She made this statement on Monday at the end of a three-day session held from 29 April to 1 May at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The meeting was held under the theme: ‘The year of Africa: acceleration of the African continental free trade area implementation.’
She mentioned that the forum was one of the unique platforms where concerns and experiences of diverse groups of people on the ground were expressed, and has updated them on the progress made in human rights advancement and emerging challenges in the field of human and peoples' rights on the continent.
“During three days, you have interrogated the human rights and democracy situation in Africa from several angles, which undoubtedly allowed you to gather information on emerging trends and the human rights situation in the continent, as well as the governance challenges facing our continent,” Dr. Ogana noted.
She said the Forum has achieved one of its main objectives, which was to strengthen collaboration and cooperation between NGOs and the Commission to promote and protect human rights in Africa.
She concludes that the Commission awaits the resolutions, recommendations, concrete and relevant proposals, and the possible solutions that it could implement at its level.
For his part, Dr. Saikou Kawsu Gassama, executive secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of The Gambia noted that the attack on human rights defenders continues to escalate in Swaziland following the brutal murder of their comrade Thulani Maseko for merely championing human rights, respect for rule of law, and good governance. He said these attacks pose serious challenges to human rights defenders in the execution of their mandate.
Mr. Gassama encouraged participants to continue to advocate for the promotion and protection of rights on the continent and that the Network of African National Human Rights Institution (NANHRI) urges the NGO forum to continue to put pressure on Swaziland and the African Union or the United Nations for the swift, independent and impartial investigation into the unlawful and extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders and to end impunity for gross human rights violations.
