to the interpretation of all human rights defined in the
African Charter. It is then normal and logical to think that we have here a "fundamental rule," a
"golden rule." We have then a major similarity of logic between the ACHPR and the Global
Ethic. This similarity continues also in other articles of the Charter. It is easy to draw a
parallelism between the Global Ethic defined by Swidler and the African Charter where we find
the same key words and key notions or principles: dignity, equality, justice, respect, freedom,
solidarity. The great majority of "ethical principles" defined by Swidler and Kung are present in
the human rights defined by the ACHPR: freedom of religion and conscience (art. 8), freedom of
thought and speech (art. 9), law (arts. 3, 13), decision-making (art. 13), property (art. 14), work
(art. 15), education (art. 17), information (art. 9), peace (art. 23).
All that demonstrates that the ACHPR is in a certain way an "ethical text" for the
following reasons:
1. Like any ethic, the African Charter deals with "action." It is not a metaphysical text. It
shows what must be done and what must not be done in the behavior of people, churches, any
kind of group or association and governments.
2. The word "moral" and cognates, which deal clearly with ethical issues, appears several
times in the text.
3. The text gives a great importance to ethic (arts. 17 and 27); it has a clear ethical vision,
it contains in a sense some ethical principles ("dignity of human being..." ), and it considers
ethics the foundation of the genuine way of exercising human rights and freedom.
Even though the words "good" and "evil" are not present in the text, it is clear that this
text prescribes the good to do and the evil (violation of freedom and human rights) to avoid. All
we have seen in our analysis allows us to say that in the ACHPR we have in a certain way a kind
of a "Declaration of African Ethics" which can then be analyzed in relationship to the project of
a Global Ethic.
B. Contribution as a "Global" Project
We now focus our analysis on the concept of "globality." Our thinking will follow three
steps: African continent, relationship between Africa and other continents, relationship between
African ethics and the text of the Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic.
1. First step: Within Africa
If the nature of the "Global Ethic" is to be a consensus from different "ethical traditions"
of humankind, it is clear that it would be easier to deal with a text that already is a consensus of
African peoples than to deal with the ethics of each single African ethnic group. The "ethical
situation" of Africa is a very complex one. Africa is a huge continent of 53 countries and more or
less 660 millions people speaking about two thousands languages, having different customs and
worshipping God in several religions. As John Mbiti pointed out,23 we find in the African
continent mainly Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and several "African religions" and
sects from all over the world, mainly from USA and Asia like the Baha'i Faith and Witnesses of
Jehovah. The so-called "African religion" is a group of different churches practicing the
traditional religions or mixing Christianity and traditional spirituality. According to Gerhard J.
Bellinger, in his article in Knaurs Grosser Religionsfuehrer,24 the African population in 1986,
was 60 million members of tribal religions (12% of African population and 70% of all members
of the traditional religions of the World), 40% Muslims and 45% Christians. According to Rik
De Gendt,25 who used the data furnished by the AIMIS (Agence d'Information Missionnaires)
of Rome, in 1990 the continent had 81,883,OOO Roman Catholics (13.4% of the whole African
population), and in 1992 Africa had more than seven thousand "Afro-Christian" churches with
15 million believers. Such a situation does not make the building of a global ethic easy. Even
though Christians and Muslims have been developing a dialogue, there are many violent
religious conflicts, mainly in Nigeria and in Sudan. And in South Africa, the "Black theology"
and the "White theology" justifying Apartheid26 show how some Blacks and some Whites
disagree on the conception of human rights and ethics. Among Black people there is no
agreement on all ethical issues. In some ethnic groups of Zaire, for instance, to have a child
before marriage is considered a good thing, a proof of fertility for a girl, while in other ethnic
groups, like the Baluba, it is a sign of "prostitution," and a great obstacle to marriage.
In that ethical situation of commonalities and differences among African ethics, the
"African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights" brings a consensus on "how should we treat
with our fellow human beings." By bringing African peoples from different ethical backgrounds
to a consensus on human rights, the text constitutes a first step towards a global ethic. If this first
step consists in bringing one African people together with other African peoples, the second step
consists in bringing all African peoples to a dialogue with peoples of other continents.
2. Second step: Africa and the International Community
African people are already collaborating with many international institutions and some
belong to the predominant religions of our world such as Christianity and Islam. But the African
Charter of Human Rights plays a great role in bringing this international relationship to the level
of a global ethic, as we can show in the following analysis.
The preamble of the ACHPR says clearly that the African Charter takes into account
human rights defined by the UN Declaration and also the rights of human beings and peoples
defined by various Institutions of the United Nations and by the Non-aligned Movement, which
brought together the "Third World" of Africa, Asia and South and Central America. In dealing
with Asia and Western countries, African peoples have been challenged to revise their traditions
and customs, to revise their conception of "marriage," of "the dignity of women and children," of
"family" and the humanistic values of "non-believers." Taking into account the legacy of
modernity, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights appears to be a genuine bridge of
dialogue between African peoples and the international community on the issues of human
rights. In fact, the text already contains some common elements between African Ethic and the
Global Ethic to be built. The African Charter goes beyond many practices of the traditional
African way of life. That is the case for instance concerning religion, women, democracy, and
human beings as individuals.
a) About religion
Many scholars, Africans and Westerns, have pointed out that Africans are notoriously
religious.27 In fact, historians tell us that in ancient African empires such as Ghana, Mali, Luba,
Lunda, Kuba, Zulu,... the political principle of the separation between State and the Religious
institutions did not exist. In almost all the cases, we find the belief in the "divinity" of the King
who considered also himself the High Priest or the supreme authority of "religious affairs."
