11 WHAT IS STRATEGIC LITIGATION? PRACTICE NOTE 5 STRATEGIC LITIGATION OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN AFRICA • Regional Advocacy. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) is a regional body that provides opportunities for human rights defenders and civil society organisations to raise awareness about human rights violations in the respective countries or in individual cases. States are required to submit regular reports on the implementation of the African Charter. When the State is being reviewed, NGOs can submit shadow reports. Further, civil society can also submit written communications to the ACHPR, including to its special rapporteurs and working groups, which can directly engage with States and request information. Finally, civil society organisations with observer status can participate in the ACHPR’s sessions, suggest issues for inclusion in the agenda, conduct side events, and other advocacy activities. The African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR) is another platform to advance the debate on enforced disappearance. Civil society organisations can request the Court for an advisory opinion to interpret international law or provisions of the Charter. Civil society organisations can also file a complaint of human rights violations but the State against whom allegations are filed must have consented to the Court’s jurisdiction. • United Nations Advocacy. Activists should make full use of the international mechanisms to complement their legal claims. Reports and statements from UN bodies can be immensely powerful when submitted as evidence in a legal proceeding, or where their recommendations match the remedies that are asked for in a case. Additionally, international advocacy can engage the human rights movement to highlight the situation in a given country and amplify the voices of victims. The UN offers several opportunities to advocate on behalf of victims of enforced disappearances. • Treaty bodies, such as the Committee on Enforced Disappearances or the Committee against Torture, accept individual communications in relation to States’ parties to the relevant treaties, if those States have accepted the Committee’s competence to hear such communications. Further, States’ parties are obliged to submit regular reports on the implementation of the relevant treaties. Civil society can submit information to the treaty bodies for consideration during the review process. Finally, civil society