African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights Specialized agencieS

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction5 

History of the Committee 5 

Topic Area A: Gender Equality 6 

Statement of the Problem 6 

History atd Discussion of the Problem 7 

Current Situation 10 

Relevant Actions 13 

Proposed Solutions 14 

Topic Area B: Education in Armed Combat Zones 16 

Statement of the Problem 16 

History and Discussion of the Problem 18 

Current Situation 20 

Proposed Solutions 22 

Suggestions for Further Research 23 

Conclusion23 

Bibliography27 

Specialized Agencies 


1

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights 

Harvard Model United Nations 2012 

A Letter from the Secretary-General 

Dear Delegates, 

Hunter M. Richard 

Secretary-General 

Stephanie N. Oviedo 

Director-General 

Ana Choi 

Under-Secretary-General 

Administration 

Ainsley Faux 


Business 

Alexandra M. Harsacky 

Comptroller 

Sofia Hou 


Innovation and Technology 

Juliana Cherston 


General Assembly 

S. Ethan Lyle 


Economic and Social Council 

Charlene S. Wong 



I could not be more honored to welcome you to the fifty-ninth session of Harvard Model 

United Nations. Our entire staff of 205 Harvard undergraduates is eager to join with you 

this January at the Sheraton Boston for an exciting weekend of debate, diplomacy, and 

cultural exchange. You and your 3,000 fellow delegates join a long legacy of individuals 

passionate about international affairs and about the pressing issues confronting our World. 

Founded in 1927 as Harvard Model League of Nations, our organization has evolved 

into one of America’s oldest, largest, and most international United Nations simulations. 

Drawing from this rich history, Harvard Model United Nations has strived to emphasize 

and promote the unique impact of the UN and its mandates in the eradication of humanity’s 

greatest problems. Despite its difficulties and often-unfortunate image in the press, the 

United Nations is truly a global body with representation of 193-member states and is the 

closest the World has ever achieved to a “Parliament of Man.” 

At HMUN, we strive to recreate this body and the international environment it fosters 

through our emphasis on welcoming more and more international delegations to our 

conference each year. For the fifty-ninth session, HMUN is proud to welcome delegations 

from over 35 countries to share their experiences with others from across the World. Not 

only can you debate global issues in committee, but also discuss the China-US relations with 

a delegate hailing from Shanghai or EU economic policy with a delegate from Germany. I 

encourage you to go above and beyond research and discussions within your committee to 

learn from your fellow delegates. 

In this guide, you are about to embark on a valuable intellectual endeavor. Your committee 

director has worked tirelessly to research and compile this extensive background guide. 

Please use it as a foundation in your own research for committee and to contribute to 

your debates and final resolutions. I wish you the best of luck in your preparation and in 

committee this January. 

Sincerely, 

59 Shepard Street, Box 205 

Cambridge, MA 02138 

Voice: (617)-398-0772 

Fax: (617) 588-0285 

Email: info@harvardmun.org 

www.harvardmun.org 




secgen@harvardmun.org 

22 Specialized Agencies








Ana Choi 



Ainsley Faux 


Business 


Comptroller 

Sofia Hou 






S. Ethan Lyle 






Welcome to the Specialized Agencies! It is my deepest pleasure to welcome you to this elite 

organ. The SA is uniquely structured to maximize delegate experience. The average SA 

committee size is 16 delegates; as such, there are abundant opportunities for every attendee 

to participate. With the largest staff of any organ, and yet the fewest number of delegates, 

extraordinary attention from the dais is guaranteed. By the numbers, you should expect the 

highest quality, most innovative, and most exciting committees that Harvard Model United 

Nations can offer. 

But numbers aren’t everything, and the SA is far more than a collection of statistics. The 

competition to staff the SA is intense; as a result, your committee’s directors and junior staff 

are at the top of their game. Since April 2011, your dais has spent untold hours preparing 

every facet of committee so that your simulation is as realistic as possible. Having already 

seen their epic and incredible background guides, I can tell you that each of them has 

poured his or her soul into making your committee experience unmatched anywhere. 

Needless to say, HMUN would not be complete without you, the delegates. The HMUN 

SA has long been the ultimate test of mettle on the high school circuit, and the mere chance 

to compete on your committees is the dream of many a delegate. Success on the SA will 

not come easily; equal measures of preparation, enthusiasm, and creativity will be critical. 

Victory will not come without sacrifice. Of course, I have no doubt that each of you will 

rise to the challenge. 

As a Model UN delegate in high school, I have been in your position as an SA delegate 

many times. Never before have I seen such a slate of original committees, with endless 

potential for creativity. I hope you are as excited as I am to change the world forever – or at 

least for four days. Best wishes, and I look forward to meeting you this January! 

Sincerely, 


Under-Secretary-General for the Specialized Agencies 


sa@harvardmun.org 



Voice: (617)-398-0772 

Fax: (617) 588-0285 




3








Ana Choi 



Ainsley Faux 


Business 


Comptroller 

Sofia Hou 






S. Ethan Lyle 






Welcome to Harvard Model United Nations 2012! It is my pleasure to be chairing the 

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights. I hope you find this committee to be an 

intellectually and personally rewarding experience in which you will get to know the issues 

and the fourteen other justices well. 

Before I tell you about this committee in particular, I would like to introduce myself. I’m a 

sophomore at Harvard living in Eliot House and concentrating in Social Studies, possibly 

as a joint concentration with the Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. I am serving as 

the director of this committee and the assistant director of another committee for Harvard 

National Model United Nations 2012, our college conference. I also travel as a delegate 

on Harvard’s team. Outside of Model UN, I am very involved with social justice issues 

and direct service work. I spend much of my week directing a tutoring program for recent 

immigrants in Boston and mentoring for a gender empowerment program. 

This <strong>Court</strong>, and the topics it addresses, deals with some of the biggest social problems 

facing Africa today. Governments have the obligation to protect rights and to stand by 

covenants they have signed that promise protection to vulnerable members of society. Those 

promises are currently not being kept, leading to social discord throughout the continent 

and specifically in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the two nations 

that this <strong>Court</strong> will focus on. Until these violations of rights are fixed, cycles of violence, 

ignorance, poverty, and underdevelopment will continue. 

I cannot wait to meet you all and discuss these pressing issues. Until we get that chance, feel 

free to contact me with any questions or concerns! 

Sincerely, 

Danielle Goatley 

Director, <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights 

africancourt@harvardmun.org 



Voice: (617)-398-0772 

Fax: (617) 588-0285 




INTRODUCTION 

The <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights is 

the continent-wide court charged with enforcing human 

rights law and doctrine. Although this court has had 

trouble getting its feet on the ground in the real world, 

we will think of this court as fully functioning during the 

conference in order to focus on the issues. 

The first topic we will be discussing is Gender Equality 

and LGBT Rights, specifically in Uganda. While this 

is a controversial topic throughout most of Africa, the 

Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 pushed Uganda to 

the forefront with harsh punishments for law violators, 

including death. The rest of the world, including parts 

of Africa, is taking concrete steps forward, but Uganda is 

simply signing documents promising rights without any 

intent to protect marginalized members of society. 

The second topic focuses on education in armed 

combat zones, what UNESCO recently declared a 

“hidden crisis.” Every child is entitled to an education, 

but when militant troops cause fear and discord, this 

promise is often broken. Without an education, the 

cycles of violence continue; children are left without job 

skills or opportunities for success. We will focus on the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation torn by 

violence and plagued by a failed education system. 

HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE 

Before the twentieth century, there was little interaction 

between individual states towards collaborative efforts to 

protect security or well-being. Collective international 

law would be, for the most part, a thing of the future. 

Where international law existed, it did nothing to protect 

the rights of individuals -- international law was focused 

on the interests of nations. 1 

After the massive human rights violations that 

occurred after World War II, regions of the world created 

international treaty systems to prevent defeated powers 

from committing similar atrocities. Clearly, leaving the 

protection of human rights to authoritarian dictators 

would be ineffective. To remedy this failure, great thinkers 

of the time came together to establish a set of inherent 

human rights that all nations could agree on. After a 

very long drafting process, the Universal Declaration of 

Human Rights was given legal force in 1948, providing a 

variety of protections to people all around the world. 2 This 

document was the first document of international law 

that granted individuals standing on the world stage and 

in the eyes of regional and international organizations. 34 



While it is not a treaty and therefore not legally binding, 

the Declaration forms part of customary international 

law and is useful when applying diplomatic pressure to 

governments that violate its principles. It has also been 

used as the basis for several other binding covenants. 

In 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights 

was created, and by 1969, the Americas had a similar 

document as well, both providing for a Commission 

and a <strong>Court</strong>. 5 Within these systems, the Commissions 

have only had quasi-judicial roles, primarily serving to 

educate and to publicize the law so that people are aware 

of the protections they are entitled to. The <strong>Court</strong>s, on 

the other hand, serve true judicial roles and likewise have 

stronger enforcement powers. 

The <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and People’s Rights is 

the regional system for the continent that was instituted 

a number of years later. It follows the individual 

communication mechanism and the state reporting 

procedure of the European and American system, which 

allows either an individual or a state to bring a claim to 

the body, but is otherwise a rather original document. 

According to Rachel Murray, Professor of International 

Human Rights Law at the University of Bristol, “The 

<strong>African</strong> Charter is seen as a ‘unique’ document among 

the instruments that exist on human rights because it 

represent[s] the “<strong>African</strong>” concept of rights. The aim of 

the drafters was to create an instrument that was based 

on <strong>African</strong> philosophy and responsive to <strong>African</strong> needs.” 6 

For example, instead of seeing civil and political rights 

separate from economic, social and cultural rights, in 

the manner of the two International Covenants of 1976, 

the <strong>African</strong> Charter includes all civil and political rights, 

economic, social and cultural rights, and peoples’ rights 

in one, indivisible document. 

The <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and People’s Rights 

was adopted under the auspices of the Organization 

of <strong>African</strong> Unity (OAU) in 1981. Despite its uniquely 

<strong>African</strong> focus, it did not come into force until 1986. 

Originally prompted by NGOs and encouraged by the 

UN and the OAU, many conferences and meetings 

pushed the various <strong>African</strong> states to approve the Charter. 