But when we come to the African Charter we find that there is no mention of God and no
reference to God as the foundation of political power. Even "human dignity" is not based on the
notion of creation of humankind by God. The Charter says that the basic rights of human beings
have their foundation in the "attributes of the human person" (the French translation seems much
clearer at that point : les attributs de la personne humaine). We have in that expression not the
religious language of African religion, but clearly the language of the Western metaphysics or
rationalism. Despite the speculation of some commentators, like the Italian Giovanni Michele
Palmieri28 pretending that the African Charter is characterized by "animism," the text appears
clearly secular on that specific point. While African ethics are predominantly marked by the
religious belief, the Charter does not have the language and characteristics of a religious text. In
that way this charter opens the African conception of human rights to a global dialogue including
non-believers.
b) About Women
Some Scholars interested in the history of Africa before Christianity and before Islam
have recently developed a new understanding of African philosophy, showing that the dignity of
women was never radically denied in African traditions. That is true to some extent. No African
thinker developed a systematic sexism or racism, going so far as to question, for instance,
whether some human beings are really human or whether they have a soul. Nevertheless the
practices in social life do not correspond to the ideal. For centuries, women have been forced to
occupy a low place in society and have been forbidden to participate in government. The African
Charter clearly guarantees the "rights of women" (art. 18) and condemns any kind of
discrimination based on sex (art. 2;18). The Charter does not provide space for speculation on a
possible "African way of understanding the dignity of women." The Charter guarantees to
African women the same dignity and rights universally recognized for other women of our
planet. Such an equality of rights between men and women is clearly a modern notion and not a
characteristic of African traditions. The Charter abolishes many African traditions in that regard
and brings the Africans into a genuine dialogue with other peoples in the context of modern
civilization.
c) Democracy
Since the independence of Africa, many African leaders have manipulated the African
traditions to banish pluralism and free elections and to justify their monoparty regime, even to
make themselves "president for life" (President a vie). In Zaire, for instance, Mobutu who
proclaimed the ideology of "authenticity" said that he should keep power until the end of his life
because "according to our ancestors' practice", in African order of power there is no place for
"political antagonism" but only a place for one, unique Chief who must be obeyed
unconditionally. But the African Charter which defends the "traditional values recognized by the
community" (art. 18) strongly guarantees the right of all citizens to participate in the government
through freely chosen representatives and guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of
association. Here again, the Charter brings African peoples to join the international community
in the "democratic system" of government.
d) Human Beings
In traditional societies we had the primacy of the family, the clan or the collectivity over
the individual. But even though the African Charter recognizes the social dimension of human
being and defines the rights of "peoples," it also brings about a fundamental revolution in the
African conception of being human by recognizing specific rights to each human being as an
individual. This vision of "human rights" based not on the family or the clan but upon the
"attributes of human person" (Preamble) goes far beyond the traditional vision of "Ujamaa" and
brings African peoples to a common understanding of human rights with the international
community.
That is to say that the African Charter which brings together African peoples with other
african peoples also brings Africa to join the international community on the issue of human
rights. In that way it opens the door to a genuine "global ethic." 3. Third step: Contribution of
the ACHPR to a Global Ethic
First of all it is not easy to realize what the African Charter can bring to the Global Ethic
in terms of novelty or innovation. When we read the text, we realize that many elements of the
African Charter are already present in one way or another in the UN Declaration of Human
Rights and in the two texts of Global Ethic written by Professor Leonard Swidler and Professor
Hans Kung. The African Charter itself does not claim any radical originality in its formulation of
human rights. The preamble of the ACHPR clearly acknowledges the influence of the UN
Declaration of Human Rights on the African Charter.
But when we read the African Charter more closely and carefully, we realize that it is not
simply a copy or a photocopy of the Western formulation of human rights or Global Ethic. The
UN Declaration of Human Rights and the two texts of a global ethic are in many ways different
from the African Charter.
First of all the name of the title is different in a very significant way. The text of the
French Revolution was called "Declaration of Human and Citizens' Rights," the UN Declaration
carries in its title the expression of "human rights" while the African Charter adds to "Human
Rights" something new in the title "Peoples' Rights."
Secondly the African Charter has some specific articles defining "Duties" in the
connection with "Rights."
The third important difference consists in the source of the Charter. While the Global
Ethic considers itself like a kind of ethical extension of the UN Declaration of Human Rights,
the African Charter claims that its source is "African tradition," which includes "virtues of
African historical traditions" and "values of the African civilization." Finally, the Charter talks
about some "new rights," like the right to development and the right of peoples to own their
natural resources. It is mainly in these differences and "novelties" that we can find a contribution
of ACHPR to a Global Ethic.
Many specialists of international law have tried to define the specificity and originality of
the ACHPR. According to Emmanuel Wonyu29 the originality of the ACHPR lies in the fact that
the African Charter links in an indissoluble way human rights and rights of peoples, defines
human rights by understanding the human being both as individuals and as members of a society,
and in the fact that the African Charter adds to the traditional or classical human rights some new
human rights developed in the second half of the 20th century, such as the right to the existence
of any people, the right for each people to liberate it by using all means accepted by the
international community, and the right for each nation to utilize its natural resources. Like
Wonyu, Umozurike also thinks that the African Charter has created something new in the field
of the classical definition of human rights : " The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
has combined an impressive array of individual rights and duties, group rights, and state rights
and duties. Some of these, like the right to development and the right to national and
international peace and security, appear to be new additions to the list of internationally
recognised rights."30
But when we read commentaries made by non-African authors, the tone is a bit different.
The Italian Giovanni Michele Palmieri, for instance, contends that the contribution of African
Charter lies in its "animism."
Our perception is still further different. We do not think that the contribution of African
Charter to a Global ethic depends only on its originality, even though an original creativity may
will be there. There are many ways of contributing to something. We may contribute to a project
by expressing our agreement or our disagreement on some specific points, or by bringing some
new elements to the project.
