66th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
July 2020
1. Overview
The African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa, and we do so on behalf of the Regional Campaign to Decriminalise Petty Offences in Africa (‘the Regional Campaign’). More information about the Regional Campaign is available at its website: www.pettyoffences.org.
The Regional Campaign remains deeply concerned about the criminalisation of poverty across our continent. While we welcome the African Commission’s adoption of the Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences, we urge the Commission, through the Special Rapporteur, to increase the visibility of the Principles and to further promote their implementation by Member States. This is particularly crucial during the current global Covid-19 pandemic which has exposed and exploit