All states have now ratified the Charter; Egypt and 

Zambia have made reservations. 7 

Attempts to set up the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights have been deemed essential in order to 

judicially enforce the rules set out in the Charter. This 

was initiated by an OAU resolution and was followed 

by three draft protocols. The first took place in Cape 

Town in 1995 at a meeting between governments and 

5


NGOs. 8 These proposals were amended in Mauritania 

at the second meeting of legal experts in April of that 

year. The progress made at the first two meetings 

received attention at the 22nd session of the <strong>African</strong> 

Commission. 9 In December 1997, <strong>African</strong> legal experts 

produced the final draft protocol. At an OAU summit 

in June 1998 in Burkina Faso, thirty states adopted the 

Addis Protocol to the <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights, which established the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on 

Human and Peoples’ Rights. On 25 January 2004, the 

Protocol entered into force. 10 

The <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> held the first election for its eleven 

judges in January 2006. Judges are elected based on their 

experience, gender, and geographical distribution in 

the <strong>African</strong> Union’s five major regions. 11 Each potential 

candidate is nominated by a member state in the <strong>African</strong> 

Union. The President of the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> is the only 

full-time judge; the other ten members are part-time. 

Subsequent elections have been held in 2008 and 2010 

to replace judges. 

The judges of the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights with President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete 

before the 18th session of the <strong>Court</strong>. 

The <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> has currently held twenty-one 

Ordinary sessions and two Extra-Ordinary sessions. 

Largely, these sessions have focused on logistical issues 

such as the budget, the Registry, which is responsible for 

supervising the <strong>Court</strong>’s operations and taking minutes, 

and Rules. The Rules were adopted in consultation 

with the <strong>African</strong> Commission on Human and Peoples’ 

Rights in June 2008. The Protocol establishing the <strong>Court</strong> 

required the <strong>Court</strong> and the Commission to merge their 

respective Rules in order to ensure that the institutions 

work in harmony and do not contradict each other. This 

process occurred through three meetings held in July 

and October 2009 and April 2010. Presently, the <strong>African</strong> 

<strong>Court</strong> has final Rules of the <strong>Court</strong> and is ready to take 

cases. 12 

Africa also has another continent-wide court: The 

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of Justice. The <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of Justice is 

in charge of civil matters and acts as the Criminal <strong>Court</strong> 

for the continent (similar to the International Criminal 

<strong>Court</strong>, but with jurisdiction over fewer nations). 13 

At the <strong>African</strong> Union Summit of Heads of State and 

Government on 1 July 2008, the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of 

Justice and the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ 

Rights merged to form the court now known as “The 

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of Justice and Human Rights.” 14 Despite 

the apparent merger, the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights has continued ruling on court decisions 

and electing new judges. Thus this committee will run as 

the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights or the 

<strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong>. 

TOPIC AREA A: GENDER EQUALITY 

Statement of the Problem 

Both globally and in Africa 

specifically, gender equality has 

been placed in the spotlight. 

At the Millennium Summit 

in 2000, nations signing the 

Millennium Declaration made 

it their goal to improve gender 

equality. Goal 3 is to promote 

gender equality and empower 

women. 15 Major gender 

disparities noted by the United 

Nations include access to 

education, paid versus informal 

employment, and political power. 16 Women are restricted 

to areas of informal employment with low pay, no job 

security, and poor conditions when they are allowed 

to work at all. These same problems exist for lesbian, 

gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. In 

March 2011, the United Nations adopted a statement 

on gay rights called “Ending Violence Based on Sexual 

Orientation and Gender Identity” in an attempt to gain 

recognition of this issue. 17 

In order to meet these goals, many United Nations 

organs are working towards gender equality and 

acceptance. The UN Population Fund and the UN 

Children’s Fund are also working together to promote 

the role of women in society as more than just objects 


of sexual pleasure through campaigns to reduce female 

genital mutilation and cutting. 18 Female genital 

mutilation includes procedures that intentionally alter 

or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons 

and has no health benefits for girls and women. 19 It 

can cause severe bleeding and problems in urinating, 

along with childbirth complications. The World Health 

Organization estimates 100 to 140 million girls and 

women worldwide are living with the consequences 

of FGM, an internationally recognized human rights 

violation. 20 

The UN Development Fund for Women is providing 

training in political campaigning and supports actions to 

address violence against women and girls. 21 While these 

actions have certainly helped achieve the Millennium 

Goals, gender inequality in Africa, particularly in Uganda, 

is rampant. 

In 2002, the <strong>African</strong> Union (AU) replaced the 

Organization of <strong>African</strong> Union, explicitly pledging to 

intervene in cases of human rights abuses. 22 In line with 

that promise, the AU has adopted protocols such as the 

Rights of Women in Africa. Despite the attempts made 

by the United Nations and the <strong>African</strong> Union, very little 

is being done to promote LGBT rights in Africa. 

Most nations in Africa outlaw homosexuality, with 

more liberal attitudes generally found in southern Africa. 

In fact, South Africa’s constitution guarantees gay and 

lesbian rights and legal same-sex marriage. 23 In 38 other 

nations, homosexuality is outlawed. 24 Those who violate 

the law can be punished by life in prison or even death. 

Frequently, individuals who are not straight are 

forced to lead two different lives: a heteronormative life 

in which a traditional man and woman couple raise a 

family in order to avoid suspicion, and a secret life 

that is devoted to fulfilling true sexual identity. 25 These 

individuals are prevented from expressing their true 

identity and fear that even one person might discover 

their “secret.” The lack of rights for LGBT individuals is 

a violation of human rights for millions of <strong>African</strong>s that 

must lead secret lives and face harsh repercussions if they 

are discovered. 

In particular, Uganda has some of the harshest LGBT 

laws in Africa. Same-sex sexual activity, recognition of 

same-sex relationships, and same-sex adoptions are all 

prohibited. 26 Likewise, there has been a constitutional 

ban on same-sex marriage since 2005, and there are 

no laws currently in place protecting gender identity 

or expression. 27 Homosexual acts can be punished by a 

maximum of life imprisonment. These intolerant views 



are widespread. According to a July 2009 poll, 95 percent 

of Ugandans opposed legalizing homosexuality. 28 In the 

past decade, countless pieces of legislation in all levels of 

government have reflected this view towards those that 

do not conform, supported by Christian and Islamic 

religious leaders. Newspapers, tabloids, and other media 

have gone on “outing campaigns” -- by either publishing 

tips that can supposedly help readers spot gays and 

lesbians or by directly naming the individuals. 29 

Socio-cultural norms and religious beliefs in Uganda 

are valuing one group of people more than another. 

Article 19 of the <strong>African</strong> Charter of Human and Peoples’ 

Rights declares that “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.” 30 Sexual preference cannot nullify the fact that 

all people are created equal. Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 22 

have also been violated by the way in which the Ugandan 

government treats certain citizens because of their 

sexuality. 31 If any of the rights outlined in the Charter 

are violated, “the court shall make the appropriate orders 

to remedy the violations.” 32 

Laws and rights should not be made exclusively for 

the powerful male majority. However, because of certain 

norms and beliefs, such as virginity testing, female 

genital mutilation, female chastity, rape as a weapon, 

occult sexuality or sex as a form of worship, and taboos 

around polyandry, which is a form of polygamy in which 

a female has more than one husband, sexual repression 

is kept in place by the patriarchal state. 33 Because of the 

gross violations of human rights seen by the Commission, 

the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights has 

agreed to take this case in order to protect gender rights 

and gender equality in Uganda. 

History atd Discussion of the Problem 

HOMOSEXUALITY’S ROOTS IN UGANDA 

The British officially colonized Uganda into the 

Protectorate of Uganda in 1894. 34 Before 1894, the 

Imperial East Africa Company controlled a portion of 

Uganda, the Buganda Kingdom. In 1893, the Company 

transferred administrative rights over the Buganda 

Kingdom to the British. The Bugandan chiefs were savvy 

negotiators, leaving the British with undesirable swamp 

land and preserving their right to self-govern. 35 The 

British needed money, so throughout the early twentieth 

century, they negotiated treaties with smaller kingdoms 

7


to win land and money while the Bugandan people 

maintained control over valuable resources. 

The Buganda also offered to help the British by serving 

as “tax collectors” over their neighbors. The Buganda had 

the most interaction with the British and served not only 

as financial administrators but also as unwanted cultural 

ambassadors because of their mandate of power from 

the British. 36 Other kingdoms were required to use their 

language, Luganda, dress in long cotton gowns called 

kanzus, and convert to specific forms of Christianity or 

Islam. During this period of colonialism, which lasted 

until 1962, many laws were passed outlawing and 

discouraging homosexuality. 37 

Among members of the public, many believe that 

<strong>African</strong>s only become homosexual due to Western 

influence. According to Sylvia Tamale, throughout most 

of Africa, specifically Uganda, “implicit in supporting 

homosexual rights [is] that the campaign is supported 

by gay and lesbian organizations in Western Europe and 

North America.” 38 Included in these assumptions is the 

preconception that there is a network of homosexual 

organizations with an explicit agenda to “recruit young 

<strong>African</strong> men and women into their decadent, perverted 

habits.” 39 

The error in this kind of thinking is that many 

Ugandan gays and lesbians have never been in contact 

with Americans or Europeans in their lives, which makes 

it highly unlikely that Western influence “turned them” 

homosexual, despite how easy it is to lay the blame on 

colonialism. While no official statistics exist regarding 

the literacy rates for Gay and Lesbian Alliance members 

in Uganda, many of the members are shunned from 

society, cannot hold jobs, and, according to Tamale, are 

illiterate or semi-literate. 40 

Research into Ugandan tribal customs and rituals 

reveals that homosexuality predates colonialism and 

general exposure of Ugandans to the Western way of 

thinking. In an attitude typical of the pre-colonial 

period, homosexuality was neither fully condoned nor 

suppressed. Individuals of different genders could marry 

those of any other gender without much controversy. 

Specifically, among the Langi of northern Uganda, the 

androgynous or transgender mudoko dako males were 

treated as women and could marry men if they so wished. 

