Tomorrow (19 June), the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will convene its 1284^th session for a consultation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).

Following opening remarks by Innocent Shiyo, Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for June, Bankole Adeoye, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), is expected to deliver a statement. The Chairperson of the ACHPR is expected to deliver a briefing to the PSC on the work of the ACHPR as it relates to peace and security.

The consultative meeting is being convened in line with Article 19 of the PSC Protocol, which calls for close cooperation between the PSC and the ACHPR in advancing peace, security, and stability across Africa. Beyond the Protocol’s provision, the PSC, at its 866^th session, agreed to institutionalise this engagement by holding annual joint consultative meetings with the ACHPR. This commitment to regular engagement is grounded in the broader legal mandates that define and reinforce the complementary roles of the PSC and ACHPR in promoting peace, security, and human rights on the continent. The two organs of the AU are both entrusted, under their respective legal frameworks, with advancing peace, security, and human rights across the continent. The PSC Protocol, under Article 3(f), outlines the Council’s responsibility to uphold human rights as an essential part of preventing conflict. Similarly, Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights mandates the ACHPR to promote and protect the rights of individuals and communities. Additionally, Article 23 of the African Charter affirms that all people have a fundamental right to live in peace and security, both within their countries and globally. These provisions establish a shared legal and normative foundation for collaboration between the PSC and ACHPR in addressing peace and security challenges on the continent.

These consultative meetings have been held regularly since 2019; however, they were interrupted over the past three years. The most recent meeting took place in August 2021 during the Council’s 1019^th session. The communiqué from that session underscored, among other key points, the vital importance of mainstreaming human rights throughout all phases of conflict prevention, management, resolution, stabilisation, and post-conflict reconstruction and development. In this context, it would be of interest to members of the PSC to explore how to operationalise this commitment, including through the engagement of specific mechanisms of the ACHPR, such as the Focal Point on Human Rights in Conflict Situation in between the consultative sessions between the two sides.

During tomorrow’s session, the ACHPR is expected to brief the PSC on its recent efforts related to country-specific conflict situations. This may also include violations being reported to the ACHPR in relation to countries that are preparing for elections.

In terms of specific conflict situations, a key item the PSC is expected to be briefed on concerns the Joint Fact-Finding Mission to Sudan led by the ACHPR. In response to the PSC’s request during its 1213^th session in May 2024 for an investigation into the human rights situation in El Fasher and other parts of Darfur, the ACHPR launched a hybrid Fact-Finding Mission to examine violations against civilians since the outbreak of the conflict. As explained during a press conference given by the ACHPR, the mission covers a wide range of issues, including civil and political rights (such as arbitrary detention and suppression of freedoms), economic and social rights (such as denial of access to food, healthcare, and education), environmental and property rights, and grave abuses like torture, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians. To support its investigation, the Commission invited written and oral testimonies from individuals and organisations, in which the submission window officially closed on 28 March 2025. Through this process, the ACHPR collected documentation on the kind of violations that took place in the course of the war.

In light of the ongoing crisis and the Commission’s initial findings, the ACHPR has taken further steps to strengthen its engagement through the extension of the mission’s mandate. The most recent ACHPR Resolution, ACHPR/Res.635 (LXXXIII) 2025, decided to extend the mandate of the Joint Fact-Finding Mission for an additional period of six (6) months, starting on 3 May 2025. The PSC is therefore expected to receive an update on the progress of the mission, including insights from virtual investigations, the extension of its mandate, and the ongoing challenges and opportunities for field deployment.

Regarding the ongoing deterioration of the human rights situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Commission is expected to update the PSC based on its Resolution ACHPR/Res.627 (LXXXII) 2025. This resolution highlights serious violations, including the destruction of camps for internally displaced persons, widespread sexual violence against women and girls, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, targeted assassinations, the burning of prisons, and the widespread collapse of social and economic infrastructure. It called on the DRC to end impunity by bringing perpetrators to justice and implored the AU and regional bodies to step up their efforts to bring an end to the long-protracted conflict.

The ACHPR is also anticipated to brief the PSC on the grave human rights situation in South Sudan, particularly in light of escalating violence and political instability in Upper Nile State and Nasir County. Drawing from its 11 March 2025 press statement, the ACHPR is likely to highlight concerns such as the arbitrary detention of political actors within the transitional government and the loss of civilian lives resulting from the ongoing unrest. It called for a) cease-fire and de-escalation; b) inclusive dialogue between the signatories of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan; c) ensuring the protection of civilians; and d) accelerated implementation of the transitional process.

