Africa�s rich diversity can be daunting to activists, policy makers,
academics and all others interested in it. The continent is, therefore,
mostly thought about and portrayed in national, sub-regional,
post-colonial or linguistic pigeonholes, which inhibit any coherent
understanding of the creative responses to the all too human experiences
of its peoples. Universal Rights, Local Remedies is a pioneering
attempt to introduce activists, advocates, policy makers, judges,
administrators and other users of the legal process around Africa, to a
general theoretical and strategic framework for understanding, applying
and implementing international human rights norms in the diverse legal
systems of Africa. In so doing, it mediates between the continent�s
multi-faceted diversity on the one hand and the similarity of the
experiences of its peoples with colonialism and its aftermath on the
other.
From these polarities, it distils a methodology to overcome the
traditional limitations, particularly those of language and legal
tradition, associated with understanding the dynamics of the law in
African countries. At once speculative, pragmatic, and constructive, this book describes and analyses the accomplishments, constraints and limitations of human rights law in Africa as well as its transformative capacities. Far from claiming to be definitive or exhaustive, the papers published here are simply an attempt to place the understanding of human rights law and the legal process in various African countries within the broader context of struggles for human dignity, justice and wellbeing everywhere.
Abdullahi Ahmed Na Na�im is Professor of Law and Fellow of the Law and Religion Programme at Emory University, Atlanta, USA.
Universal Rights, Local Remedies is available in English, French and Arabic directly from
INTERIGHTS. Order here for �18.
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