In my opinion, the first contribution lies in the acceptance or recognition of the UN
declaration of human rights. Through this common ground with the UN, the African Charter
makes a global ethic meaningful for African peoples, bringing to the project the agreement of
more or less 700 million African people!
The second contribution consists in the "amplification" and the "explicitation" of some
rights. The African Charter brings a new perception of traditional rights by making explicit what
was implicit, by stating in a precise manner or by emphasizing what the Global Ethic or the UN
Declaration of Human Rights consider in a general way. Because of the difference in the
experiences of life between African peoples and Westerners, what Africa considers priority
rights are not always priorities for Western countries such as the right to development or right to
utilize one's natural resources or the right of other people to existence or the rights of parents.
Then the African Charter formulates in "clear articles" what the UN declaration or the Global
Ethic does not express in that way. For instance, the global ethic (according to Kung's and
Swidler's texts) states that it is not good to kill or to steal. The African Charter extends these
rights and formulates them is clear articles. The "not to steal" is extended to "the right of peoples
to freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources" and to "the right for the dispossessed
people to the lawful recovery of its property as well as to an adequate compensation, in case of
spoliation." The "not to kill" is extended to "the survival of peoples" and to the protection of
their traditional culture, while the right to freedom is extended to the right for colonized and
oppressed people to defend themselves by using all means recognized by the international
community.
The creativity of the African Charter can be perceived more clearly in three important
fields: the rights of peoples, the rights to property and the right to development.
a) The Rights of Peoples
It seems clear that the major contribution of the African Charter consists in the definition
of the "Rights of peoples." The French Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration
carried out a definition of human rights based on the individualistic vision of human beings. The
global ethic defined by Professor Swidler is mainly based on the UN vision of human rights. For
that reason, there is a kind of primacy of the individual over the society, even though some
references to the society seem to correct that vision.
With the African Charter we have a definition of human rights intrinsically connected to
the rights of peoples. That is the result of the specific history of African peoples marked by
slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism and which peoples feel and fear the danger of
disappearing as peoples. The African Charter brings to the project of a global ethic a sensibility
to the social dimension of human beings. It calls the attention to the "dignity of peoples" who
cannot exist without a specific "culture" and situates the issue of ethics at a much more global
level, including the behavior of peoples towards other peoples. In that way the discourse of a
global ethic can be significant to many peoples of the Third World who suffer "cultural
alienation," "political domination," and "economical exploitation." But this vision of human
rights brings a correction not only to the Western vision of being human but also to the African
tradition. Even though hospitality to foreigners is considered a great value in the African
tradition, the idea of family as centered on "blood affiliation," the clan and the tribe, has created,
in some cases, a spirit of self-esteem that led people to despise the members of other ethnic
groups simply because they were different, spoke a different language and behaved in different
ways. In a fantastic study, Die auserwaehlten Voelker. Eine christliche Deutung der Welt, Father
Walbert Buehlmann has shown that "the theology of chosen people" is a universal phenomenon,
often used as a weapon against other people.31 In Africa in any ethnic group people believe that
they are "the best people in the world." That is one of the reasons for so many ethnic conflicts.
The African Charter preaches respect for all tribes. As Maurice Massengo-Tiasse pointed out,
the right of equality of peoples means that, "Il n'y a plus de tribus ou de minorites qu'on doit
etouffer, aucun peuple n'a le droit de dominer un autre."32
As we can see, this right of equality of peoples is a major contribution to world peace and
to the project of a Global ethic.
b) The Right to Property
The African Charter has developed a new vision of property that is not in the UN
Declaration nor in the Global Ethic. The African Charter protects the right to property, but
provides that it may be encroached upon in the interest of public need or the general interest of
the community and in accordance with the provisions of appropriate laws. The right to property
also implies the moral commandment: do not still the goods of another. Here the African Charter
has developed the "right to compensation" and the right of peoples to freely dispose of their
national wealth and resources."
There is no clear mention of compensation in the UN Declaration nor in the Global Ethic
texts in African philosophy the goal of the ethical code is not only to prevent evil action but also
the reparation of the "broken order" by compensation. Finally the African Charter brings out the
notion of what I call the "global property" by defining the right of peoples to "equally enjoy the
common patrimony of humankind."
In this way the African Charter genuinely covers all the aspects of "property" we need to
take into account in a fair discussion of a global ethic.
c) The Right to Development
According to Umozurike33 the right to development is a specific African contribution to
the international community. It was first enunciated by the President of the Senegal Supreme
Court, Keba M'baye, in an address to the Institute of International Law of Human Rights in
Strasbourg in 1972. M. Keba M'baye suggested then that all rights are intertwined with the right
of existence, with a progressively higher standard of living, and therefore with development. In
1978, as President of the International Commission of Jurists, he further commented on the right
at the Dakar Conference on the Development of the Law of Human Rights. Finally, at the
request of the Commission of Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General made a study in which
he concluded that a large number of principles based on the UN Charter and human rights texts
and declarations confirm the existence of the right to development in law. This conclusion was
later confirmed by the UN General Assembly. M. Keba M'baye referred to Articles 55-56 of the
UN Charter and 22-27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to the statutes of the
specialized agencies in which international cooperation and solidarity are important. But from
the African world view he came to conclude that "the right to development" is a "human right."
