place in the next periodic report to be submitted in the next two years. In this
report, in addition to the issue of Casamance, issues relating to the environment
will be highlighted but in a developmental perspective so as to allow certain
aspects of development rights to be considered as provided for by the African
Charter.
140. In short, the Government of Senegal has reviewed the implementation of
rights set out in the African Charter by taking into account the types of
relationships implied by their implementation, notably « a civil relationship,
which implies legal recognition as a citizen; political relationship, an active
participation by the Government; economic relationship, reciprocity and
exchange; social relationship, integration into the democratic society; and
cultural relationship, belonging to a Community41 » and especially the
importance of political, economic, cultural, religious and social history of the
country which has a major influence in what Senegalese consider to be their
rights and the mode of their enforcement since the human being « only gains
access to humanity through the medium of a specific culture.42 »
A. IMPLEMENTATION OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS :
I.
RESPECT OF RULES OF NON-DISCRIMINATION
(Articles 2 and 3):
141. First and foremost, it must be recalled that the Government of Senegal has
ratified all the international conventions prohibiting discrimination, especially
the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, and in Africa, the Charter on the Rights and Welfare of
the Child and the Protocol to the Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa.
142. Furthermore, the relevant provisions of its Constitution have also established
the unequivocal elimination and condemnation of all forms of discrimination. In
fact, Article 1 of the Constitution states that « Senegal is a secular, democratic
and social Republic. It provides for equality of all citizens before the law without
distinction as to origin, race, gender and religion. It respects all beliefs. No
section of the population or any individual shall arrogate to himself/herself the
exercise of sovereignty. » Article 3 of the same Constitution supplements this
prohibition by stipulating that « national sovereignty belongs to the people who
exercise it through their representatives and through referendums. »
41
See Mireille Delmas Marty, Trois défis pour un droit mondial, (Three Challenges for a Global Right) Seuil
Publications, 1998, page 48.
42
See Pierre-Henry Imbert, « L’apparente simplicité des droits de l’homme, réflexion sur les différents aspects de
l’universalité des droits de l’homme »,( The apparent simplicity of human rights, reflections on the different
aspects of the universality of human rights) Quarterly Human Rights Review, 1989, page 7.
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