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liées à la grossesse ou à l’accouchement. Ces décès sont évitables si les gouvernements
africains respectent leurs obligations en vertu des instruments internationaux et
régionaux relatifs aux droits de l’homme. Le présent article traite des expériences
pertinentes du système des droits de l’homme des Nations Unies et analyse les
principaux enseignements tirés des approches par lesquelles ce système traite la
mortalité maternelle en tant que question de droits de l’homme pour renforcer la
jurisprudence et les cadres juridiques du système africain.
KEY WORDS: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African
Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, maternal mortality, maternal
morbidity, resolutions on maternal mortality, United Nations human rights
system
CONTENT:
1
2
3
Introduction and rate of maternal mortality in Africa ....................................... 83
Maternal health as a human rights issue: the normative framework ............. 85
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Initiatives and jurisprudence of UN human rights bodies on maternal
mortality ........................................................................................................................ 92
3. 1
3.2
3.3
4
5
1
The right to health .................................................................................................. 85
The right to life ....................................................................................................... 88
The right to dignity and to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment ................................................................................................................ 90
The right to equality and non-discrimination ........................................................91
The right to information......................................................................................... 92
3.4
3.5
Resolution 11/8 and the first report of the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights regarding maternal mortality and morbidity .......................... 93
Resolution 15/17 and the second report of the OHCHR........................................ 96
Resolution 18/2 and the OHCHR’s technical guidance on the application of
a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and
programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity ............... 98
Resolution 33/18 and a unified focus on the Sustainable Development Goals .... 98
Jurisprudence: CEDAW Committee decision in Alyne v Brazil ........................... 99
Potential of the African Court and Commission to develop norms on
maternal mortality .....................................................................................................101
Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 106
INTRODUCTION AND RATE OF MATERNAL
MORTALITY IN AFRICA
The African Commission’s Resolution on Maternal Mortality in Africa
in 2008, resolution 135, signalled one of the earliest coordinated
regional efforts focused solely on addressing the significantly high
levels of maternal deaths in African countries.1 Prior to the adoption of
resolution 135, the regional commitments to reducing maternal
mortality were encapsulated in the 2003 Protocol to the African
Charter Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
(African Women’s Rights Protocol), the 2005 African Union’s Policy
Framework for the promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and
Rights in Africa and the 2006 African Women’s Rights Plan of Action.
At the time of its adoption, the world experienced approximately 358
000 maternal deaths,2 with 355 000 (99 per cent) of them occurring in
1
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Resolution 135 available at
http://www.achpr.org/sessions/44th/resolutions/135/ (accessed 14 July 2017).
2
WHO et al, Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2008 http://apps.who.int/iris/
bitstream/10665/44423/1/9789241500265_eng.pdf (accessed 14 July 2017).