By Sébastien OFFREDO
The traveling I’ve done this summer becomes apparent through the twelve new stamps in my passports, with yet another handful on the way when I fly back to Canada. Arriving in The Gambia, I knew there’d be a lot to see in the smallest country in mainland Africa. However, I never anticipated that through my human rights internship I’d also be able to visit Guinea-Conakry and Senegal.
With less than a week left, I am taking in all that I can in The Gambia. I’ve been enjoying my final tastes of local Gambian cuisine and am wrapping up all my projects for what has been my most insightful internship yet. If you haven’t had the opportunity to yet, I suggest reading my prior blog post “My First Six Weeks of Human Rights Work in the Smiling Coast” before starting this one. It’s worth noting that since my last post, The Gambia decided to maintain its FGM ban due to pressure from women’s rights groups.1
In just three months, my exposure to the African human rights system has prepared me for future work in transnational law. For my final blog post, I’ll go over my continued legal research in The Gambia, a public dialogue session that I attended in Guinea, my brief visit to Senegal, and my final thoughts on my experience as a whole as I wrap up this internship.
Guinea-Conakry: Reparations under a Military Junta?
Part of the mission of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) is to educate people on human rights through trainings and workshops for civil society actors. During my internship, I had the opportunity to join the IHRDA for a public dialogue with key stakeholders in Guinea. The dialogue focused on implementing two ECOWAS Court rulings that ordered Guinea to compensate the families of victims of police-inflicted torture.2
Getting to Guinea was difficult: A nine hour bus ride to Dakar, a layover spent in an Airbnb right above a busy nightclub, and a flight the next evening delayed by four hours.3 When in Conakry, I didn’t do much tourism as this was a work trip, though it was nice to drive around the capital when it wasn’t pouring rain. The day prior to the event I ran errands with my supervisors, which unexpectedly led to the Malian embassy staff inviting us to share domoda for lunch—a sort of hospitality you wouldn’t find in Canada.
Most ECOWAS Court judgements aren’t implemented by member states.4 Recognizing this issue, the participants sought solutions on how to ensure implementation of the reparations. Despite some conflicting proposals, what every participant cared about more than anything were reparations for the victims and families; this priority could not be stressed enough.
“Your silence is precious.” While visiting Conakry, you’ll see this slogan on propaganda posters covering every inch of the city. Guinea has been ruled by a military junta since a coup d’état three years ago and participants questioned how the regime’s existence is compatible with human rights. It was a reality one couldn’t ignore. Some argued that human rights can’t be properly promoted without a restoration of democracy first, while others opined that cooperation with the regime is required if there’s to be any hope for compensation.
The dialogue was difficult at times since there are no immediate solutions. I wrote a French-to-English report on the best proposals made and what the IHRDA could adopt moving forward. Again, I am grateful for the opportunity to be exposed to this side of human rights advocacy since I believe that travel is essential for a complete international law experience.
The Gambia: Settlement Agreements & Resource Extraction Accountability
My work in Banjul has continued to be insightful. I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting where a State reached out to initiate a settlement agreement with the IHRDA. The IHRDA recently brought two cases before the African Court and African Committee alleging that the State was responsible for human rights violations. The evidence is quite damning, which would explain why the State reached out. It was important to see a settlement agreement in the making as this could be a major step towards achieving justice for the victims by avoiding timely proceedings.
I continued my comparative legal research on the extractive industry and international corporate criminal liability. Keeping the extractive industry in Africa accountable is “difficult, if not impossible.”5 Because companies often operate multiple overseas subsidiaries, they’re further removed from international crimes, thus contributing to the difficulty in pursuing accountability.6
I was tasked with looking at how France and Canada have been used to hold corporations accountable for human rights violations committed by their international subsidiaries. France is leading this frontier with a recent landmark case involving a cement company that made payments to Syrian militants, while Canadian courts have slowly made progress amidst legislative inaction.7 I’m thankful that the IHRDA pointed me towards this mix of corporate law, human rights law, indigenous rights, and extra-contractual obligations, and I plan on continuing this research in Montreal.
Senegal: Nine-Hour Bus Trips to and from Dakar
My initial plans to spend a weekend in Dakar were disrupted by a last-second flight cancellation, so I opted to take the Banjul–Dakar bus for a tenth of the price. The bus isn’t for everyone; the seven-hour trip easily becomes over nine, bribes have to be paid to customs agents, and there are limited rest stops.8 It wasn’t easy… though these travel complications were fortunately forgotten once I arrived.
