This report examines the records of the 13 African members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) during 2019, and assesses their commitment to international human rights. It bases its assessment on African countries’ actions in two domains of the HRC’s work: country-specific human rights problems, and civil and political rights. The report demonstrates that during 2019, South Africa, Rwanda and Burkina Faso were the strongest supporters of international human rights in the African Group while Cameroon, Egypt and Eritrea were the African states that most strongly opposed human rights. It further shows the diversity of African positions – on none of the 45 votes discussed in the report did African states vote in unison. While the overall picture is at best one of an unwillingness to defend international human rights, African states ranged from mild support for to strong opposition to international human rights.