Hence, building on these country-specific developments, the consultative meeting presents an opportunity for the PSC to receive rich perspectives on how to reinforce its approach to these individual conflict situations, drawing on these engagements of the ACHPR.

The ACHPR briefing may also cover thematic issues. These may include the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as women, children, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and persons with disabilities. To this end, the Commission’s Resolution ACHPR/Res.513 (LXX), explicitly condemned attacks on IDP camps and urged States to uphold their civilian character and prosecute perpetrators. The Commission is also expected to spotlight the persistent and escalating use of sexual and gender-based violence as a tactic of war. This concern has been consistently addressed through its Focal Point on Conflict and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, such as Resolutions ACHPR/Res. 283 (2014) and ACHPR/Res. 365 (2017), and in its monitoring of conflict situations such as Boko Haram-affected areas and South Sudan. Another key thematic area likely to be addressed is the accountability gap for grave human rights violations and the urgent need to strengthen transitional justice mechanisms in line with the African Union Transitional Justice Policy. The ACHPR’s 2018 Study on Transitional Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights in Africa provides a comprehensive African Charter–based framework for promoting truth, reparations, and legal redress, complementing the African Union Transitional Justice Policy. Furthermore, the Commission may raise emerging concerns related to the human rights implications of militarisation, the misuse of emergency powers, and the obstruction of humanitarian access, particularly in protracted and complex crises.

Lastly, in tomorrow’s consultations, it is expected that the two organs will revisit and follow up on key previous decisions. The communiqué adopted during the PSC’s 866^th session set out concrete modalities aimed at strengthening and sustaining collaboration with the ACHPR. These include the establishment of a structured mechanism for regular information exchange—particularly through the incorporation of ACHPR’s relevant outputs into the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS); periodic briefings to the PSC between annual joint sessions, focusing on the human rights dimensions of specific conflict situations or cross-cutting thematic issues; and consistent interaction between the PSC Chairperson and the ACHPR, either through the Commission’s Chairperson or its designated Focal Point on Human Rights in Conflict Situations. These mechanisms are designed to ensure the systematic integration of human rights into the PSC’s peace and security work. However, such engagements have not been actively pursued in recent years. Tomorrow’s session, therefore, offers an opportunity to revive and operationalise these collaborative mechanisms.

The expected outcome of the session is a communiqué. The PSC may reiterate its commitment to strengthening collaboration with the ACHPR and, in doing so, emphasise the establishment of a formal coordination mechanism between the PSC Chairperson and the ACHPR Chairperson or its designated Focal Point on Human Rights in Conflict Situations to enable timely communication and decision-making on urgent human rights concerns in conflict-affected contexts. To enhance the integration of human rights in peace and security responses, the PSC may encourage the systematic mainstreaming of human rights across all phases of conflict prevention, management, resolution, and post-conflict recovery, including through the incorporation of ACHPR analyses and outputs into PSC deliberations. In this regard, the Council may underscore the importance of integrating ACHPR findings and resolutions into the Continental Early Warning System to strengthen early warning capabilities through the use of human rights indicators, particularly in high-risk countries and regions. Concerning the Joint Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, the PSC may endorse its continuation and adequate resourcing, and encourage facilitation of field deployment where security conditions permit. Furthermore, the PSC may stress the need to address the root causes and structural drivers of armed conflict on the Continent, urging Member States and relevant stakeholders to adopt inclusive, rights-based approaches to conflict resolution—emphasising dialogue, negotiation, mediation, and context-specific transitional justice mechanisms that promote accountability, reconciliation, and sustainable peace. In this respect, the Council may encourage Member States to establish or reinforce domestic transitional justice mechanisms in alignment with continental human rights and justice frameworks. The PSC may also highlight the importance of receiving regular briefings from the ACHPR through its special mechanisms such as the country rapporteurs, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, the Focal Point on Human Rights in Conflict Situations and the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons and Asylum Seekers. The communique may also reiterate the outcomes of the previous consultative meetings and call for the adoption of a program of action for the operationalisation of the concrete measures identified in the communiques of the 866^th, the 953^rd, and the 1019^th sessions.