A similar arrangement was acknowledged among the 

Iteso, Bahima, Banyoro, and Baganda peoples. 41 In fact, 

evidence points to homosexuality in the ruling families 

of certain kingdoms. The Buganda monarchy has a long 

Map of modern Uganda. 

history of gay kings -- it was an open secret that Kabaka 

(king) Mwanga was not heterosexual. 42 

Despite claims to the contrary, homosexuality is 

not “un-<strong>African</strong>.” Many Ugandans who are homosexual 

struggled with their identity long before they were 

exposed to any outside influence -- the Internet, a white 

person, or even a mzungu (person of foreign descent). 43 

Homosexuality is not a Western import resulting from 

the British colonization of Uganda. However, many 

of the arguments against homosexuality, and, in turn, 

many of the punishments and the stigma surrounding 

gender rights and equality come from the dominant 

Judeo-Christian and Islamic religious missionaries that 

infiltrated the area. 

The differences between males and females relevant 

to conversations about gender rights and equality are 

located in social practices, not biological facts. Nothing 

about a man’s anatomy makes him a better leader or 

power broker. Gender is not only socially constructed 

but also historical. 44 In most Western discourses, gender 

is presented as trans-historical and therefore essentialist 

or having universal validity. However, gender is not 

something inherent in one’s relationships with others. 

Rather, “gender” is more about “gendering” as a process 

that all individuals constantly renegotiate in relation to 

the norms present in one’s culture. 45 Put roughly, sex 


is determined by the physical qualities that a person 

possesses- organs, hormones, etc. On the other hand, 

gender refers how people identify themselves inside their 

minds. Finally, gender expression is how they express 

themselves for the world to see through their presentation 

-- hair, clothing, makeup, speech, and a myriad of other 

things. All three of these categories operate on a spectrum 

from male to female, and an individual can fall anywhere 

in between. Gender and gender expression are fluid and 

constantly changing -- the individual is always in charge. 

(Sex is slightly different -- some individuals are “intersex,” 

meaning that for some medical reason, 

their chromosomes are for instance XXY 

and they exhibit the physical qualities 

of a man and woman, but this must be 

determined through medical testing.) 

When Christian missionaries came to 

Uganda and other parts of Africa, they used 

translation as a way to impose alien values. 

<strong>African</strong> cultural and religious institutions 

were replaced with Western and Christian 

counterparts. One particularly wellknown 

problem is the transformation of 

the Deity of Uncertainty, the messenger 

of the gods who sends clients to diviners 

and takes a portion of every sacrifice, into 

the evil Satan of the Bible by Christian 

missionaries in the nineteenth century. 46 

For many <strong>African</strong>s, the Bible and other 

Christian religious teachings might 

have been their first experience with an 

ideological framework that provides 

clear separation between genders and 

unambiguous preference given towards 

masculine males and feminine females. 47 

According to a 2002 census, around 

85 percent of Uganda’s population is Christian and 

12 percent is Islamic. 48 Both of these religions rely on 

patriarchal traditions to survive. Religious leaders, both 

ancient and modern, are male. Decisions are made by 

groups of dominant males, leaving those without sexual 

power marginalized in more than one way. Patriarchy 

uses sexuality to create and maintain the gender hierarchy 

in Africa by hiding “gender deviance” in secrecy and 

taboos. 49 “Sex outlaws,” or those who do not conform 

to the conservative gender binary approved by the 

leading religious institutions, are cast out into the social 

ghettos and outskirts of society. 50 Such people include 

homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals; all 



who cannot live typical lives in society without threats 

against their lives. Uganda also has a variety of punitive 

laws against prostitution, abortion, adultery, and erotica, 

all with a similar purpose -- to silence the voices of the 

minority in favor of the patriarchy. By outlawing these 

identities, behaviors, and lifestyles, the state makes it 

difficult for these oppressed groups to join together and 

fight for their rights. Such institutionalized rules and 

laws are then backed by norms and religious beliefs that 

reinforce sexual taboos and keep repression in place. 

Political, cultural, and religious fundamentalism plays 

a key role in stifling sexual 

pluralism in Uganda. 

According to Tamale, 

“During the month of 

February, I appeared on 

several radio talk shows 

[in Uganda], and gave 

public lectures on the 

topic of homosexuality. 

The level of hypocrisy, 

the double standards, 

and the selective 

sexual morality that 

such fundamentalists 

exhibited always took me 

by surprise. Any variation 

in sexual activity and 

sexual partners from 

heteronormativity is 

considered ‘pathological,’ 

‘deviant,’ and ‘unnatural’ 

and is condemned in 

the strongest possible 

terms.” 51 The reason 

these views are so strong 

is that sexuality -- specifically the oppression of women 

and homosexuals -- is key to maintaining a patriarchal 

society. Sexual activities that go against the mainstream 

have the potential to change the commonly accepted 

hierarchies and alter the power dynamics in a way that is 

disadvantageous for those currently holding power. 

The gendered components of sexuality in Uganda 

are especially evident when looking at the lack of lesbian 

identity. The Penal Code implicitly erases lesbian identity 

from Ugandan society by acting as if it is not an option 

or a possibility. 52 Meanwhile, the law criminalizes 

intercourse between two males as “against the order of 

nature.” Phallocentric culture, where men’s viewpoints 

On June 3, 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the 

court of King Mwanga of Buganda, were burned to death 

at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. 

In the following months many other Christians throughout 

the country died by fire or spear for their faith. 

9


dominate women’s, maintains that women must be the 

passive recipients of penetrative male pleasure -- the 

same stereotype that leads to medically harmful practices 

such as female genital mutilation. Sexuality for Ugandan 

women is reduced to their capacity to be wives and 

bearers of children for their husbands. 

The concept of patriarchy is inherently threatened 

by the idea of an intimate same-sex relationship where 

a dominant figure, who must be male, is absent. This 

means that a woman’s sexuality is not based on her 

capacity to produce children but on another factor 

entirely -- perhaps her own pleasure. The main element 

of the patriarchal equation is missing: power along sex 

lines and thus the preservation of the gender hierarchy. 

Homosexuality presents a challenge to the deep-seated 

masculine power within <strong>African</strong> sexual relations and 

disrupts the core of the heterosexist social order that was 

introduced decades ago by the first British colonizers. 

Current Situation 

Uganda’s Penal Code is harsh when it comes to 

punishing homosexual conduct. Lesbian women, 

bisexual women, gay men, and men who have sex with 

men and women all receive the same persecution; the 

State punishes homosexual acts with life imprisonment. 53 

Such strict laws fuel homophobia against all individuals 

who defy gender norms, like intersex and transgender 

people who are accused of being homosexual. LGBT 

people, commonly referred to in Uganda as “kuchu,” are 

insulted, harassed, and discriminated against because 

they do not conform. Many cannot hold jobs or go to 

school because of who they are; some are denied medical 

treatment because of ignorance or discrimination. 

Homosexuality was thrust into the spotlight in 

February 2003 when part of the women’s movement 

advocated that the rights of homosexuals, as members of a 

marginalized social group in Uganda, should be included 

in a proposed Equal Opportunities Commission. 54 The 

media and the public quickly took sides, creating tension 

throughout the country. Tamale, who strongly spoke in 

support of the homosexual cause in the national and 

international media, became, in her words, “a punching 

bag” for the homosexual cause. 55 

Because of the Equal Opportunities Commission’s 

failure to recognize homosexuals as a marginalized 

group, the Gay And Lesbian Association (GALA) of 

Uganda sent a letter to President Museveni in October 

2003. They demanded rights and threatened to form a 

political party. 56 President Museveni, the letter claims, 

had created an intolerable situation for gays and lesbians 

in Uganda due to harsh homophobic rhetoric. The letter, 

copied to the Speaker of Parliament, The Human Rights 

Commission of Uganda, and all other political parties, 

forced those in political power to recognize the shadows 

that homosexuals must live in. The GALA writes, “We 

believe criminalizing us because of our nature is unfair 

[and we] will not support any political organization 

which doesn’t endorse our rights.” 57 Furthermore, if no 

party is willing to support the rights of homosexuals, 

GALA will be forced to form their own political party 

to achieve constitutional protections for gays and 

lesbians, decriminalize homosexuality, and overturn laws 

forbidding same-sex marriage. 58 

This letter came shortly after many Ugandan churches 

severed ties with their counterparts on other continents. 

The nation is a former British colony with strong Anglican 

ties both religious and political. However, when a gay 

bishop was elected in New Hampshire, its Ugandan 

branch cut ties with that Episcopal diocese. 59 Similarly, 

the church ended a relationship with a diocese in New 

Westminster, British Columbia, Canada over blessings of 

same-sex couples. 

Suddenly, homosexuality and gender rights became 

a hot topic in the media, with the vocal homophobic 

public drowning out those in favor of granting 

homosexuals rights. Many claimed that the bigotry and 

injustice displayed towards homosexuals in Uganda was 

analogous to that aimed at slaves during the American 

Civil War and at black <strong>African</strong>s during apartheid in 

South Africa. 60 The Ugandan public vilified consensual, 

private acts between two adults, which seemed to harm 

no one. 

As mentioned previously, Sylvia Tamale actively 

worked for the homosexual cause before and after GALA 

wrote their letter to the Ugandan president. Both her 

friends and the media believed that she was involved in 

a campaign driven by organizations in Western Europe 

and North America with an agenda to “recruit young 

<strong>African</strong> men and women into their decadent, perverted 

habits.” 61 

Despite the media frenzy surrounding the issue, very 

little was actually done in 2003 to achieve more rights for 

homosexuals. If anything, the stigma created by the media, 

combined with surging HIV/AIDS rates in Uganda, 62 

turned homosexuality into an even bigger issue six years 

later. From the time that Uganda was colonized by the 


British all the way to the 21 st century, gender rights have 

been surrounded by complex social issues. 

Throughout eastern Africa, there has been a surge 

of evangelical Christian churches fueled in part by 

televangelists. In 1970, 17 million <strong>African</strong>s self-described 

themselves as born-again Christians. 63 In 2011, more 

than 400 million described themselves in those terms, 

which is over a third of Africa’s population. 64 In Uganda, 

new churches have been created to accommodate this 

influx. Most of these churches are owner-operated, 

traditional, and yet inspirational. Many provide a place 

for the poor to get ahead by tapping into the traditional 

beliefs of ghosts and spirits, according to Professor Paul 

Gifford at the University of London. 65 

One particular Pentecostal preacher, Martin Ssempa, 

has exploited the anti-homophobic beliefs in Uganda to 

build up his personal and political standing. 66 He, along 

with other Pentecostals, strongly pushed for the Anti- 

Homosexuality Bill. Ssempa had ties with prominent 

individuals such as Uganda’s born-again first lady, Janet 

Museveni, and American evangelical Rick Warren, but 

many of his actions are questionable at best. Ssempa’s 

support for the bill forced Warren, who strongly opposes 

the bill 67 , to cut ties with him due to the extreme nature 

of the punishments and the stance against those with 

non-heteronormative gender identities. Warren believed 

that the bill was “unjust, extreme and un-Christian 

toward homosexuals.” 68 In addition, it would hinder the 

church’s work and force those who are HIV-positive to 

hide underground. Ssempa lost most of his remaining 

credibility when he screened gay pornography to his 

congregants. 

