Exploring the African Accountability Avenue: Libya’s Responsibility for Violating the Right to Leave under Article 12 (2) ACHPR through pullback operations

Eva van der Wal*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Working paper / PreprintPreprintAcademic

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Abstract

This master’s thesis examines to what extent Libya can be held responsible under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) for violating the right to leave through carrying out pullbacks. Considering the increased legal complexity of cooperative migration control mechanisms and the systematic lack of accountability pertaining to it, this thesis aims to demonstrate possible avenues for interpretation that could arguably lead to overcome these legal challenges. This is done by focussing on the responsibility of a departure state under the rather unexplored legal framework of African human rights law. Adopting a doctrinal research method, it focuses on three main legal issues: the imputability of pullbacks conducted by theLibyan Coast Guard to Libya, the (in)compatibility of pullbacks with Libya’s legal obligations under the right to leave as stipulated in the ACHPR, and the viability of the African human rights system as an avenue for accountability that provides migrants with potential remedies.This thesis finds that, while the pullbacks practices by Libya present certain legal difficulties pertinent to accountability, the elements in the right to leave, rules of state responsibility, and the institutional structure of the African human rights system, allow for the argument that Libya can be held responsible for pullbacks – in theory and in practice.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages85
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameVU Migration Law Series
PublisherAmsterdam Centre of Migration and Refugee Law
No.22

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