A coalition of African human rights organisations and activists has accused the African Union’s key rights bodies of turning into instruments that protect authoritarian leaders instead of holding them accountable for human rights abuses and electoral injustice.
In a strongly worded joint statement, the 26 organisations and 31 individual defenders, including Kenya’s Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (LEIN) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said the credibility of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has been gravely compromised.
The groups cited what they described as a “disturbing pattern of silence and complicity” by the commission in the face of gross violations across the continent.
Their concerns were triggered by a letter allegedly issued on October 27, 2025, congratulating Cameroon’s long-serving President Paul Biya following his re-election in a disputed poll held on October 12.
Biya, 92, extended his four-decade rule in an election tainted by reports of violence, voter intimidation, and the killing of demonstrators protesting the outcome.
The statement condemned the commission’s gesture as a betrayal of its mandate, which is to safeguard human rights and investigate violations, particularly those linked to electoral processes.
“By congratulating President Biya—amid credible reports of election-related violence leading to verified fatalities—the commission has, wittingly or unwittingly, undermined its credibility and betrayed both the letter and the spirit of the African Charter,” the coalition said.
They warned that the congratulatory letter casts doubt on the independence of the commission and signals a worrying decline in its ability to act as an impartial guardian of justice.
According to the activists, such actions deepen citizens’ mistrust in continental institutions already seen as detached from the realities facing ordinary Africans.
The organisations linked the incident to a continent-wide regression in democratic governance, citing increasing cases of coups, manipulation of constitutions, and shrinking civic spaces.
“Across Africa, the democratic landscape is deteriorating at an alarming pace. The return of unconstitutional changes of government, the weakening of independent institutions, and the manipulation of electoral processes have created a climate of impunity and repression,” they noted.
They further criticised the commission’s continued silence on recent human rights violations in Tanzania, where security agencies have been accused of brutality against civilians following the disputed re-election of President Samia Suluhu.
The coalition said the commission’s selective engagement on human rights crises reveals an alarming departure from its founding vision and undermines public confidence in the AU’s human rights system.