In mid-2009, Ssempa and others accused another 

Pentecostal preacher, Robert Kayanja, of sodomy. At first, 

six young men claimed to have been sodomized; two 

retracted their claims under mysterious circumstances. 69 

The police cleared Kayanja of sodomy allegations, but 

many disagreed with how the police handled the 

investigation. Pastor Solomon Male, who counseled 

one of the young men who had been sexually abused, 

said “our case was mishandled…the sodomy victims 

[have faced] harassment.” 70 Even President Museveni 

expressed reservations with how the police conducted 

the investigation. 71 

In March 2009, three American evangelical Christians 

discredited for teaching how to “cure” homosexuals came 

to Kampala, Uganda to give a talk. The theme of the 

event was “The Gay Agenda -- That Whole Hidden and 

Dark Agenda” and the threat that homosexuals posed to 



Pastor Martin Ssempa (left) arrives at the Ugandan Parliament to 

discuss the Anti-Homosexuality Bill on April 6, 2011. Ssempa 

endorses legislation to make sodomy punishable by life in prison, 

or, in some cases, death. 

Bible-based values and the traditional <strong>African</strong> family. 72 

The three Americans were introduced as experts on 

homosexuality – in reality, none were. Scott Lively was a 

missionary with several books to his name, including “7 

Steps to Recruit-Proof Your Child”; Caleb Lee Brundidge 

was a self-described former gay man who lead “healing 

seminars”; and Don Schmierer was a board member of 

Exodus International, which is an interdenominational 

anti-gay Christian organization. 73 For three days 

they lectured the audience, including teachers, law 

enforcement officials, and politicians, on how to change 

an individual’s sexuality and gender expression, how gay 

men sodomize teenage boys, and how a marriage-based 

society will be replaced by promiscuity if homosexuality 

is allowed. 

ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL OF 2009 

On 14 October 2009, David Bahati, a Ugandan 

Member of Parliament, introduced the Anti- 

Homosexuality Bill of 2009. His goal was to protect 

families from the “creeping evil” of homosexuality. 74 

Nearly forty other <strong>African</strong> nations also outlaw 

homosexuality, but this bill carries the death penalty for 

having sex while HIV-positive, which no other <strong>African</strong> 

nation supports. Human rights advocates say that this 

bill is illegal and a moral outrage. Gay activists say it 

will force individuals to live in even more fear than they 

already do. 

Bahati, on the other hand, did not think that this 

bill would cause much controversy. Uganda is a very 

religious country: in a 2008 survey, more than 94 percent 

of the population said that religion was important in 

their lives. 75 No mainstream Ugandan religion, from 

the many Christian denominations to the various 

11


Muslim communities, is tolerant of gay rights. Bahati 

claims: “This bill is really a summation of an aspiration 

of Ugandans who believe the traditional family needs to 

be protected from foreign and internal threats…We have 

our own values as much as we respect the values of others, 

and we think that homosexuality is not a right.” 76 

In a way, this bill would do little to change the laws 

of Uganda. Heavily influenced by British law, the Penal 

Code bans “carnal knowledge of any person against the 

order of nature,” with a potential penalty 

of life in prison. Despite the law, up until 

2009, individuals were rarely arrested for 

violations, and prosecutions were almost 

nonexistent because the individuals had 

to be caught in the act. 77 

The proposed 2009 bill would give 

the authorities more leeway in arresting 

and prosecuting potential violators by 

widening the scope of violations to include 

“the aiding and abetting of homosexuality, 

and promotion of homosexuality” -- each 

carrying a possible prison sentence of 

seven years. 78 Failure to disclose an offense 

is also punishable by a fine and three 

years in prison. Furthermore, anyone 

with knowledge of crimes committed is 

obligated to report them to the authorities 

within 24 hours. The legislation also creates 

a new category of offense: “aggravated 

homosexuality,” 79 which is punishable by 

death. This crime would include having homosexual 

sex with a minor or someone with a disability as well 

as having homosexual sex while HIV-positive (the bill 

makes no distinction about whether offenders must be 

knowingly infected to qualify.) 

Creating these new categories around homosexuality 

and increasing the number of people that can be targeted 

for the crime will only make life worse for gays and 

lesbians living in Uganda. Before this proposed bill, 

individuals could be outed by tabloids, get beaten in the 

streets, or get fired from their jobs, all without any form 

of legal recourse. With this proposed bill, simply being 

aware of someone else’s homosexual actions puts both 

individuals at risk. Journalists wanting to remain within 

the law would have to take the government’s position or 

simply not report on the issue at all, making it even more 

difficult for homosexuals to organize and fight for their 

rights. 

Supporters of the proposed bill argue that the 

disclosure clause was designed to protect children. 80 

However, a civil-society coalition with over twenty 

organizations, including constitutional law organizations, 

argued otherwise. Law professors at Makerere University 

claim that this bill goes far beyond protection by 

establishing extra-territorial jurisdiction for homosexual 

Ugandan citizens living abroad, forcing them to come 

back to their native country and stand trial if ever 

Members of the Gay and Lesbian Association protest Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality 

Bill. 

discovered. 81 Others also worry that this bill would 

make treatment of HIV/AIDS for Uganda’s homosexual 

population even more difficult. Even before the 2009 bill 

was proposed, few in the gay community received testing 

for HIV because admitting to the homosexual lifestyle 

leads to such severe stigma and social repercussions. 82 

Despite these worries, it appeared that this bill, often 

referred to as the “Kill The Gays Bill,” would pass. John 

Otekate Emile, an independent Member of Parliament, 

believed the bill had a 99 percent chance of passing. Emile 

stated, “Members of parliament are overwhelmingly 

supporting this bill because homosexuality is illegal in 

Uganda, and we have that clearly in the penal code.” 83 

President Museveni, the leading religious figures, and 

most of the nation’s 31 million citizens seemed to agree 

with the bill. 

However, approximately forty percent of Uganda’s 

government budget comes from international donors. 84 

Uganda relies on international donors and peacekeeping 


organizations to help take care of its many refugees and 

displaced peoples. Many of these resources come from 

the United States and Europe. Once Bahati proposed 

this bill and it received serious debate, many Western 

nations threatened to cut aid unless this bill was struck 

from the docket. Bahati, the sponsor, was unfazed; he 

seemed to be willing to forego international funding and 

withdraw from all international treaties if that meant that 

the bill could be passed. Later, he softened his stance and 

denied those claims, possibly due to the ramifications 

on the Ugandan government. A provision in the draft 

text of the bill requires that Parliament review all 

international treaties it has previously signed and nullify 

those in conflict with the proposed 2009 bill. 85 In this 

case, such documents would include the United Nations 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other UN 

Conventions. 

Other heads of state continued to speak with 

the Ugandan president, especially after Rwanda 

and Burundi, two of Uganda’s neighbors, started 

discussing similar, though less extreme, pieces of antihomosexuality 

legislation. During the Commonwealth 

Heads of Government Meeting, the Prime Minister of 

the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, and the Prime 

Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, both expressed 

their disagreement with the proposed bill to Museveni. 86 

Both the Canadian Minister and the Australian Minister 

made statements to the press about the offensive nature 

of the legislation. 

The Ugandan Parliament continued debating 

and discussing the propose legislation after the 

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, so 

the international community continued criticizing the 

proposed bill. On 3 December 2009, Sweden, who 

previously had an amicable, long-term relationship with 

Uganda, declared that it would revoke US$50 million in 

developmental aid if the bill passed, citing a clear lack 

of common values and understanding between the two 

nations. 87 Germany’s Minister of Economic Cooperation 

and Development laid out a stepwise plan to cut Uganda’s 

aid if the bill should pass. On 16 December 2006, the 

European Parliament passed a resolution against the bill, 

threatening to cut aid from the country; many individual 

European countries passed their own resolutions in 

support of the European Parliament’s resolution or 

vowed to cut their individual aid to Uganda. 

The United States, from citizens in Kampala’s sister 

city Minneapolis, Minnesota to President Obama, 

strongly opposed the proposed bill. President Obama 



stated, “The draft law pending in Uganda…would 

criminalize homosexuality and move against the tide 

of history.” Most United States Christian leaders also 

oppose the bill, including Thomas Melady, the former 

Ambassador to Uganda, and the Anglican Reverend 

Canon Gideon Byamugisha, who claimed that the effects 

would be state-legislated genocide. 

In late 2010, attention surrounding the bill died down, 

and on 13 May 2011, the bill was shelved by Ugandan 

Parliament. 88 According to the BBC, some human rights 

groups and Western leaders celebrated victory, but Maria 

Burnett of the Human Rights Watch said that it would 

still be a very long fight to stop the Ugandan legislation. 

According to Burnett, “The international pressure over 

the last year and a half has been very important to show 

that Uganda cannot act in isolation from the international 

community.” 89 

The upcoming round of elections, taking place 

in February 2012, provides another opportunity for 

Bahati or another minister to introduce the bill. Because 

Parliament did not take the bill off the floor in any 

permanent way, campaigns for and against the bill and 

what it stands for will likely continue. 

Relevant Actions 

On 17 June 2011, the UN Human Rights Council 

passed a resolution supporting equal rights for all sexual 

orientations. 90 Passing with 23 votes in favor, 19 in 

opposition, and 3 abstentions, it received strong criticism 

from some <strong>African</strong> nations. The US Deputy Assistant 

Secretary of State for International Organizations, 

Suzanne Nossel, said: 

It really is a key part in setting a new norm that gay 

rights are human rights and that that has to be accepted 

globally. It talks about the violence and discrimination 

that people of LGBT persuasion experience around the 

world, and that those issues ... need to be taken seriously. 