I was surprised to see how much Dakar felt like a mix of France and West Africa, with recognizable French companies, banks, supermarkets, and even road signs plastered everywhere. I strolled through the Senegalese capital and was able to see the colorful Île de Gorée and the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, the tallest statue in the continent.
Other than Senegal, I continued exploring The Gambia during the second half of my stay. The most touristy spot I visited was the Bijilo Monkey Park during its birthing season. Though I got to see adorable baby monkeys everywhere, I had to keep my distance from the mothers who were a bit more aggressive. I took more advantage of weekends spent on the beach and trying new restaurants that I don’t know when I’d get the chance to again. Additionally, I’ve been able to celebrate events such as birthdays (including my own), Eid al-Adha, and a coworker’s return from Hajj.
Closing Remarks: Reflecting on My Twelve Weeks Here
My time here has been great, and though I’m excited to head back to Canada, I’ll certainly miss the Smiling Coast. It might take some time to get used to kids no longer calling me toubab (“white person”) every day. Some of my shoes, now stained orange from the dirt roads I use daily, might need some replacing. Considering that I ate some variation of chicken-and-rice every day, it might be time to take a break from that too.
I’m thankful for the three senior legal and advocacy officers at the IHRDA—Dr. Chipo Rushwaya, Lydia Kembabazi, and Désiré Bigirimana—for their guidance throughout this internship. My exposure to the African human rights system has helped prepare me for future transnational work. Along with what’s been mentioned above, I had the opportunity to work on projects on a wide range of subjects including child labor, electoral matters, implementation mechanisms, international reparations, witchcraft, and more.
I’m also thankful for all my other coworkers, as the IHRDA has the friendliest staff I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. There were the other interns and fellows that shared the same office space with me, and whom I ate lunch with every weekday (the special costs only $2 CAD.) I’ll miss the staff coffee break too, a great time to talk geopolitics and crack jokes over Nescafé and tapalapa.
The Gambia is a place I’ll certainly return to. Leaving here, I feel well equipped for a successful legal career when it comes to research, familiarity with litigation, and a passion for what you practice. It’d be impossible to put everything I’ve learned and the dozens of new anecdotes I’ve made in a short blog post, but I’m certain that all that I’ve gained from The Gambia will show through my future work.
- Ruth Maclean, “Gambia Votes to Keep Ban on Female Genital Cutting, in Dramatic Reversal”, The New York Times (15 July 2024), online: <nytimes.com/2024/07/15/world/africa/gambia-ban-female-genital-cutting.html>. ↩︎
- See Alhousseine Camara v Guinea (2019), ECW/CCJ/APP/18/19 (ECOWAS); Bintou Cissé v Guinea (2018), ECW/CCJ/JUD/10/18 (ECOWAS). ↩︎
- If you or anyone you know is planning to travel through West Africa, I must warn that Air Senegal is notoriously known for their delays, cancellations, and losing luggage during transfers. All flights I booked with them were either canceled or delayed by three to four hours. ↩︎
- Muyiwa Adigun, “Enforcing ECOWAS Judgments in Nigeria through the Common Law Rule on the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments” (2019) 15:1 J Priv Intl L 130 at 133. ↩︎
- Adélaïde Etong Kame & Sabrina Benavides, “ACHPR 69: A New Study Shows Alarming Results on the Impact of Extractive Industries on Human Rights in Africa”, International Service for Human Rights (26 November 2021), online: <ishr.ch/latest-updates/achpr-a-new-study-shows-alarming-results-on-the-impact-of-extractive-industries-on-human-rights-in-africa>. ↩︎
- Jaya Élise Bordeleau-Cass, “The ‘Accountability Gap’: Holding Corporations Liable for International Crimes” (2019) 3 PKI Global Justice J 65. ↩︎
- Sherpa & European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, “Lafarge in Syria: French Supreme Court Issues Decisive Ruling on Charges Faced by the Multinational” (16 January 2024), online: <asso-sherpa.org/lafarge-in-syria-french-supreme-court-issues-decisive-ruling-on-charges-faced-by-the-multinational>; Hanibal Goitom, “Canadian Courts Are Taking a Step Toward Corporate Liability of Multinationals for Wrongdoings Abroad”, Library of Congress Blogs (15 November 2017), online: <blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/11/canadian-courts-are-taking-a-step-toward-corporate-liability-of-multinationals-for-wrongdoings-abroad>. ↩︎
- I’ve taken this bus trip four times 😊! ↩︎