This right implies the negative duty not to impede the development of states and the positive
duty to aid such development. In our century, the right of peoples to development seems the
genuine way to address the issue of "international injustice" and thus the issue of a global ethic
because it is clearly in the context of the development of peoples that we can understand clearly
how the issue of good and bad behavior has reached a high and global level that make urgent the
development of a global ethic without which the world has no way to avoid a "global
catastrophe." It is in that way we can understand Hans Kung when he opened his project of
global ethic with this expression "No survival without a world ethic"34 or in Swidler's terms:
"the future offers two alternatives: death or dialogue."35
d) The Right to Traditional Values
The articles 17 and 18 of the African Charter powerfully call for the protection and the
promotion of "morality and traditional values." We have here something that does not exist in
the UN Declaration of human rights nor in the texts of a Global ethic written by Swidler and
Kung. Obviously when one thinks that the defense of human rights is a product of the 20th
century and is something new in the history of humankind, it would appear contradictory that the
African Charter consider the promotion of "traditional African values" as a defence of "human
rights." And yet it appears for Africans that their traditions are not completely empty of any
notion of human rights. The Charter does not say what those "traditional values" are. But we can
illustrate them by analyzing the traditional code of African ethics. That allows us to see how it is
easy for Africans to accept the project of a global ethic because it already has some elements in
common with the traditional African ethic. I will try to follow John Mbiti and confirm his view
by the Luba ethic of my own tradition. 1. The Notion of Human Rights
Among the Baluba I do not find the notion of "human rights" in its modern sense as
defined in the UN Declaration. The expression "human rights" itself is absent from the Kiluba
language as well as from many other Bantu languages. But the notion of human dignity is there.
The Bantu anthropology reveals ten basic concepts used in the Kiluba language that can help us
to understand the issue of human rights:36
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In the Bantu philosophy "being" is divided into two categories:
- MUNTU (BANTU in plural; existing being-of-intelligence; human-being)
- KINTU (existing being-without-intelligence; animal, plant, thing).
Animals, vegetation and minerals belong to the category of KINTU while God and human beings
(men, women, children) belong to the category of MU-NTU. But when a human being behaves
badly he falls into the category of KI-NTU and people refer to him differently, as the following
figure shows:
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The term KI means that a human can empty her/his essence, his/her humanness by doing evil, by
saying or thinking in a wrong way. The criterion used to measure the "humanness" is
"intelligence" or "wisdom" and mainly "moral conduct."
2. The Traditional Ethic
According to the traditional ethic, moral conduct is evaluated according to the attitude
toward BUMI (life). That is good which protects and promotes human life, and that is evil which
destroys or alters human life. That is why in Luba society the devil par excellence is the
Mfwintshi (Sorcerer). BUMI is the supreme value in the Luba ethic, which is completely
concentrated on the "respect of human life." For the Baluba, as for many other African peoples,
religion and ethics are so anthropocentric that Mbiti could say: "In Africa, it is as if God exists
for the sake of man." The Africans are so deeply concerned about the preservation and the
promotion of human life that religion itself becomes a tool to reinforce the "respect for human
life." It is this concern for BUMI that gives African ethics and religion this dimension called by
some scholars "utilitarianism" and expressed by Mbiti in this radical way:
African faith is utilitarian, not purely spiritual; it is practical and not
mystical. The people respond to God in and because of particular circumstances,
especially in times of need. Then they seek to obtain what He gives, be that
material or spiritual; they do not search for Him as the final reward or
satisfaction of the human soul or spirit. Augustine's description of man's soul
being restless until it finds its rest in God, is something unknown in African
traditional religious life.
This concern for "human life" is possible only because the Baluba believe strongly in the
"dignity" of every human being. This notion of "dignity" is expressed by two words: BUMUNTU
and BULEME. The concept of BULEME is the key to understand the Luba notion of human
rights. It means "weight," "solid," "consistence" as in the Hebrew notion of the "Kabod of
Yahwe." In the Luba ethic, a person (MUNTU) fulfill her/his humanness (BUMUNTU) when
s/he is capable of respect (BULEME) for her/himself (KWILEMEKA) and for others. Whenever a
person does not "respect" the life and dignity of other persons, s/he automatically empties his/her
BUMUNTU (essence of a genuine human being) because the BULEME is the essence of the
BUMUNTU. It is the notion of BULEME that constitutes the foundation of all Luba ethics. Any
conduct that does not respect the dignity of human life is bad. What contributes to the protection
and the intensification of human life is good. The same can be said for other African cultures, as
we can see in the "African ethic" described by Mbiti. In fact, according to Mbiti, among the
basic principles of "African ethics" we find: truth and rectitude as essential virtues, justice,
generosity (the opposite of selfishness), hospitality, protecting the poor and weak, giving honor
and respect to older people, chastity before marriage and faithfulness during marriage, avoiding
hypocrisy, stealing, and falsehood, and keeping a covenant. This is verified for instance in the
Luba society where ethics is based on two poles: BUBI (evil, bad, sin, ugliness) and BUYA
(goodness, righteousness, purity, beauty). The Baluba distinguish the MUNTU MUBI (bad
person) from the MUNTU MUYAMPE (a good person) or MUNTU WAMPIKWA KATONYE (a
person without stain).
The MUNTU MUYAMPE has the plenitude of BUMUNTU (the being-human; the essence
of being human) while the characteristics of the MUNTU MUBI are those which destroy human
dignity, as the following figure shows:
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This ethic is not only anthropocentric but much more sociocentric. Because in the
African worldview bad behavior is not a "private matter." Any bad conduct destroys "social
relations," and for that reason, African ethics takes seriously into account the principle of
"reparation": anyone who has done evil must confess publicly his fault and repair what he has
destroyed in order to restore the broken order or harmony of social life. This social dimension of
human lifeD"to be with," "to be in communion with"Dwhat Nyerere calls UJAMAA (togetherness,
fraternity or family spirit) is so important in Africa that some languages like Kiluba do not even
have a specific word to express the verb "to have". In Kiluba, as in many other Bantu languages,
the verb "to have" is expressed by the verb "to be" followed by "with" (NE). The verb KWIKALA
means to be; KWIKALA NE means "to have" (literally "to be with"). To have a child = to be
with a child (KWIKALA-NE-MWANA). To have a house = to be with a house
(KWIKALA-NE-NJIBO).