It calls for reporting on what’s going on, where people are 

being discriminated against, the violence that is taking 

place, and it really puts the issue squarely on the U.N.’s 

agenda going forward. 91 

Included in the resolution is a commission for the 

first-ever report on the challenges LGBT people face, 

opening up international discussions on how to protect 

their rights. In March 2011, the UN Human Rights 

Council adopted a resolution called “Ending Violence 

Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” which 

was supported by 85 countries. 92 Gay rights are a key 

13


focus of US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Human 

Rights agenda. According to Secretary Clinton, “gay 

rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.” 

While a UN resolution by itself will not fix any nation’s 

intolerant and abusive treatment of LGBT individuals, 

it does help create a set of international norms that 

nations must follow. According to Nossel, “…this is 

really a critical beginning of a 

universal recognition of a new 

set of rights that forms part of 

the international system.” 93 

Despite this resolution, it 

is unlikely that Uganda will 

change its current policies, 

let alone refuse to adopt the 

policies in the shelved bill. For 

the past few years, the Freedom 

and Roam Uganda group 

and the International Gay 

and Lesbian Human Rights 

Commission have reported 

to the UN Committee on the 

Elimination of Discrimination 

against Women (CEDAW) 

about the situation in Uganda. 

CEDAW has then reported 

the questions and suggestions 

for improvements back to 

the international community 

in the hope that Uganda 

will attempt to fix the legal 

and social marginalization of many people within 

the nation. Such suggestions presented in the 2010 

report included: repealing specific articles of the Penal 

Code and Equal Opportunities Commission Act that 

implicitly discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation 

and gender identity; investigating hate crimes and 

violence; protecting the sexual health of all people; and 

preserving the human rights of all people through antidiscrimination 

legislation with explicit protection from 

sexual violence, dismissal from employment, eviction 

from housing, and so forth. 94 Despite suggestions given 

over many years, Uganda has refused to make many 

of these suggested changes and instead has continued 

pushing legislation contrary to the report’s suggestions. 

Uganda’s government is overall unsupportive of any 

efforts to help the LGBT community, including those 

who are HIV-positive. Even before the 2009 bill, three gay 

activists were arrested at a Kampala conference on HIV 

The media in Uganda publishes articles that contain 

the names and identifying features of homosexuals, 

urging other citizens to kill or harm them. 

prevention for trying to attend and distribute materials. 

A government official explained that the government did 

not have money to treat HIV among homosexuals. 95 An 

increase of arrests continued, encouraged when a small 

Ugandan newspaper called Rolling Stone ran an article 

with the headline “100 PICTURES OF UGANDA’S 

TOP HOMOS LEAK” and the banner “Hang Them.” 96 

David Kato, an advocacy officer for 

Sexual Minorities Uganda, 97 had his 

picture on the cover. He filed a lawsuit 

against the tabloid, suing them for 

outing hundreds of individuals from 

amongst his family, friends, coworkers, 

and neighbors. 98 On 4 January 2011, 

the Ugandan high court decided to ban 

all lists identifying people as gay from 

media publications. 99 Nonetheless, since 

the original list of 100, Rolling Stone has 

published a list of ten more individuals, 

which human rights organizations say 

prompted four more attacks. Giles 

Muhame, the tabloid’s managing editor, 

has “vowed to continue publishing lists 

of homosexuals in Uganda” and has 

declared that “homosexuality is more 

dangerous than smoking.” Kato, who 

helped initiate the lawsuit process, was 

found with serious wound to his head 

at his home in Kampala on 26 January 

2011 and died shortly thereafter. 

After Kato’s murder, the situation in 

Uganda for homosexuals escalated to the point that the 

United Kingdom granted a Ugandan lesbian immigrant a 

temporary injunction to prevent her deportation back to 

Uganda. 100 Brenda Namiggade came to the UK in 2002 

because she was being victimized because of her sexuality. 

In early 2011, she feared for her life if she had to return. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 

Antonio Guterres, said people facing persecution for their 

sexual orientation in Uganda should be given refugee 

status in other countries. 101 

Proposed Solutions 

The <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 

ratified by all 86 members of the <strong>African</strong> Union, does 

not make any reference to sexual orientation nor does it 

explicitly guarantee the right to privacy. 102 Some attention 

has been given to advancing LGBT rights through the 


<strong>African</strong> Commission with the <strong>African</strong> Charter. Looking 

to the Social and Economic Rights Action Center and the 

Center for Economic and Social Rights (SERAC) v. Nigeria 

as a guide, it is possible to argue that there is an implied 

right to privacy that comes from the “respect for his life 

and the integrity of his person,” “respect of the dignity 

inherent in a human being,” and “liberty and security of his 

person.” 103 In SERAC, the communication claimed that 

the military government of Nigeria was guilty of violating 

the right to health, a clean environment, and family 

rights, among other things, because they were facilitating 

the operations of oil corporations. The Commission 

used the doctrine 

of “respect, protect, 

promote, and fulfill” 

and recognized 

that the state 

must be involved 

if individuals are 

to enjoy certain 

rights. 104 The 

Commission ruled 

that many violations 

of rights did occur, 

and, perhaps more 

importantly, the 

Commission 

also stated that 

governments have a 

duty to protect their 

citizens by protecting 

them from damaging 

acts that may be 

perpetrated by 

private parties and 

that this duty calls 

for positive action on 

the part of governments. 105 Because sexual attraction is 

an essential part of an individual’s personality, forcing an 

individual to suppress his/her nature or risk being beaten, 

jailed, or killed would violate that person’s “integrity” 

and “human dignity.” 

Furthermore, Article 2 and 3 of the <strong>African</strong> 

Charter provide that all individuals have rights without 

distinction of any kind and that everyone “shall be equal 

before the law.” 106 One of the distinctions mentioned 

is sex, which includes sexual orientation, according to 

precedence set in Toonen v. Australia. 107 In this case, 

Toonen, a homosexual man from Tasmania, argued to 



Estimated adult HIV prevalence in Uganda from 1990 to 2007. 

Passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill would make receiving 

treatment for HIV/AIDS difficult by forcing individuals to draw 

attention to themselves and their lifestyles. 

the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations 

that criminalizing homosexuality violated his right to 

privacy under Article 17 of the International Covenant 

on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and violated 

Article 26 because it discriminated against homosexuals 

on the basis of their sexuality. 108 The committee held 

that Toonen was a victim under Australian law and had 

no effective domestic remedy. This case was important 

because it identified sexual orientation as a characteristic 

upon which individuals cannot be discriminated against 

according to the ICCPR. It also “confirms that sexual 

conduct in private is within the meaning of privacy 

in the ICCPR,” 109 which, despite 

its self-evident nature, had been 

unconfirmed until 1994. 

Nonetheless, procedural 

difficulties present obstacles to 

those seeking recourse, at least at 

the Commission level. First, the 

complainant must show a prima 

facie violation, which means that the 

violation is accepted as correct until 

proved otherwise. Then, the state can 

show that the violation is acceptable 

based on grounds such as the <strong>African</strong> 

value system, majority morality, and 

the prevention of HIV/AIDS. 110 How 

the case turns out is largely dependent 

upon the individual Commissioner. 

While NGOs have observer status 

and can raise discussion or points, 

no NGO focuses exclusively on the 

rights of these individuals, and very 

little has been said when considering 

the number of people affected by this 

marginalization. 111 

Human rights and human 

security are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. In 2005, 

Mary Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner 

for Human Rights, argued that disempowerment 

and marginalization of individuals and communities 

from participating in decisions affecting them are the 

root causes of human insecurity. Marginalization and 

disempowerment are practical manifestations of the 

denial of the right to participation, and empowerment 

means nothing more than creating and granting 

opportunities for participation. 

15


TOPIC AREA B: EDUCATION IN ARMED 

COMBAT ZONES 

Statement of the Problem 

Millions of children are not receiving an education, 

primarily in underdeveloped regions of the world. Many 

of these children cannot go to school because violence 

plagues their communities. Nearly 42 percent of the 67 

million children denied a primary school education are 

living in armed conflict zones. 112 Innocent children are 

entering the adult world unprepared because of conflicts 

they neither created nor fueled. They constitute the 

world’s most vulnerable population, living in fear from 

attack, sexual violence, and malnutrition. 

The only way to create a more peaceful society is 

through education. The first line of the Constitution of 

UNESCO states, “since wars begin in the minds of men 

[and women], it is in the minds of men [and women] that 

the defenses of peace must be constructed.” 113 Conflict 

must be prevented through an educational system that 

teaches and prioritizes peace, understanding, and mutual 

respect. Every child that does not go to school, or, even 

worse, every child that goes to a school that teaches 

hatred or reinforces ethnic or cultural divides, is one less 

person who can later work for peace. 

Because of the many ramifications of a lack of 

education, the United Nations has prioritized bringing 

primary education to the world’s children. Goal Two 

of the Millennium Development Goals is to achieve 

universal primary education. 114 The target of this goal 

is that all children, both boys and girls, will receive a 

full course of primary schooling. “To achieve the goal 

by the target date, all children at official entry age for 

primary schooling would have had to be attending 

classes by 2009. Instead, in half of the Central <strong>African</strong> 

countries with available data, at least one in four children 

of enrollment age was not attending school in 2008.” 115 

In addition to problems with enrollment, more than 30 

percent of students in Central Africa drop out before 

they finish primary school because of costs, social 

pressure, and family pressure, among other factors. 116 

Finding safe schools, textbooks, and reliable teachers is 

often difficult as well. As a result, UNESCO has reached 

out to <strong>African</strong> nations individually through the Basic 

Education in Africa Program, encouraging countries to 

adopt legal frameworks guaranteeing eight to ten years 

of uninterrupted basic education. 117 

The <strong>African</strong> Union also pledged to prioritize education 

in 2002 during its transition from the Organization of 

<strong>African</strong> Unity. 118 With over eighteen <strong>African</strong> countries 

experiencing conflict since 1999, improving education 

has been difficult. 119 Violence, conflict, and war make 

the educational situation in Africa far worse. Civil war 

and unrest have caused Sudan, the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo, and Chad to absorb thousands of refugees, 

without adequate infrastructure or financial resources to 

support the drastic population growth. 120 Most of these 

refugees live in camps, far from established schools. 

Nearly forty-two percent of the sixty-seven million children denied 

a primary school education are living in armed conflict zones. 

Africa is home to over 200,000 child soldiers, onethird 

of the world’s “invisible children.” 121 These children 

receive no education aside from what is needed on the 

battlefield, to carry out orders, or to survive. Not only are 

they lacking skills such as reading and mathematics, but 

child soldiers also develop a set of values different from 

that of the rest of the population. 

