African rights court's slow start

By Mohammed Adow
In Addis Ababa

Human rights violations abound in Africa

An African human rights court is due to come into force on Sunday following its ratification by the required number of African Union countries.

In a continent where violations of human rights abound, the new court is seen as a step in the right direction.

But many question whether the court can be effective and whether it will go beyond being just an idea.

No country has yet offered to host it and no judges have been appointed to run it.

The court is meant to work together with the Banjul-based African Human Rights Commission and is intended to enhance the African Union's commitment to human rights in the continent.

The director of the African Union's communication division, Desmond Orjiako, says the host country and the judges will be appointed during the African Union's general assembly in July.

He says the court will draw its laws from the African Union's charter of human rights and laws on human rights ratified by the union's member states.

The court is one of several bodies established by the 53-member African Union which last year succeeded the Organisation of African Unity.

These include an African parliament, an investment bank, a common peace and security council and a court of justice.

But what is still unclear is how a cash-strapped African Union will turn these grand ideas into reality.