This spirit of "togetherness" generates a spirit of hospitality and solidarity which
distinguishes African ethics from the Marxist notion of "class struggle," as Nyerere tells us: "The
true African socialist does not look on one class of men as his brethren and another as his natural
enemies. He does not form an alliance with the `brethren' for the extermination of the
`non-brethren.' He regards all men as his brethrenDas members of his ever-extending family.
UJAMAA, then, or `familihood,' describes our socialism."
Our survey may give the impression that the African traditions are perfect. That is not the
case at all. We know that the daily life of people does not always correspond to the ideal. The
purpose of our paper was to deal with "the system of values" and not the behavior of individuals.
To study "African ethics" we must distinguish between the conduct of people and the "abuses" of
the traditions from the genuine "spirit of the African tradition" that the African Charter calls the
positive African traditional values. From our brief analysis we can understand clearly why the
African Charter appeals for the promotion of these "positive traditional values" that predispose
Africans to be interested in a debate on a global ethic to which Africans cannot come as a
"tabula rasa." It is for that reason that the African Charter states in its preamble that Africa has
"traditionally" reserved for "human rights and freedom" a primordial importance.
IV. C O N C L U S I O N
As Arlene Swidler pointed out, human rights represent what is probably the primary
ethical concern in the world today. When we say "the world," we also include the "African
world." My opinion, at the end of this survey, is that Africans are today very concerned with the
issue of human rights and cannot reject a project such as a "Universal Declaration of Global
Ethic" which helps to end the violation of human rights in the world.
The project of a "Global Ethic" finds its justification and meaning in the course of events
which characterize our world today. With the collapse of the communist regimes in East Europe,
with the storm of democracy in the Third World, with the economic crisis and the wave of
xenophobia in Western countries, our world is today in a very dangerous situation, a kind of
"social earthquake." The African continent, more and more neglected by the masters of world
economy while its governments fall apart and the population suffers starvation and ethnic
cleansing, is not in a good situation. This "lost continent" as some pessimist scholars call it
already, need such a thing as a Global ethic that can rescue it from its own diseases and save it
through a "Global solidarity." At the same time its experience of suffering and struggle for
survival may be fruitful for other peoples. For suffering is a privileged instance for the
understanding of human rights.
If the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vatican
Council II have been built without Africa, at the edge of the third millennium the Universal
Declaration of Global Ethic may perhaps receive an African contribution. But what kind of
contribution, some could ask?
When we consider the great influence of Western civilization on African culture during
the last four centuries it is easy to challenge Africans: "What do you have that you have not
received?" (1Cor 4:7).
Given the constant violation of human rights on the African continent, one could even
remain skeptical about the notion of an "African ethic" and could say like Nathaniel, "Can
anything good come from Nazareth?" (Jn 1:46)
But it is also true that the continent has already produced three "Nobel Peace Prizes,"
Albert Luthuli (1960), the Anglican bishop Mgr. Desmond Tutu (1984) and Mandela-De Klerck
(1993). It is also significant that the Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986 was the
Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, well known for his struggle against dictatorship in Africa. It is a
fact that African people are becoming more and more aware of human rights. And this process of
awareness has increased since 1989 in the direction of democracy. In many countries bishops,
priests and people in general strongly urge politicians to build democratic institutions. Africa is
clearly joining the international community in this matter. In that process of "democratization"
the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights plays a key role. This African Charter does
not claim any radical originality in its formulation of human rights. In fact, many African
languages do not have a clear expression for "human rights". Nevertheless the concept of
"human being" (MUNTU) and "human dignity" (BULEME, BUMUNTU) is clearly asserted in
the African tradition, as we have pointed it out above in our analysis of the Bantu philosophy.
What is important in the African Charter is first of all the strong recognition of the UN
Declaration of Human Rights as something valid and good for African people in the way of
dealing with their fellow Africans and in their contact with other human beings that populate the
earth. The second merit is that this text makes easy the project of a global ethic by bringing
African people from different ethical traditions to a general consensus on human rights. The
third is the African sensibility to the issues of colonialism, racism, economic exploitation and
sensibility to the issue of the survival of human beings as members of a specific group (a nation,
a race) whose culture must be protected as an important part of human identity. That is why the
"Rights of Peoples" can be considered a major contribution of the African Charter to the project
of a Global Ethic. The African Charter pays a lot of attention to the "social dimension" of being
human and is for that reason more able to deal with ethical issues without losing time in casuistic
speculations about the definition of concepts. Even though it is important to define concepts in
order to know clearly what we want to do, it is true that a Global Ethic can find its just place in
the interaction between people and not in a conception of human rights based on the primacy of
the individualistic dimension of human beings. I believe that ethics deals basically with "what
we do to others and what others do to us."
The African Charter is not perfect. We wanted to focus our paper on "the possible
contribution of the African Charter" rather than making a critical analysis of its weakness and
incoherences. For that reason we came to stress much more the positive aspects rather than the
negative aspects of the African Charter. If some rights have not received a lot of attention in the
African Charter, it may also be because it already emphasizes its solidarity with the UN
Declaration of Human Rights. In that way some repetitions had to be avoided. The African
Charter has already been criticized by many African philosophers or jurists for its lack of clarity
on certain points. For instance, the emphasis on duties seems, for some people, a problematic
point because it may be used by governments to curtail human rights and also because it puts
conditions and restrictions on "liberties." But despite all its weaknesses, the African Charter
remains a very important step towards the respect of human rights and towards a consensus on a
"Universal Declaration on Global Ethic." It is the first text in African history that draws on
principles of good and evil and principles of how to treat human beings, and that reflects a
general consensus beyond all kind of differences that divide African peoples. This can be
considered an "African Charter of Ethics" which can be usefully used, mutatis mutandis, in the
project of a global ethic.
