The Prohibition of Torture and Ill-treatment in the African Human Rights System: A HANDBOOK FOR VICTIMS AND THEIR ADVOCATES impermissible.28 However, the absence of a provision on derogation is not necessarily a prohibition of derogation. The entitlement of States to derogate from treaties exists in customary international law and it remains arguable whether or not the African Charter can abrogate this entitlement.29 Some States parties, for example Egypt30 and Zambia31, have ratified the Charter with reservations, though this has been very limited. Like the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, the Charter contains provisions on both rights and duties of the individual.32 Unlike the international covenants, the Charter guarantees a right to property, omits express guarantees of privacy and citizenship or nationality as human rights,33 prohibits collective expulsion of foreign nationals, and creates an entitlement to asylum.34 As its title indicates, the African Charter also contains the rights of ‘peoples’, thus embodying the idea that rights are not only individualistic, but are also collective in nature. One such right, the right of ‘peoples’ to self-determination, has been contentious, begging the question as to who qualifies as a ‘people’. The concept of ‘people’ is not defined in the Charter; however the African Commission has expounded on the attributes that are required in order for a group of individuals to consider themselves a ‘people’. In the case of Kevin Mgwanga Gunme et. al. v. Cameroon, the Commission, following a thorough analysis of the literature, held that the ‘people of Southern Cameroon’ qualify to be considered a ‘people’ for the purposes of the Charter ‘because they manifest numerous characteristics and affinities, which include a common history, linguistic tradition, territorial connection and political outlook’.35 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 24 ACHPR, Commission Nationale des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés v. Chad, Comm. No. 74/92, 18th Ordinary Session (11 October 1995); Amnesty International and Others v. Sudan, Comm. Nos. 48/90, 50/91, 52/91, 89/93, 26th Ordinary Session (15 November 1999); Malawi Africa Association and Others v. Mauritania, Comm. Nos. 54/91, 61/91, 98/93, 164-169/97, 210/98, 27 th Ordinary Session (11 May 2000). See R. Higgins, “Derogations under Human Rights Treaties”, 48 British Yearbook of International Law, 281 (1976-77). See: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Ratification status, available at: http://www. achpr.org/instruments/achpr/. Ibid. African Charter, supra note 9, Articles. 27-29; see also American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, adopted by the 9th International Conference of American States on 2 May 1948, O.A.S. Resolution XXX, reprinted in Basic Documents Pertaining to Human Rights in the Inter-American System, OAS/Ser.L/V/I.4 Rev. 9 (2003); 43 AJIL Supp. 133 (1949). The ACHPR has, however, read the right to nationality as implicit in the guarantee of legal status in Article 5 of the Charter. See ACHPR, John K. Modise v. Botswana, Comm. No. 97/93, 28th Ordinary Session (6 November 2000). African Charter, supra note 9, Article 12(3) provides that ‘every individual shall have the right, when persecuted, to seek and obtain asylum…’. ACHPR, Kevin Mgwanga Gunme et. al. v. Cameroon, Comm. No. 266/03, 45th Ordinary Session (27 May 2009), paras. 174-177.