They are [chosen because they are] easy to 

manipulate and will do the unspeakable without 

question or protest, partly because their morals 

and value systems are not yet fully formed… 

The journey from boy or girl to killing machine 

follows a horrifying route of indoctrination, 

including being forced to execute friends and 

family…A twelve-year-old girl, Angela, told 

the Human Rights Watch that she was told to 

shoot a friend…”I closed my eyes and fired the 

gun, but I didn’t hit her. So I shot again,” she 

said. “I had to bury her and put dirt on top of 

her. The commander said, ‘You’ll have to do this 

many more times, and you’ll have to learn not to 

cry.’” 122 


Across the world, conflict-afflicted low-income and 

lower middle-income countries have the worst education 

indicators—worse than countries at similar income 

levels with no history of conflict. Only 79 percent of 

young people and 69 percent of adults are literate in 

conflict-afflicted countries, compared with 93 percent 

and 85 percent in peaceful nations. 123 Gross enrollment 

in secondary school is thirty percent lower in conflictafflicted 

countries and even lower for girls. 124 Where 

positive trends towards more school years existed before 

the conflict, these trends reverse during war, and years 

Students learn in a Ugandan schoolhouse. Education is severely hampered by the cost of tuition 

and books, and the dangers of conflict. 

of schooling are lost after the conflict. In Burundi, for 

example, the growth rate for years of school before 

the 1994-2006 conflict was 6.6%. During the conflict, 

the growth rate was -0.3%, which means 3.4 years of 

schooling per child were lost. 125 Disparities also exist 

before children reach school age; the mortality rate for 

children under five is normally six out of one hundred, 

but increases to twelve out of one hundred in combat 

zones. 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa’s 

second largest country by area, is suffering an educational 

crisis. As of 2009, literacy rates are in the low sixties 

for both males and females. 126 The mortality rate for 

children under five is also high at 199 deaths out of 1000, 

compared to the average 61 out of 1000. 127 In addition 

to these problems, the structure of the Congolese 

education system fuels inequality. Primary education is 

not free, compulsory, or universal. Parents are expected 



to pay the teacher’s salary through enrollment fees, which 

means that many children cannot afford to attend class. 

Children also have to pay for their own school supplies, 

in addition to tuition costs, adding to the financial 

burden of schooling for their families and decreasing the 

likelihood that they will attend. 128 

Many children forego school in order to help their 

families. An estimated 39.8 percent of children ten to 

fourteen years old were working in 2000. Most children 

work in the informal sector or in subsistence agriculture, 

the largest part of the economy. 129 Those that cannot find 

“jobs” must hunt, fish, engage in 

prostitution, or beg in the streets. In 

2003, the UN Special Rapporteur 

to the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo reported anywhere 

from 25,000 to 50,000 street 

children, mainly child refugees 

and war orphans, engaged in 

labor. 130 Armed groups frequently 

recruited these children into 

forced labor, sexual exploitation, 

and armed conflict. As of 2004, 

the Congolese government has 

demobilized approximately 3,080 

children and no longer recruits 

child soldiers, but there are reports 

that the government still supports 

militia groups that do. 131 These 

children are being physically and 

psychologically wounded because 

no one is taking responsibility for 

their well-being. 

Article 17 of the <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and 

Peoples’ Rights explicitly states that: “Every individual 

shall have the right to education.” 132 For thousands of 

children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 

that right is non-existent. In addition to the <strong>African</strong> 

Charter, the Democratic Republic of the Congo also 

ratified the Rights and Welfare of the Child as part of the 

Organization of <strong>African</strong> Unity in 1999. This agreement 

aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of children 

because up until that point, child abuse had become the 

rule, rather than the exception, in Africa. Only when 

children are given access to basic education, healthcare, 

and parental protection are they able to lead safe, secure 

lives without becoming victims of child labor, trafficking, 

or prostitution. 

17


Three years later, when the <strong>African</strong> Union replaced 

the Organization of <strong>African</strong> Unity, not much had been 

done to enforce this charter. However, the <strong>African</strong> Union 

made an explicit pledge to be more interventionist in the 

case of human rights abuses, particularly prioritizing the 

rights of children. 133 In order to justify their actions, the 

<strong>African</strong> Union adopted protocols such as the Rights of 

Women in Africa in 2003 and the <strong>African</strong> Charter on 

Youth and Development in 2006. 134 The latter obligates 

member states to develop comprehensive programs to 

promote the education, development, employment, 

health, and participation of Africa’s youth in development 

and politics. Despite being signatories to these protocols 

and charters, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is 

not making headway in improving the education of its 

children. 

History and Discussion of the Problem 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was granted 

independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960 after 

riots and general unrest. Its first year of statehood was 

eventful and destabilizing: the army mutinied, the 

governor of Katanga Province attempted secession and 

a UN peacekeeping force had to restore order, Prime 

Minister Lumumba mysteriously died, and Colonel 

Joseph Mobutu took over the government. 135 

Mobutu’s desire for strict, one-party rule received 

much international criticism, and as the Cold War ended, 

internal and external pressures weakened his regime. 136 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s economy was 

faltering, its human rights practices were the target of 

much international criticism, and major cities were filled 

with domestic protests. Mobutu finally agreed to a multiparty 

system with elections and a constitution in April 

1990. 

In 1992, after many failed attempts, the longpromised 

Sovereign National Conference was held, 

attended by more than 2,000 representatives from various 

political parties meeting to draft a new constitution and 

to ensure a smooth political transition. 137 The conference 

gave itself a legislative mandate, and by the end of the 

year, elected Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the Union pour 

la Democratie et le Progres Social, as its prime minister. 

Joseph Mobutu had also created a rival, multi-party 

government with himself as head of state and Leon Kengo 

Wa Dondo as prime minister,. The two governments 

enacted a compromise merger that produced the High 

Council of the Republic-Parliament of Transition in 

1994, with Mobutu as head of state and Leon Kengo Wa 

Dondo as prime minister. 138 Although presidential and 

legislative elections were scheduled repeatedly over the 

next two years, they never took place. 

In late 1994, the war and genocide in Rwanda 

began to directly affect the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo. Fighting between the Hutus and Tutsis had been 

occurring for hundreds of years, causing the massacre 

of at least half a million Tutsis, the minority group, and 

causing nearly one million Hutus to flee to refugee camps 

throughout the region. “Rwandan Hutu militia forces 

who fled Rwanda following the ascension of a Tutsiled 

government were using Hutu refugee camps [on 

the eastern side] of the country as bases for fighting.” 139 

Rwandan and Ugandan troops supported the Alliance 

des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo- 

Zaire (AFDL), which entered the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo in October 1996. In May 1997, after peace 

talks between Laurent Kabila, leader of the AFDL, and 

Mobutu failed, the latter left the country. 

On 17 May 1997, Kabila declared himself president. 

Many of his top staff members, such as the Army Chief 

and Secretary General, were Rwandan, which many 

Congolese people resented. 140 Kabila ordered all foreign 

troops to leave the country in July 1998, but most 

refused. On 2 August 1998, nationwide fighting began 

as Rwandan troops mutinied and new troops from 

Rwanda and Uganda entered. Angolan, Zimbabwean, 

and Namibian troops intervened on behalf of the 

Congolese government. 141 Rwandan forces withdrew to 

the eastern side of the country, where they established 

de facto control and fought off threats to their unofficial 

sovereignty. Uganda backed the formation of the rebel 

President Joseph Kabila, who has led the Democratic Republic of 

Congo since January 2001, shortly after his father was assassinated. 


group Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo, which 

established control over the northern third of the country. 

This left the country split into three segments: one 

controlled by Kabila, one by Rwanda, and one by Uganda. 

The nations were in a military deadlock, so in July 1999, 

a ceasefire was proposed in Lusaka, Zambia. “The Lusaka 

Accord called for a cease-fire, the deployment of a UN 

peacekeeping operation, the withdrawal of foreign troops, 

and the launching of an “Inter-Congolese Dialogue” to 

form a transitional government leading to elections.” 142 

Kabila, however, blocked UN peacekeeping forces and 

refused to engage in political dialogue. 

The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has 

been assigned the task of seeing out the ceasefire in the Congo since 1999, along with other 

related tasks. 

Kabila was assassinated on 16 January 2001 and was 

succeeded by his son Joseph, “who reversed many of 

his father’s negative policies.” 143 As of 2002, all <strong>African</strong> 

troops had officially withdrawn from the nation, but 

there were still unofficial reports that Rwandan soldiers 

remained and had even formed splinter groups. 

Attempts at Inter-Congolese Dialogue continued, 

always ending inconclusively, until an agreement was 

reached in Pretoria on 17 December 2002. 144 These talks 

included representatives from the government, rebel 

groups, political opposition, civil society, and Mai-Mai 

(Congolese local defense militias). Dialogue between 

these groups finally led to an all-inclusive agreement. It 

was formally ratified on 2 April 2003, the same day a 

transitional constitution was adopted. The transitional 

government liberalized domestic political activity and 

started working in unison with the World Bank and 

the International Monetary Fund. 145 Very little effort 

was put into fixing the serious human rights problems 

that persisted in the security services or the justice 



system, nor was much energy put into rebuilding human 

infrastructure after the war. 146 

In late 2005, two-thirds of Congolese voters approved 

a new constitution that vested most of its power in the 

president; the legislature cannot overturn the government 

through a vote of no confidence, and the judiciary is only 

nominally independent. Over 25 million people voted 

for president on 30 July 2006, when the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo had its first, free, democratic, 

multi-party election in over forty years. 147 Thirty-three 

candidates ran for president, and over 9,500 candidates 

ran for National Assembly, fighting for five hundred 

seats. Voter turnout was over seventy 

percent. 148 Overall, the elections went 

smoothly and were judged to be 

credible by international standards. 

President Kabila won with just under 

45% of the vote, beating his former 

vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba. 

The scope of the July 2006 election 

presented administrative challenges 

that strengthened the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo’s relationship 

with the UN. The presidential and 

legislative ballots were printed in 

South Africa and altogether weighed 

nearly 1,800 tons, requiring 75 roundtrip 

flights. The Independent Electoral 

Commission, greatly supported by the 

United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo (MONUC) peacekeeping mission, 

ran more than 50,000 polling stations nationwide 

and employed some 300,000 poll workers on election 

day and during the ballot-counting process. 149 Kabila 

established a permanent National Independent Electoral 

Commission to replace the transitional Commission in 

July 2010. 