ANNEX I
PARALLELISMS BETWEEN THE AFRICAN CHARTER
AND THE GLOBAL ETHIC DRAFTS
For Swidler's text we use the following abbreviations:
MP: Middle principle
BP: Basic principle
Pres: Presuppositions
Note: While the UN Charter and the African Charter give us clear "articles" and Swidler's
text offers us clear principles (basic and middle principles), Kung gives us a broad text where
many ethical principles are in a compact text. We ourselves then have to discern in Kung's text
the various principles.
We are aware of the danger of picking out elements out of their context, but we do so to
avoid to extending our paper. Our picture is not complete. We simply want to point out some
elements in order to have a certain idea about similarities and differences.
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THE UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
THE AFRICAN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
PRINCIPLES OF GLOBAL ETHIC (Swidler's text)
PRINCIPLES OF GLOBAL ETHIC (Kung's text)
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Environment (ecology) and leisure do not have a clear place in the African Charter!
Annex II
AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS: COMPLETE TEXT
PREAMBLE
The African States members of the Organization of African Unity, Parties to the present
convention entitled African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights,
Recalling Decision 115 (XVII) of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its
Sixteenth Ordinary Session held in Monrovia, Liberia, from 17 to 20 July 1979, on the
preparation of a preliminary draft on an African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
providing inter alia for the establishment of bodies to promote and protect human and peoples'
rights,
Considering and reaffirming the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, which
stipulates the freedom, equality, justice and legitimate aspiration of the African peoples,
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
PART I
RIGHTS AND DUTIES
Chapter 1
HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS
Article 1
The Member States of the Organization of African Unity parties to the present Charter shall
recognize the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in this Charter and shall undertake to adopt
legislative or other measures to give effect to them.
Article 2
Every individual shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognised and
guaranteed in the present Charter without distinction of any kind such as race, ethnic group,
color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national or social origin, fortune,
birth or other states.
Article 3
1. Every individual shall be equal before the law.
2. Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law.
Article 4
Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the
integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.
Article 5
Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and
to the recognition of his legal status. All forms of exploitation and degradation of man
particularly slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment shall be
prohibited.
Article 6
Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be
deprived of his freedom except for reasons and condition previously laid down by law. In
particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
Article 7
1. Every individual shall have the right to have his cause heard. This comprises:
a) The right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts of violating his
fundamental rights as recognised and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs
in force.
b) The right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court or tribunal;
c) the right to defence, including the right to be defended by counsel of his choice;
d) the right to be tried within a reasonable time by an impartial court or tribunal.
2. No one may be condemned for an act or omission which did not constitute a legally
punishable offense at the time it was committed. No penalty may be inflicted for an offense for
which no provision was made at the time it was committed. Punishment is personal and can be
imposed only on the offender.
Article 8
Freedom of conscience, the profession and free practice of religion shall be guaranteed. No one
may, subject to law and order, be submitted to measures restricting the exercise of these
freedoms.
Article 9
1. Every individual shall have the right to receive information.
2. Every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law.
Article 10
1. Every individual shall have the right to free association provided that he abides by the law.
2. Subject to the obligation of solidarity provided for in article 29 no one may be compelled to
join an association.
Article 11
Every individual shall have the right to assemble freely with others. The exercise of this right
shall be subject only to necessary restrictions provided for by law in particular those enacted in
the interest of national security, the safety, health, ethics and rights and freedoms of others.
Article 12
1. Every individual shall have the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
borders of a State provided he abides by the law.
2. Every individual shall have the right to leave any country including his own, and to return to
his country. This right may only be subject to restrictions, provided for by law for the protection
of national security, law and order, public health and morality.
3. Every individual shall have the right, when persecuted, to seek and obtain asylum in other
countries in accordance with the law of those countries and international conventions.
4. A non-national legally admitted in a territory of State Party to the present Charter, may only
be expelled from it by virtue of a decision taken in accordance with the law.
5. The mass expulsion of non-nationals shall be prohibited. Mass expulsion shall be that which
is aimed at national, racial, ethnic or religious groups.
Article 13
1. Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either
directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law.
2. Every citizen shall have the right to equal access to the public service of his country.
3. Every individual shall have the right to access to public property
and services in strict equality of all persons before the law.
Article 14
The right to property shall be guaranteed. It may only be encroached upon in the interest of
public need or in the general interest of the community and in accordance with the provisions of
appropriate law.
Article 15
Every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and
shall receive equal pay for equal work.
Article 16
1. Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental
health.
2. States Parties to the present Charter shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of
their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick.
Article 17
1. Every individual shall have the right to education.
2. Every individual may freely take part in the cultural life of his community.
3. The promotion and protection of morals and traditional values recognised by the community
shall be the duty of the State.
Article 18
1. The family shall be the natural unit and basis of society. It shall be protected by the State
which shall take care of its physical health and morals.
2. The State shall have the duty to assist the family which is the custodian of morals and
traditional values recognised by the community.
3. The State shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure
the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations
and conventions.
4. The aged and the disabled shall also have the right to special measures of protection in
keeping with their physical or morals needs.
Article 19
All peoples shall be equal, they shall enjoy the same respect and shall have the same rights.
Nothing shall justify the domination of a people by another.
Article 20
1. All peoples shall have right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable
right to self-determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue
their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen.
