African Human Rights Yearbook 2018 (Volume 2)

This article examines the way in which the African human rights system tackles or resists to tackle issues relating to international humanitarian law (IHL). The analysis conducted therein is essentially based on the practice of both the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights. In examining whether the African Court and the African Commission may interpret and apply IHL instruments, this article argues that they do in fact have the power to do so. However, on the basis of a close scrutiny of both the Commission and the Court’s practices, the authors note that in instances where the two bodies could have applied IHL norms and standards, they have refrained from doing so. In the last part, the article questions the prospect of the interpretation and the application of IHL by the new African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights, essentially through its International Criminal Law Section.