After operating as MONUC for 10 years, the UN 

was forced to alter its mission to reflect a new phase in 

the country as of 1 July 2010, renaming itself as the 

United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). 

“Established under UN Security Council Resolution 1925, 

MONUSCO differed from MONUC in its enhanced 

cooperative relationship with the D.R.C. Government, 

its coordinated, regional approach to counter threats 

posed by armed groups in the country, and its stated 

logistical role in assisting the D.R.C. in its electoral 

19


activities, all designed to stabilize what MONUC’s 

peacekeeping operations had accomplished.” 150 

Current Situation 

After years of fighting, deadlock, and invasion, the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo is best classified 

as a failed state. By definition, failed states are unable 

to provide basic public services and lack authority. 

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is seen as a 

prime example of a failed state: a forsaken black hole 

characterized by calamity, chaos, confusion, and a bizarre 

form of social cannibalism where society is its own 

prey.” 151 

Education is one of the main social services that has 

been damaged by years of war and ignored even after the 

war. By 2000, public funding for education was virtually 

zero. 152 Despite this statistic, schools continue to run, 

even though less than fifty percent of children attend. 

Non-state actors have been involved in the education 

system since its creation in colonial times, when it was 

run by the Protestant and Catholic churches. Currently, 

three-quarters of all primary school students attend 

public religious schools. 

The amount of money spent per student has likewise 

decreased. Real expenditure per pupil dropped from 

US$159 in 1982 to $23 in 1987 and finally to around 

$4 in 2002. 153 This has forced parents to purchase school 

supplies, books, uniforms, and food for their children 

to go to school. Since the majority of the Congolese do 

not have significant disposable income, disparities have 

emerged between children who can and cannot attend 

class. Teachers’ salaries dropped from US$68 to $27 per 

month between 1982 and 1987, reaching an all-time 

minimum of US$12.90 in 2002. 154 In addition, the 

number of paid teachers decreased from 285,900 in 

1982 to less than half of that number in 2002. 155 These 

numbers provide little incentive for teachers to arrive 

at school each day, to prepare lessons, and to treat their 

job with the importance it deserves. In armed combat 

zones in particular, most teachers find the conditions too 

dangerous to come to work for the meager amount of 

pay they receive. 

Following teacher strikes, the Catholic Church 

and the association of students’ parents created a 

“salary top-up system” in order to compensate for the 

salary decreases. The money in the system filters up; 

the fees are collected from the parents by the district, 

which passes the money to the three state institutions 

responsible for running public education- the Ministère 

de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel 

(MEPSP), the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur 

et Universitaire (MESU) and the Ministère des Affaires 

Sociales (MAS). 156 In certain ways, this method of 

privatized funding could be compared to how the United 

States of America funds its public schools through taxes 

based on property values, and, indirectly, affluence. This 

privatized system works for those with the money to pay 

the fees, but for those hardest hit by combat, war, and 

violence, it is likely unrealistic. 

Violent conflict widens disparities in wealth and 

gender. Most of the 5.4 million deaths that occurred 

during the many years of conflict in the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo are from disease and malnutrition, 

not gun wounds. Nearly half the victims were children 

under age of five suffering from sickness and hunger, 

which has terrible consequences for education. 157 

Furthermore, the conflict has ruined the infrastructure 

necessary for a successful education system. Combatants 

use force indiscriminately, often targeting safe havens, 

such as schools, creating fear and distrust. In most 

conflicts, it is far more dangerous to be a civilian than a 

combatant. 158 As the number of wars between countries 

has declined and intra-state conflict has increased, 

patterns of violence have changed. Conflicts have 

become immeasurably more dangerous for vulnerable 

non-combatants and have damaged social cohesion and 

government services. 

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo has gone through many phases. It has involved 

Congolese armed forces, a Tutsi rebel group (National 

Congress for the Defense of the People) said to have been 

backed for a time by Rwanda, a predominantly Hutu 

group (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), 

and a local militia known as Mai Mai. 159 The Lord’s 

Resistance Army is also active in the east, where it has 

perpetrated several massacres and conducted campaigns 

of systematic rape. It is estimated that from 1998 to 

2007, more than five million lives were lost because of 

conflict-related disease and malnutrition. “In 2010, there 

were 1.3 million internally displaced people in the North 

and South Kivu provinces. Military operations between 

January and September 2009 resulted in reports of more 

than one thousand civilian deaths and 7,500 rapes.” 160 

The United Nations has accused state and non-state 

parties of widespread, systematic violation of human 

rights. There is “a growing fear among children to attend 

school, among teachers to give classes, and among parents 


to send their children to school.” 161 To achieve the UN 

goal of education for all by 2015, Africa needs nearly two 

million teachers. However, violent and sexual attacks on 

schools discourage teachers and students from coming 

to class, impeding educational progress. Children are 

often abducted from 

classrooms, causing 

security fears for parents, 

teachers, and students. 

In 2007, the United 

Nations Mission in the 

Democratic Republic of 

the Congo reported that 

hundreds of children 

were serving in the 

North Kivu province. 162 

Estimates put the total 

number of child soldiers 

in the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo 

at 30,000, despite the 

fact that the use of child 

soldiers violates many 



One of the thousands of child soldiers in the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo, frequently recruited and taken from 

schools. 

international and national laws, including the Geneva 

Convention. 163 

Despite this situation, aid to the Democratic 

Republic of the Congo for education is limited. 

Countries identified as national security priorities receive 

much more developmental assistance, despite having 

more money. This leads to the neglect of the world’s 

poorest nations. Development assistance to 27 conflictaffected 

developing countries has increased over the past 

decade, reaching US$36 billion a year in 2007–2008. 164 

However, Iraq received over one-quarter of the total, and 

Afghanistan and Iraq together accounted for 38% of the 

total. Afghanistan received more aid than the combined 

total disbursed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 

Liberia, and Sudan. 165 

The <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 

guarantees the right to education for all those living in 

Africa. The goal of humanitarian aid is to ensure that 

basic needs are met in times of instability and conflict. 

Three-quarters of humanitarian aid goes to countries 

affected by conflict, yet little of that aid is directed 

towards education, partly because many humanitarian 

workers do not view education as “life-saving.” 166 “In 

2009, only about US$149 million of humanitarian aid 

was used for education—representing just two percent 

of the total aid. Only about one-third of requests for 

education aid receive funding. The amount of aid 

requested for education in the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo totaled just US$25 million, and by mid-2010, 

only fifteen percent had been delivered.” 167 Meanwhile, 

over two million people are displaced, and around twothirds 

of children in conflict-afflicted 

areas are out of school. 

For those children whose parents 

have been killed, injured, or taken by 

war, education might be the only thing 

they have left. A story featured in A 

Hidden Crisis shows why education, 

particularly in the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo, is so important: 

“Claudine Bunyere, from the 

Democratic Republic of the 

Congo, aged 12, is living proof that 

education can help rebuild lives even 

during the most violent conflicts. 

Her resolve in the face of adversity 

and an innovative programme 

operated by Save the Children have 

kept open the doors to education opportunity. 

The danger is that Claudine’s efforts will be 

thwarted by the vagaries of the humanitarian aid 

system. Two years ago, local militia groups, the 

Mai Mai and the Democratic Liberation Forces 

of Rwanda, attacked Claudine’s village in North 

Kivu province. Many were killed, including 

Claudine’s parents. But Claudine escaped with 

her sister to the town of Masisi, 30 kilometers 

away, where she lives in a camp for displaced 

people. Her experience is not unusual. While 

the government and many donors maintain that 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo is in a 

phase of ‘post-conflict reconstruction’, militias 

and government forces continue to terrorize 

local populations in the east. Claudine is one of 

almost 600,000 displaced people in North Kivu 

alone. Unlike most displaced children in the 

province, though, she is in school — and she is 

seizing the opportunity for education with both 

hands. ‘I love my school. It’s not just because 

I want to learn and enjoy the lessons. Here I 

can be with friends.’ Claudine is in school for 

just one reason. Operating in North Kivu’s war 

zone, Save the Children has financed classroom 

rehabilitation and construction programs, and 

21


trained 124 teachers for 12 schools that together 

have enrolled over 8,300 students. Claudine 

had completed only a year of education when 

she arrived in Masisi. Now she is one of 1,155 

children aged 10 to 14 enrolled in an accelerated 

learning program. She has just spent one school 

year catching up, and will start the next year in 

grade 4.” 168 

Without education, there is no way to end the cycles 

of violence terrorizing the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo. Children will grow up without families, without 

learning about the world, and without learning to interact 

with those who have different worldviews. Essentially, 

they cannot become fully functioning members of a 

globalized society. This inability will lead to more war, 

terror, and destruction, further perpetuating the cycles 

of war. 

Proposed Solutions 

CASE STUDIES 

In order to increase primary education around the 

world as part of their Millennium Development Goals, 

the United Nations has considered and enacted many 

different approaches. Many of these methods, and others 

not covered here, deal with the disparities between 

education rates of boys and girls. These approaches often 

face obstacles because of the cultural and social norms 

and values that put women in a place where education is 

not considered important or necessary. 

In Ethiopia, the UN Population Fund supports 

a program called “Berhane Hewan” which advocates 

putting an end to child marriages and keeping girls 

in school longer. 169 To encourage families to let their 

children complete primary school, the families receive a 

sheep as a reward if their daughter finishes the program. 

In Malawi, the UN Population Fund is working with 

Youth Councils to repeal a law allowing girls as young as 

sixteen to be married. 170 As an alternative to married life, 

the UN Population Fund is providing support so girls 

can stay in the classroom. 

The World Food Program provides school meals, 

which act as a strong incentive for parents to send their 

children to school, particularly in areas where social 

service is rare—such as rural areas, where education rates 

are typically lower than in surrounding urban areas. 171 

Free meals help to build the nutritional foundation that 

is essential for a child’s future intellectual development 

Graph depicting the indirect casualties of conflicts. With armed 

groups increasingly targeting civilians, many of the casualties of war 

occur not on the battlefield, but in impoverished communities. 

and physical well-being, staving off malnutrition and 

the host of accompanying diseases. 172 The program also 

reaches out to parents in order to encourage them to 

send their daughters to school. 