2. Colonized or oppressed peoples shall have the right to free themselves from the bonds of
domination by resorting to any means recognised by the international community.
3. All peoples shall have the rights to the assistance of the States Parties to the present Charter
in their liberation struggle against foreign domination, be it political, economic or cultural.
Article 21
1. All peoples shall freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources. This right shall be
exercised in the exclusive interest of the people. In no case shall a people be deprived of it.
2. In case of spoliation the dispossessed people shall have the right to the lawful recovery of its
property as well as to an adequate compensation.
3. The free disposal of wealth and natural resources shall be exercised without prejudice to the
obligation of promoting international economic cooperation based on mutual respect, equitable
exchange and the principles of international law.
4. States Parties to the present Charter shall individually and collectively exercise the right to
free disposal of their wealth and natural resources with a view to strengthening African unity and
solidarity.
5. States Parties to the present Charter shall undertake to eliminate all forms of foreign
economic exploitation particularly that practiced by international monopolies so as to enable
their peoples to fully benefit from the advantages derived from their national resources.
Article 22
1. All peoples shall have the right to their economic, social and cultural development with due
regard to their freedom and identity and int the equal enjoyment of the common heritage of
mankind.
2. States shall have the duty, individually or collectively to ensure the exercise of the right to
development.
Article 23
1. All peoples shall have the right to national and international peace and security. The
principles of solidarity and friendly relations implicitly affirmed by the Charter of the United
Nations and reaffirmed by that of the Organisation of African Unity shall govern relations
between States.
2. For the purpose of strengthening peace, solidarity and friendly relations, States Parties to the
present Charter shall ensure that:
a) any individual enjoying the right of asylum under the Article 12 of the present Charter
shall not engage in subversive activities against his country of origin or any other State Party
of the present Charter;
b) their territories shall not be used as bases for subversive or terrorist activities against the
people of any other State Party to the present Charter.
Article 24
All peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favorable to their
development.
Article 25
States Parties to the present Charter shall have the duty to promote and ensure through teaching,
education and publication, the respect of the rights and freedoms contained in the present Charter
and to see to it that these freedoms and rights as well as corresponding obligations and duties are
understood.
Article 26
States Parties to the present Charter shall have the duty to guarantee the independence of the Courts
and shall allow the establishment and improvement of appropriate national institutions
entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the present
Charter.
Chapter 2
DUTIES
Article 27
1. Every individual shall have duties towards his family and society, the State and other legally
recognised communities and the international community.
2. The rights and freedoms of each individual shall be exercised with due regard to the rights of
others, collective security, morality and common interest.
Article 28
Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without
discrimination, and to maintain relations aimed at promoting, safeguarding and reinforcing
mutual respect and tolerance.
Article 29
The individual shall also have the duty:
- To preserve the harmonious development of the family and to work for the cohesion and
respect of the family; to respect his parents at all times, to maintain them in case of need.
- To serve his national community by placing his physical and intellectual abilities at its
service.
- Not to compromise the security of the State whose national or resident he is.
- To preserve and strengthen social and national solidarity, particularly when the latter is
threatened.
- To preserve and strengthen the national independence and the territorial integrity of his
country and to contribute to its defence in accordance with the law.
- To work to the best of his abilities and competence, and to pay taxes imposed by law in the
interest of the society.
- To preserve and strengthen positive African cultural values in his relations with other
members of the society, in the spirit of tolerance, dialogue and consultation and, in general, to
contribute to the promotion of the moral well being of society.
- To contribute to the best of his abilities, at all times and at all levels, to the promotion and
achievement of African unity.
NOTES
(1) Leonard Swidler The Meaning of Life at the Edge of the Third Millennium. Paulist press,
New York, 1992, p.69.
(2) R. Gendt, "Le christianisme africain dans l'opinion publique europeenne", in Concilium.
Cahier special: Vers le Synode Africain, No. 239, fevrier, 1992, p.140.
(3) The Zairian Conference of Catholic bishops has taken position against the dictator Mobutu
and called for the building of democracy in different documents. We found some of those
documents in three periodicals: La Documentation Catholique published in France (No. 2006, 20
mai 1990; No. 2020, 20 Janvier 1990; No. 2070, 18 avril 1993); Zaire-Afrique and Renaitre (two
reviews published by Jesuit fathers of Zaire to promote justice and democracy). We have
analyzed the following documents: 1. "Declaration de l'Episcopat sur la situation presente."
(1975) 2. "Notre foi en Jesus-Christ." (1977) 3. "Tous solidaires et responsables." (1977) 4.
"Appel au redressement de la Nation." (1978) 5. "Notre foi en l'homme, image de Dieu." (1981)
6. "Message et declaration des Eveques du Zaire a l'occasion du 25e anniversaire de
l'Independance." (1985) 7. "Education nationale." (1986) 8. "Le Chretien et le developpement de
la Nation." (1987) 9. "Memorandum des Eveques du Zaire au Chef de l'Etat." (199O) 10.
"Necessite d'une campagne d'information sur la democratie." (1990) 11. "Liberes de toute peur,
au service de la Nation. Message des eveques du Zaire aux Chretiens Catholiques et aux
hommes de bonne volonte." 12. "Liberer la democratie: Message et Declaration des Eveques du
Zaire aux chretiens catholiques et aux hommes de bonne volonte." (careme 1991) 13.
"Declaration de l'Episcopat du Zaire propos de la Conference Nationale." (1991) 14. "Message
des Eglises Catholique, Orthodoxe, Protestante et Kibanguiste." (1991) 15. "Message de la
Conference Episcopale du Zaire au Peuple Zairois et aux hommes de bonne volonte" (1991) 16.
