The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter) is an international human rights instrument that seeks to promote and protect human rights and basic freedoms in the African continent.

It emerged under the supervision of the Organisation of African Unity (since replaced by the African Union). At its 1979 Assembly of Heads of State and Government, adopted a resolution calling for the creation of a committee of experts to draft a continent-wide human rights instrument, similar to those that already existed in Europe (European Convention on Human Rights) and America (American Convention on Human Rights).

The ACHPR was established by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (21 October 1986) after its adoption in Nairobi (Kenya) in 1981, by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (then Organisation of African Unity).
The Commission has a number of tasks concerning the promotion and protection of human rights. It is important to note that the decisions adopted by the Commission are not binding. The Commission:

The following guidelines have to be observed when submitting a case to the Commission:

• Cases can only be submitted after having exhausted all available domestic legal remedies
• Cases must be submitted within a reasonable time from the date of exhaustion of domestic remedies.

The subject of the communication must not be pending in another international proceeding for settlement (the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and involuntary Disappearances is not such an international proceeding). The communication must contain the name of the complainant even if the author wants to remain anonymous. The Commission (and the Court) will not disclose the identity of an applicant if he or she requires them to do so and provides them with an explanation of the specific reasons. The communication should be compatible with the Charter of the OAU and the African Charter.

Anybody, either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of someone else, can submit a communication to the Commission. Ordinary citizens, a group of individuals, NGOs, and states that have signed the Charter can all put in claims. The complainant or author of the communication need not be related to the victim of the abuse in any way, but the victim must be mentioned. A complainant can act on his or her own without the need for professional assistance. However, it is always useful to seek the help of a lawyer in particular to address the technical issues that may arise. NGOs and family associations can assist individuals in presenting their complaints to the Commission (or the Court).

On 25 January 2004, the Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, establishing an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights came into force. It held its first 3 sessions in 2006 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and in Banjul. It is constituted of eleven independent judges.

The African Court can:

• make binding judgments and order measures of reparation on individual (only when the State concerned has expressly recognized its adjudicatory competence) or inter-state (for which there is no need for express recognition) communications
• order the adoption of provisional measures to avoid serious and irreparable harm to human life and personal integrity in urgent cases adopt advisory opinions on the interpretation of the African Charter and its Protocols.

Submitting cases of disappearance to the African Court will be very important. In cases where the state concerned has ratified the African Charter, the 1998 Banjul Protocol, and recognized the adjudicatory competence of the Court to receive individual complaints, the final judgment and the recommendations are binding.

The procedure before the Commission (from when the communication is filed to the adoption of a final decision) may take from 1 up to 5 years depending on the complexity of the case.

The denouncer will be obliged to make some expenses such as copying and sending documents to the Commission, but in general it is not an expensive procedure.