Although it is not an <strong>African</strong> program, the UN 

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia 

has collaborated with UNESCO to address problems 

affecting education in politically unstable environments, 

which is relevant to the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo due to its status as a failed state. 173 The 

Commission was responsible for infrastructure, while 

UNESCO took care of training and e-learning. The 

initiative facilitated capacity building sessions on 

education strategy, instructor training, and the creation 

of courses teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speaking Iraqi 

schoolchildren, encouraging dialogue and understanding 

across cultures. 174 

Potential <strong>Court</strong> Interpretations 

The <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights 

has both adjudicatory and advisory jurisdiction. “The 

adjudicatory mandate extends to all cases and disputes 

submitted to the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ 

Rights concerning the interpretation and application of 


the Charter, the Protocol and other relevant human rights 

instruments ratified by the states concerned.” 175 This 

means that all other human rights treaties that countries 

ratify fall within the purview of the <strong>Court</strong>. Examples of 

such treaties include the UN Declaration on the Rights 

of Minorities by state parties, the Protocol on the Rights 

of Women in Africa, and the <strong>African</strong> Charter on the 

Rights and Welfare of the Child. 176 

The <strong>Court</strong>’s interpretation of these documents is 

important because the Commission has not taken cases 

relating to the rights of women or children. “According 

to the outgoing Special Rapporteur on the Rights of 

Women in Africa, Commissioner Angela Melo: ‘so far 

there have been no cases alleging violation of children’s 

and women’s rights that have been taken…to the <strong>African</strong> 

Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’.” 177 Despite 

the numerous violations, lack of awareness, poverty, 

societal patriarchal attitudes, and lack of legal capacity 

make it difficult for these cases to be taken to regional or 

domestic courts. Melo advocates for the <strong>Court</strong> to take a 

proactive stance when dealing with allegations in order 

to set precedence for lower courts. 

Cases concerning the right to an education in armed 

combat zones are likely to call upon the legally binding 

force of the Commission in order for an enforcement 

mechanism to be activated. The <strong>African</strong> Charter on the 

Rights and Welfare of the Child is particularly useful for 

minority and indigenous children because it protects 

against the double discrimination they face as children 

and minorities. 178 It obligates state parties to attempt 

to eliminate destructive social practices, such as child 

marriages and female genital mutilation. 

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, 

“Human security… encompasses human rights, good 

governance, access to education and healthcare by 

ensuring that each individual has opportunities and 

choices to fulfill his or her potential. Every step in this 

direction is also a step towards reducing poverty, achieving 

economic growth, and preventing conflicts. Freedom 

from want, freedom from fear, and the freedom of future 

generations to inherit a healthy natural environmentthese 

are the interrelated building blocks of human-and 

therefore national-security.” 179 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER 

RESEARCH 

For those interested in learning about gender theory 

in a much more detailed and developed way, I would 


suggest Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble: Feminism and the 

Subversion of Identity or Feminism Is for Everybody by bell 

hooks. Also, Joan Spade and Catherine Valentine’s The 

Kaleidoscope of Gender has great multi-cultural articles 

about gender. 

To learn more about gender and LGBT rights in Africa, 

I would look at reports released by the United Nations, 

such as the <strong>African</strong> Development Forum, Millennium 

Development Goals Report, and the Committee on the 

Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Two 

books I found particularly helpful are <strong>African</strong> Gender 

Studies, A Reader and Heterosexual Africa? by Marc 

Epprecht. 

For the Education in Armed Combat Zones topic, 

I would strongly suggest that you look at the report 

that was my inspiration-the UNESCO report entitled 

A Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education. For a 

more in-depth look at the educational system of the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo, I would also suggest 

reading the World Bank’s country study for regeneration 

of education in the nation. 

CONCLUSION 

Congratulations! If you got to this point, you have 

finished reading the study guide! (As long as you didn’t 

skip to here…if you did, go back to the beginning and 

try the whole “reading the study guide” again.) I hope 

you have enjoyed learning about the two topics as much 

as I did and are excited to debate them in January. 

Until then, spend time researching your individual 

character and his or her viewpoints. Remember-your 

judge was selected as an individual, not as a representative 

of a country or a region, so it is very important that you 

know and understand what he or she would think about 

each situation that is presented. 

Happy researching! As always, if you have any 

questions, feel free to get in touch. I can’t wait to meet 

you! 


23


Notes 

1 Ovey, Clare, and Robin White. The European Convention on Human Rights. 5th. Oxford University Press, 

2010. 1-11. Print. 

2 Morsink, Johannes. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Origins, Drafting, and Intent. University 

of Pennsylvania Press, 200. 4-26. Print. 

3 United Nations. Human Rights Division. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1998. 2 Nov. 2004 

. 

4 Morsink, Johannes. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Origins, Drafting, and Intent. University 

of Pennsylvania Press, 200. 4-26. Print. 

5 Murray, Rachel. The <strong>African</strong> Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and International Law. Portland, 

OR: Oxford University Press, 2000. 9-10. Print. 









10 <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights.Institutional Background . , 2011. Web. 30 Aug 2011. 

. 


. 


. 

13 <strong>African</strong> Union . Functions of the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of Justice. , 2008. Web. 29 Aug 2011. . 

14 <strong>African</strong> Union . Functions of the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> of Justice. , 2008. Web. 29 Aug 2011. . 

15 United Nations. Millennium Goals. Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. . 

16 Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. New York: United Nations, 2010. Web. 29 Aug 2011. 

. 

17 Dougherty, Jill. “U.N. council passes gay rights resolution.” CNN World 17 June 2011: n. pag. Web. 29 Aug 

2011. . 

18 United Nations. Millennium Goals. Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. . 

19 World Health Organization. Female Genital Mutilation. Geneva: , 2011. Web. . 

20 World Health Organization. Female Genital Mutilation. Geneva: , 2011. Web. . 

21 Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. New York: United Nations, 2010. Web. 29 Aug 2011. 

. 

22 Akokpari, John, and Daniel Zimbler. Africa’s Human Rights Architecture. Fanele Center for Conflict 

Resolution, 2008. Print. 

23 Kirchick, James. “South Africa’s gay betrayal.” Guardian21 August 2007: n. pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 

24 Jolly, Joanna. “<strong>African</strong>’s Lesbians Demand Change.” BBC News Africa. 27 Feb 2008: n. page. Web. 8 Oct. 

2011. . 

25 Cole, Catherine, Takyiwaa Manuh , and Stephan Miescher.Africa After Gender?. Bloomington: Indiana 

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26 United States of America. Uganda-Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. , 2007. Web. 30 Aug 

2011. . 

27 United States of America. Uganda-Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. , 2007. Web. 30 Aug 

2011. . 

28 Ahmed, Saeed. “Why is Uganda attacking homosexuality?.” CNN 8 December 2009: n. pag. Web. 30 

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29 Wadhams, Nick. “Uganda: Mourning Murder of Gay-Rights Activist.” Time Magazine 28 Jan. 2011: n. pag. 

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30 <strong>African</strong> Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. June 

1981. . 


1981. . 

32 Onoria, Henry. The Protocol to the <strong>African</strong> Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of 

the <strong>African</strong> <strong>Court</strong> on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Foundation for Human Rights Initiative . 2004. Print. 



34 United States of America-Department of State. Background Note: Uganda. , 2007. Web. 10 Aug 2011. 

. 


. 


. 


. 











43 Wilkerson, Michael. “Uganda’s Outrageous New Sex Law.” Foreign Policy (26 October 2009): n. pag. Web. 

30 Aug 2011. . 

44 Butler, Judith. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. Theatre Arts Books, 1990. Print. 

45 Butler, Judith. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. Theatre Arts Books, 1990. Print. 

46 Oyewumi, Oyeronke. Gender Epistemologies in Africa: Gendering Traditions, Spaces, Social Institutions, 

and Identities. Palgrave MacMillian, 2011. Print. 

Oyewumi, Oyeronke. Gender Epistemologies in Africa: Gendering Traditions, Spaces, Social Institutions, and 

Identities. Palgrave MacMillian, 2011. Print. 

47 Oyewumi, Oyeronke. Gender Epistemologies in Africa: Gendering Traditions, Spaces, Social Institutions, 

and Identities. Palgrave MacMillian, 2011. Print. 

48 Uganda. 2002 Census Results . , 2009. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 







52 UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Uganda. , 2010. Web. 30 Aug 2011. 

. 


. 





56 Karugaba, Karen. “Gay Activists Write to President.” All Africa 24 Sept. 2003: n. pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. 

. 

57 Karugaba, Karen. “Gay Activists Write to President.” All Africa 24 Sept. 2003: n. pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. 

. 

58 “ Uganda Gays To Gov’t: Give Us Civil Rights Or We Form Our Own Party .” 365Gay 6 Oct. 2003: n. pag. 

Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 

59 Wasswa, Henry. “Ugandan Anglicans Rescind N.H. Invite.” Worldwide Religious News 5 Jan. 2004: n. pag. 

Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 





62 “HIV and AIDS in Uganda.” AVERTing HIV and AIDS. AVERT, 01 May 2011. Web. 30 Aug 2011. 

. 

63 “Slain by the Spirit.” Economist (2010): n. pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 






67 Chua, Howard. “Rick Warren Denounces Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill.” Time Magazine 10 Dec. 2009: n. pag. 

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68 Chua, Howard. “Rick Warren Denounces Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill.” Time Magazine 10 Dec. 2009: n. pag. 

Web. 29 Aug 2011. . 

69 Mubangizi, Michael. “Govt rights body takes on Kayanja sodomy case.” Observer (2009): n. pag. Web. 30 

Aug 2011. . 


Aug 2011. . 


Aug 2011. . 

72 Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Americans’ Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push.” New York Times 3 January 2010: n. 

pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 

73 Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Americans’ Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push.” New York Times 3 January 2010: n. 

pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 

74 “Proposed Uganda Law: If You See A Homosexual, Call The Police.” Tell Me More. NPR: 18 Dec 2009. 

Radio. 30 Aug 2011. . 


30 Aug 2011. . 


30 Aug 2011. . 


30 Aug 2011. . 


Radio. 30 Aug 2011. . 


Radio. 30 Aug 2011. . 


Radio. 30 Aug 2011. . 


30 Aug 2011. . 


30 Aug 2011. . 

83 “Uganda MP urges death for gay sex.” BBC News (2009): n. pag. Web. 30 Aug 2011. . 


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