"Pour la poursuite de la democratisation au Zaire." (Kinshasa, 12 decembre 1992) 17. "Sauvons
la Nation." (1993)
(4) NKulu-N'Sengha Mutombo, "Les Eglises face a Mobutu: reflexion sur le r le democratique
de la religion" in FORUM ZAIROIS. Bulletin Culturel de la Communaute Zairoise des
Etats-Unis, Philadelphia, Vol. I, No. 4, Fevrier 1993, p.12.
(5) John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1990).
(6) Theologie Africaine. Bilan et Perspectives (Actes de la Dix-Septieme Semaine Theologique
de Kinshasa) (Kinshasa: Facultes Catholiques de Kinshasa, 1989), p.6.
(7) We refer here to a document published by the AFJN (Africa Faith and Justice Network)
based in Washington D.C.
(8) Mushete Ngindu, Les themes majeurs de la theologie africaine (Paris: L'harmattan, 1989),
p.19. EATWOT (Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians) was created in 1976 in
Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). During its second meeting held in Accra (Ghana) in 1977, the AOTA
(Association Oecumenique des Theologiens Africains) which is a part of EATWOT, was
created.
(9) We use in this paper the complete text of the African Charter published in Amadu Sesay,
Olusola Ojo, and Orobola Fasehun, The OUA After Twenty Years (Boulder, CO and London:
Westview Press, 1984), pp.109-124, and the French version of the same charter published in the
Jesuit review Zaire-Afrique, No. 236, Juin-Ao t 1989, pp. 295-299.
(10) For the texts of a "Global Ethic", we use in our paper the copy of Professor Swidler's
published in this volume and the one by Professor Kung translated by Professor Swidler and
made available in his seminar "Global Ethos-Human Rights-World Religions" at Temple
University, Spring, 1993--it was subsequently published in Hans Kung and Karl-Josef Kuschel,
eds., A Global Ethic. The Declaration of the Parliament of the World's Religions (New York:
Continuum, 1993).
(11) Giovanni Michele Palmieri, "Il sistema regionale africano di promozione e di protezione dei
diritti dell'uomo e dei popoli: profili istituzionali". Rivista Internazionale dei Diritti dell'Uomo,
Anno IV, gennaio-aprile, 1991. pp. 53-87. Emmanuel Wonyu, "Un support juridique pour la
democratie en Afrique: la Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples" in Afrique
2000: Revue Africaine de Politique Internationale (Institut Panafricain de Relations
Internationales), No. 8, Janvier-Fevrier-Mars, 1992, pp. 29-50. U. O. Umozurike, "The African
Charter On Human and Peoples' Rights," in American Journal of International Law, vol.77,
1983, pp. 902-912. "Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples (27 juin 1981)" in
Zaire-Afrique. Juin-Ao t, 1989, pp. 295-299.
(12) Umozurike, "The African Charter," p.903.
(13) Idem. .
(14) Idem, p.90.
(15) Idem, pp.902f.
(16) Idem, p.903.
(17) Idem, p.904.
(18) Wonyu, "Un support juridique," p.30.
(19) Sesay, et al., The OAU After Twenty Years, p. 84.
(20) Idem.
(21) Leonard Swidler, The Meaning of Life, p. 67.
(22) John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosoph (New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1990), pp.
223-256.
(23) We used the Italian translation of the book: G. Bellinger, Enciclopedia delle religioni
(Milano: Garzanti, 1989), p. 17.
(24) Gendt, "Le Christianisme africain," pp. 142-44.
(25) Bruno Chenu, Theologies Chretiennes des tiers mondes. Latino-americaine, noire
americaine, noire sud-africaine, africaine, asiatique (Paris: Le Centurion,1987), pp. 107-110.
(26) Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, p. 1.
(27) Palmieri, "Il sistema regionale africano," p. 56.
(28) Wonyu, "Un support juridique," p. 31.
(29) Umozurike, "The African Charter," p. 911.
(30) I have used the Italian translation: Walbert Buhlmann, I Popoli eletti. Un'interpretazione
cristiana del mondo. (Milano: Edizioni Paoline, 1987).
(31) M. Massengo-Tiasse, Comment peut-on vivre libre et digne en Afrique. Africains: vos
droits et vos devoirs (Paris: Michel de Maule, 1988), pp. 37-39.
(32) Umozurike, "The African Charter, pp. 906f.
(33) Hans Kung, Global Responsibility. In Search of a New World Ethic (New York: Crossroad,
1991), p. xv.
(34) Leonard Swidler, Death or Dialogue? From the Age of Monologue to the Age of Dialogue
(Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990), p. vii.
(35) For the Luba culture and the Kiluba language, which is my mother tongue, I am trying to
create my own systematization of the "Bantu-Luba anthropology." The Luba culture is important
within the study of African philosophy because that is the culture which refers to the
"Philosophie Bantu," considered the starting point of the modern debate on African philosophy.
This book, written by a missionnary from Belgium, Father Placide Tempels, was published in
1947 by the famous "Presence Africaine," the historical organ of expression of the "Negritude
Movement" based in Paris.
(36) E. A. Ruch, African Philosophy. An Introduction to the main philosophical trends in
Contemporary Africa (Rome: Catholic Book Agency-Officium Libri Catholici, 1984), p. 156.
(37) Mbiti, African Religions, p. 90.
(38) Idem, p. 67.
(39) Idem, p. 207.
(40) Theophile Obenga, Les Bantu: langues, peuples, civilisations, (Paris: Presence Africaine,
1985), pp. 184f.
(41) Valentin Yves Mudimbe, The invention of Africa. Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of
Knowledge (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1988), p. 95.
(42) Arlene Swidler, ed., Human Rights in Religious Traditions (New York: Pilgrim Press,
1982), p. vii.
(43) Sesay, The OAU After Twenty Years, p. 88.
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